Is there such a thing as a perfect movie? This conversation came up recently when we were watching Mad Max Fury Road. It doesn't strike a chord with me as much as the six movies in this list, but I'd say it's pretty near perfect.
So are any of my favorite movies perfect? I can't say they are, but here are the things I'll admit are flaws, and why I'll still defend these movies to the death.
6. The Force Awakens - the ending is rushed
Guess what? R2D2 randomly woke up and now we know where Luke is? For such a long movie, they sure did rush the finding-Luke plotline.
Why I defend: When they actually do find Luke, it's such a beautiful moment it makes me cry every time. And this is a fantastic movie, my favorite in the franchise. I love the return of the original cast. I love that we have a strong heroine who is never sexualized; we don't think of her as "the girl," we think of her as the hero. (They didn't QUITE stick with that in the sequels, but that's not The Force Awakens' fault.)
5. West Side Story - Tony is an idiot
The remake of West Side Story gave Tony more of a back story, including that he'd actually been involved in some criminal activity, rather than him being the seeming innocent that he was in the original who just happened to be best friends with a gang leader. But they also kind of make him a moron.
In the original, the song "Cool" is sung by the Jets, trying to calm down after their leader, Riff, is killed. In the remake, Tony sings the song BEFORE the rumble, while taunting Riff with a gun that he then lets Riff take anyway. Tony is basically the worst rumble-stopper ever. Why did they do that? Did that actor just want another song?
Why I defend: This is just such a good remake, bringing my favorite movie from childhood into the modern age. Yes, Tony is basically the cause of everything bad that happens, but let's focus on the female characters. Rachel Zegler, Ariana Debose, Rita Moreno, all of them will make you feel feelings again. I was crying so hard walking out of the theater that I ran into two people.
4. Black Swan - so many unanswered questions
I can see how people would be put off by a movie where you never find out exactly how much was actually a figment of the main character's imagination. Black Swan sure does that to you. Nina is losing her mind throughout the movie, and she's also seeing herself everywhere. You'll see that Lily's face, Beth's face, and even a random unnamed character's face change into Natalie Portman's at pivotal parts of the movie. My biggest unanswered question is probably whether Nina stabbed Beth. When Nina visits Beth in the hospital, Beth stabs herself in the face with a nail file, her face turning into Natalie Portman's as she does so. But when Nina runs away, we see her drop a bloody nail file. Unless this scene was entirely imagined, SOMEONE got stabbed, but who did it? She's already hallucinating at this point, so did she even go see Beth or ...
Why I defend: This movie is a masterpiece. When it came out, my friend and I agreed that the last 20 minutes of this movie alone were better than any of the best picture nominees. Pretty much all of this director's movies have beautifully tragic endings, and this is the most beautifully tragic.
3. IT - damn it, I can't find a flaw with this one
I guess the only, the ONLY thing would be it's odd between Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 they abandoned Ben being the resident historian who knew all about Derry and now it's Mike, but that MAKES SENSE, Mike is the one who STAYED in Derry and I'm kind of glad they did that because Mike didn't get a lot to do in Chapter 1, don't say anything bad about this movie, it is the closest on my list to a perfect movie.
2. Cloud Atlas - the beginning is confusing
If you've never seen Cloud Atlas or read the book, this movie covers 6 separate storylines, all linked together, spanning from the 1800s to the far future. And I kind of love that ****. In the book, though, they present the storylines in order, starting by going forward and then going back to the earliest storyline, so Adam Ewing (played by Jim Sturgess in the movie) is our bookend character. In the movie, they give you everything everywhere all at once (that sounds like something that could win an Oscar). I could see people completely checking out after the opening scene where all 6 protagonists are shoved in your face, talking about things you would have no idea what they are if you haven't read the book and haven't seen the movie before. Who is Old Georgie? Who are all these people? Where am I?
Why I defend: If you make it past the opening scene and just tell yourself it will make sense later, this is the best English-language movie I've ever seen, and I love that they constructed it the way they did. Showing parallel scenes in all the different timelines is done masterfully, and I'm so glad they cast the same actors in each timeline. And, much like Black Swan, the soundtrack definitely adds a lot. This movie will make you feel like you've lived multiple lives.
1. Uzumaki - Kirie is not as strong a character as she was in the manga
This is my favorite movie. I can't even tell you why, just ... watch it. It's a brilliant fever dream based on my favorite manga, well, at least roughly half of my favorite manga. Junji Ito's manga brings you into a world where people throw ducks at balloons and nothing is the way it seems. No one throws ducks at balloons. That was a Simpsons quote. But, yeah. This movie is hard to describe, and the only flaw is that Kirie, the main character, is not the strong protagonist she was in the manga. She's more of a victim.
Why I defend: By making Kirie baffled and powerless instead of proactive like she is in the manga, she's actually more relatable. I mean, what would you do if your town were turning into a giant spiral? Maybe you'd try to take control of the situation, but I think I'd be just as baffled and powerless as Kirie is in the movie. I mean, I have to move somewhere like 4 miles away and I feel baffled and powerless, so maybe movie-version Kirie is a heroine for Mandies.
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