Perfect Movies
by benettfreeman | created - 18 Aug 2016 | updated - 18 Aug 2016 | PublicSome movies are perfect because every moment is genius and I feel like I wouldn't change anything about them. This is something different to them being my favourite movies. I hope intelligent IMDB people can understand the distinction.
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1. The Double Life of Véronique (1991)
R | 98 min | Drama, Fantasy, Music
Two parallel stories about two identical women; one living in Poland, the other in France. They don't know each other, but their lives are nevertheless profoundly connected.
Director: Krzysztof Kieslowski | Stars: Irène Jacob, Wladyslaw Kowalski, Halina Gryglaszewska, Kalina Jedrusik
Votes: 52,997 | Gross: $2.00M
Kieslowski's greatest masterpiece, and Slawomir Idziak's finest moment.
2. Bad Guy (2001)
Not Rated | 100 min | Drama, Romance
An unfeeling gangster seeks to ruin the life of a young girl who rejected him. He forces her into prostitution and spies on her regularly, then he soon begins to fall for her.
Director: Kim Ki-duk | Stars: Cho Jae-hyun, Won Seo, Kim Yun-tae, Choi Deok-moon
Votes: 10,598
Because of how violent it is, and how misogynistic the main character is, most people would probably lose interest in this movie, and fail to see how brilliant it is, and how really, it's just a love story. A very unusual one, but a love story no less.
3. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (2003)
R | 103 min | Drama, Romance
A boy is raised by a Buddhist monk in an isolated floating temple where the years pass like the seasons.
Director: Kim Ki-duk | Stars: Kim Ki-duk, Oh Yeong-su, Jong-ho Kim, Kim Young-min
Votes: 86,852 | Gross: $2.38M
As I write this, I'm wondering if Kim will be the only film-maker with more than one entry on this list. I'm also wondering how many other people have him on their lists at all? Although his standards have changed, and I haven't enjoyed his more recent output, both of the films of his that appear on this list are gems.
4. Three Colors: Red (1994)
R | 99 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
A model discovers a retired judge is keen on invading people's privacy.
Director: Krzysztof Kieslowski | Stars: Irène Jacob, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Frédérique Feder, Jean-Pierre Lorit
Votes: 110,069 | Gross: $4.04M
A few minutes later, and I realise that of course Kieslowski will have two entries here too. Easily my favourite original score for a narrative movie, and the script is just dazzling.
5. Heaven Can Wait (1978)
PG | 101 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
A Los Angeles Rams quarterback, accidentally taken away from his body by an overanxious angel before he was meant to die, returns to life in the body of a recently murdered millionaire.
Directors: Warren Beatty, Buck Henry | Stars: Warren Beatty, James Mason, Julie Christie, Jack Warden
Votes: 23,531 | Gross: $81.64M
This is a good example of the distinction I made above: Reds (1981) is my favourite Beatty film, but I think Heaven Can Wait is better made. In particular, the final scene with James Mason has haunted me ever since I saw it.
6. Synecdoche, New York (2008)
R | 124 min | Drama
A theatre director struggles with his work, and the women in his life, as he creates a life-size replica of New York City inside a warehouse as part of his new play.
Director: Charlie Kaufman | Stars: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Samantha Morton, Michelle Williams, Catherine Keener
Votes: 98,278 | Gross: $3.08M
Die.
7. The Big Blue (1988)
PG | 168 min | Adventure, Drama, Sport
The rivalry between Enzo and Jacques, two childhood friends and now world-renowned free divers, becomes a beautiful and perilous journey into oneself and the unknown.
Director: Luc Besson | Stars: Jean-Marc Barr, Jean Reno, Rosanna Arquette, Paul Shenar
Votes: 55,127 | Gross: $3.50M
8. Being There (1979)
PG | 130 min | Comedy, Drama
After the death of his employer forces him out of the only home he's ever known, a simpleminded, sheltered gardener becomes an unlikely trusted advisor to a powerful tycoon and an insider in Washington politics.
Director: Hal Ashby | Stars: Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas, Jack Warden
Votes: 77,702 | Gross: $30.18M
9. Buffalo '66 (1998)
R | 110 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
After being released from prison, Billy is set to visit his parents with his wife, whom he does not actually have. This provokes Billy to act out, as he kidnaps a girl and forces her to act as his wife for the visit.
Director: Vincent Gallo | Stars: Vincent Gallo, Christina Ricci, Ben Gazzara, Mickey Rourke
Votes: 60,323 | Gross: $2.38M
A lot of people hate this movie and I just cannot understand why. I think it's completely brilliant.
10. Birth (2004)
R | 100 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
A young boy attempts to convince a woman that he is her dead husband reborn.
Director: Jonathan Glazer | Stars: Nicole Kidman, Cameron Bright, Lauren Bacall, Danny Huston
Votes: 40,915 | Gross: $5.01M
11. Under the Skin (I) (2013)
R | 108 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A mysterious young woman seduces lonely men in the evening hours in Scotland. However, events lead her to begin a process of self-discovery.
Director: Jonathan Glazer | Stars: Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy McWilliams, Lynsey Taylor Mackay, Dougie McConnell
Votes: 158,331 | Gross: $2.61M
Ok, so Glazer ends up having two titles as well. I'd love him to put together another masterpiece and make it three.
12. The Idiots (1998)
R | 117 min | Comedy, Drama
The group of people gather at the house in Copenhagen suburb to break all the limitations and to bring out the "inner idiot" in themselves.
Director: Lars von Trier | Stars: Bodil Jørgensen, Jens Albinus, Anne Louise Hassing, Troels Lyby
Votes: 33,980 | Gross: $0.01M
13. Melancholia (2011)
R | 135 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
Two sisters find their already strained relationship challenged as a mysterious new planet threatens to collide with Earth.
Director: Lars von Trier | Stars: Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland, Alexander Skarsgård
Votes: 196,033 | Gross: $3.03M
Von Trier joins the other two-timers.
14. The Big Short (2015)
R | 130 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
In 2006-2007 a group of investors bet against the United States mortgage market. In their research, they discover how flawed and corrupt the market is.
Director: Adam McKay | Stars: Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt
Votes: 485,063 | Gross: $70.26M
A masterpiece that mixes comedy, expose, and warning.
15. Love (II) (2015)
TV-MA | 135 min | Drama, Romance
Murphy is an American living in Paris who enters a highly sexually and emotionally charged relationship with Electra. Unaware of the effect it will have on their relationship, they invite their pretty neighbor into their bed.
Director: Gaspar Noé | Stars: Aomi Muyock, Karl Glusman, Klara Kristin, Juan Saavedra
Votes: 66,755
16. The Aviator (2004)
PG-13 | 170 min | Biography, Drama
A biopic depicting the early years of legendary director and aviator Howard Hughes' career from the late 1920s to the mid 1940s.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, John C. Reilly
Votes: 384,239 | Gross: $102.61M
I'm not sure there is another film on this list that combines an epic yet fast-paced script, perfect and innovative cinematography, masterclass acting, and also takes on the challenge of condensing and exploring the life of such an interesting person. I watch this perhaps more often than any film on this list, showing it to people who never heard of it and encouraging them to examine how great it is.
17. Irreversible (2002)
Not Rated | 97 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Events over the course of one traumatic night in Paris unfold in reverse-chronological order as the beautiful Alex is brutally raped and beaten by a stranger in an underpass tunnel.
Director: Gaspar Noé | Stars: Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel, Albert Dupontel, Philippe Nahon
Votes: 147,770 | Gross: $0.75M
Noe joins the other greats with this.
18. Magnolia (1999)
R | 188 min | Drama
An epic mosaic of interrelated characters in search of love, forgiveness and meaning in the San Fernando Valley.
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson | Stars: Tom Cruise, Jason Robards, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman
Votes: 328,668 | Gross: $22.46M
I think this was the first film I saw that showed me what 'perfect' meant.
19. Barry Lyndon (1975)
PG | 185 min | Adventure, Drama, War
An Irish rogue wins the heart of a rich widow and assumes her dead husband's aristocratic position in 18th-century England.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Ryan O'Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee, Hardy Krüger
Votes: 183,211
20. The Fountain (2006)
PG-13 | 97 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
As a modern-day scientist, Tommy is struggling with mortality, desperately searching for the medical breakthrough that will save the life of his cancer-stricken wife, Izzi.
Director: Darren Aronofsky | Stars: Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz, Sean Patrick Thomas, Ellen Burstyn
Votes: 248,833 | Gross: $10.14M
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