Topic: The last 'Perfect' Movie?

We're gathered here because we love movies. We love the craft, the escapism, the spectacle, Plato's shadows on a cave wall, etc.

But in the last few years, there's been just as much anguish and ambivalence. We also hate movies - the bland remakes, nothing-but-superheroes, too many zombies and vampires, the overuse of CG, the by-the-numbers construction, the hacks, the hams, the shoddy storytelling, the disrespect for the material, etc.

So the question is, when was the last 'Perfect' movie? When every set-up paid off to end satisfactorily? When all the elements clicked: the casting, the score, the screenplay, the effects. Ideally the perfect movie will have surprises, yet be re-watchable many times. It'll usually have depth and heart and ideas as well as spectacle. It'll push the envelope of the craft in some new direction. It'll have something iconic (a performance, a line, a scene) that leaps over into pop culture. Often a perfect movie will also both have mainstream and cult respect, giving it a combination of box office and critical success.

There are plenty of examples 'Perfect' movies from the past: Raiders, Back to the Future, Star Wars, Terminator 1&2, Alien(s), Jurassic Park, Pirates 1, Fight Club.

When was the last movie to join those classics?

I was thinking maybe The Dark Knight. It ticks a lot of boxes. But it lacks a little heart and tries to compress two movies' worth of plot into its running time.

So I'm going to nominate The Return of the King. It delivers on every level, and no movie since then has matched it.

http://theathleticnerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/The-Return-of-the-King-Sam-Carries-Frodo.jpg

not long to go now...

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Re: The last 'Perfect' Movie?

Off the top of my head, I would say Children of Men, Dredd, maybe Social Network?

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Re: The last 'Perfect' Movie?

"There Will Be Blood" is stuck in my head as a recent example. Slow, long, and sort of episodic in feel, it still manages to keep me riveted whenever I watch it.

On that note, the recent "Prisoners" has a similar feel to it in my mind. Both movies contain superb acting (in particular Day-Lewis and Hugh Jackman are absolutely tremendous), dissonant and scaled-back music, scenes that are allowed to sit and draw you in, slow precise camerawork, stunning cinematography by Elswit and Deakins, And great use of silence to build tension.

"Life Of Pi" also strikes me as an almost perfect movie of recent years, with some stunning effects work, not just clean and believable but also beautiful and used for artistic purpose.

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Re: The last 'Perfect' Movie?

The only movie I've seen recently that I could call truly "perfect" is The Lego Movie.

"The Doctor is Submarining through our brains." --Teague

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Re: The last 'Perfect' Movie?

I have some issues with ROTK that are mostly book purist based, although some of the colour grading is a bit too obvious. Still, a good nomination (and wow, it's more than 10 years old already).

The closest that I have seen recently has been Gravity, although actually thinking about it, Europa Report is probably closer to being 'perfect'.

Tough call! I thought the Korean movie A Bittersweet Life was perfect.

Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere. - Carl Sagan

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Re: The last 'Perfect' Movie?

I haven't thought about it in depth, but I'd risk giving Her a nomination.

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Re: The last 'Perfect' Movie?

I would definitely go along with adding Dredd to the list. I haven't seen much of anything else lately though.

ZangrethorDigital.ca

Re: The last 'Perfect' Movie?

I'd add another qualification to the "Perfect Movie" - one that it would be sacrilegious to remake. If it were announced that classics like Terminator 1&2, Alien & Aliens, Star Wars OT, BTTF, LOTR, Indiana Jones were going to be remade, the backlash would be palpable. No one cares that much if yet another Hulk movie were churned out or Green Lantern was rebooted.

not long to go now...

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Re: The last 'Perfect' Movie?

How does The Thing fit into that?

Teague Chrystie

I have a tendency to fix your typos.

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Re: The last 'Perfect' Movie?

Teague wrote:

How does The Thing fit into that?

Well, there was a ton of backlash when it got remade, but I think that was more nostalgia than "perfection." The original is great, of course.

"The Doctor is Submarining through our brains." --Teague

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Re: The last 'Perfect' Movie?

The Thing 2011 is a prequel, though. Yeah, it has similar elements to Carpenter's classic but its events lead up to the start of the 1982 film.

They should have went for a different title......

Last edited by Jimmy B (2014-02-22 20:38:02)

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Re: The last 'Perfect' Movie?

Inception is the closest thing I can think of.

I can't remember if it paid of all of its setups perfectly, but it definitely jumped immediately into the public conscious/imagination. It checks all the boxes on casting, score, screenplay and especially effects. It wasn't just surprising, it had the quality of "surprising-ness". Even when you know the road is about to flip back and become the sky, it still makes your jaw drop just a little bit which makes it more re-watchable. And it was definitely iconic. It took about a week for the word "inception" to have a whole new meaning in English (or at least American English). It hit the mainstream hard and a few cult fan-boys even harder. So yeah, Inception (2010) is my nomination.

Time will tell, I guess, though. I wonder if longevity of appeal should be a requirement for a "perfect movie".

Re: The last 'Perfect' Movie?

The Lego Movie's gotta be the most recent, unless I missed some detail. Dredd was another good example, the simple nature of it was what got everyone's attention in the first place.
Oh, I just watched This is The End last weekend, and have been thinking about it since. A bit sillier than the examples in this thread, but I think it meets the requirements.

Anyway, point is I think they happen somewhat often, it just depends on how strict you're being with the requirements. Unfortunately, it does seem like the ease of access to filmmaking is increasing the number of people involved but decreasing the number who fully understand how to achieve a complete story. This has been an on-going trend, particularly in scifi/action films who are determined to set themselves up for a franchise, but in doing so, skip out of actually telling a full story up front, or try to tell too much. Ender's Game was probably my biggest disappointment recently. While I liked it, they just couldn't figure out how to make the book flow into a film narrative. Though, it certainly did a better job of condensing scenes than The Last Airbender. [shudder]

I'm not sure how to factor in cultural relevance/acceptance, so I'm focusing on a film that, whether you liked it or not, delivers what the premise promises.

"Defending bad movies is VaporTrail's religion."
-DorkmanScott

Re: The last 'Perfect' Movie?

avatar wrote:

I'd add another qualification to the "Perfect Movie" - one that it would be sacrilegious to remake. If it were announced that classics like Terminator 1&2, Alien & Aliens, Star Wars OT, BTTF, LOTR, Indiana Jones were going to be remade, the backlash would be palpable.

They're rebooting TERMINATOR.

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Re: The last 'Perfect' Movie?

Dorkman wrote:
avatar wrote:

I'd add another qualification to the "Perfect Movie" - one that it would be sacrilegious to remake. If it were announced that classics like Terminator 1&2, Alien & Aliens, Star Wars OT, BTTF, LOTR, Indiana Jones were going to be remade, the backlash would be palpable.

They're rebooting TERMINATOR.

It's surely not going to repeat the same story as Terminator (in the way that Robocop and Total Recall were 'repeat- remakes'), but a prequel or new chapter in the existing universe? I don't know - do they even have a script?

not long to go now...

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Re: The last 'Perfect' Movie?

Well, they've cast 20-somethings as Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese, so I can only assume remake.

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Re: The last 'Perfect' Movie?

The latest news I read said it's still Terminator 5.
It's all wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey at this point, who knows what they're trying to do.

"Defending bad movies is VaporTrail's religion."
-DorkmanScott

Re: The last 'Perfect' Movie?

I neither know or care.

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Re: The last 'Perfect' Movie?

The way I see it (as I'm sure many others do), anything after T2 is just a fanfilm anyway.
I'll still go watch some silvery, red-eyed androids shoot up some stuff, why not. Salvation was pretty neat, what I saw of the Sarah Connor show was alright. (We don't talk about T3.)

"Defending bad movies is VaporTrail's religion."
-DorkmanScott

Re: The last 'Perfect' Movie?

DreddHerThe Lego Movie?

Go home, forum users.  You are clearly drunk.

My vote is for either Black Swan or The Social Network.  Whichever came last.

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Re: The last 'Perfect' Movie?

There's no such thing as a perfect movie, but Moon is a good candidate for nearly perfect.

Warning: I'm probably rewriting this post as you read it.

Zarban's House of Commentaries

Re: The last 'Perfect' Movie?

No, it's too long and self-indulgent.

I've been on a Michael Mann kick lately, so I would submit Heat, The Insider, and Collateral as being utterly perfect. He spent the 80s figuring out and fine-tuning his style (Thief is good but sloppy and unfocused), had a crazy run for about 10 years, then got overly obsessed with story minimalism and shutter crime.

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Re: The last 'Perfect' Movie?

THE INSIDER does check all the boxes on the perfect movie form. Good call there. That movie is remarkable.

I don't see anything about HER that should prevent it from being called a perfect movie. Just saw TOY STORY 3 again, too, and I'd slap the perfect movie label on that one as well.

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Re: The last 'Perfect' Movie?

Collateral? Good grief. The ending is preposterous.

Warning: I'm probably rewriting this post as you read it.

Zarban's House of Commentaries