Filmically Perfect

Stepping away from the world of Perfect Movies, the Film Guys take a look at three motion pictures that altered the march of the movies forever. These three, The Great Train Robbery (1903), The Jazz Singer (1927), and Star Wars (1977) each gave the film biz a badly needed injection of life at a time when revenues were falling. If you have a film you feel changed the course of film, please drop us a line!

This movie has meant so much to so many and has affected entire generations throughout the world. Is there any better example of the power of film?

Watch JAWS and witness the birth of a phenomenon: THE SUMMER BLOCKBUSTER MOVIE EVENT!! This annual ritual continues unabated to this day, although the quality of the films has become somewhat questionable as years have passed. Fortunately, the really great summer movies are still available and still just as much fun. If a theatre in your area is running JAWS on the big screen, run, don’t walk, to see one of Steven Spielberg’s greatest films.

We like to think of this as “American Graffiti: The Dark Side.” But seriously folks...As crass and silly as Animal House is, it KNOWS that it is crass and silly and therefore is able to get away with outrageous gags both plausible and implausible. This film is also responsible for some of our most deeply rooted icons in American Popular Culture. Two Examples:

1. “Double Secret Probation”

2. “To-ga! To-ga! To-ga!”

Need we say more?

What began as a love letter to Berlin by an expatriate filmmaker come home grew into a lyrical albeit existential look into the hearts of men and angels. A unique production in many ways, from its basically unscripted shooting schedule to its very loose structure, Wings of Desire can be a hard film to get into, but ultimately rewarding for those who let it be. Followed several years later by Faraway...So Close!, which we’ll have to get back to you on.

We dedicate this episode of filmically Perfect to Solveig Dommartin, the female lead in Wings of Desire, who passed away at the age of 45 on January 11, 2007.

Stephen King and George Romero combine forces to celebrate the wonderfully horrific EC Comics created by MAD Magazine creator William M. Gaines in the 1950’s, then taken down by Dr. Fredric Wertham’s infamous book, Seduction of the Innocent. A great cast romps through five spooky stories with such aplomb, how could it not be fun??

Paul Verhoeven’s 1987 masterpiece has withstood the test of time and is as fresh, funny, and ferocious as it was twenty years ago. Peter Weller’s balletic performance as the resurrected Officer Murphy takes its place alongside Boris Karloff’s Monster as one of the hunted and the haunted. Don’t worry about sequels 2 and 3--THIS Robocop is all you need!

After directing his debut feature, the deep and disturbing THX-1138, young Jedi George Lucas set his sights on his own past, cruising down the streets of his hometown. A groundbreaking film that most of the money people in Hollywood had no faith in, it was not only highly successful, but spawned a best selling soundtrack album and gave new life to many musical oldies. Can you believe that this same man was responsible for Howard the Duck?

Rob Reiner’s picturization of William Goldman’s delightful 1973 novel (screenplay also penned by Goldman) remains as fresh and fun as it was twenty years ago. Populated with quirky characters portrayed by quirky actors and sunsets right out of a Maxfield Parrish lithograph, this film truly has “something for everyone.” Inconceivable!!

While not his first American film, Shadow of a Doubt is arguably Hitchcock’s first “American” film--his first look at the darkness that lies just beneath the surface of an All-American city. And he begins populating his background with some of his wonderful eccentrics, in this case being Hume Cronyn and Henry Travers and their endless discussions about how to perfectly murder each other. And “Our Town”? Thornton Wilder both contributed to the screenplay as well as getting a special acknowledgment for his assistance.