Looking over this list, my choices run far more fanboyish and mainstream than usual. Maybe that's because Hollywood put out a good slate of films this year. Or maybe, at least, they made it really obvious to everyone which ones were gonna suck so I knew which to avoid. (Somehow, I never made it to see Paul Blart, New Moon, Old Dogs, or Transformers: Curse of the Boom Boom Pow.) Also, I think when I'm talking straight up film "moments," my mind immediately rushes to those big-screen action scenes that provide visceral thrills. (I thought about including a scene from Terminator 4, except that movie is just one big neverending visceral thrill--I kind of liked it.) So even though lots of this list skews toward the philosophy of praising violence, just bear with me. Because when Liam Neeson punches people in the face, we all cheer.Also, these are my favorite moments. It doesn't mean I necessarily liked the movie as a whole.
And one more thing: Spoiler Alerts!
In no particular order...
STAR TREK: It's Not the Fall That Hurts, It's When You Almost Don't Get Atomically Reconstructed In Time
Kirk and Sulu have just sword-battled some alien dudes while dangerously close to a sharp drop-off. Then they drop off. As Chekhov races to a)learn how to "beam up" two people simultaneously (and while moving) and b)actually do it, the whole audience holds their breath. And not to ruin it for you, but it ends with a collective sigh of relief and a smattering of applause.
DRAG ME TO HELL: Another Reason Why Old People Shouldn't Be Allowed to Operate Vehicles
Christine's life is going well. She's up for a promotion and she's dating a Mac computer. Then she denies an old lady an extension on her mortgage. Old lady has one hell of a skin condition and she makes like a double-crossed thug, meeting Christine in the parking garage after work for one out-of-this-world (seriously; it's from the underworld) catfight full of cartoony, grotesque violence. In a film that also utilizes a demon-possessed goat, this scene is probably my favorite.
UP: ...And That's How You Write a Miscarriage Into the Beginning of an Animated Movie
The montage of Carl and Ellie's life together--set to Michael Giacchino's reliably perfect music--is four minutes of heartbreak, capturing several simple (yet impeccably detailed) moments from these characters' lives. It goes to show that some of the best storytelling doesn't even need dialogue. Or actors.
(500) DAYS OF SUMMER: Imagine Me and You, I Do
So yeah, I saw this a second time and it only reaffirmed my feelings: it still seems like it was adapted from an Urban Outfitters catalogue. Every now and then, though, the film dips into sweet moments of poignancy and none works as well as the split screen scene. In it, Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character imagines how a reunion at a party with his former flame (Zooey Deschanel) would go in a perfect world and on the other side of the screen, we watch reality smash that dream to pieces. The cleverness of the bit never detracts from the power of the sentiment.
THE INTERNATIONAL: Best. Art Exhibit. Ever.
Suck it, OK Corral. This gunfight is way better than OK. The International is actually a quite decent corporate thriller about super-evil banks (I wish the poster had been an ATM spitting out the bones of the innocent) but there's a lot of hushed whispering interspersed with action. The Guggenheim Museum in New York is circular and the walkway is one big spiral ramp so the gunfight that ensues within is not only crazy-bloody, but a tricky, well-edited, well-choreographed dance between art, bullets, and innocent bystanders.
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS: Parlor Games
Never have I had knots in my stomach about someone having passable German. One brilliant scene that fuses humor, sadness, and cinematic tension like no other scene I can recall.
UP IN THE AIR: Life Plans. Really, Really Thorough Life Plans.
After getting dumped via text message, Natalie (Anna Kendrick) emotionally unloads on Ryan (George Clooney) and Alex (Vera Fermiga) in a hotel lobby. Kendrick relays aspects--many of them--of the life she had pictured for herself, a life that seems further away now. Ryan and Alex are there to comfort, all too familiar with her predicament. Although the dialogue is rapidfire (especially Kendrick's), the scene unfolds slowly, revealing a generational gap and then filling it in with shared problems and remembered pains. It's a moving, refreshing reminder that life, by definition, is the journey and not the destination.
FAST & FURIOUS: An Opening So Good, Everything After It Will Be That Much More Disappointing
The opening scene of the film is Vin Diesel and the Unofficial Crew of Roadside Badassery hijacking a gasoline tanker. There is vehicle-to-vehicle jumping, racing in reverse, and steep mountainside roads. Filmed with nail-biting intensity up til the end, it's one of the best car-stunt scenes of the decade; so good in fact that the studio just used it as the trailer. Unfortunately, nothing after it could live up to the excitement.
AN EDUCATION: The Lyin', The Bewitched, And the Wardrobe Change
Peter Sarsgaard's David bets Jenny (Carrie Mulligan) that he can convince her strict parents to let her go away with him for the weekend. David delivers such a cool, effortless lie involving C.S. Lewis that he's able to make the trip seem like Jenny's parents idea. It's a great scene in which the audience is not only amused, but delighted to be in on the prank.
TAKEN: "My Name Is Liam Neeson and I'm Gonna Punch. Your. Face."
I still maintain that this part was written for Jason Statham but the script got accidentally delivered to Liam Neeson and everyone just decided to roll with it. Our benefit, because the results are seriously, preposterously wonderful. Really, I can pick almost any scene from the whole second (or third) act from Taken, which is scene after scene of Liam Neeson--that Liam Neeson--kicking human trafficking ass. Almost never does he encounter an actual obstacle. He gets people to jump off bridges, crash cars, or make the ultimate mistake: try to fight him back. Forced to choose one moment, I have to go with Liam Neeson SHOOTING HIS FRIEND'S WIFE to get information. Seriously, he shoots his friend's wife! Sure, it's in the leg and the friend has betrayed him, but HOLY CRAP, it was completely unnecessary. And he shoots her with such a straightforward "let's move this along now" attitude, it makes it that much better. Liam Neeson didn't create the pissed-off dad genre, but for a shining moment, he (kind of) legitimized it.
1 comments:
You're inspiring me to blog again. I'll know I'll at least rank the movies I saw, so I might do something similar to this as well. For now, I'll comment on yours.
Star Trek: Liked this scene, but I would have picked the opening. Talk about intense.
UP: I'd have to pick the moment he realizes holding onto his old life is weighing him down and then has to throw those things away because they are LITERALLY weighing him down. I'll be jealous of how great that writing is until the day I die.
(500) Days of Summer: One of my favorite moments too. Can't see how you liked that but not enough of the rest of the movie to at least hate it.
Inglorious Basterds: I preferred this scene to the opening one, but both dragged out way too long for me.
Fast & Furious: I can't believe you saw this.
Taken: Not sure what scene I would pick. Perhaps when he finds the bad guy. Because I thought he was scoping the place out and was going to sneak back in. Instead, he says "I told you I would find you" and kills everyone.
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