Or this one from 20,000 YEARS IN SING SING.
What scene from a movie defines it for you?
Tuesday, April 08, 2014
Moments That Made the Movies
Or this one from 20,000 YEARS IN SING SING.
What scene from a movie defines it for you?
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13 comments:
I can think of quite a few movies with defining scenes, most of them obvious choices, like Javier Bardem's tossing of the coin in "No Country for Old Men," Gene Hackman's car chase in "The French Connection," Sidney Poitier introducing himself in "The Heat of the Night," and the discovery of Tim Robbins' escape through the prison wall in "The Shawshank Redemption."
Afterthought: Among early films, James Cagney in the last scene in "Angels with Dirty Faces."
Cagney in WHITE HEAT: "Made it, Ma. Top of the world!"
The chariot race in BEN HUR.
"Over? Did you say 'over'? Nothing is over until we say it is. Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!"
Bogart: "Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine."
On the Waterfront:
Terry: It wasn't him, Charley, it was you. Remember that night in the Garden you came down to my dressing room and you said, "Kid, this ain't your night. We're going for the price on Wilson." You remember that? "This ain't your night"! My night! I coulda taken Wilson apart! So what happens? He gets the title shot outdoors on the ballpark and what do I get? A one-way ticket to Palooka-ville! You was my brother, Charley, you shoulda looked out for me a little bit. You shoulda taken care of me just a little bit so I wouldn't have to take them dives for the short-end money.
Charlie: Oh I had some bets down for you. You saw some money.
Terry: You don't understand. I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let's face it. It was you, Charley.
Jeff M.
Oh, so hard to say. One that comes to my mind is the climactic scene in Gone With the Wind when Rhett Butler finally leaves Scarlett.
Too many to list. Among my favorites that haven't been mentioned yet is the first appearance of the shark in JAWS ("You're gonna need a bigger boat.")
Jack Nicholson typing "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" in THE SHINING (and how Kubrick shoots the scene).
Sidney Greenstreet hacking at the fake falcon with his penknife.
I certainly tend to remember moments of movies much better than overall movies. I imagine it is that way for most folks though.
Clint Eastwood telling punks to "Make my day."
The last line of the last scene in Chinatown: "Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown." Sums everything up.
Last scene of KING KONG "T'was beauty killed the beast".
The scene at the top of the tower in VERTIGO.
from TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT:
Slim: You know you don't have to act with me, Steve. You don't have to say anything, and you don't have to do anything. Not a thing. Oh, maybe just whistle. You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and... blow."
To my mind, it is often the music that makes the movie. The theme is used at pivotal moments in such films as Casablanca and Gone With the Wind. Take Rick's anguished recollection of his romance with Ilsa in Casablanca, beginning gently and blooming to full orchestra. The Laura theme is one of the most haunting ever composed.
"Old time hockey - like Eddie Shore!"
The first appearance of Chico and Harpo in DUCK SOUP.
The last scene in I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG, especially the very last line:
"I steal!"
The best moment in Swedish movie history? Bergman? Some silent classic by Victor Sjöström? Wrong, wrong, wrong... It's this musical bit from PENSIONAT PARADISET - a 1937 lowbrow farce which at the time was reviled as "the very essence of human stupidity and vulgarity". Today it's considered a comedy classic and I'd say it's not only the funniest movie ever made here - it's funniest movie that will ever be made here. Thor Modéen (you will know who he is from the clip below) was the King of Comedy for a few years in the late 1930s. I can watch this clip literally dozens of times and never get tired of it. Be sure to watch it until the very end:
- Bravo, bravo, what a voice, what a...temperamento! I Should have met you...two years ago!
- You don't say, Miss Cronblom?...
- YESSS!!!
[destruction]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eraq2Tbc-s4
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