View Full Version : 25-ish great rarely mentioned cinematic moments
Yeah, yeah, Michael killing Fredo, Scarlett against the skyline determined never to go hungry again, Maj. Kong riding the bomb, Verbal's transformation, "Nobody's perfect"...
...all fine, wonderful moments. But if there's anything I've learned from watching movies, it's that sometimes, in favor of bolstering popular reputations, the majority will overlook (however unintentionally) performances, scenes, gestures, and entire films that are just as notable, skillful, poetic, in otherwords "worthy" as the ones that get canonized.
Consider this a whimper of an attempt in my ongoing mission to restore the subverted to a seat of glory. The entries are all very brief, and none are from films that I've included in my top 100.
Watashi
08-20-2008, 09:48 PM
Aw, we can't add our own?
Wryan
08-20-2008, 09:50 PM
Aw, we can't add our own?
NO, FUCK OFF!
Sycophant
08-20-2008, 09:57 PM
Very, very much looking forward to this. Love that you're not replicating anything from your top 100.
25. A Pet Cemetery Groundskeeper Serenades the Valley with Some Blues Riffs
from Gates of Heaven
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/iosos/25%20moments/gatesheaven.jpg
Not my favorite film from Morris--his interviews aren't as revealing as his future endeavors, his set-ups a touch kitschy, it's comparatively static. Still, not bad at all for a first feature. This moment, I couldn't express why precisely, really touches me in a way that nothing else in the film does. Perhaps it's as simple as the guy liking classic rock. Perhaps it's his use of this simple unsophisticated music as an expression of life's fragility, or as a way of yearning. Whatever the guitarist's motivation, this moment for me best encapsulates the simultaneous emptiness and abundance of that thing we call "living."
Other great Morris moments: the expressionistic shots of topiary animals in Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control, the turkey hunter's monologue in Vernon, Florida
D_Davis
08-20-2008, 10:23 PM
Cool choice.
Vernon, FL is my favorite, but I like this one as well.
24. The Cancan
from French Cancan
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/iosos/25%20moments/frenchcancan.jpg
Renoir's ode to the dancehall is his second installation in a loose theatrical trilogy (The Golden Coach, this, Elena and Her Men) vastly superior to its successor, Baz Luhrmann's "Red Curtain" trilogy. No amount of hyperactive Australian bluster could live up to Renoir's orgasmic flurry of cloth, color, movement, and joy. It's the ultimate climax to a film conflicted with issues of stillness and creeping decrepitude, expressing that one never need be without love or dance. Bawdy celebration is what makes us human.
Other great Renoir moments: the slow-motion Charleston in Charleston Parade, Gabin nearly killing a man with a pipe in La Bete Humaine, Octave getting drunker and drunker in Rules of the Game
Yxklyx
08-20-2008, 10:48 PM
24. The Cancan
from French Cancan
...
Great choice! The rest of the movie is a bit muddling but WOW what a finale!
Skitch
08-20-2008, 10:52 PM
I say we disobey and add our ideas as well. :)
23. The Unhinging of Nolte
from Trixie
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/iosos/25%20moments/trixie.jpg
Accompanied to some strange, ominous wah-wah guitar tunage, after Emily Watson's Trixie character publicly exposes Nolte's crooked senator, Nolte drives away in his car, his face the mangled strain of an enraged wild animal known to us only as "Nolte". I'm about as big a fan of the actor as anyone could possibly be, and never have I been in more awe of his face than in this one shot, where he slips from dysphoric anger to raging sadness. My love for Nick knows no bounds.
Other great Nolte moments: villaining it up in Hulk, a cross-dressed freakout in Breakfast of Champions, any scene of his as the helpless UN officer in Hotel Rwanda, the tooth removal in Affliction
Sycophant
08-20-2008, 11:03 PM
I say we disobey and add our ideas as well. :)I don't know if the :) was meant to imply a joke or not, but I would say this to anyone who wants to add their own entries to this swell idea for a list:
DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE
If you absolutely must say your piece, I'd recommend showing some restraint and some respect, and either follow it up with your own knock-off list once this is completed or make mention of your favorites in this thread once iosos is good and finished.
This goes for anyone who takes this attitude to any thread where they are not explicitly invited to contribute.
[/cranky asshole]
Ezee E
08-20-2008, 11:05 PM
I don't know if the :) was meant to imply a joke or not, but I would say this to anyone who wants to add their own entries to this swell idea for a list:
DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE
If you absolutely must say your piece, I'd recommend showing some restraint and some respect, and either follow it up with your own knock-off list once this is completed or make mention of your favorites in this thread once iosos is good and finished.
This goes for anyone who takes this attitude to any thread where they are not explicitly invited to contribute.
[/cranky asshole]
Can we rep twice?
22. A Blind Little Yellow Riding Hood Wanders Into a Spot of the "Bad" Color
from The Village
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/iosos/25%20moments/village.jpg
Likely my most controversial entry, I say take what you will from the cinema of M. Night Shymalan, at least the guy can frame a shot. I will defend his skill as a director, though I concede his scripts are often not up to snuff. The Village makes me want to tear my hair out--wonderful premise, cast, and cinematography nearly laid to waste by some truly ugly dialogue. Still, when I think of the movie, my mind always turns back to this strange moment in the woods, where the blind heroine unknowingly stumbles into the color of the monster. I love how this sequence connects the visual signifier with the girl's blind foreboding, creating a sixth sense out of sight and atmosphere. I love the low key visuals, too. The dirty yellow, the unrealistic red strewn across the brown dirt and leaves.
Other great Shyamalan moments: the hand reach in The Village, Phoenix's vomit story in Signs, the "OMG it's a pool!" in Unbreakable
Watashi
08-20-2008, 11:23 PM
Aw, syco has a crush on iosos.
DavidSeven
08-20-2008, 11:31 PM
Shyamalan can craft a great cinematic moment with the best of them. He directs the heck out of The Village. Love that moment when Phoenix grabs Howard's hand during the chaos. Tons of great imagery in the film too.
Shame that the film still kind of sucks. iosos nails it: Shyamalan sinks it with his own script. It's a testament to how bad the writing is considering the direction really is top notch.
megladon8
08-20-2008, 11:32 PM
Loving the list so far, iosos, even though I actually haven't seen any of these movies.
Your write-ups are great.
That The Village shot is fantastic. I need to see this one.
Rowland
08-20-2008, 11:39 PM
The Village is a gorgeously crafted film. It's a shame that his direction has finally sunk down to the levels of his writing at its worst with his latest.
Watashi
08-20-2008, 11:41 PM
No other great Village moments? I think the final shot might be my favorite, though then again, Shyamalan was a master at making a closing shot that lingers with the audience far after the film ends (perhaps not The Happening, but definitely for Lady in the Water and Signs).
No other great Village moments?
Ah, forgot. Thanks. Yes, the last shot is also quite stunning.
21. The "My Parents Got Married" Montage
from My Neighbors the Yamadas
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/iosos/25%20moments/yamadas.jpg
It starts with a little girl realizing that at one point, her parents were not married. Then, in a fit of what makes this movie delightful, we are presented with a montage of the parents starting a bobsled, which when zoomed out, is traveling up their wedding cake, which breaks through and transforms into a boat traversing some very rough waves (above, emulating the famous Hokusai painting), which then transforms into a tractor, then it shows them picking out a floating peach and slicing bamboo to find their children, etc, etc. This film presents life's banal misadventures through a sense of child-like wonder, renewing the magic naivety of youth probably more successfully than any Miyazaki film.
Other great Ghibli moments: robot destruction in Castle in the Sky, playing the ocarina with totoros in My Neighbor Totoro, driving up a cliffside in The Castle of Cagliostro (okay, not Ghibli, but still awesome!)
20. Dennis Farina
from Get Shorty
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/iosos/25%20moments/farina.jpg
"You found Leo, you took the poor bastard's money, you put it in a locker all ready to go. You know, Chili, I've been thinking. There's really no reason why you and I shouldn't get along. I mean, forget about all that stuff that happened before. I don't even know how all this started. You took a swing at me for some fuckin' thing, I say 'fuck it.' I say you owe me money, I say 'fuck that.' I say you owe me the juice on the money, I say 'fuck that too.' I say 'live and let die.' But this... this is strictly between you and I."
Greatest performance ever.
Other great Farina moments: Any moment he's on the screen in Get Shorty
19. James Cagney and Joe E. Brown Perform Pyramus and Thisby
from A Midsummer Night's Dream
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/iosos/25%20moments/midsummer.jpg
The idea of Cagney doing Shakespeare is the greatest thing in the world to me. Easily my very favorite actor, how joyful is it to see this little ball of taut energy and Lower East Side brutishness perform something so girly as fairy theater. While I think that Cagney could've pulled off a terrifying Richard III and a killer Macbeth, it somehow seems more special to see him enacting a romance. With Joe Brown as his foil, they give Shakespeare's lines spontaneity and a sprightly, contemporary feel. So much fun!
Other great Cagney moments: dancing down the staircase at the end of Yankee Doodle Dandy, the machine gun delivery of the last half of One, Two, Three
Sycophant
08-21-2008, 12:50 AM
Wow. I need to see that.
18. Here Come the Men in Black
from Matewan
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/iosos/25%20moments/matewan2.jpg
Normally I get bored with black/white depictions of good and evil, preferring to see heroes who can make mistakes and villains that are still human. But Sayles injects this tale of union men with a timeless storybook structure, catapulting dilemma into myth. He's always on the side of the working class grunts and I love his films all the more for daring to choose a side. And nobody does grotesque evil like Kevin Tighe.
Other great Sayles moments: the closing montage of Return of the Seacaucus Seven, the introduction of the inter-galactic bounty hunters in Brother From Another Planet, the lady or the tiger in Limbo
dreamdead
08-21-2008, 01:08 AM
Wonderful to see some love bestowed upon My Neighbors the Yamadas. For a film strewn with such wonderful imagery, that was the singular moment where my appreciation skyrocketed as the film embraced a wholly visual rhetoric with which to express its ideas. Remarkably ingenious, and a testament to the consistent craft behind all of Ghibli. Takahata is likely also my favorite of the Ghibli team...
Philosophe_rouge
08-21-2008, 01:10 AM
I've only seen Get Shorty, but I agree with you on Farina. He's easily the highlight of a film I otherwise don't care much for. I like him in almost anything, even the occasionally Law and Order I've seen with him have been pretty decent. He has great presence.
I really want to see A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Wonderful to see some love bestowed upon My Neighbors the Yamadas. For a film strewn with such wonderful imagery, that was the singular moment where my appreciation skyrocketed as the film embraced a wholly visual rhetoric with which to express its ideas. Remarkably ingenious, and a testament to the consistent craft behind all of Ghibli. Takahata is likely also my favorite of the Ghibli team...
No love for the Nolte moment? I think you may be the only other person here who has seen Trixie. If I'm remembering correctly, which it is more than possible that I am not.
Raiders
08-21-2008, 01:13 AM
Dennis Farina is beyond awesome.
Dennis Farina is beyond awesome.
My next entry is dedicated to you.
A belated dedication to Sycophant on my Yamadas entry.
Pop Trash
08-21-2008, 01:18 AM
Maybe a Lone Star scene? "Forget the Alamo" perhaps? I also like Frances McDormand's one scene.
17. No Pomegranates Allowed, Old Man
from Ararat
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/iosos/25%20moments/ararat.jpg
For some reason, it's this brief 70 second scene that I remember most from Ararat, a film whose reputation I consider one of the more unfortunate misjudgments of the last few years. An old man is denied to bring his pomegranate into the country by Plummer, playing a customs worker. It's all in the faces (Plummer expressing a weariness in his denial of a fruit's entry) and lines ("I bring luck in my stomach"). This one scene seems to encapsulate the emotions and complications of the entire film, one of self-loathing, cultural divides, and the sweetness of the fruit within the inedible rind.
Other great Egoyan moments: Hoskins' laments in Felicia's Journey, the final goodbye in Exotica, the revelatory three-way in Where the Truth Lies
dreamdead
08-21-2008, 01:30 AM
No love for the Nolte moment? I think you may be the only other person here who has seen Trixie. If I'm remembering correctly, which it is more than possible that I am not.
Sorry, but that's not me. Nolte's in Assayas' Clean, though, and shows off an endearingly understated performance that works principally because of how simply Nolte lets the lines on his face perform for him. No real grandstanding at any point, but the film is bettered by the calm of his presence.
Actually, he's been a favorite since 1998 or so, when The Thin Red Line and Affliction revealed the depths of his acting anew to me. I'd actually like to revisit the latter film, as I only remember the final image of that one...
I'd actually like to revisit the latter film, as I only remember the final image of that one...
Was that him at the table while the barn is burning behind him?
It's been so long I can't remember. One of my favorite films though. Barely missed my top 100.
This one goes out to Daniel Davis and Russ
16. Satan's World
from The Adventures of Mark Twain
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/iosos/25%20moments/twain.jpg
Amidst the kaleidoscopic delights that is Will Vinton's tribute to the breadth of Mark Twain's complexity, the kids, Becky, Tom, and Huck, visit an angel that calls himself "Satan", who then creates a small world and then destroys it as the children look on, horrified and confused. It's one of those glorious "WTF is this doing in a children's film" moments that we learn to prize as adults and then, I imagine, grow to fear them again when we start having our own children. It's a terrifying sequence, played with so much horror and malice, that I truly respect Vinton's steadfastness to his vision. The lack of compromise here flourishes throughout this disarming and abstract picture that is teeming with wisdom and craft. In other words, classic Vinton.
Other great Vinton moments: Closed Mondays (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGZgsgQSXGA&feature=related), Michael Jackson dance-off from Moonwalker (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV8eEEXISVQ), anything else he's done
MadMan
08-21-2008, 01:48 AM
iosos I love your inclusion of The Village, a film that was decent but actually along with The Sixth Sense are the only two M. Night films to actually frighten me and creepy me out on some eerie level.
Also your mentioning of any scene from The Brother From Another Planet receives my kuddos.
Also your mentioning of any scene from The Brother From Another Planet receives my kuddos.
Kudos, but no rep? Damn you, man, damn you! :)
MadMan
08-21-2008, 01:56 AM
Kudos, but no rep? Damn you, man, damn you! :)Alright, alright yah rep whore :P I used to give it out more freely before everyone started getting way more rep than me. Perhaps I should start whoring myself ;)
15. Introducing "Wild" Bill Kelso
from 1941
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/iosos/25%20moments/1941.jpg
This movie is absolutely bonkers. It's rarely coherent and perhaps features more on screen mayhem than even The Blues Brothers. But in its anarchic glory, there are more than a great share of gags that work and inimitable moments of crafty bliss. And what better way to introduce John Belushi than by allowing him to blow up a gas station?
Other great 1941 moments: Robert Stack enjoying Dumbo, Warren Oates's paranoid general, Frank McRae and John Candy in the locking racial horns, rolling ferris wheel, ninja Christmas trees
14. A Stolen Moment
from Another Woman
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/iosos/25%20moments/another-woman.jpg
One of my very favorite Woody Allen films is one that it seems like nobody cares about seeing. Supposedly it's "Wild Strawberries"-ish, though I find the comparison a bit superficial. Here we have a moment where our aging intellectual recalls a forbidden romance, which Allen accompanies with Erik Satie. Shot by Nykvist, it is a devastating recollection of an impossible dream.
Other great Allen moments: an out-of-focus Robin Williams in Deconstructing Harry, "wheat" in Love and Death, running into a superhero in Broadway Danny Rose, Allen smashing a car in Anything Else
Ezee E
08-21-2008, 02:23 AM
I've hardly seen any of these movies. :(
I've hardly seen any of these movies. :(
Coincidentally, my next one is dedicated to you.
dreamdead
08-21-2008, 02:25 AM
I saw someone defend Anything Else on TheHouseNextDoor blog late last week. I think my love for ol' Woody will make me see that one this year at some point. Still haven't seen Another Woman but bless you for the L&D reference. One of the funniest moments in all of cinema for me.
MadMan
08-21-2008, 02:26 AM
Last year I tried to watch 1941. I failed to get past the first 20 minutes. Maybe some other time. But what I saw was pretty terrible. Most comedies, even the bad ones, usually get in a few good jokes in the first 5-10 minutes or so.
13. Boys Will Have Their Toys
from Who's That Knocking At My Door
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/iosos/25%20moments/knocking.jpg
In one of Scorsese's first and most skillful blendings of good times galvanized into startling and scary times, a group of twentysomething males are shown loitering around a house until one of them presents a pistol. Everyone is laughing and delighting at its presence until the gun's holder begins to get really rough with one of the friends, throwing him around and threatening him. It's kind of brutal in its ambiguity and gradient escalation. That it's all set to some kind of latin jazz and in slow-motion makes it all the more memorable and disarming.
Other great Scorsese moments: the Gone-With-the-Wind-style pull back in Kundun, the plane crash in The Aviator, Nolte's cowering behind a dumpster in Cape Fear, Sizemore's smashing of the ambulance in Bringing Out the Dead
Okay kids, I think it's time for bed. I will finish this tomorrow.
origami_mustache
08-21-2008, 03:37 AM
I've only seen 2 of these movies so far, but great thread.
megladon8
08-21-2008, 03:43 AM
Your choice from Another Woman is great.
Isn't Gene Hackman awesome?
Spinal
08-21-2008, 04:58 AM
Good call on Farina. I'm also not a fan of the film, but thought he was fantastic in it.
Winston*
08-21-2008, 05:13 AM
20. Dennis Farina
from Get Shorty
"Fuck you, fuckball."
Yxklyx
08-21-2008, 11:25 AM
I'm hoping you include a certain ditch digging scene from the 30s.
Ezee E
08-21-2008, 02:07 PM
Love that you pick out the Bringing Out The Dead and Kundun scenes.
Skitch
08-21-2008, 02:20 PM
I don't know if the :) was meant to imply a joke or not, but I would say this to anyone who wants to add their own entries to this swell idea for a list:
DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE
If you absolutely must say your piece, I'd recommend showing some restraint and some respect, and either follow it up with your own knock-off list once this is completed or make mention of your favorites in this thread once iosos is good and finished.
This goes for anyone who takes this attitude to any thread where they are not explicitly invited to contribute.
[/cranky asshole]
Yeah, I was kiddin'. You must be fun at parties, though.
:|
I lied. Am tired. Will finish this weekend. The following peeps have dedications to expect: Spinal, Derek, number8, and trans.
transmogrifier
08-22-2008, 02:09 AM
So I assume something Altmanific is coming up. Cool.
Watashi
08-22-2008, 02:36 AM
:sad:
Sycophant
08-22-2008, 02:37 AM
Yeah, I was kiddin'. You must be fun at parties, though.
:|No, I'm not.
Spinal
08-22-2008, 02:56 AM
I lied. Am tired. Will finish this weekend. The following peeps have dedications to expect: Spinal, Derek, number8, and trans.
Woo-hoo!
MadMan
08-22-2008, 06:49 AM
No, I'm not.Alcohol sure helps :P
balmakboor
08-22-2008, 11:37 PM
15. Introducing "Wild" Bill Kelso
from 1941
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/iosos/25%20moments/1941.jpg
This movie is absolutely bonkers. It's rarely coherent and perhaps features more on screen mayhem than even The Blues Brothers. But in its anarchic glory, there are more than a great share of gags that work and inimitable moments of crafty bliss. And what better way to introduce John Belushi than by allowing him to blow up a gas station?
Other great 1941 moments: Robert Stack enjoying Dumbo, Warren Oates's paranoid general, Frank McRae and John Candy in the locking racial horns, rolling ferris wheel, ninja Christmas trees
1941 -- along with Temple of Doom and Hook -- is my favorite Spielberg film. He's made a lot of great films, but so many of them feel like the true Spielberg is being boxed in. I see him as Peter Pan with a movie camera and those three are exactly the sort of thing I imagine him most relishing making.
Raiders
08-22-2008, 11:39 PM
1941 ... Hook -- my favorite Spielberg film.
:eek:
I see him as a bit of a youthful, Pan-ish guy myself. But that doesn't excuse the films.
Watashi
08-23-2008, 12:08 AM
I've seen the first 20 minutes of 1941 and I had to turn it off. Even Spielberg had to apologize for that dud.
Though he also thinks Hook is one of his weaker efforts, but he's just plain nuts right there.
Watashi
08-23-2008, 12:09 AM
:eek:
I see him as a bit of a youthful, Pan-ish guy myself. But that doesn't excuse the films.
So are you saying that Steven Spielberg is... the pan?
*resurrects the past*
I've seen the first 20 minutes of 1941 and I had to turn it off. Even Spielberg had to apologize for that dud.
Being a Spielberg fanboy, you owe it to yourself to fast-forward to the extended USO Dance bit. Even Spielberg admits it's one of the better sequences he's ever filmed.
Though he also thinks Hook is one of his weaker efforts, but he's just plain nuts right there.
No, he's right on the money.
Raiders
08-23-2008, 01:03 AM
So are you saying that Steven Spielberg is... the pan?
*resurrects the past*
For certain films, yes he is.
12. Vincente Minnelli's Respectably Long Takes During Musical Numbers
from Bells Are Ringing (top) and The Band Wagon (bottom)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/iosos/25%20moments/bellsringing.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/iosos/25%20moments/bandwagon.jpg
Well, maybe not JUST Minnelli. Mostly, my heart screams with delight whenever I see any director willing to let the performer do the work. I'm tired of cut-cut-cut-cut-cut to nearly any extent, but most particularly during sequences of dance. It's pure human geography, and unless the cuts accentuate an element of that, I much prefer the camera just shut up and capture it. It may or may not be the most thorough utilization of "pure cinema", depending on your use of the term, but I think the pleasure of watching a dancer undisturbed in any medium is much more satisfying than any questionable fidelity to aesthetic montage.
Other great musical numbers: the rooftop dance in Give the Girl a Break, the newspaper tap in Summer Stock, Cagney tapping in Yankee Doodle Dandy
Your choice from Another Woman is great.
Isn't Gene Hackman awesome?
Far out. Didn't know/remember that you were a fan. Sometimes I think I'm going crazy when I praise that film, because it's so good and nobody seems even interested.
Anyway, yes, Hackman would probably make a top ten list of actors, were I to ever make one. I love how he's never ever less than believable. He always seems perfectly cast. A combination of type-casting and great skills, surely.
1941 -- along with Temple of Doom and Hook -- is my favorite Spielberg film. He's made a lot of great films, but so many of them feel like the true Spielberg is being boxed in. I see him as Peter Pan with a movie camera and those three are exactly the sort of thing I imagine him most relishing making.
Well, high five for liking 1941, but I can't really praise the other two. Love Hoskins as Smee, but that's about it. You do realize that your three favorite Spielberg films are pretty much the three that are considered his worst, yes? But who am I to worry about your reputation when I have my own to look after? The Terminal would make my top five favorites of his.
Sycophant
08-23-2008, 05:35 AM
Completely agree with you on the long-takes-with-dance-numbers stance. Particularly the sequence you took the The Band Wagon screenshot from. That's just about my favorite dance number in movie history. One of my other favorites is in that movie ("Dancing in the Dark").
balmakboor
08-23-2008, 12:51 PM
You do realize that your three favorite Spielberg films are pretty much the three that are considered his worst, yes?
If I was asked what I consider to be his three best films, I'd say Duel, Empire of the Sun, and Schindler's List. My favorite aspect of Spielberg's work is how the whole Pan thing (Puer Aeternus to be specific) has informed all of his films. The three films I picked as favorites are the three that I feel express this the most openly. If I were to write about his body of work, my discussion would revolve around those three films.
If I was asked what I consider to be his three best films, I'd say Duel, Empire of the Sun, and Schindler's List. My favorite aspect of Spielberg's work is how the whole Pan thing (Puer Aeternus to be specific) has informed all of his films. The three films I picked as favorites are the three that I feel express this the most openly. If I were to write about his body of work, my discussion would revolve around those three films.
Very cool.
For Spinal
11. The Great Toad and Chameleon Circus
from The Holy Mountain
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/iosos/25%20moments/holy.jpg
My favorite Jodorowsky film, mostly because of its audacity, this is what I think to be the most imaginative sequence in a film teeming with imagination. It's brief and seemingly random, however in the grand scheme of things, the image of amphibians and reptiles enacting the the conquistadorian conquering of Mexico climaxing in an orgy of blood and explosions seems more than just about right. The music he uses during this bit is very fun, and I love the close-ups on the animal faces, recognizable as the flat expression of the emptiness of mortal toil.
More great Jodorowsky moments: the final zoom-out in The Holy Mountain, the de-limbing in Santa Sangre
Spinal
08-23-2008, 04:53 PM
Absolutely. In a film filled with jaw-dropping moments of inspiration, this one is one of the more memorable. A masterful combination of humor, politics, artistry and toad wrangling.
10. A Harpsichord Duet
from Ripley's Game
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/iosos/25%20moments/ripley.jpg
Most may consider this opening credits sequence relatively throwaway, but, when you consider the film's final moments, I think that in this duet between Ripley and his love figure nestles the entire purpose of this very creepy picture. While his love figure (for she is too much a thematic foil to be a character) plays a traditional harpsichord tune, he interrupts her rests with funky, unpredictable jazz fills. Another notch in the very notched-up belt of composer Ennio Morricone's brilliance.
Other great harpsichord moments: Oldman playing it as Beethoven in Eternal Beloved, Hannah and Her Sisters
9. The Arctic Rumble
from Red Heat
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/iosos/25%20moments/red.jpg
Easily the best thing about this otherwise sadly limp Walter Hill picture (this and the fact that the villain is arrested for running a red light), it is Schwarzenegger's introduction. He walks through a Siberian bathhouse in a loincloth, similarly built behemoths and naked women abound. He tangles with some bad dudes and they are thrust through the windows into the snowy Russian north and proceed to shake the earth in battle. These veritable Atlases crush and thrust and pound and roar and it's absolutely monstrous.
Other great Hill moments: the parking garage self-demolition in The Driver, the bottle-clinking at Coney Island in The Warriors, the assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford in The Long Riders
8. Sing While You Sell
from The Big Store
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/iosos/25%20moments/big-store.jpg
Watch it here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qsFrRJoiWA&feature=related)
It's not a terribly inspired song, but the zest of its delivery, the range of moves Groucho pulls out, the randomness of its use of props, the interlude with the straight-faced woman singing a jazz version of Rock-A-Bye Baby, and the tone of the singers (you know, that old-timey upbeat mixed-gender-type of singing) make this sequence super-delightful. I wish that Dali's Marx Brothers film (http://www.miskatonic.org/dali-marx.html) had happened... one of the great tragedies of Hollywood history.
Other great Marx Brothers moments: "Who 'dat man?" from A Day at the Races, Groucho's soliloquies in Animal Crackers, any time Margaret Dumont speaks in any of their films
7. Enter Mephistopheles
from Faust
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/iosos/25%20moments/faust2.jpg
Perhaps the height of Murnau's summoning of otherworldly horror, this sequence seared itself into my mind when I first encountered it and has never left. The glowing of the eyes, the dense, marshy atmosphere, the mechanical movement when he removes his hat... it's all so perfectly scary. The rest of the film is cool and bizarre, but this scene gives me the uber-willies.
Other great Murnau moments: Drunk pig from Sunrise, the final moments of Nosferatu in Nosferatu
6. Making People Bump Into a Lamppost
from Mon Oncle
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/iosos/25%20moments/oncle.jpg
I can never remember how Tati executes his gags. Usually I come away with vague feelings of appreciation, nostalgia, and admiration for his meticulous craft at the service of whimsy. This moment is what my mind goes back to whenever I think "Tati" because it's perfect in its melding of visual slapstick and youthful shenanigans in the spirit of childhood, rather than childishness, if that makes sense. Tati's creates a feeling of community with a spirit of rambunctious innocence and that's exactly why I love his work.
Other great Tati moments: the hose factory in Mon Oncle, the water hose routine in Jour de Fete, the demolition of the restaurant in Playtime
For Derek
5. "The Tinsmith Forgot To Give Me A Heart"
from The Wizard of Oz
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/iosos/25%20moments/oz.jpg
One of the most beautiful things about The Wizard of Oz, probably the most exquisite pure film fantasy ever, is the discovery that all the while, these adventurers had their trophies within themselves. That's never clearer than the very introduction of the tin man, who laments that he doesn't have a heart. Look at Jack Haley's face and listen to that voice and your own heart will melt like butter with sadness. This tin man's lament is full of heart and soul. Never again will I doubt the capacity for a metal man to love.
Other great Oz moments: the flying monkeys, the grumpy trees, the Lollipop Guild
For transmog
4. The Laser Dance
from Ocean's Twelve
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/iosos/25%20moments/ocean.jpg
The guy dances through lasers.
Other great cat burglar laser dancing moments: there are none
Derek
08-23-2008, 07:15 PM
One of the most beautiful things about The Wizard of Oz, probably the most exquisite pure film fantasy ever, is the discovery that all the while, these adventurers had their trophies within themselves. That's never clearer than the very introduction of the tin man, who laments that he doesn't have a heart. Look at Jack Haley's face and listen to that voice and your own heart will melt like butter with sadness. This tin man's lament is full of heart and soul. Never again will I doubt the capacity for a metal man to love.
In a word, indeed.
transmogrifier
08-23-2008, 07:24 PM
Watched Oz for the first time ever last night. It was good.
3. We Are All Going To Die
from F for Fake
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/iosos/25%20moments/fake.jpg
Betwixt his excursion from art fakery and Cliff Irving's pretending to be Howard Hughes to weaving the tale of Picasso's mistress, Welles segues with a broody little piece about what I think is the Notre Dame cathedral, explicating its place in the cosmic swing of things. This anonymous work, this "rich stone forest, this epic chant, this gaiety, this grand choiring shout of affirmation" stands as a testament to man's accomplishment, and in the end a man's name doesn't matter much. Go on singing.
Or something, I don't know, I just like listening to Orson Welles's voice.
Other great Welles moments: trying to do an Irish accent in The Lady from Shanghai, having made Citizen Kane when he was in his mid-twenties
Ezee E
08-23-2008, 07:39 PM
For transmog
4. The Laser Dance
from Ocean's Twelve
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/iosos/25%20moments/ocean.jpg
The guy dances through lasers.
Other great cat burglar laser dancing moments: there are none
Love that scene. I spent hours finding that piece of music on the internet.
Although one might say it's spoofing the ridiculous laser scene in Entrapment.
Qrazy
08-23-2008, 07:51 PM
For transmog
4. The Laser Dance
from Ocean's Twelve
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/iosos/25%20moments/ocean.jpg
The guy dances through lasers.
Other great cat burglar laser dancing moments: there are none
Just awful.
But kudos on Faust, Holy Mountain, F for Fake, and Mon Oncle.
2. Snake Plissken Sticks It To The Man... TWICE!
from Escape from New York and Escape from L.A.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/iosos/25%20moments/escape2.jpg
I see Snake as the manifestation of uncorrupted ethos. Surely he's a traditional badass, and that's a bit of a shame, albeit a necessity in the films' styles and plots. But he's the kind of guy who believes in the individual and doesn't abide legislature that prevents the right of the individual, ie, arguments opposing government supported health care boiling down to economic considerations rather than the well-being of those unable to afford medicine. He's not subtle, nor is he a perfect force, but he is good. The total anarchy of the final moments in both films is a response to our being so deep into it that we need a reboot. It's a devastating suggestion, but noble in a way. I wouldn't vote for Snake for president or nuthin', but in the end, he's usually doing what most of us are thinking and I can't deny the inspiration in that.
Other great Kurt Russell moments: Death Proof, Overboard, Big Trouble in Little China, his DVD commentaries with Carpenter
And last, but totally not least:
for number8
1. "Have you met my friend Kyle's mom?"
from South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/iosos/25%20moments/southpark.jpg
Witness the glory. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGdgADyS8BI&feature=related) The best part is the simmer down at the end, with the little pelvis thrusts and hopping and jazz hands. Glorious.
THE END!! Hope you enjoyed.
Watashi
08-23-2008, 08:12 PM
Yay!
Great finish. Love that scene even before it was overplayed.
Izzy Black
08-23-2008, 09:13 PM
Another Woman reeks Bergman. Deftly written, acted, and shot no less.
The Ripley's Game scene is good.
balmakboor
08-24-2008, 02:50 AM
6. Making People Bump Into a Lamppost
from Mon Oncle
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/iosos/25%20moments/oncle.jpg
I can never remember how Tati executes his gags. Usually I come away with vague feelings of appreciation, nostalgia, and admiration for his meticulous craft at the service of whimsy. This moment is what my mind goes back to whenever I think "Tati" because it's perfect in its melding of visual slapstick and youthful shenanigans in the spirit of childhood, rather than childishness, if that makes sense. Tati's creates a feeling of community with a spirit of rambunctious innocence and that's exactly why I love his work.
Other great Tati moments: the hose factory in Mon Oncle, the water hose routine in Jour de Fete, the demolition of the restaurant in Playtime
:)
I would also add the multiple car accident in Trafic -- or specifically the body language of the people as they get out of their wrecked cars.
Amnesiac
08-24-2008, 03:27 AM
14. A Stolen Moment
from Another Woman
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/iosos/25%20moments/another-woman.jpg
"I accept your condemnation."
This was definitely an interesting film and it did a lot towards opening my eyes to Allen's re-occurring concerns as a filmmaker. I actually found that Another Woman, Alice, and September all seem to indicate Allen's strong interest in middle-aged women wrestling with ennui, regret, dissatisfaction, lasciviousness and ... of course, infidelity.
the demolition of the restaurant in Playtime
Nothing beats Hulot breaking the glass door to pieces and watching the door-man pick up the remaining handle (in a stroke of improvisational resilience) and continue to usher in the clueless customers via a now imaginary door.
Oh, and that little drunk dude who would continually fall off the stool really cracked me up.
Kurious Jorge v3.1
08-24-2008, 05:20 AM
Other great Tati moments:
One of the great Tati moments I've experienced is my cat attacking my TV when the dogs run amuck in the beginning of Mon Oncle. I know Tati planned that.
MadMan
08-24-2008, 07:45 AM
So are you saying that Steven Spielberg is... the pan?
*resurrects the past**Smacks Wats with a rolled up newspaper* Bad dog! Bad!
The last five are just flat out awesome. Oh and Kurt Russell is the fucking man, plain and simple. I'd say that Stuntman Mike really doesn't get enough due for being one of his best performances. But it doesn't even touch Snake. Nothing really does.
Also I don't trust anyone who dislikes The Wizard of Oz. I love, love that movie.
Grouchy
08-24-2008, 08:59 PM
Very entertaining read.
As a suggestion, I would have put the Ocean's Twelve one lower.
Amnesiac
08-25-2008, 01:16 AM
I remember feeling really turned off by that Ocean's 12 sequence. And most of the rest of the movie, too.
Ezee E
08-25-2008, 03:09 AM
I like Ocean's 12 the most out of the trilogy from a cinematic standpoint. It just takes more filmmaking risks then other contemporary films. The use of music is also one of my favorite recent scores.
It's nearly a spoof.
Amnesiac
08-25-2008, 03:17 AM
I only watched it once, and a long time ago at that, so I can't really vouch for how risky it is from a filmmaking standpoint... but, in terms what I did dislike about it, there was the whole 'you look like Julia Roberts!' I found that be an instance of some pretty irritating self-reflexivity.
And the heist(s) themselves, as well as the whole narrative, seemed to lack the gravitas that Ocean's 11 carried. And I think the shallow characterization got a bit worse, too.
Wryan
08-26-2008, 05:53 PM
I distinctly disliked that Midsummer Night's Dream, but Cagney is great in just about anything, and great in that, so it was ultimately ok.
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