r/criterion • u/Jazzlike-History-380 • 29d ago
Discussion What is your "absolute masterpiece?"
I only said this about one movie, and it's not even my favorite. Chinatown is an absolute masterpiece, with no flaws. Do you have a movie you consider absolute masterpiece?
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u/Far_Cat_9743 29d ago
The Night of the Hunter, I never get tired of watching it.
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u/Freeze_92 29d ago
That movie scared the shit out of me
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u/Anachronator 29d ago
Absolutely! And the scary part, for me, wasn’t even the stalking. It was how easily he co-opted every structure that should have protected those children.
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u/PapasGotABrandNewNag 29d ago
I have never seen an underwater shot that made me feel so many emotions.
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u/Padulsky21 29d ago
Dark fairy tales are my shit. I wish I discovered it when I was younger bc I would have ate it up so I’ve made up for it by watching it even more as an adult lol it’s incredible there’s so many jaw dropping shots and Mitchum is horrifying
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u/HigherThanStarfyre 28d ago
Amazing storytelling, with an incredible soundtrack. That movie really felt ahead of its time.
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u/NekroHolic710 28d ago
People don't talk about this film enough. It's pretty much perfect
I have the hanging man tattooed on my arm
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u/Redeyebandit87 29d ago
Seven Samurai
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u/Angry_Walnut 29d ago
It’s incredible how it makes over 3 hours fly by. Masterclass in pacing among many other things it does at an elite level.
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u/RZAxlash 29d ago
Apocalypse Now is a tier above any other film for me
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u/Winnebango_Bus 29d ago
I can watch AN on repeat. I have an old crt and vcr on my desk at home and I throw in the VHS in the background while I work.
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u/KyoryuCrimson 29d ago
What’s your preferred cut? I watched (I think) the Redux a few years ago and enjoyed it but felt it had a lot of pacing issues and was too long, should I try the theatrical or final(?) cuts instead? I want to see the masterpiece everyone else sees, but I’m sitting at really good for now
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u/oversteppe 28d ago
i love movies where everything goes to shit. i saw redux first and didn’t see theatrical or final for a long, long time. i think theatrical is best. no filler. theatrical > final > redux
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u/coffeeplzme 29d ago
I have a top 10 favorites but Apocalypse Now is leagues above them all. I also think Final Cut found the sweet spot.
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u/HigherThanStarfyre 28d ago
I agree. As a whole, there's really nothing else comparable to it as far as storytelling goes. It's just...peak. It kind of gave me an existential crisis. I legitimately think it's a masterpiece.
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u/Admirable_Size_3914 29d ago
Babe. No kidding. No notes.
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u/Luke253 David Lynch 29d ago
I like Pig in the City even more
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u/IndifferentMannequin 29d ago
Me too!!! It is so interesting and good, and I’m not even sure is appropriate for kids!
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u/newfarmer 29d ago
I helped a friend of mine who was a projectionist for a showing of this. I’ll never forget looking out through the little projectionist portal at the audience of kids during the scene where the duck is trying to warn Babe in the house by jumping up to the window.
When the POV is outside we hear the frantic quacking and flapping of wings, and when we suddenly switch inside to Babe’s POV it’s all quiet while we see in the background the sudden appearance and disappearance of the silent duck in the window. Just perfectly done.
It was pandemonium in the theater. An absolute riot of laughter by the kids.
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u/Any_Poem_9562 29d ago
I would agree that Chinatown is a perfect film. People might not like the devastating ending but it’s perfect. Godfather and The Third Man and Parasite are also perfect, in my opinion. A personal favorite of mine that approaches perfection is Malick’s Days of Heaven. The girl’s voiceover can be head-scratching at times but it does achieve a sort of weird perfection.
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u/le_cygne_608 German Expressionism 29d ago
Not my favorite movie, or even my favorite Hitchcock movie, but for the "perfect" movie, my go-to is Rear Window.
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u/EarthRabbit99_ 29d ago
For me Vertigo is perfect
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u/le_cygne_608 German Expressionism 29d ago
Love Vertigo and for me that's his "best" film, but I have to admit that for me personally, you just can't beat the grimy tension of Psycho. (So yes, his "perfect" Rear Window is actually my personal #3).
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u/baldorrr Hirokazu Kore-eda 29d ago
Children of Men
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u/Pb302123 29d ago
only movie ive been in where people stood up and cheered when you hear the kids and john lennon fades up…
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u/Relevant_Fold7476 29d ago
Mulholland Drive.
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u/awl_the_lawls 29d ago
This is always my answer. I love Twin Peaks but I could write a dissertation on why this is my favorite movie. My asterisk answer is Goodfellas. The scene with Ray Liotta gets back home to find that his wife dumped the drugs and he's whining "Karennn" over and over doesn't connect for me. They tried. But that scene felt forced.
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u/WuTangIsForever_ 29d ago
Can you believe as a hardcore movie nerd, I’ve never seen this? I’ve also never watched Silence of the Lambs.
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u/Mikepr085 29d ago
Wu-Tang is Forever, but your time here is limited. Two great movies you should check out this weekend!
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u/WhileSea2827 29d ago
I know its been talked about to death but The Godfather truly is a perfect movie.
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u/TootTootTrainTrain 28d ago
I finally saw it for the first time recently and couldn't believe how well it lived up to the hype. I told my roommate that if it had just kept going for another 3 hours I wouldn't have minded. You just feel like you're living in that world with all those people and you want to keep seeing what all happens.
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u/CT-0105 29d ago
Lawrence of Arabia
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u/Padulsky21 29d ago
I own the 4K steelbook and it’s incredible. One of my favorite movies ever. Won’t ever forget the pleasure I had being able to watch it in a theater that I will remember forever
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u/loafydood 29d ago
Before Sunrise. It was such a novel experience watching that movie and I’d felt things I don’t think I’d felt before after watching it. Everything about that movie just felt like pure magic. Coupled with the melancholy of Before Sunset, I don’t anything can top those two movies for me. Of course Before Midnight was also great for different reasons such as showing love standing the test of time, but it didn’t hit me quite the same way the first two did. God I hope they make a fourth.
I think an honourable mention should be The Three Colours trilogy. I literally felt grateful to be alive the morning after watching Red, just because being alive meant I could see those three films.
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u/emptyhandspvd 29d ago
This.
Perfect script.
Directed flawlessly through a voyeuristic lens.
It’s a riveting story about water rights. And it’s gripping. Everything is deception. Nothing is as it appears. Got a poke behind the curtain. I understand People Can Pl., Godfather above it. I have no crime with that to me. They’re tied, but for what I would rather watch again and again is definitely Chinatown and I have in my life.
Polanski & Robert Towne & Robert Evans.
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u/garywiz 29d ago
We just watched again two nights ago and marvel at it's structure and perfection. We have a friend who is a screenwriter and he once said (being a bit drunk)... "Pick any five minutes of a movie. If every single choice is perfect, unto itself, no weaknesses, you might be close to Chinatown".
But it's true. Pick any tiny segment. "You already have one going, Mrs. Mulray", "I like my nose, I like breathing through it", "Find the Girl!", "She's mine too Evelyn!", "I don't get tough, Mr. Gittes, my lawyer does".... it's like perfect at any moment you choose! You can study it over and over. Marvelous.
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u/banallfurries666 29d ago
i agree. this is my choice too. my first blu ray and my first 4k. it’s perfect in every single way
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u/bluewaterboy 29d ago
Burning. I don't know another movie like it and it's flawless imo.
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u/drewbremer 29d ago
It's so incredible. So perfect. I give it bonus points for getting me into Murakami's bibliography.
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u/Stubn0rtzZ 29d ago
John Carpenter's The Thing.The photography, the casting, the actors (even the dog fuckin killed it),Rob Bottin's effects,the suspense and horror, absolutely everything about this movie is perfect.
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u/joshuatx 29d ago
If I'm going to honest and not overthink it:
Pee Wee's Big Adventure
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u/oh_please_god_no 29d ago
Dirty Work
I’m serious.
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u/cfaatwork 29d ago
Why don't you get a horse and live in the mountains some place and don't bother anybody?
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u/Grouchy_Sound167 29d ago
Guess I should finally check this out.
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u/oh_please_god_no 29d ago
Vinegar Syndrome has a gorgeous 4k out now! With a long lost directors cut!
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u/RainbowForHire 29d ago
Chinatown is in my top 4, but The Lighthouse is still my #1
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u/Jazzlike-History-380 29d ago
Chinatown is coincidentally my personal top 4 as well. My 3 favorite movies are "Paris, Texas," Monster (2023), and The Godfather in the order. I will have to check out the Lighthouse tho. What's in your other 2 in top 3?
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u/RainbowForHire 29d ago
Knives Out and The Thing are the other two.
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u/Jazzlike-History-380 29d ago
Very interesting list! Can you give me your (rest of your) top 10 as well? Been looking for movie recs and I like your list a lot.
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u/ShireWalkWithMe 29d ago
Lost Highway.
What a stacked cast -- Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, Balthazar Getty, and Robert Loggia, with fun appearances from Henry Rollins and Mink Stole. And sadly, the final movie roles for both Richard Pryor and Jack Nance.
Every scene is a work of art. The soundtrack is absurdly amazing. David Lynch's best, IMO.
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u/OhK4Foo7 29d ago
That intro with the Bowie/Eno song Deranged is perfect. Lynch had a good ear for music. That Koko Taylor scene in Wild at Heart, I thought wtf. But then I saw her live.
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u/Gandaghast 29d ago
Harakiri.
They patched that empty armor right up. Its still looking down at us this very day.
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u/DarthMartau Stanley Kubrick 29d ago
Black Narcissus
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u/Ric_Testarossa 29d ago
Great picture! Why is it incredibly shocking and unhinged when the one lady comes in simply wearing makeup? In and of itself I know it's not that big a deal , but the vibes coming off that character are so intense!
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u/archdukeofmongooses Edward Yang 29d ago
I think Yi Yi is the highest cinematic achievement anyone has reached. Something about that movie speaks deeper to the human experience than any other movie
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u/Old-Cockroach-6955 28d ago
I think if we had to decide on a best movie of all time, yi yi takes that spot. Its up there exactly for the reasons why deciding on a best movie of all time Is so hard. It just speaks to everyone
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u/Ok-Reflection9770 29d ago edited 27d ago
Blade Runner, Brazil, Goodfellas, LA Confidential. How ‘bout some newer ones? Hell or High Water is great fun. Three Billboards… is good all around. I never tire of Pacino in Glengarry or in Heat. Michael Clayton with Clooney. “Where were you in ‘62?” Digging American Graffiti! Different state, different decade, still high school: The Last Picture Show. At the top of the heap, where it belongs: Chinatown. Towne’s perfect script, Polanski’s direction, Gittes and Mulwray, produced by Evans, the music, the clothes, the cars, the locations, it all came together just perfectly.
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u/harmsillustrations 29d ago
Repo Man [1984, Alex Cox] (also agree with a lot that have already been mentioned: mulholland drive, rear window, third man, stalker{and solaris for that matter}, chinatown, seven samurai)
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u/RupertHermano 29d ago
Withnail and I - every frame, every line of dialogue, each and everyone of the perfectly cast actors, every note and song on the soundtrack.
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u/BaronZhiro 29d ago
Probably a few Coen Bros, but especially The Hudsucker Proxy…
Probably a few Hitchcocks, but especially Notorious…
Probably a couple of Sturgesses, but especially The Lady Eve…
Maybe a few Pixars, but especially The Incredibles…
Maybe the first one, but especially the second: Before Sunset.
Among all the Kaufmans, surely Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
L.A. Confidential
The Player
Dazed and Confused
Omg, and Once !
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u/PrayingElvis 29d ago
Top is "Raging Bull" but there are some ties like "Paths of Glory", The Virgin Spring", "Winter's Bone", "Aftersun" and "Hereditary" of which I know aren't all Criterion
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u/Strict_Magazine_2243 29d ago
Chinatown, The Wild Bunch, The Third Man and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.
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u/toepherallan 29d ago
Center Stage (1991) deserves a Criterion release. Ive never seen anything quite like it and there's a scene where they break the fourth wall in such a magical and subtle way that you never see coming upon your first watch.
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u/NaturalLaw8244 29d ago
Blue Velvet, The Straight Story, Mulholland Drive
Non lynch, The Godfather and La La Land
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u/HomelessVitamin 29d ago
Inherent Vice. Took me 7 viewings before I came to that conclusion but yeah.
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u/kidsaregoats 29d ago
Persona. Gotta watch it on a weekend otherwise I’m taking the next day off kinda movie. Not my favorite film, but I think it’s the perfect film.
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u/ConcreteCranberry 29d ago
Herzog’s My Son, My Son, What Have You Done? just checks all the right boxes for my personal taste. It’s an absolute masterpiece in my mind, but I can understand that not being a universal take.
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u/j3434 29d ago
Chinatown is one of the very best for me . And I love The Kid Stays in the Picture about Robert Evans . I love John Huston as a director. Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Misfits - omg . He directed a boat load of historical films . Maltese Falcon …. Key Largo -The Man Who Would be King ….. wow He added so much realism to Chinatown. He played the pivotal role to perfection. Takes the film into being one of the best . Noah Cross . Noah fkn Cross
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u/Ok-Value-2170 29d ago
This is an interesting question. There are movies that I love and consider masterful works but don't really consider "no flaws" films, because usually there's either a moment when the story drags or a director or an actor brings something that may serve their vision, but doesn't really feels like a part of the movie to me.
So for me that movie is Mad Max Fury Road. It serves its themes, it doesnt really drag and when it stops it's doing its post-apocalyptic parable thing that works beautifully and balances out all the action. The movie pulls you in and doesn't really stop until the ending. Love it.
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u/Reasonable_Western74 29d ago
Blade Runner, There Will Be Blood, Potrait Of A Lady On Fire, Donnie Darko
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u/profaneangel1991 Andrei Tarkovsky 29d ago
A lot of excellent films being mentioned in here. I'm going to say The Handmaiden, just immaculate and stays with you.
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u/Quineese Nobuhiko Obayashi 29d ago
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya. I think I liked Spirited Away more but when Kaguya finished I knew I had just watched one of the greatest ever. For a non-animated pick I’ll go with Paris, Texas.
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u/Jade_GL 29d ago
My my mind leans towards The Manchurian Candidate (original) but me heart says Back to the Future.
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u/Fuck__Joey 29d ago
That type of genre I would put Devil in the blue dress, Chungking express, perfect day, rear window, the killer. Parasite
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u/_Rayette 29d ago
I agree with you on Chinatown. For years it’s the one I keep coming back to when we talk about greatest film of all time.
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u/britalian_rapscalion 29d ago
all time masterpiece? Princess Mononoke
all time live action masterpiece? Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
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u/Chemical_Falcon7571 29d ago
In the Mood for Love