Best movies like Perfect Lives

An opera for television

A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like Perfect Lives Starring Robert Ashley, “Blue” Gene Tyranny, Jill Kroesen, David Van Tieghem, and more. If you liked Perfect Lives then you may also like: An Unseen Enemy, Nails, The Naked Earth, The Old Man & the Gun, Kelly's Heroes and many more popular movies featured on this list. You can further filter the list even more or get a random selection from the list of similar movies, to make your selection even easier.

An opera for television by Robert Ashley. Set in the American Midwest, it is “about” bank robbery, cocktail lounges, geriatric love, adolescent elopement, the changing of the light at sundown, et al. One of the definitive text-sound compositions of the late 20th century, it has been called "the most influential music/theater/literary work of the 1980s".

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An Unseen Enemy

The physician's death orphans his two adolescent daughters. Their older brother is able to convert some of the doctor's small estate to cash. But it is late in the day, and with the banks closed he stores the money in his father's household safe. The slatternly housekeeper, aware of the money, enlists a criminal acquaintance to crack the safe. She attempts to get into the adjacent room where the sisters tremble in fear, but finds that the door is locked. The drunken housekeeper menaces them by brandishing a gun through a hole in the wall.

Nails

This Oscar-nominated documentary short tracks the shift in the relationship of an individual to his work between the 19th century and today. Focusing on how nails are made, we first see a blacksmith laboring at his forge, shaping nails from single strands of steel rods. The scene then shifts from this peaceful setting to the roar of a 20th century nail mill, where banks of machines draw, cut, and pound the steel rods faster than the eye can follow.

The Naked Earth

Africa, early 20th century, an Englishman marries the girlfriend of a late friend and faces natives and adventures, on the banks of a river infested with crocodiles.

The Old Man & the Gun

The true story of Forrest Tucker, from his audacious escape from San Quentin at the age of 70 to an unprecedented string of heists that confounded authorities and enchanted the public. Wrapped up in the pursuit are a detective, who becomes captivated with Forrest’s commitment to his craft, and a woman, who loves him in spite of his chosen profession.

Kelly's Heroes

A misfit group of World War II American soldiers goes AWOL to rob a bank behind German lines.

Bandits

After escaping from prison, Joe and Terry go on a crime spree, robbing banks through Oregon and California in order to finance their scheme for a new life south of the border. Unfortunately, things get more complicated when they meet Kate, who runs into them with her car. She joins the bandits on their cross-country spree, and eventually she steals something, too: their hearts.

Christmas Holiday

Don't be fooled by the title. Christmas Holiday is a far, far cry from It's a Wonderful Life. Told in flashback, the story begins as Abigail Martin marries Southern aristocrat Robert Monette. Unfortunately, Robert has inherited his family's streak of violence and instability, and soon drags Abigail into a life of misery.

Heat

Obsessive master thief Neil McCauley leads a top-notch crew on various daring heists throughout Los Angeles while determined detective Vincent Hanna pursues him without rest. Each man recognizes and respects the ability and the dedication of the other even though they are aware their cat-and-mouse game may end in violence.

Bandidas

Set in the late 19th century. When a ruthless robber baron takes away everything they cherish, a rough-and-tumble, idealistic peasant and a sophisticated heiress embark on a quest for justice, vengeance…and a few good heists.

Tu£sday

Four career criminals, two glamorous bank workers and one over-the-hill has-been all happen to be planning a robbery on a London bank on the same day, by sheer coincidence. The two investigating detectives must try and deduce how these seemingly unrelated people came to be in the area and which were responsible for the lifting a priceless emerald.

Dillinger

The life of American public enemy number one who was shot by the police in 1934.

God's Country

In 1979, Louis Malle traveled into the heart of Minnesota to capture the everyday lives of the men and women in a prosperous farming community. Six years later, during Ronald Reagan's second term, he returned to find drastic economic decline. Free of stereotypes about America's "heartland," GOD'S COUNTRY, commissioned for American public television, is a stunning work of emotional and political clarity.

The Fabulous Baker Boys

The lives of two struggling musicians, who happen to be brothers, inevitably change when they team up with a beautiful, up-and-coming singer.

Light It Up

On a winter day in a southside Queens high school, events collide and six students are suddenly in an armed standoff with the NYPD. At the school, classrooms freeze, teachers come and go, resources are scant.

Pennies from Heaven

During the Great Depression, a sheet music salesman seeks to escape his dreary life through popular music and a love affair with an innocent school teacher.

Song of Freedom

John Zinga, a descendent of slaves, has an ancient medallion around his neck and a fragment of song passed down generations. He is an English dockworker with a magnificent voice and a yearning to learn his roots.

Miles from Home

Two brothers who are forced off their farm in the debt stricken mid-west become folk heroes when they begin robbing the banks that have been foreclosing on farmers.

By Sidney Lumet

An analysis of director Sidney Lumet's work (12 Angry Men, Dog Day Afternoon, Before The Devil Knows You're Dead) in his own words, based on a five-day interview recorded shortly before his death.

Penelope

When James met Penelope at a club, it took all of three weeks before they were married. But after the marriage, other women became attracted to James and he kept getting promoted, which took him away from Penelope. So Penelope puts on a disguise and robs her husband's bank. Her psychiatrist, Greg, believes that this condition is caused by James being over worked and under romantic with Penelope. She also tells Greg that she robs the business associates of James. But Greg is in love with Penelope - in fact everyone likes her. The problem is when she confesses to her crimes, no one believes her.

The Great Victor Herbert

In his last film assignment, portly Walter Connolly fills the title role (in more ways than one) in The Great Victor Herbert. Very little of Herbert's life story is incorporated in the screenplay (a closing title actually apologizes for the film's paucity of cold hard facts); instead, the writers allow the famed composer's works to speak for themselves. In the tradition of one of his own operettas, Herbert spends most of his time patching up the shaky marriage between tenor John Ramsey (Allan Jones) and Louise Hall (Mary Martin). Many of Herbert's most famous compositions are well in evidence, including "Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life", "March of the Toys" and "Kiss Me Again", the latter performed con brio by teenaged coloratura Susanna Foster. Evidently, the producers were able to secure the film rights for the Herbert songs, but not for the stage productions in which they appeared, which may explain such bizarre interpolations as having a song from Naughty Marietta.

Stealing Sunrise

Four criminals attempt to pull off a last series of heists before retiring to a beach town. With a sheriff hot on their trail and mutiny looming in the horizon, will there be enough room and money for all?

High School U.S.A.

Set in a senior high school class, J.J. pursues the girlfriend of a rival from a higher clique which culminates in a race at the end of the movie between the two rivals in this light comedy.

Ma Barker's Killer Brood

Ma Barker and her four sons terrorize the 1930s South and Midwest with a string of kidnappings, robberies and murders, and even get to work with such famous criminals as John Dillinger and Baby Face Nelson.

Cattle Annie and Little Britches

In nineteenth century Oklahoma, two teen girls, fans of stories about outlaws, are on a quest to meet and join up with them. They find a shadow of a former gang and although disappointed, still try to help them escape from a vigorous Marshal.

Bill Tilghman and the Outlaws

A movie company comes to Oklahoma to convince legendary lawmen Bill Tilghman to star in a bank robbery silent film featuring real outlaws. Tilghman reluctantly agrees, not realizing everyone's lives will never be the same.

Maria

The tumultuous, beautiful and tragic life story of American-born Greek soprano Maria Callas, who was one of the most renowned and influential opera singers of the 20th century.

Stravinsky: Once at a Border...

This autobiographical film about the most important and influential composer of the 20th century includes documents, photographs and film never seen publicly before. Stravinsky's three surviving children talk about their father and there are contributions from the late Madame Vera Stravinsky, his music associate Robert Craft, Marie Rambert, Balanchine, Nadia Boulanger and many friends. Included in the film are important performances: Les Noces has never before been heard in this, its original form, and the choreography of Petrushka was specially recreated for the film by the Bolshoi and was not seen in this form since 1911. Finally, there is priceless film of Stravinsky himself in this unique film.

A Merry Christmas Match

Corey Calvin lives in a ski village where she works at her late father's local antique shop, having sidelined her her big city dreams of becoming a theater director. When Los Angeles hunk Ryder Donnelly comes into her shop, sparks fly and she starts to wonder what could be.

The NEW Shock of the New

Twenty-five years ago the renowned art critic Robert Hughes made The Shock of the New, a landmark television series that examined the key cultural movement of the 20th Century. Now he's back to look at more recent work and to question whether modern art can still be shocking in its originality and understanding. In an age of media saturation it's perhaps even harder to tell what is good art and what is bad; but Hughes cuts through the marketing and the hype to reveal the art that is vital and will last; the art which defines the times in which we live. In a film which features interviews with David Hockney, Paula Rego, Jeff Koons and Sean Scully, Robert Hughes makes the case that painting, drawing, and the search for beauty matter more than ever before.

The Supremes: Reflections: The Definitive Performances 1964-1969

Now on DVD for the first time: The original, spellbinding, breakthrough performances and television appearances featuring the brilliant and beautiful Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard and Cindy Birdsong... with impeccably restored video and audio... this is the stuff dreams were made of... and why they remain the world's #1 female group. 1. Where Did Our Love Go 2. Baby Love 3. Come See About Me 4. Stop! In the Name of Love 5. Back in My Arms Again 6. Nothing But Heartaches 7. I Hear a Symphony 8. My World Is Empty Without You 9. You Can't Hurry Love 10. You Keep Me Hangin' On 11. Love Is Here and Now You're Gone 12. The Happening 13. Reflections 14. In and Out of Love 15. Love Child 16. Someday We'll Be Together Bonus Tracks 17. Baby Love 18. Stop! In the Name of Love 19. When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes 20. My World Is Empty Without You

Robert le Diable

Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, December 2012. Daniel Oren conducting Royal Opera House Orchestra and Chorus. A grand opera that dominated the stages of Europe for most of the 19th century, Robert le diable is a masterpiece. Director Laurent Pelly breathes new life into Giacomo Meyerbeer's great spectacle and audaciously entertaining moral fable, in this colourful new staging for The Royal Opera.

Trouble in Sundown

The bank has been robbed, the night watchman killed and the safe opened. The townspeople want John as he was the only one with the combination. Clint gets John out of town but before the mob turns ugly but the deputy is shot when he and Clint go to get John at the shack. Things look bad for John, but Clint does not believe that John did the robbery and he will look for the real crooks.

Sundown in Santa Fe

Sundown in Santa Fe is an adventure film directed by R.G. Springsteen in 60. A dagger has been left in every robbery by Walter Durant, fugitive leader of the President Lincoln murder ring. Rocky is sent to Santa Fe to find Durant and arrest him and the gang of outlaws he controls. Rocky soon finds that the information for every robbery comes from Tom, who is the son of the sheriff. But Rocky has to arrest the whole gang, and he does not know who is part of the gang and where Durant may be hiding.

Sundown Trail

Dorothy, and her big city lawyer boyfriend, return to the Lazy 'B' ranch to read her late father's will. For Dorothy to inherit everything, she must stay on the ranch for 5 years. If she does not, everything goes to Buck, who is the manager. She does not like Buck, so she makes a deal with the wrong people for cattle and then the outlaws go to the ranch to get the $10,000 from her. But Buck is on the job.

The Apprentice

Charts a young Donald Trump’s ascent to power through a Faustian deal with the influential right-wing lawyer and political fixer Roy Cohn.

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