20 July 2010
I was reading on a discussion board today, and someone asked people to post their favorite scenes from movies. I didn’t participate in that discussion. Instead, I’ll post some of my favorites here.
Here’s the problem, though: I think I’d have a tough time going through every film I’ve seen and selecting the best scenes of the bunch. Sometimes, there’s a really great film, but I can’t really think of one particular scene that stands out. Other times, there are really mediocre films that have one or two really awesome scenes. So here’s what I’m gonna do: I’m gonna open up my list of films, scan through it, and if a scene comes to my mind, I’ll see if it’s available on the inter-webs. Here are two disclaimers: These aren’t necessarily my favorites (there might be 20 scenes out there that are better than any of these), and I’m not gonna embed more than one scene for any given movie. True, some movies have lots of good scenes, but then maybe you should just go watch the whole movie. Therefore, in no particular order, here are 12 great scenes from motion pictures that I’ve watched:
1. Everything about this montage is phenomenal: the teacher’s advice, the boy’s acting, the grip the music has on his life, and, of course, the underlying score:
2. Hitchcock and Dali…together at last! Though not nearly as popular, Spellbound is a far better film than Vertigo, and it has a way better dream sequence, too:
3. This movie is pretty much just one hilarious bit after another, but this is the one that came to my mind first:
4. Here’s an example of a phenomenal scene in a deeply flawed, uneven film. This is a great first scene. Although, technically, it’s not the first scene. If memory serves, it’s the second scene, after an insanely pointless “present day” bit that bookends the movie. But on the subject of pointless, this scene, great as it is, is also pointless in relation to the rest of story (and unintelligible as a flashback):
5. And while we’re on the topic of Spielberg:
6. I thought this was a very moving moment in a very moving film:
7. Kirk & Co. certainly kicked ass many times before (and after) this, but somehow, totally owning a whaling vessel was exceptionally satisfying:
8. When I saw this at the theater, everyone in the audience was sniffling and crying. After so much laughter and mayhem, this scene was unexpected (for me). But I knew that even though little Goisue just thinks Papa is playing, for Papa, that wink is a good-bye (WARNING: Pregnant women might find this too emotional!):
9. This movie has several rather stellar scenes, but I’ve selected this one because, when I saw this movie for the first time, it was this scene that made me think, “Yes, this is an awesome flick.” And it’s also a truly dizzying intellect:
10. A great finale that I fear maybe isn’t so good by itself, but if you’ve seen the film, you know this was a fine four minutes:
11. A shout out to the silent era – just when you think the scene can’t get any sadder, you bust out laughing:
12. Brilliant! Ha!:
And here are some scenes that I tried to find, but that I couldn’t find an embeddable clip for: The final two minutes of The Iron Giant; the scene in The Godfather II where Vito becomes the Godfather, you know – when he’s hopping on the rooftops following the guy on the street below; the scene in Rope where Jimmy Stewart says: “Did you think you were God, Brandon?”; the final three minutes of Psycho; that part in Raiders of the Lost Ark where Indy is running from a boulder; the first scene from Memento; the scene-within-a-scene-within-a-scene first six minutes of Serenity;and that awesome bit in Superman II where the Man of Steel tricks Zorg with that anti-superhero chamber.