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Olthannon wrote: But for cinematic perfection? School of Rock. Fantastically enjoyable film, its a good laugh, great soundtrack and it's a warm and daft to watch.
I think that's a good point and a good film to raise it on. School of Rock is not an amazing film. There are certainly many a film that would beat it in terms of critical reception. But for what that film set out to achieve it was perfect, and that's the standard that perfection should be judged by.
For me, Aliens is almost flawless. Everything about it, from the tight characterisation to the action sequences. The underlying theme of motherhood drives things forward without becoming preachy.
The Matrix: it's hard to go back to 1999 and remember how good a film this was. Not just bullet time, but gripping action sequences, and a light philosophical dusting that enlivens the movie without weighing it down like the sequels. The scene where Neo wakes up and sees the world as it really is remains as unsettling as it was then. A million times better than the soggy wet fart that was The Phantom Menace in the same year.
Ok, mine. The Descent. The friendships are realistic, with tensions just under the surface that rise later on. The series of small mistakes and character flaws that compounds to really screw the team over. Most of all though, the slow, careful progress and sweaty claustrophobia of the cave system are pitched perfectly. British ending, of course.
Lilo and Stitch is my favourite Disney. It manages to combine a broken-then-reunited family tearjerker, several redemption stories and a fish-out-of-water plus new-pet-with-a-history comedy.
Every scene hits its note - the tears are for real, the family stuff is gritty, the SF and comedy scenes are outrageous fun. The characters are tough on the outside, but fragile and damaged on the inside, constantly butting heads in their attempts to bond. They come together to heal at just the right pace.
My Neighbour Totoro deals with heavy issues lightly, and the way the hidden world slowly works its way into the sisters' lives is magically done. Mononoke and Spirited Away may deal with weightier themes, and bring the mythical and the everyday together powerfully, but Totoro is a hearty bowl of soup for the soul.
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2022/03/24 22:42:12
Mr Morden wrote: he especially has an issue with making any kind of female character,
That's a generic problem cinema has had for decades, not just Nolan's. Before the 90s pretty much every movie had 90% of the cast reserved to males and pretty much every single protagonist was a male. Think about all the greatest directors in history and all the most famous movies, not many female characters there and mostly sidekicks or love interests.
That's why we have so many great actresses today and not many actors: not that women are currently better in acting than men, they just have tons of roles that aren't copy/paste of something that was already done. I for example currently have 6-7 favorite actesses and maybe 1-2 favorite actors.
From Nolan's works I remember a great Carrie Ann Moss in Memento, Hilary Swank in Insomnia and Marion Cotillard in Inception. The latter is certainly my favorite character in that movie.
Lilo and Stitch is my favourite Disney. It manages to combine a broken-then-reunited family tearjerker, several redemption stories and a fish-out-of-water plus new-pet-with-a-history comedy.
Every scene hits its note - the tears are for real, the family stuff is gritty, the SF and comedy scenes are outrageous fun. The characters are tough on the outside, but fragile and damaged on the inside, constantly butting heads in their attempts to bond. They come together to heal at just the right pace.
Olthannon wrote: But for cinematic perfection? School of Rock. Fantastically enjoyable film, its a good laugh, great soundtrack and it's a warm and daft to watch.
I think that's a good point and a good film to raise it on. School of Rock is not an amazing film. There are certainly many a film that would beat it in terms of critical reception. But for what that film set out to achieve it was perfect, and that's the standard that perfection should be judged by.
By that metric, Bikini Carwash Company 2. It’s one of those rare sequels that surpass the original.
But really, Clue. Clue is the perfect murder mystery comedy.
I have a really hard time finding any faults with Commando. It's pretty perfect for the genre and paced in such a way that even when it slows down, it doesn't really drag.
To steal a quote "Fellowship of the Ring is so good it makes me angry", especially as it came out shortly after George Lucas was going through the motions of spooning warm vomit into my eyes and ears with those prequel efforts (but hey at least he warmed it up looking at you JJ and Ryan), pitch perfect cast, stunning cinematography and a cracking adaption of the source material, yes there are tweaks but not even classics can dodge that these days, and yes it was diminishing returns with the other two and the less said about The Hobbit the better but Fellowship is awesome sauce
"AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME...SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED."
The filming and casting are absolutely spot on. It doesn’t matter that Arnie is monosyllabic, as it suits his character (arguably redefined the character).
The theme musics are spot in and absolutely out of this world.
If it was just the awesome theme tune - that would almost be enough but then we have the building tension throughout, the great camera work and angles when it follows characters or the Dog - yeah the dog - never looked at dog the same way again. The Ending is also genius
Also one fo the rare films with a excellent sequal which takes the time to enact all the elements that we see "later" in the original film at the Norwegians base.
I AM A MARINE PLAYER
"Unimaginably ancient xenos artefact somewhere on the planet, hive fleet poised above our heads, hidden 'stealer broods making an early start....and now a bloody Chaos cult crawling out of the woodwork just in case we were bored. Welcome to my world, Ciaphas."
Inquisitor Amberley Vail, Ordo Xenos
"I will admit that some Primachs like Russ or Horus could have a chance against an unarmed 12 year old novice but, a full Battle Sister??!! One to one? In close combat? Perhaps three Primarchs fighting together... but just one Primarch?" da001
@ Mr Morden, I agree on The Thing, it's most likely his best film (although I've a soft spot for Big Trouble) is that the one where the commentary is basically Kurt and John getting boozed right up ?
"AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME...SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED."
One of my genuine passions in life is following a thread back to its origin. And oh my, The Thing is the start of the thread for a great many special effects - and like many, many other ground breaking movie special effects, all done on a tight budget.
As documented in other threads, that sort of “OK, boss man wants this…how the bloody hell do we do it” experimentation (and the associated craft of lighting and filming it so it looks as not crap as possible) is something I feel pure CGI is a cop out over.
Don’t get me wrong. I’ve nowt against CGI as a thing. It is absolutely an art form unto itself. But for me, it’s just Not As Good, on its own.
Practical effects with CGI nip and tuck? Awesome.
On a tight budget and can’t afford practical effects, but restrain your vision to what pure and perhaps necessarily CGI, all good with me.
But……
Can’t afford owt, so turn to crappy CGI in place of a plot? GTFO. Then in the bin. Then on fire. Then in a concrete block. Then in the sea. Cinema does not need you.
Fed up of Scalpers? But still want your Exclusives? Why not join us?
Clever, knowing and witty with loads of references, a great cast and a super cute heroine.
Watching right now
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/03/27 13:33:51
I AM A MARINE PLAYER
"Unimaginably ancient xenos artefact somewhere on the planet, hive fleet poised above our heads, hidden 'stealer broods making an early start....and now a bloody Chaos cult crawling out of the woodwork just in case we were bored. Welcome to my world, Ciaphas."
Inquisitor Amberley Vail, Ordo Xenos
"I will admit that some Primachs like Russ or Horus could have a chance against an unarmed 12 year old novice but, a full Battle Sister??!! One to one? In close combat? Perhaps three Primarchs fighting together... but just one Primarch?" da001
Maybe one of the most underrated Disney movies made. Made at a time when Disney was changing its image a bit, it didn't have a great Box Office response. However, it killed it in DVD releases. Most Disney movies around the time were funny, yes. But many of them were morals with humor added to them. The Emperor's New Groove was not that, this was a straight up comedy.
David Spade, John Goodman, Eartha Kitt, Patrick Warburton, Wendie Malick. What an amazing cast. Sting got an Academy Award nomination for the song "My Funny Friend and Me" and lost to Bob Dylan that year.
Sadly I suspect the opinions of many will be tainted by its increasingly awful sequels. But this first one? It’s really, really good. Kind of claustrophobic, but from a voyeuristic view. We’re not so much scared for ourselves, but for the cast members.
Overall it’s a very effective horror/thriller. Certainly it was impressive enough to breathe life into its own niche genre, with a great many imitators of varying worth.
Fed up of Scalpers? But still want your Exclusives? Why not join us?
Mad Max: Fury Road. A beautiful, operatic, OTT wonder of a movie which surpases the already excellent pror trilogy. Not a beat missed or a moment wasted. A joy to watch.
And Krull also loses points for dubbing over a perfectly understandable English accent (with a voice at least 20 years older), not even Neeson and Tucker Jenkins cover the lost points
"AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME...SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED."
2022/03/30 02:10:12
Subject: Re:Cinematic Perfection. Champion a movie.
1987 was an excellent year for cinema and this one lived up to its message; "Never stop. Never stop fighting until the fight is done." From the opening harmonica to the closing theme, this is a production which never gives up and fights for every scene and every shot. As a result it is one of the greatest films of all time.
Unlike most other mob'n'gangster films( a genre I have little time for ), The Untouchables brings to the table as much heart as it does violence. The young bomb victim isn't only collatorial damage, but someone's daughter, Wallace isn't just an accountant but a lost Musketeer. Malone...well, go and watch the film.
Each of the Federal team is a memorable character, while Billy Drago and Robert DeNiro deliver villainous performances that we certainly don't forget in a hurry.
And above all else, the music is perfect. Ennio Morricone's finest score, and that is not said lightly after all the masterpieces he has contributed to cinema over the decades.
Casual gaming, mostly solo-coop these days.
2022/03/30 08:56:04
Subject: Re:Cinematic Perfection. Champion a movie.
Army of Darkness is just a perfect movie. It works beautifully as sequel to Evil Dead 2 but also stands alone as a movie set in the same universe but separate from the earlier films (although it is directly referenced in Evil Dead 2).
It has all of the same humour of Evil Dead 2, but it feels like Bruce Campbell had really grown into the role. Some people might bemoan the special effects, but it's a great nod to classic films of the Ray Harryhausen era. It also references so many other classic movies (A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Robin Hood, to name a couple) and pop culture references.
It was also the first film I remember seeing that had alternate endings and post credit scenes.
It's not up there in terms of cinematography, script writing, performances as some of the other titles in this thread, but for me it is perfection.
Sadly I suspect the opinions of many will be tainted by its increasingly awful sequels. But this first one? It’s really, really good. Kind of claustrophobic, but from a voyeuristic view. We’re not so much scared for ourselves, but for the cast members.
Overall it’s a very effective horror/thriller. Certainly it was impressive enough to breathe life into its own niche genre, with a great many imitators of varying worth.
Loved that film when it first came out - I recommend the original version and ending, rather than the Spielberg one (not quite sure why he felt he had to get involved and change it).
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:Conan The Barbarian
Oh. Oh my. What a slice of odd perfection.
The filming and casting are absolutely spot on. It doesn’t matter that Arnie is monosyllabic, as it suits his character (arguably redefined the character).
The theme musics are spot in and absolutely out of this world.
But just a supremely confident bit of Easy Watching (cinema equivalent of Easy Listening) without flaw.
Those films are so great. If you haven't yet read it, I definitely recommend reading Arnie's biography - there is a really interesting section on those films and some of the characters that were involved in the production. It does make you actually wonder how some of these films ever get made as there are so many stumbling blocks!
Army of Darkness is just a perfect movie. It works beautifully as sequel to Evil Dead 2 but also stands alone as a movie set in the same universe but separate from the earlier films (although it is directly referenced in Evil Dead 2).
It has all of the same humour of Evil Dead 2, but it feels like Bruce Campbell had really grown into the role. Some people might bemoan the special effects, but it's a great nod to classic films of the Ray Harryhausen era. It also references so many other classic movies (A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Robin Hood, to name a couple) and pop culture references.
It was also the first film I remember seeing that had alternate endings and post credit scenes.
It's not up there in terms of cinematography, script writing, performances as some of the other titles in this thread, but for me it is perfection.
Along with Aliens it's the movie that I watched the most, more than 10 times for sure. Probably my favorite comedy as well. Ash was my childhood superhero .
Cadre Coronal Afterglow w1;d0;l0 
. The Ending is also genius
.