A perfect 10

[cinemabon]

Here's a summer time diversion. There are many films that are good movies. There are even many films that are great. But there are very few films that I would describe as a perfect “10". Many movies come close. They are in that 9.9 category so many of us film fans like to shove movies we really, really like... yet, there is something about it that isn’t quite perfect. Here is a list of criteria: A perfect film should have general appeal; that is, most everyone who sees it agrees it is a great story well told. A perfect film should have a minimum of technical flaws: no multiple shadows on the ground, great pix and sound, well timed edits, good underlying score, and so on. A perfect film should have high quality acting and direction (big name stars and directors are not necessary). Finally, a perfect film stands the test of time, viewable by any generation who would describe the film as great.

Going on that criteria, I have compiled a list of films I consider perfect. I would love to hear from the foreign and Indy crowd because my lack of expertise there is obvious. Here are my picks for the greatest movies of all time... granted there are many 9.9's out there, but these I consider perfect. In alphabetical order they are:

Annie Hall - the pinnacle of the comic genius Woody Allen, probably one the greatest comics of the sound era ruling out Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton.

Ben-Hur - William Wyler’s telling of the famous novel is slightly dated only by its special effects but nothing else. No one has ever duplicated Yakima Canutt’s brilliantly choreographed chariot race

The Best Years of Our Lives - Again, Wyler (the most nominated director) tells a war story that describes the aftermath of war and how it affects everyone on every level.

Casablanca - The story of Rick’s place blossomed into a classic tale of intrigue and romance

Citizen Kane - Orson Welles is young and full of it when he creates this tour de force telling of a man obsessed with power

The Color Purple - Steven Spielberg tells the plight of African Americans in a way that is prolific and profound on every level, even better than when he later attempted describing the horrors of the holocaust

Dances With Wolves - There are westerns and then there are westerns. This one stands above the rest telling the tale of a virgin land once tended by those who respected it

Dr. Strangelove - Is it political? Is it a comedy satire? Stanley Kubrick showed us the horrors of a nuclear war and made us all laugh at our ridiculousness

The Godfather - A dark tale told by fine crafts-persons and artisans of how murder and corruption had spread throughout our so-called land of the free

It’s A Wonderful Life - No film is a failure with so many friends. Doomed at the box office and later resurrected by film students who refused to let the film die. Capricorn is alive and well

Lawrence of Arabia - while an elaboration on the life of Lawrence, this beautifully told tale is Lean’s finest work

Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring - An unknown New Zealander takes Hollywood by storm and introduces the uninitiated to hobbits and elves in this quiet introduction to a ten hour epic that ends with a bang

Out of Africa - Romance never looked this good against the backdrop of wild Africa. Pollack hit this out of the park

The Red Violin - Director Francois Girard weaves a tale through time that leaves the audience breathless for more and saddened that the movie came to an end

The Sound of Music - The director who just a few years earlier delivered a 9.9 with West Side Story, here delivers even bigger dwarfing the earlier work with expert craftsmanship

Treasure of the Sierra Madre - John Huston was just getting started in his career but like Welles peaked early with this perfect tale of the worst human vices: fear, suspicion, and greed

Agree with me or not, as with any list there is a fragment of subjectivity but no one can deny the greatness of this list.

[oscar jubis]

I admire your restraint, limiting yourself to 16 movies you consider perfect. My list was so long I titled the thread:"the longest post...". Howard listed 125 films. I guess my list would be considerably shorter if I included only movies that "have general appeal".

I agree that "no one can deny the greatness of this list", as a whole. Of course we can debate the merits of individual choices. It's probably more fun to discuss those few films from your list that I don't like, or like significantly less than you do, than shared faves. There are only four I would never watch again: Ben-Hur, The Color Purple, Dances with Wolves and The Red Violin (a surprise selection, in my opinion).

Woody Allen was a favorite of mine when Annie Hall came out. Nowadays, his name mentioned in the same breath as Chaplin, Keaton, Sturges and others sounds like heresy to me.

I'm really glad you included Huston's masterpiece and The Best Years of Our Lives. I had the privilege of enjoying the former at the theater and hope some day to have the opportunity to watch the collaboration between Wyler and cinematographer Gregg Toland on a big screen.

[cinemabon]

Was it reminiscent of that post? I remember that post turned into a "best of" post... I think not only Howard got going on his usual way out there picks, but Kris and Johann chimed in as well. At any rate, I had a hard time narrowing the list down. I felt there were many films I saw that were 9.9's, but few that I felt were perfect. Your list is 125! Now that's courageous.

So you didn't like four of the films... and Ben Hur! Oooo, that one hurt. There are many great William Wyler films but I felt that one deserved the list. I can also understand "Purple" and "Wolves" because many people can't stand either Costner or Goldberg. I have to forgive them in these two films, however (just as I forgive OJ in the Naked Gun comedies), based on the strength of their performances. I tried to pick films which had an "overall" quality to them. Another reason I chose "Violin", was based on its overall value. There were no weaknesses in this film, that I could see at least.

I would be interested in having you point them out to me, if it isn't too redundant. Perhaps I have those stupid blinders of mine on again that don't allow me to quite see the forest for the trees.

I was also glad you posted. Of all the people on this site, it is generally agreed you have the most respect and clout. Can't you name just a few 10's Oscar? by the way, your post on the best for this year so far, is a 10... but I would substitute "Spiderman" for "Harry Potter".

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by cinemabon
Your list is 125! Now that's courageous.

Howard's list is 125. I listed 207 "great films I love". Basically a meeting of mind and heart. You wisely wrote "as with any list there is a fragment of subjectivity". I don't even use the word "perfect" to refer to any of the 207 (soon to be 208 if a third viewing of Eternal Sunshine is as rewarding as the preceding ones). I started my list when Mr. Nixon was president. It's a fluid list in that there have been films that depreciated under close scrutiny and were removed. These include two movies directed by Mr. Allen. They remain quite enjoyable though certainly not great, in my opinion. That's all I have to offer: my honest opinion based on repeat viewings in which I do everything in my power to "keep an open mind". I feel honored that you've enjoyed my posts, apparently as much as I've enjoyed your contributions.

So you didn't like four of the films... and Ben Hur! Oooo, that one hurt. There are many great William Wyler films but I felt that one deserved the list.

Have to admit I'm not a fan of Wyler. The chariot race scene is all I need from Ben-Hur and it's included in the doc Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography.

Can't you name just a few 10's Oscar?

Gladly. Since the films you listed are English-language, sound, fiction films, I'll exclude silents, docs and foreign-language movies.
What's a bit tricky for me is to figure out which films "have general appeal", in order to abide by your criteria. I figure Todd Browning's Freaks and David Lynch's Eraserhead and Mulholland Dr. are out. I probably should leave out Lewis Milestone's Hallelujah, I'm a Bum!, with Al Jolson, even though my kids love it.
I'll post the list in a little while.

[oscar jubis]

I decided to let you (and others) decide which of these have general appeal. In order of release (more or less). Here we go.

Trouble in Paradise
Freaks
Hallelujah I'm a Bum!
The Informer
Modern Times
The Great Dictator
Pinocchio
Citizen Kane
The Magnificent Ambersons
Casablanca
Miracle of Morgan's Creek
The Southerner
Monsieur Verdoux
The Best Years of Our Lives
Treasure of Sierra Madre
The Third Man
The River
Rear Window
The Night of the Hunter
Salt of the Earth
The Searchers
Paths of Glory
Touch of Evil
Vertigo
Peeping Tom
Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Lawrence of Arabia
The Manchurian Candidate
Shock Corridor
Dr. Strangelove
Falstaff
Repulsion
2001
McCabe and Mrs. Miller
Walkabout
Chinatown
Godfather II
Barry Lyndon
Nashville
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
Eraserhead
Apocalypse Now
Raging Bull
Reds
Once Upon A Time in America
Full Metal Jacket
Distant Voices, Still Lives
The Last Temptation of Christ
Do The Right Thing
My Left Foot
Goodfellas
Boys of St. Vincent
Unforgiven
Exotica
Schindler's List
Dead Man
Safe
Lone Star
Kundun
The Sweet Hereafter
Eyes Wide Shut
Mulholland Dr.
Ararat
Bloody Sunday
The Magdalene Sisters
The Pianist

A sample of "close but no cigar but will watch yet again":
The Red Shoes, Black Narcissus, Singin' in the Rain, Notorious, Laura, Witness for the Prosecution, Brazil, Rio Grande, Sounder, Ratcatcher, Dumbo, Shadows, Pursued, Sullivan's Travels, Blade Runner (dir. cut), Grapes of Wrath...

[HorseradishTree]

I cringe whenever Costner enters the conversation. Dances With Wolves will forever be one of my most hated films. Leone's stuff takes the cake on that.

As for the rest of Cinemabon's original list, I was content, though I did think The Two Towers was better than Fellowship of the Ring.

[Johann]

No City Lights, oscar?
You really like The Boys of St. Vincent- gotta rent that one.

A perfect 10? Tough choices..so many to think about.

Off the top of my head:
Kane
The Wages of Fear
Dr. Strangelove
Lawrence of Arabia
Cries and Whispers
La Strada
Sunrise
Alexander Nevsky
Rashomon
Beauty and the Beast


These ten come to mind immediately when I think of perfection in cinema.

[cinemabon]

I excluded "Cries and Whispers" from the list along with La Strada and a few others because I wanted that portion to come from others with more expertise in that field. My exposure to film from China, Japan, India, and Russia is so limited as to be non-existant. The only stuff I saw from Canada came from the National Film Board, and was mostly shorts. The majority of stuff from the foreign catagory came from France, Sweden, Italy, Germany, and England. Since Oscar left off those pix, and I am almost grateful, I will refrain from any mention of them.

I am so impressed with Oscar. Perhaps, and I think I said this once before, I would like to meet Kris, Oscar, Johann, and a few more who post to this site. That said, here is my take on Oscar's list, which sounded more like one from the AFI.

Regretfully I pulled Pinocchio off the list at the last minute. I laugh everytime I hear the song, "An Actor's life for me". There isn't a bad frame in that entire film, and if any animated picture can be called perfect, it's that one. No wonder Walt took the theme song and made it his own.

Fans of Kubrick always have their favorites; yours were Paths of Glory, 2001, and Barry Lyndon (about which we've had an argument or two). My very good friend Rick, who used to write for the Hollywood Reporter told me on Sunset Blvd. one night that 2001 was the greatest film of all time. Again that subjective thing.

So many movies on the list I could have no debate on their being great films. I have seen all of the "Hollywood Standards", like Miracle of Morgan's Creek (Preston Sturges), not nearly as funny as Sullivan's Travels in my mind, but hilarious nontheless.

Other titles are obscure and I confess my ignorance in not having seen them. In fact, I went to IMDB just to see if they really were films. Not that I doubted you, Oscar, its just that titles like "Peeping Tom" sounded rather bizarre. So I am going to print out your list and look up those films I haven't seen and try to find out why you listed them. Perhaps by this time next year, after viewing most of those films on your list, I will expand my list as well. Thanks for keeping the summer interesting.

Howard must be out fishing on the sound this summer.

[cinemabon]

I admit that I love the work of Michael Powell but had not seen Peeping Tom. I will try to now. I'm still trying to find a video version of the LIfe and Death of Colonel Blimp, one of his greatest masterpieces (I believe Black Narcisuss to be his greatest work but like Kubrick, there were so many). This list is sending me off in fifty different directions!!!!

But I must confess.... I like it. I'm off to have more fun. Later....

[oscar jubis]

City Lights
The list I posted on this thread excludes silents, docs and foreign-language movies. I consider City Lights a silent film because it contains no speech. Others consider it a sound film because it contains sound effects (and incidentally, a musical score composed by Chaplin). It's magnificent. The last great American silent.

Criterion
There are so many great movies not included on my list. Jonathan Rosenbaum's latest book "Essential Cinema: On the Necessity of Film Canons" includes a list of over 1000 films he considers masterpieces. And he is rather rigorous! I haven't actually seen it yet but I ordered the book today. Can't wait. No surprise at the number since cinema is worldwide and over 100 years old. It's perfectly o.k. to have one's favorite genres and national cinemas. The films I listed are the great ones (a matter of opinion, not fact) that I somehow "fell in love with". It's been a challenge over the years to understand why this happens and to put it into words.

Bergman
Along with Fellini, Truffaut and a few others, I was exposed to Bergman early in my life, in the 70s when I was in my teens. These directors were quite popular, almost unavoidable. I feel very comfortable discussing Fellini and Truffaut and why I like some of their movies more than others. I feel ill at ease discussing Bergman. Somehow I haven't made up my mind about several of his movies. My foreign list currently includes Wild Strawberries, Fanny and Alexander and The Seventh Seal(which according to Dave Kehr "Bergman himself later repudiated"). I know I like the cinematography of Cries and Whispers(which both of you mention) and Persona(in Ebert's Top 10 of all time) but I don't quite know how I feel about their content. My opinion regarding all of Bergman's films is very mutable.

Powell and Pressburger
Did these Brits ever made a mediocre movie? No, they consistently made films of the highest quality. Choosing one film over the others is a highly subjective, personal matter. I cannot say Peeping Tom is "better" than The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp but I do prefer it. I am curious about the distribution and reception their films received stateside.