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la_belle_laidePretty much everyone who likes Star Wars gets that shiver when Luke finds out that Vader is his dad, but I get a bigger shiver when Luke almost gives in to his hatred for the Emperor and skirts the dark side of the Force. I get a shiver when he lets himself fall down that air shaft after Vader tells him the truth, and it pissed me off that the later versions of the VHS added the sound of him screaming as he fell. Luke didn't scream. He was a Jedi, he knew what he was doing.
And most people go nuts when Indiana Jones shoots the bad guy instead of fighting him or when he's running from the boulder. Or when Hannibal Lecter tells Clarice that he's having an old friend for dinner. My best part of Silence Of The Lambs, though, was the backlit, crucified and skinned officer that Lecter left on display after his escape from the cell. That scene taught me the meaning of cinematography.
So, that in mind, what are some of your best movie moments? I'm not talking about the most famous or the most obvious, either, unless those happen to be the same. Why were they your favorites? What do you remember about them? Do you relate to those scenes or do they just turn you some kind of on? Is it a subtle thing that maybe no one else thinks about, or is it a grand scene?
Or maybe you just have favorite quotes, a kickass line from a movie that means a lot to you or that rings true or that you just remember often for some reason. And why? Was it the delivery, or the words, or the cadence, or what?
Please, share!
Here are some of mine. Spoilers probably for all of them; I'll try to cut tag the major ones.
The entire ending to Quills, but mostly Joaquin Phoenix screaming through the window, "God damn you, Abbe! A quill!" The Marquis de Sade is dead and there is a new Abbe. Coulmier (Joaquin Phoenix) is in his cell, all long hair and thousand-yard stare. I'm guessing that we're not supposed to be wildly turned on by this, but what-the-hell-ever, he's beautiful. The evil Dr. Royer-Collard has him on display in a way, to demonstrate to the new Abbe that "some men are beyond redemption." Coulmier tries--and fails--to explain that the Dr. is this cruel, vindictive man, even more perverse than the Marquis De Sade. He can't seem to explain it; he wants a quill and paper to write his story down. And when the Dr. subtly taunts him by repeating his exact words, Coulmier reaches out just as quick as a viper and grabs him by the collar. You don't see this coming, because Joaquin plays it all distracted. After the Dr. frees himself, he and the new Abbe go walking away, and Coulmier begs them to come back and bring him a quill. The coolest thing is that, when Coulmier took the Marquis's quills away, the Marquis shouted that same line to him: "God damn you, Abbe!"
Another incredible moment in this film takes place between the Marquis and the Abbe. It's when Abbe is forced to take away everything the Marquis could possibly use to write on or with, and this includes his clothes. You'd think that this'd make de Sade the vulnerable one, but it doesn't. When he's bareass nakie, it's Abbe who's completely at a loss. And just watch Joaquin's eyes in that one moment, because all he does is close them for a second. Then when he opens them again, there's all the shame and disgust and fascination and repressed lust and horror you might ever see in a movie. It's incredible. He's incredible.
The entire last 60 seconds or so of The Usual Suspects. It's too much to go into to explain the whole thing, and I don't like to talk much about the end of this movie anyway, because it must never be spoiled. It must never be spoiled.
Also Kevin Spacey's "I didn't know! I saw him die! And believe me, he's dead. Oh, Christ!" Kevin convinces me of everything he says in this movie. That's all I'm going to say. ^_^
(Also, this movie was Benicio Del Toro's first Incredible Movie. "He'll flip ya! Flip ya for real!" I die everytime he speaks in this one.)
Jim Carrey touching the 'sky' in The Truman Show.
I had no idea until I saw this movie that Jim Carrey could act. He was so good through the whole thing, but his face when he touches the "sky" is amazing; he doesn't say a word, and he doesn't have to.
In The Matrix, Neo realizing that he doesn't have to dodge bullets.
Also Agent Smith's 'I hate this place' speech. A machine hates? Smith has already lost.
In Lilo and Stitch, Stitch asks Lilo if he can surf with her by gesturing with awesomely animated hands. Also, Nani singing "Aloha 'Oe." I still cry at that part.
In Fargo, I get such a kick out of Marge talking to the two hookers. "Oh ya? Is that useful to ya?" "Yaaaaah." But what really gets me going is the very last scene. I love it when Marge has Gaear Grimsrud (Peter Stormare, who was hilarious,) in the prowler with her and she asks him why he did what he did. "And for what? A little bit of money. There's more to life than money, ya know. Don't you know that?" She gets her eyes all teary for the first time in the movie, and says, "And here ya are. And it's a beautiful day." And then that awesome Fargo music comes on. It's one of the best movie endings ever.
The wonderful Pirates Of The Caribbean has loads of priceless movie moments, so it's hard for me to choose just one. But Jack Sparrow telling Elizabeth the truth about how he got off the island the first time does stick with me. As I've said before, Jack's totally exposed in this scene. (Unfortunately, the best scene in the movie was cut and only released on DVD, and it's when Jack shows Elizabeth his scars.) Barbossa's "I'm disinlcined to acquiesce to your request," is pure malevolent snark, and his entire "this is Aztec gold" speech is great, because Geoffrey Rush is a mad genius, but I have two Barbossa moments that I love even better than those. The first is when he tells Elizabeth, "For too long I've been parched of thirst and unable to quench it. Too long I've been starvin' to death, and haven't died. I feel nothing. Not the wind on my face nor the spray of the sea...Nor the warmth of a woman's flesh.... Ye'd best start believin' in ghost stories, Miss Turner. You're in one."
Oooh, just look at th desperation in his eyes when he says that. He means it. How can you not feel some sort of pity for Barbossa just then?
My other best Barbossa moment is when the mast of the Dauntless falls onto the Pearl, and--it's really subtle--Barbossa does nothing more than stand aside.
In The Shining, well...the whole movie is scary, but my best, most scariest part was when Jack looks into the hotel room and sees the two men from the costume party, in their creepyass animal suits with the plastic eyes. It's very brief, but you know, that gave me nightmares for months. Oh, hell, I still have nightmares over that, and animal suits still give me the creeps.
The end of Shallow Grave. Is there anything more wonderful than Ewan's wasted-yet-euphorically-sly smile and Kerry Fox's hysterics as "Happy Heart" plays in the background? It's wonderful.
In The Godfather, when Michael gets his with the thunderbolt. And the very subtle line, 'I'm with you now,' which he says to his father in the hospital.
Because when Michael comes to see the Don in the hospital and says, "I'm with you now," he doesn't just mean, "I'm with you in the hospital in your time of need." He means he's with him. He's with the family.
And the end, when he lies shamelessly to his wife and then someone closes the door right in her face. That's harsh.
The entire ending to the Rurouni Kenshin movie. Kenshin animated in fire!
Monty Python and the Holy Grail is the movie I've seen more than any other movie in my life. Last count, I'd seen it 149 times. That was back in '89. I lost count sometime that summer. And the Castle Anthrax scene still gets me going. ;)
In Mononoke Hime, San is about to stab Ashitaka, and he tells her, "You're beautiful." That just kills me. You have to see it to get why.
At the end of Arsenic and Old Lace, when the cop is getting a description of Peter Lorre's character as Peter Lorre is standing right in front of him. Then he shakes his hand and lets him go. It's hilarious. Also, the whole fight over who gets to sleep on the window seat. That still slays me everytime I see it.
I think Christopher Walken is brilliant in anything he does, and it'd take me nigh on forever to go into all of his movies that I've loved. But most often I fall in love with his delivery. Mostly I loved Gabriel from The Prophecy. Gabriel was one of his coolest characters ever. My best part of that movie was when he's trying to get Simon (Eric Stoltz) back on his side. During his quietly impassioned entreaty--which comes off sounding more like threats than a plea--he kisses Simon. It's not an erotic kiss, either, but it's still sexy and very intense. It's also very subtle. At first I wasn't sure what I was seeing.
And Johnny from The Dead Zone. Admittedly, my favorite part of that movie is most people's favorite part: "The ice is gonna break!" With the cane and the smashing the vase and all. ^_^ Of course, in Suicide Kings he stole the movie while taped to a chair, too. But I digress.
I'm sure I'll think of many more of those shivery movie moments, but off the top of my head, those are my favorites.
So what are some of yours?
And most people go nuts when Indiana Jones shoots the bad guy instead of fighting him or when he's running from the boulder. Or when Hannibal Lecter tells Clarice that he's having an old friend for dinner. My best part of Silence Of The Lambs, though, was the backlit, crucified and skinned officer that Lecter left on display after his escape from the cell. That scene taught me the meaning of cinematography.
So, that in mind, what are some of your best movie moments? I'm not talking about the most famous or the most obvious, either, unless those happen to be the same. Why were they your favorites? What do you remember about them? Do you relate to those scenes or do they just turn you some kind of on? Is it a subtle thing that maybe no one else thinks about, or is it a grand scene?
Or maybe you just have favorite quotes, a kickass line from a movie that means a lot to you or that rings true or that you just remember often for some reason. And why? Was it the delivery, or the words, or the cadence, or what?
Please, share!
Here are some of mine. Spoilers probably for all of them; I'll try to cut tag the major ones.
The entire ending to Quills, but mostly Joaquin Phoenix screaming through the window, "God damn you, Abbe! A quill!" The Marquis de Sade is dead and there is a new Abbe. Coulmier (Joaquin Phoenix) is in his cell, all long hair and thousand-yard stare. I'm guessing that we're not supposed to be wildly turned on by this, but what-the-hell-ever, he's beautiful. The evil Dr. Royer-Collard has him on display in a way, to demonstrate to the new Abbe that "some men are beyond redemption." Coulmier tries--and fails--to explain that the Dr. is this cruel, vindictive man, even more perverse than the Marquis De Sade. He can't seem to explain it; he wants a quill and paper to write his story down. And when the Dr. subtly taunts him by repeating his exact words, Coulmier reaches out just as quick as a viper and grabs him by the collar. You don't see this coming, because Joaquin plays it all distracted. After the Dr. frees himself, he and the new Abbe go walking away, and Coulmier begs them to come back and bring him a quill. The coolest thing is that, when Coulmier took the Marquis's quills away, the Marquis shouted that same line to him: "God damn you, Abbe!"
Another incredible moment in this film takes place between the Marquis and the Abbe. It's when Abbe is forced to take away everything the Marquis could possibly use to write on or with, and this includes his clothes. You'd think that this'd make de Sade the vulnerable one, but it doesn't. When he's bareass nakie, it's Abbe who's completely at a loss. And just watch Joaquin's eyes in that one moment, because all he does is close them for a second. Then when he opens them again, there's all the shame and disgust and fascination and repressed lust and horror you might ever see in a movie. It's incredible. He's incredible.
The entire last 60 seconds or so of The Usual Suspects. It's too much to go into to explain the whole thing, and I don't like to talk much about the end of this movie anyway, because it must never be spoiled. It must never be spoiled.
Also Kevin Spacey's "I didn't know! I saw him die! And believe me, he's dead. Oh, Christ!" Kevin convinces me of everything he says in this movie. That's all I'm going to say. ^_^
(Also, this movie was Benicio Del Toro's first Incredible Movie. "He'll flip ya! Flip ya for real!" I die everytime he speaks in this one.)
Jim Carrey touching the 'sky' in The Truman Show.
I had no idea until I saw this movie that Jim Carrey could act. He was so good through the whole thing, but his face when he touches the "sky" is amazing; he doesn't say a word, and he doesn't have to.
In The Matrix, Neo realizing that he doesn't have to dodge bullets.
Also Agent Smith's 'I hate this place' speech. A machine hates? Smith has already lost.
In Lilo and Stitch, Stitch asks Lilo if he can surf with her by gesturing with awesomely animated hands. Also, Nani singing "Aloha 'Oe." I still cry at that part.
In Fargo, I get such a kick out of Marge talking to the two hookers. "Oh ya? Is that useful to ya?" "Yaaaaah." But what really gets me going is the very last scene. I love it when Marge has Gaear Grimsrud (Peter Stormare, who was hilarious,) in the prowler with her and she asks him why he did what he did. "And for what? A little bit of money. There's more to life than money, ya know. Don't you know that?" She gets her eyes all teary for the first time in the movie, and says, "And here ya are. And it's a beautiful day." And then that awesome Fargo music comes on. It's one of the best movie endings ever.
The wonderful Pirates Of The Caribbean has loads of priceless movie moments, so it's hard for me to choose just one. But Jack Sparrow telling Elizabeth the truth about how he got off the island the first time does stick with me. As I've said before, Jack's totally exposed in this scene. (Unfortunately, the best scene in the movie was cut and only released on DVD, and it's when Jack shows Elizabeth his scars.) Barbossa's "I'm disinlcined to acquiesce to your request," is pure malevolent snark, and his entire "this is Aztec gold" speech is great, because Geoffrey Rush is a mad genius, but I have two Barbossa moments that I love even better than those. The first is when he tells Elizabeth, "For too long I've been parched of thirst and unable to quench it. Too long I've been starvin' to death, and haven't died. I feel nothing. Not the wind on my face nor the spray of the sea...Nor the warmth of a woman's flesh.... Ye'd best start believin' in ghost stories, Miss Turner. You're in one."
Oooh, just look at th desperation in his eyes when he says that. He means it. How can you not feel some sort of pity for Barbossa just then?
My other best Barbossa moment is when the mast of the Dauntless falls onto the Pearl, and--it's really subtle--Barbossa does nothing more than stand aside.
In The Shining, well...the whole movie is scary, but my best, most scariest part was when Jack looks into the hotel room and sees the two men from the costume party, in their creepyass animal suits with the plastic eyes. It's very brief, but you know, that gave me nightmares for months. Oh, hell, I still have nightmares over that, and animal suits still give me the creeps.
The end of Shallow Grave. Is there anything more wonderful than Ewan's wasted-yet-euphorically-sly smile and Kerry Fox's hysterics as "Happy Heart" plays in the background? It's wonderful.
In The Godfather, when Michael gets his with the thunderbolt. And the very subtle line, 'I'm with you now,' which he says to his father in the hospital.
Because when Michael comes to see the Don in the hospital and says, "I'm with you now," he doesn't just mean, "I'm with you in the hospital in your time of need." He means he's with him. He's with the family.
And the end, when he lies shamelessly to his wife and then someone closes the door right in her face. That's harsh.
The entire ending to the Rurouni Kenshin movie. Kenshin animated in fire!
Monty Python and the Holy Grail is the movie I've seen more than any other movie in my life. Last count, I'd seen it 149 times. That was back in '89. I lost count sometime that summer. And the Castle Anthrax scene still gets me going. ;)
In Mononoke Hime, San is about to stab Ashitaka, and he tells her, "You're beautiful." That just kills me. You have to see it to get why.
At the end of Arsenic and Old Lace, when the cop is getting a description of Peter Lorre's character as Peter Lorre is standing right in front of him. Then he shakes his hand and lets him go. It's hilarious. Also, the whole fight over who gets to sleep on the window seat. That still slays me everytime I see it.
I think Christopher Walken is brilliant in anything he does, and it'd take me nigh on forever to go into all of his movies that I've loved. But most often I fall in love with his delivery. Mostly I loved Gabriel from The Prophecy. Gabriel was one of his coolest characters ever. My best part of that movie was when he's trying to get Simon (Eric Stoltz) back on his side. During his quietly impassioned entreaty--which comes off sounding more like threats than a plea--he kisses Simon. It's not an erotic kiss, either, but it's still sexy and very intense. It's also very subtle. At first I wasn't sure what I was seeing.
And Johnny from The Dead Zone. Admittedly, my favorite part of that movie is most people's favorite part: "The ice is gonna break!" With the cane and the smashing the vase and all. ^_^ Of course, in Suicide Kings he stole the movie while taped to a chair, too. But I digress.
I'm sure I'll think of many more of those shivery movie moments, but off the top of my head, those are my favorites.
So what are some of yours?
