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.
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