Perfect Runs - Page 2

I'm a huge fan of John Carpenter's seventies to mid-eighties run. My favorite block of films from any genre filmmaker in history.

This is a lot easier to do with directors than actors. Especially because some actors just take nothing roles, or their films end up being unseen, because they need those paychecks. I bring you the filmography of Samantha Morton

Sweet and Lowdown

Jesus' Son

(both brilliant)

Pandaemonium

The Last Yellow

(what are these two?)

Eden (Amos Gitai, so probably good, anyone seen?)

Morvern Callar

Minority Report

In America

Code 46

Enduring Love

The Libertine

(Now THAT'S a run)

River Queen (heard not great things, runaway production)

Lassie (great cast, why not?)

Free Jimmy (R-rated Animated movie about stoners who kidnap an elephant? Screenplay by Simon Pegg? Bwa? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCjoGGIUwTU)

Longford (very good TV movie)

Expired

Control

Mister Lonely

(three really unconventional, fascinating indies, she's great in all of them)

Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Synecdoche, NY

(killer)

The Daisy Chain (horror? not familiar)

The Messenger (excellent)

And what does she have on the docket? A role in "John Carter" and she's in Cronenberg's next one. I would say that's one dynamite career.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hammerhead 

Art, I gotta disagree on Shadows and Fog. If nothing else, it's beautifully shot (a la John Ford's The Informer) and has a great late Donald Pleasence performance. I'd keep counting through Husbands and Wives, with Manhattan Murder Mystery being the first really obvious 'filler' film.

To each his own, naturally, but I had a Woody marathon last year & I remember S&F just being a complete slog. It's a substantive dropoff when compared to the fims leading up to it. Soderbergh's Kafka (released the same year) is pretty much the exact same movie but that was executed far more effectively.

Manhattan Murder Mystery's great! Yeah, it's filler but I genuinely enjoy that one quite a bit. The "behind the movie screen" chase is a fairly inspired set piece.

Amy Adams has had a pretty good run since she burst onto the movie screen.  It's not perfect though as she was in smaller roles in the beginning, but as she became the leading lady her films are very strong, in my opinion. 

Cruel Intentions 2 was perfect, dammit!!!

Going as far back as Spaced, Edgar Wright has had a damn good run so far.  

I'm cooling off on Scott Pilgrim but must agree.

Barring Home Movies, which I haven't seen, DePalma's run from Sisters (1973) through Body Double (1984) is pretty terrific.  

Rob Reiner:

This Is Spinal Tap

The Sure Thing

Stand By Me

The Princess Bride

When Harry Met Sally...

Misery

A Few Good Men

and then...

David Fincher:

Alien 3

Seven

The Game

Fight Club

Panic Room

Zodiac

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Social Network

One could easily - and understandably - remove Alien 3 from that list and it becomes that much stronger. And I'm willing to bet The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo will make it stronger still.

And for the actors, Steve McQueen (1960 - 1973):

The Magnificent Seven

The Honeymoon Machine

Hell is for Heroes

The War Lover

The Great Escape

Soldier in the Rain

Love with a Proper Stranger

Baby the Rain Must Fall

The Cincinnati Kid

Nevada Smith

The Sand Pebbles

The Thomas Crown Affair

Bullit

The Reivers

Le Mans

Junior Bonner

The Getaway

Papillion

He didn't really hit his stride until The Cincinnati Kid, but after that it's pretty smooth sailing (The Reivers notwithstanding). You could even extend it to 1974 and thrown in The Towering Inferno, if you're so inclined.

I'd remove Benjamin Button from that list.  Bleh.

EDIT: Bleh, Spike.  Bleh!!!

I wonder how much Fincher even cared about Benjamin Button as a work of narrative fiction.  It seems like hes more interested in all the neat VFX trickery than the actual storytelling.  Visually striking, but such a dull sappy mess of a movie.

Edit: As far as I'm concerned, Alien 3 is part of Fincher's perfect run.  Love the movie and I think its a great and fitting ending to the franchise.  

Alfonso Cuaron

1995     A Little Princess        
1998    Great Expectations        
2001    Y tu mamá también
2004   Harry Potter & The Prisoner Of Azkaban        
2006   Children of Men
2012    Gravity

Pretty incredible.

david fincher for the win

alien 3 rivals the first in my opinion. awesome cast, slow burn, i just dont understand why it gets so much hate, especially for a debut film

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spike Marshall 

I really cannot put into words my disdain for Benjamin Button, I hate giving up on my movies but halfway through that film I was pacing around my room like a bear in a russian circus.

 

Thirded.  I'm much more inclined to give Alien 3 a pass, although it raises an issue of what "perfect" means.  In an actor's case, is it being in nothing but good films, or giving nothing but quality performances in flicks of varying quality?  Because for all of Button's faults, it is directed quite well.

Opinions on Benjamin Button vary - I didn't love it, but I don't have quite the disdain for it as others here have expressed - but as fuzzy indicated, it is shot pretty damn well. I'm not a big fan of Panic Room either, but I'd never call it a bad movie. And the only reason I'd allow for Alien 3 to be left off that list is not a reflection of its quality but rather because it wasn't really Fincher's movie. He didn't achieve his auteur status until Seven.

Sergio Leone:

A Fistful of Dollars

For a Few Dollars More

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Once Upon a Time in the West

Duck, You Sucker

Once Upon a Time in America

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheCatfishCommander 

 

alien 3 rivals the first in my opinion. awesome cast, slow burn, i just dont understand why it gets so much hate, especially for a debut film

I will not ever, ever understand this statement.  This is like saying that plate of Kibbles n Bits rivals a prime rib steak.  This anti-backlash praise for Alien 3 has got to stop!

'2112'

'A Farewell to Kings'

'Hemispheres'

'Permanent Waves'

'Moving Pictures'

'Signals'

6 absolutely flawless albums by Rush.  They had several GOOD ones after 'Signals', but I wouldn't call them perfect by any stretch.

Now, we're talkin!

Beatles aside, I'd say that Bowie's early to mid career run is the gold standard measure of consistent quality & artistic versatility.

1971 MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD

1972 HUNKY DORY

1972 RISE & FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST

1973 ALADDIN SANE

1974 DIAMOND DOGS

1975 YOUNG AMERICANS

1976 STATION TO STATION

1977 LOW

1977 ''HEROES'

1978 LODGER

1980 SCARY MONSTERS (AND SUPER CREEPS)

1983 LET'S DANCE

Now that is a "perfect run".

Starting with Brother from Another Planet and ending with Lone Star, pretty much every film John Sayles has made as director is great in its own way. It might be an even longer run because apart from Silver City I haven't seen much of his directed work before/after this period (quite a few I need to watch from after, really bin slacking there. I'll bet money there is gold there too though)

Matthew Vaughn. This producer turned director is probably the most quality consistent filmmaker working today.

2004 Layer Cake

2007 Stardust

2010 Kick-Ass

2011 X-Men: First Class

Quote:

Originally Posted by Art Decade 

Matthew Vaughn. This producer turned director is probably the most quality consistent filmmaker working today.

 

2004 Layer Cake

2007 Stardust

2010 Kick-Ass

2011 X-Men: First Class

If we're going by this abbreviated standard, I'd say Neil Marshall is pitching a perfect game so far as well.  

Miyazaki. Not a dead spot on his resume until Howl's Moving Castle. And even that film is a minor stumble, not a failure.

I'm kind of baffled as to how Quentin Tarantino has yet to be mentioned in this thread, honestly.

I'd certainly consider DEATH PROOF a stumble.

I don't really agree. There are definite moment of greatness but for the most part I find it to be a slog that magnifies Tarantino's worst tendencies.

Yeah, if the Coens are getting included in the discussion despite THE LADYKILLERS  then QT, who accomplished EXACTLY what he set out to with DEATH PROOF, deserves in on it too. Besides, the film really, really works.

David Lean. Not an embarrassment in the bunch.

1945 Brief Encounter
1946 Great Expectations
1948 Oliver Twist
1949 One Woman's Story
1950 Madeleine
1952 Breaking the Sound Barrier
1954 Hobson's Choice
1955 Summertime
1957 The Bridge on the River Kwai
1962 Lawrence of Arabia
1965 Doctor Zhivago
1970 Ryan's Daughter
1984 A Passage to India

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spike Marshall 

It's a stumble, but it's still pretty fucking good.

Are we counting his shorts as well because his "4 Rooms" contribution is a full on drunken collapse to the floor.   If we're overlooking that, then yeah Tarantino has a perfect record.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spike Marshall 

Hence why I didn't include Tarantino earlier because Death Proof is one of the more debatable films in modern history. I think he does a fantastic job of emulating the grindhouse style and tone, far more so than Rodriguez, and then completely knocks it out of the park when he shifts into his usual style with that awesome car chase.

Time is Death Proof's best friend. I hated it, on opening night. Never wanted to revisit it. But a viewing or two later, I love it. There is far too much skill in every extended dialogue scene and set-piece for me to ever consider it any less than great; and too many strong performances from some of the girls (and Kurt, of course!) It's far from his best film, but that has more to do with the sheer magnificence of his other work than any deficiency on the part of Death Proof.

I still remember what it felt like to be let-down by it though. And I'd urge anyone who associates the film solely with disappointment (like I did) to revisit it.

when was the last time you viewed it? try watching it back to back with the original. now i love Aliens, but you could take out the xenomorphs, character names and locations, and you have a totally generic James Cameron space marine flick. i just think the third movie is a much better companion to the original in terms of tone and character.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ratty 

I will not ever, ever understand this statement.  This is like saying that plate of Kibbles n Bits rivals a prime rib steak.  This anti-backlash praise for Alien 3 has got to stop!

 

Cronenberg, folks. Fucking Cronenberg. Fast Company kind of ruins his early career ascent -- although I admit I haven't seen it so perhaps it is great -- so I'm not gonna include Rabid, although it is one of the best zombie flicks I've seen.

The Brood (1979)

Scanners (1981) (it is good)

Videodrome (1983)

The Dead Zone (1983)

The Fly (1986)

Dead Ringers (1988)

Naked Lunch (1991)

M. Butterfly (1993) (it is good)

Crash (1996)

eXistenZ (1999)

Spider (2002)

A History of Violence (2005)

Eastern Promises (2007)

I'm not gonna include A Dangerous Method or Cosmopolis on there, but I find it hard to believe that a Cronenberg take on the Freud-Jung story or Don fucking DeLillo are gonna ruin that streak.

Cronenberg. Now that's how you make a career in film.

I'd even add 1977's Rabid to that list.

What amazes me about Cronenberg is that he not only has worked consistently for almost forty years, but that his films always been insanely interesting, completely him, and mostly anti-commercial. I guess horror is a shockingly profitable niche, but the fact that M. Butterfly, Naked Lunch, Spider, and especially Crash ever got made will always confuse me.

Bullshit on Scanners being good. Bullshit on Existenz. I'll give a pass to Naked Lunch, just because I'm waiting for someone to feed me just the right combination of drugs to get me on its wavelength, but nothing about that movie clicked with me at all while sober.

I would like to personally thank you for including Spider, though.

Between his qualitative consistency as a director & his occasional dalliances as a supporting player, Cronenberg is kind of like the bad acid version of Sydney Pollack.

No, no. I'll admit Scanners is a little bit of a mixed bag, but it's got a lot going on thematically and has a big enough genre pedigree to merit inclusion. I certainly enjoy it.

eXistenZ, however, is undoubtedly great. It surprises me that's even in dispute. What is it you don't like about it?

Existenz wants really badly to be Videodrome for Gaming. It just kinda fails at being as effective as that for its chosen medium. I like the 3.5th wall breaking bit at the end, though.

See Mamoru Oshii's Avalon for pretty much all of Existenz's ideas done right.

I'll try to check that one out, but really -- eXistenZ has a lot more going on than just some ideas about gaming. That's like saying Videodrome is just about TV.

eXistenZ is weird because for the first time ever Cronenberg seems to be behind the curve with his subject matter. It's got ewey gruey Cronenberg goodness in there but it would've felt far more incisive in the 80s. Released in 1999 it seemed kinda quaint.

It's telling that eXistenZ was Cronenberg's last original screenplay to date, and supposedly one he was working on after (Painkillers?) he ended up ditching because he felt he was retreading old ground. He probably knew he'd finally hit a dead end with that kind of 'classic Cronenberg' style and it was time to move on.

I think it's fair to have a slightly looser definition of 'perfect' for this kind of discussion. Hardly anyone who's made more than a handful of films is going to have nothing but equally great movies, but if a filmmaker manages to have no true failures or throwaways, where every movie is noteworthy and adds to their body of work in at least some way, I think it's fair to count them.

Thinking of people who haven't been mentioned, by those standards Jim Jarmusch probably qualifies.

Whether or not the film is objectively good or bad, you can't discuss Cronenberg and leave out Scanners. It's his signature work, if only for THAT SHOT.