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Your Favourite Scene From a Film -- and why

Started by An tSaoi, April 06, 2010, 05:01:07 PM

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Cheeky Monkey

"Sure, the litmus configurararation...."

Midnight Run Part 8 (2 of 2)

(from 2.06 onwards)

Because it's the greatest deadpan I've ever seen. And it's the best scene in a film that's packed with great setpiece after great setpiece. I seem to mention Midnight Run in every film discussion but only because I really think it's one of the most tightly constructed screenplays ever written. Characters you care about, incredibly funny and profane dialogue, clever twists and great running gags. Also, the early Danny Elfman score is brilliant, and it's one of only two films where I feel obligated to physically punch the air in salute at the end (yes, the other is The Breakfast Club).

A perfect film.

Serge

Quote from: Neville Chamberlain on April 11, 2010, 08:43:37 PM
Apparently the zoo was closed and the animals sold off in 2000, and had gained a reputation for poor conditions. I spent a few minutes sitting on a stone next to a fence around the grounds, just a couple of metres away from one of the animal pens, which was itself an abandoned wreck. I'd read a lot about people getting into the closed-off grounds as late as last year, but there was no way I was going to do that. Some of the holes in the fence people had obviously used to get onto the site had clearly been since patched up and reinforced. You can imagine how disappointed I was after the unbelievably steep trek up from town. I continued my walk into the hamlet of Riber and beyond and saw a few old signs for the wildlife park, although some attempt had been made to cover the signs up. It was all very strange and a bit creepy considering the Gothic horror nature of Riber Castle itself, lurking there on the brow of the hill...!

By the way, seeing as you're a native, how do you pronounce Riber?!?

Rye-Bur. Though I'm from Derby, not Matlock, so someone even more local can now pop up and tell me that I'm a southern mispronouncin' ponce and it's actually pronounced Ru-Bray or something.

I remember taking the train up to Cromford a few times as a teenager with friends, when we'd walk from there into Matlock Bath and over the hill by Riber back to Cromford Station. I don't even want to think that this was over twenty years ago!

jaydee81

Quote from: Johnny Townmouse on April 09, 2010, 03:10:15 PM
Apparently Thewlis was told to stand on a street corner at 2am. He had to wait a whole hour until Bremner turned up, and as there were so many real nutters around, it took him a short while to realise it was part of the scene. That could be folklore though.

Not sure if anyone has referenced this yet, but as a matter of interest, all rumours that scenes in Mike Leigh films are improvised (people always say the scene in Secrets and Lies is when they meet each other for the first time) was dismissed by Mike Leigh in an interview with Mark Lawson on BBC 4.
All the dialogue is improvised, but months before when they're workshopping it. I think I've heard the story about Naked before, I think Mark Lawson said that apparently Mike Leigh had to run across the street shouting CUT CUT because they were getting into a fight. But it wasn't when they were filming it.
There was a great clip as part of a documentary where the nurse in Abigail's Party said that when the guy had the heart attack for the first time in a workshop, she tried to pretend she hadn't seen it as she didn't know any first aid. They had to do it again with Mike Leigh telling her that as a nurse she should know what to do.

Johnny Townmouse

Quote from: jaydee81 on April 12, 2010, 02:27:48 PM
Not sure if anyone has referenced this yet, but as a matter of interest, all rumours that scenes in Mike Leigh films are improvised (people always say the scene in Secrets and Lies is when they meet each other for the first time) was dismissed by Mike Leigh in an interview with Mark Lawson on BBC 4.
All the dialogue is improvised, but months before when they're workshopping it. I think I've heard the story about Naked before, I think Mark Lawson said that apparently Mike Leigh had to run across the street shouting CUT CUT because they were getting into a fight. But it wasn't when they were filming it.
There was a great clip as part of a documentary where the nurse in Abigail's Party said that when the guy had the heart attack for the first time in a workshop, she tried to pretend she hadn't seen it as she didn't know any first aid. They had to do it again with Mike Leigh telling her that as a nurse she should know what to do.

Aha, the thing is I knew that Leigh does not use improvisation live on camera, and that the actors go through a very rigorous process of developing character and dialogue, and then Leigh scripts the stuff that he likes, or whatever works. Apparently , they actually have to adhere to a script far more than many other directors would specify. However, I was led to believe that this one scene was an exception. This is all very interesting to me because Leigh and his actors are very secretive about the improvisation process that Leigh uses - which is apparently very intensive and not for the feint-hearted (actors that have worked with Von Trier have suggested the same). It seems that some of that improvisation involves actually leaving the studio setting, and actually getting out into the environment that the film will be set. I have had a couple of very odd experiences in London that could possibly be explained by Leigh doing his improvs in the hood.

Spiteface

Randal's jail rant in Clerks 2:

Randal's Moment


I wish this youtube vid wasn't edited, because it misses out parts of what makes this scene so great, that this comes from Randal, not Silent Bob, like in previous Kevin Smith films especially the ending to the first Clerks.  The way he just blurts out his answer to Dante's question like he didn't take the time to think before opening his mouth, realises what he just said and emphasizes his response with the line "THAT'S what I'd do".  This really is Randal's  finest hour, in that it's really the one moment he's totally honest about his friendship with Dante, and the prospect of losing his best friend because he's about to get married and move away.  One of the few times I legit cried, the first time I saw this.

madhair60

^ Good choice.  Kevin Smith gets a lot of shit on here, but I'm a fan and Clerks 2 was fucking beautiful.

Cerys

Did you ever see the alternative ending for the original?  Makes it a very, very different film.

MojoJojo

Couple from John Carpenter's The Thing

First, The Runaway head:
John Carpenter's The Thing - Runaway Alien Head

Second, The Bloodtest:
THE THING (Complete Blood Test Scene) - Kurt Russell

The Thing isn't the greatest film by any means, but those two scenes are great. The first shows a brilliant use of special effects, creating something that is grotesque and surprising even today. The initial shock, followed by the head's bizarre transformation... well, I'd rate the Thing as one of the most unique and effective movie monsters of all time. Unlike the clean and shiny Alien, or the ugly bloke with a big gun Predator, the Thing is the result of a crazed cryptotaxidermist being let loose on a butcher's shop window, a horrifying mixture of meat, blood and limbs. That final "You've got to be fucking kidding me" sums it up perfectly.
The Bloodtest is just an expertly executed build up of suspense and tension. The underlying fear that all the characters have towards each other keeps the tension racked up high while distracting from what they should really be scared of. It is let down a bit by the special effects, unfortunately.

Cheeky Monkey

Quote from: MojoJojo on April 13, 2010, 03:49:22 PM
The Thing isn't the greatest film by any means

What

QuoteIt is let down a bit by the special effects, unfortunately.

*faints in anger*

neveragain

Re: this (www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QYJMnika0Y) scene... As good as it is, I can't help feeling it falls short of this (www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntI-7vR2zRs) similar montage (in the last minute of the clip, up to the picture smashing) which came first. To different effects but equally devastating and beautiful.

madhair60

Quote from: Cerys on April 13, 2010, 12:31:44 PM
Did you ever see the alternative ending for the original?  Makes it a very, very different film.

Yeah, I'm a pretty big fan so unfortunately own several different versions of each flick.  You're not wrong, though I'm glad they went with what they did.  Have you seen the Clerks Animated Series?  It's brilliant. *Off-topic*

Artemis

Good call on that montage from Up, neveragain (the superior of those two, both great, clips if you ask me). Sadly the YouTube video you linked to doesn't quite get the emotion of it across because you do need the build up of how they met as kids and you also need him flicking through the photo album, which was the bit that devastated me when I first watched it, but the video you linked to cuts off too soon. Still, I've not seen grown adults openly weeping to the extent I did when watching that at the cinema. Astounding stuff.

sirarthur

The ballet scene in The Red Shoes for me.
It's just so beautiful and magical somehow, the colour and choreography, the sets and photography combine to create something completely and utterly enchanting (to me anyway).
Moira Shearer The Red Shoes (part 1)
Moira Shearer The Red Shoes (part 2)

Phil_A

Mention of Billy Liar in the British Films thread reminded me of this brilliant scene:

Billy Liar - "Oi! Shadders!"

When I saw this in the cinema a few years ago, somehow the picture got screwed up(so much for those new-fangled digital projectors), so we ended up watching this scene once with a fucked picture, then again, backwards, then all the way through again, which somehow made it even funnier.

JPA

Quote from: biggytitbo on April 06, 2010, 07:40:51 PM
The aliens appear and attack in War of the Worlds (2005)
Spielberg takes the hoary old sci fi staple of aliens invading and turns into into one of the most terrifyingly visceral and real sequences ever shot. He films the appearance of the aliens and then the massacre as if he was filming Schindler's List or Saving Private Ryan and its immensely powerful because of it. This isn't fun, its horrifying.

Watched this last night for the first time, really enjoyed it actually, I think it's better than its reputation suggests, and the scene you mention was fantastic. The Tripods look great as well - and the noise they make...


Quote from: sirarthur on April 13, 2010, 10:55:58 PM
The ballet scene in The Red Shoes for me.
It's just so beautiful and magical somehow, the colour and choreography, the sets and photography combine to create something completely and utterly enchanting (to me anyway).
Moira Shearer The Red Shoes (part 1)
Moira Shearer The Red Shoes (part 2)


Absolutely!

Icehaven

Any 'suicide' from Harold and Maude, particularly the self immolation.

alan nagsworth

Quote from: wasp_f15ting on April 06, 2010, 10:26:08 PM
Oldboy long sequence shot; Oldboy Best Fight Scene : HD 720p Widescreen

I came here to post this! The end scene out in the snow is particularly incredible aswell.

I would like to add the lengthy conversation between Bobby Sands and the priest in 'Hunger', which I feel adds a masterful unbias to the whole situation and flawlessly brings into the focus the plight of dying for something you believe in, as opposed to painting Sands and the IRA in a sympathetic light. Powerful and perfectly argued between the two, I was utterly captivated.

alan nagsworth

Quote from: MojoJojo on April 13, 2010, 03:49:22 PM
The Thing isn't the greatest film by any means, but those two scenes are great. The first shows a brilliant use of special effects, creating something that is grotesque and surprising even today. The initial shock, followed by the head's bizarre transformation... well, I'd rate the Thing as one of the most unique and effective movie monsters of all time. Unlike the clean and shiny Alien, or the ugly bloke with a big gun Predator, the Thing is the result of a crazed cryptotaxidermist being let loose on a butcher's shop window, a horrifying mixture of meat, blood and limbs. That final "You've got to be fucking kidding me" sums it up perfectly.
The Bloodtest is just an expertly executed build up of suspense and tension. The underlying fear that all the characters have towards each other keeps the tension racked up high while distracting from what they should really be scared of. It is let down a bit by the special effects, unfortunately.


No chance! The special effects are still shocking today. Moreso, in some aspects, when you consider it adds a sticky, glooping realism to what would (in its day) have been ruined with the use of CGI. In fact I think that in any day, CGI would devalue this film's special effects. The reversed footage of the legs and tendrils sprouting from the alien are particularly incredible...

Oh, and the dog is the greatest actor in that film by a country mile. Its slow, brooding and creeping walk and poking its head round the corners at disjointed angles, really fucking chilling.

Aaand earlier, Dead Man's Shoes was mentioned and I would personally suggest that the scene in which Richard and his brother are at the old farm talking about Richard's visit to Anthony's school. It's in the first minute of this clip. Simple but so bloody sad:

Dead Man's Shoes I Didn't Scene

Neville Chamberlain

^ Indeed, one of many great scenes in a brilliant film!

Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth

Raising Arizona - Diaper Robbery

After a disastrous barbecue, at which he punched out his boss, existentially befuddled jailbird H.I. McDonagh (Nicolas Cage) falls back into bad habits while getting some nappies for his (stolen) infant son. What follows is six minutes (or thereabouts) of hilariously mounting hysteria as he tries to evade police, trigger happy cashiers, a pack of crazed dogs and his wife's wrath, all set to possibly the greatest getaway music ever recorded. 'A live action Looney Tune' is perhaps a clichéd way of describing it, but it seems no less apt for that.

Serge

Which baby-based robbery shenanigans made me think of this exchange of dialogue from later in the film:

"Hey, these [balloons] blow up into funny shapes at all?"
"Well no. Unless round is funny."


Jemble Fred

Quote from: Serge on May 19, 2010, 09:59:01 AM
Which baby-based robbery shenanigans made me think of this exchange of dialogue from later in the film:

"Hey, these [balloons] blow up into funny shapes at all?"
"Well no. Unless round is funny."

Is that in Raising Arizona too? Damn, I know that line from something else that predates it, a 60s movie or TV show, but I'm damned if I can think what it is now.

Chutney

Quote from: Serge on May 19, 2010, 09:59:01 AM
Which baby-based robbery shenanigans made me think of this exchange of dialogue from later in the film:

"Hey, these [balloons] blow up into funny shapes at all?"
"Well no. Unless round is funny."

Yup - Raising Arizona - one of my favourite ever lines...

Johnny Townmouse

Quote from: Serge on May 19, 2010, 09:59:01 AM
Which baby-based robbery shenanigans made me think of this exchange of dialogue from later in the film:
"Hey, these [balloons] blow up into funny shapes at all?"
"Well no. Unless round is funny."

Absolutely fantastic line, that needs to be viewed to get the true sense of the droll delivery. Nope, can't find it on yutube.

My wife persuaded me to watch this film after years of me reisisting, as I disliked O Brother so much. It was worth it just for this exchange, though of course it is just a much better film.

For some reason this scene has always cracked me up:
The Three Amigos Canteen/Lip Balm scene

Artemis

The scene in Ghost Town when Buscemi's character is in hospital wallowing in his relentless self-loathing, having 'discovered' that Thora Birch's character drew a picture of him that he interpreted as mocking him. Then she brings in the book and reveals she's been drawing all sorts of people, drawing on scenes we've seen earlier in the movie, including many of him that are more flattering and celebrating his non-conformity with society, which hitherto he's condemned himself for, but she shows him that she really admires him for it.

It's a great scene, in a movie that can be enjoyed on a number of different levels.

Also, the ending of the movie, which my favourite interpretation of, despite being quite bleak, is that
Spoiler alert
the bus represents death, as we learn earlier in the movie that it doesn't stop at the bus stop anymore, yet it picks up the old man (who dies). It stops for Bitch because she kills herself.
[close]
It may not have happened that way of course, but it's all open to interpretation isn't it - it's an ambiguous ending.