Jonze Scores with Wild Thngs

Well, it took eight days longer than I anticipated but on Saturday, Molly and I ducked out of the rain and finally saw Where The Wild Things Are. Here are a few thoughts …

Spike Jonze confirmed that he is a great fucking film-maker. I have long been a fan of his videos and his films, but I always thought that he perhaps was riding Charlie Kauffman’s great scripts. Well, Kauffman is nowhere to be found this go around but Jonze crushed it with a beautifully-shot film that was both true to the book and yet also was something completely different. Artistically, it is hard to find fault with WTWTA. The wide-shots, the cinematography, the set design, the costumes, the CGI stuff, the music editing ….are all great. You can’t help but watch the movie and think this is what Maurice Sendek had in mind when he was illustrating the book. So on that count, the movie is a home run.

But what I loved about WTWTA is that Jonze was able to stay true to the “art” of the book, which was no easy feat, and also fashion a story that complements the book in a very valuable way. By making the movie about a boy’s emotions, as shown through the “wild things,” Jonze has done much more than just execute a literal translation of the book. Instead, he took a shot at explaining adolescence, and growing pains and divorce and loneliness, in a way that few have done before. I felt it all worked very well and I was surprised that the reaction I had in the theatre was far from what I expected. Rather than sitting there and thinking about how much I loved the book, my thoughts took me back thirty-two years and how I felt when I was growing up.

I know some detractors are arguing that the movie is not for kids and it’s sad and it’s dark and it’s heavy. My response: Yes it was sad and no, it’s not for children. But who cares? Not everything about eight year old boys is for eight year boys.

Molly:  I'm a fan of small and quirky movies; I like mood and tone as much as I like plot (more, probably), and above all else, I want to feel a movie. I want to feel as if I'm in it. (Which is why I loved The Virgin Suicides so much, and In the Bedroom, and The Sweet Hereafter, and Wonder Boys, and...well, I'm getting sidetracked but my point is just that I'm much more moved by mood than by 'splosions and star power.)

Where the Wild Things Are is all mood. For me, it's a good thing. I liked looking at it and listening to it and marveling at the artistry of it. It's not Harry Potter or Chronicals of Narnia: this movie is not about plot. It's not about Max's adventure. It's about Max.

Max broke my heart. It goes without saying that WTWTA was stunning to look at (my favorite parts: the little clay figures carved by Carol as a nice nod to Maurice Sendek's illustrations, the frantic opening scene in which the camera tumbles down the stairs with Max) but beyond the imagery, Spike Jonze so acutely captured the angst and uncertainty of adolescense that at times, I ached watching the movie. I'm not going to lie: I liked the scenes with Max and his human family which bookended his Wild Thing adventure more than I liked his fantastic journey to the island. I loved his rumpled hair and his sadness at being left behind by his sister and hre friends, I loved him tugging at his mother, trying to get her attention. I loved his rage, his frustration, his wide eyes and his lonliness.

It's hard to be a kid. This movie made me want to be a better parent (and I'm not a parent).

The echoes of adult conversations - as heard and re-interpreted by his nine-year old mind and then personified by the Wild Things - were a sweet yet melancholy reminder of just how much children hear and remember, all without the benefit of being privvy to adult decisions and context. Without saying a word about single parenthood or divorce, Spike Jonze said everything.

I told Don that I wasn't sure if I wanted to write about the movie. I'm still not sure if I could write an actual review. But I sure liked spending time with Max.

The Invention of Lying: Gervais Is Now Dead to Me

Molly and I saw the movie The Invention of Lying last night and I felt compelled this morning to offer my thoughts (and warning) to anyone who might consider throwing down $12.50 to see this outrage. NC-17 disclaimer: I am going to be a bit crass here so I apoligve in advance.

For the past decade, I have used a litmus test to weed out those who have bad taste in comedy. It really is quite simple: if you think South Park is funny, you are either 17 or you suffer from a terrible sense of humor. There is just no middle ground. Well, I have a new litmus test: if you were a witness to The Invention of Lying and have anything good to say about it, then I don't think I can respect your opinion on anything related to film or television. It really is that simple because this movie was really that bad.

In a nutshell, this was a one-joke pony that fell apart seconds into the film and suffered under the weight of that one joke for the next 95 minutes. Here was the premise ...Ricky Gervais lives in a world where no one can tell a lie. So everything that comes out of one's mouth is the god's honest truth. Well, you can guess what ensues. Lots and lots and lots and lots of brutal honesty. And you know what ....when brutal honesty is blatantly telegraphed, it isn't funny in the least. And after 120 or 130 times? It becomes excrutiating.

I think what bugged me most about this film is that I suspect this was a case of Ricky Gervais sitting around one night and thinking ...."you know what would make for a funny movie? Let's do a 'what if' story where nobody has ever told a lie ......" He and his lads were probably crying while thinking of all the possibilities. Unfortunately, creating the premise was probably the last funny thing that happened on this project because certainly nothing funny or clever made it into the script. And what is shocking is that after Gervais and company puked out this script, somebody in charge of the project actually authorized its making. I just don't get it.

Final point for now ....this film was such an abortion that I have to throw it into my Asante Samuel Bin, a category named for the New England Patriot who did great things for my Pats but then ended up droping an easy interception that would have secured a Super Bowl and a perfect season for the Pats. By dropping that pass, Samuel lost every ounce of goodwill he had ever earned with me. Ricky Gervais ....meet Asante Samuel. You are back to zero in my book. Yep, 50 points for the BBC Office. Another 30 points for bringing The Office to NBC. Maybe another 50 points for HBO's Extras. But a 130 point deduction for Invention brings you right back to zero. That is how I am scoring this one ......Molly?

Molly: What's the saying in comedy?  A joke should bend but not break?  The joke broke.  The joke broke in the first twenty minutes.  The remainder of the movie left me 1) looking for holes in the premise (like, how does ANYONE function in the world created for this movie: if all anyone says is the most horrible brutal truth than how do any businesses function?  How do relationships work?  How do families manage to procreate?  And, why does being unable to lie render the main characters into moderately retarded people?  Were all the characters in the background having equally dumbed down conversations?) and 2) admiring Jennifer Garner's body.  She's so pretty!

I gave up on most sketch comedy long ago, because a funny premise is not always enough for a funny sketch.  It's often not enough for even a legitimate joke.  In this case, it certainly was not enough for an entire movie.  It smacked of insider-cliquey-smugness (Hey!  Let's have cameos!  And sight gags!) and was so thinly strung together that I am convinced it was made, shelved and then released on account of some unforseen Hollywood currency that those involved must have recently accrued.

It should have been a sketch.  Maybe.

And the worst part was I didn't even get to finish my piece of pizza before we rushed into the theater.  You owe me a crust, Ricky Gervais.

Don: Broke after twenty minutes? What movie were you watching? This thing snapped halfway into the opening scene where Gervais and Garner were on there first date. I was frustrated by the time the check came and that was at the six minute mark.  That being said, I admit to having similar conversations in my head. But the one thing I was considering: how do we go from a premise where people can't lie to a premis where everyone has Tourette's and has to blurt out every unvarnished thoughht that they may be having?

Molly: Yep, that's the same breaking point; I guess it just felt like twenty minutes.  And your last comment is exactly where the "premise" of the movie whiffed it for me.  "Not lying" turned into Rainman turned into some sort of film school project which never should have made it past the laptop it was written on.

Bring on the Wild Things

October 16 is double circled on my calendar. Yeah yeah yeah, it’s the first night of the American League Championship series, and if everything goes as scheduled over the next two weeks, that should be the opening salvo in the third Boston/New York world war of this decade. Anybody who knows me understands that is huge, but I would like to point out another event that will have my undivided attention earlier in the day. Of course, I am talking about the opening of Spike Jonze’ latest: Where the Wild Things Are. I will begin by laying all my cards out on the table: This was my favorite book as a child and it wasn’t even close. No bear books. No “Good Night Moon.” Nope. For me, it was Where the Fucking Wild Things Are. And just to ensure that my memory wasn’t failing me, I asked my mom this morning whether she could confirm my WTWTA devotion, and she claimed that she never bought it for me because I simply checked it out of the library every time we stopped at Brentwood Public.

So I was clearly jacked when I was told that Spike Jonze had been tasked with turning this childhood favorite into a film. Soon after, I checked out the trailer and was blown away. Quite simply, it looks like Jonez has crushed it. But should that come as any surprise? I can’t claim to know much about Jonze as a person, but I have loved two of his movies, and if someone had asked me who I thought would be a good custodian of WTWTA, I would have suggested Jonze. He just seems like a guy who would “get it” and could translate it without dumbing it down, or glitzing it up, or twisting it sideways, or darkening into some sick bullshit, as Tim Burton would have surely done. So first off, I would say that the film looks like a terrific translation. Molly, what are your expectations for the film and what do you think about Jonze ……..

Molly:  First, let's just stipulate that I loved the book as well and that Maurice Sendak played a big role in my brothers' and my worlds of books and make-believe. I'm ridiculously attached to the books I read as a kid and the birth of my new baby nephew has stirred the collective memory of my entire family; we spent last Friday night throwing out old titles and taking turns exclaiming, OH I LOVED THAT ONE!

As for this incarnation of Where The Wild Things Are...I'm almost giddy with anticipation. I realize that it's possible for the movie to end up sucking itself into an indie-hipster vortex of nostalgia and window-dressing, but I have faith. I'm not a huge Dave Eggars fan but I can't deny that he is able to spin a yarn (although I passed on seeing Away We Go, so I have no frame of reference for his ability as a screenwriter). I am, however, a big Spike Jonze fan, and I think he has the quirky aesthetic and light touch that are gonna make this thing work big time (pleaseletitbegood).

I think Spike Jonze is an artist, and I hope he has made the movie as an artist. The trailer gives me great hope (Catherine Keener! Arcade Fire! The scrawly printing! I MEAN COME ON!) and while I've never lined up for any of the Harry Potter movies, this is what I think of when I imagine a movie with true age group crossover appeal. It hits me in my sweet spot (where nostalgia, books, and Catherine Keener overlap) and it makes me wish for a 10 year old kid to take with me when I see it. (Alone, apparently, since Don will have already seen it - maybe twice! - before I get home on October 16.)

And while this is neither here nor there with regards to the movie, I have to admit that I was bummed when Spike Jonze and Sofia Coppola broke up. I love her. I love him. But! He and Michelle Williams have been together for a while now, and there are not many actresses I love more that Michelle Williams, and Matilda Ledger is my all time favorite celebrity kid (sorry Violet Affleck). So in conclusion, if he can pull off a move like that in his personal life, in which everybody (well, from where I sit, with Us Weekly) wins, IMAGINE WHAT HE WILL DO WITH THIS MOVIE.

Don:  Just a few more thoughts on WTWTA ….

First off, I got the movie mentioned today in a ESPN chat with ESPN baseball writer Rob Neyer …..it was a little off subject but Rob obviously thought it was ripe for discussion .......

Bruinsinruins (NYC):  Rob ... You pumped to see "Where the Wild Things Are"?

Rob Neyer:  It's a difficult thing for me to explain, but I've not been as excited about a new movie since ... Well, I can't remember what. I get excited about every new Pixar movie, but this one feels different. Bigger, somehow.

Two, Spike Jonze has collaborated with Charlie Kaufman on two of my favorite movies but I am glad Kaufman is not a part of this project. We’ll see how the screenplay plays out, but I think Kaufman would have been a bit too “heavy” for this film. After all, we don’t need to see Max have his memory erased or watch him travel through the head of John Lithgow to get to the land of wild things.

Molly:  Don has a hard time talking about movies without mentioning Charlie Kaufman.  We'll report back in a few weeks once we've had a chance to see the movie, but for now I'm going to nag my parents to send me a copy of the book (if they can find our old one) and go see the Maurice Sendak exhibit at the Animazing Gallery.

UPDATE: Apparently Michelle Williams and Spike Jonze recently broke up.  THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING.  -- Molly

Motoring, Redux: Music and Movie Scenes

While it's not necessarily comprehensive and in no way complete, we worked long and hard (thatswhatshesaid) and came up with our top 10 movie scene/song combos.  It's a highly subjective selection, because duh, what's the fun in anything that isn't?  Enjoy!


DON SAYS:

(Because this is such a far-ranging question, I am going to impose some discipline and limit my list to only that music that existed before the film was made. As such, original background scores are out even though they sometimes are critical to a movie and are highly recognizable. So no Rocky and no Chariots of Fire. Also out………songs that were written specifically for a movie and achieved commercial success thereafter. So, there is no Saturday Night Fever, no Bodyguard, no Streets of Fire, no fucking Titanic. Lastly, my list will be determined by two factors: 1) what role did the song play in “making” the scene; and, 2) how strongly I associate the song with the film.)

I have to have at least one piece of classical music on my list and I have narrowed it down to two pieces …..Carmen from Bad News Bears and The Ride of Valkries from Apocalypse Now . This is a close call for me, especially as I am a huge BNB fan and I am one of the only 40 something males who thought AN was hugely overrated, but the helicopter attack scene from that movie is one of the greats in film history and that song absolutely made the scene. In a nutshell, you can’t think of that movie, let alone that scene, and not think of that song.

A Million Miles Away, the Plimsouls, Valley Girl: (song begins at 3:45) This movie is a big part of my childhood growing up in Santa Monica and I can’t think about this movie without thinking about the song. A funny thing about this inclusion though: in the film, Nick Cage is supposed to be a punk rocker and this song is supposed to represent his lifestyle. The movie was released in 1983 and I listened to a fair amount of punk rock that year. I don’t remember anyone ever linking the Plimsouls with the Dead Kennedy’s or the Circle Jerks.

Shadow on the Sun, Audioslave, from the movie Collateral: Michael Mann is just about the best in the business at doing “nighttime mood,” especially in Los Angeles and this song absolutely crushes it. Haunting and desperate. Chris Cornell’s vocals over-layed on a wolf running through the streets of downtown LA ……all worked perfectly for me.

You’ll be a Woman Soon, Urge Overkill, Pulp Fiction:One of the things that Tarrantino does so well is take obscure music and incorporate it into his films. There aren’t many people outside of hard-core Neil Diamond fans who could have identified this song before Pulp Fiction. After its release, is there anyone who couldn’t answer this question on Jeopardy?

Your Hand in Mine, Explosions in the Sky, Friday Night Lights: This instrumental is the background during the climactic scene where Permian comes up just short in the Texas State AAAAA Football Championship. There is no dialogue because this song captures the disappointment so perfectly. Kids dejected. Tim McGraw making amends with his kid. Coaches despondent. All backed by a couple of steel guitars that convey it all.  (ed. note: Don and I saw EinS this summer and I am pretty sure that HE CRIED for the love of the music. -- m.)

Sister Christian, Night Ranger, Boogie Nights: This song backs one of my favorite film scenes, PERIOD! But it does more than just back the scene. It helps make the scene. The scene is edited so fucking well that all the tempo changes in the song perfectly heighten the tension that is critical to the scene. The funny thing is …….when Sister Christian ends, the tape flips over to Jessie’s Girl and that song works almost as perfectly. At the end of the day, who can ever hear Sister Christian and not think about this crazy scene?

Layla, Derek and the Dominoes, Goodfellas: Is it cliché for a 40 year-old male like myself to include something from GoodFellas on a list like this? Probably, but there is no denying Scorsese nailed this one. As that fat little kid wanders up to the pink caddy and Clapton’s piano kicks in, you had film history. Scorsese might have listened to 1000 songs before settling on Layla and his choice probably would have been the same had he listened to 10,000. When it works, it works.

Moving in Stereo, The Cars, Fast Times at Ridgemont High: To a 14 year-old boy, what is more memorable than Phoebe Cates’ TITS? This song and Ms. Cates will be forever linked in my mind and most males born between the years of 1966 and 1971.

Tessie, Dropkick Murphys, Fever Pitch: I watch 150 Red Sox games a year. You don’t think I am going to include a song that is linked to the greatest comeback in baseball history? In the film, the song kicks in after a 90 second montage that summarizes those eight beautiful nights in October of 2004. I argue that it is the greatest 90 seconds in film history!

Lunatic Fringe, Red Rider, VisionQuest: This one is near and dear to my heart. The song backs a scene where Matt Modine is firing himself up to wrestle an unbeatable state champ. I found the scene and song inspiring and as a result, I had the song on a mix that I‘d listen to when I was psyching myself up in HS. How can such a song not be on the list?

MOLLY SAYS:

Golden Years, First Knight. Shut up, I like it. It's a silly movie, sure, but I could watch Heath Ledger (sniff) dancing over and over again, happily.

I am scrapping my Pixies cover/karaoke choice from (500) Days of Summer and adding Son of a Preacher Man by Dusty Springfield, in Pulp Fiction. It’s hard to choose between this song and the Urge Overkill song, but as frantic and restless as Uma Thurman made Mia (which was totally underscored by that song), John Travolta made Vincent sooooo smooth, and SooPM completely captures that for me. And I don’t even LIKE John Travolta!

Mad World, The Church (do covers count?), Donnie Darko: It might not technically fit the criteria (is over a montage at the end) but it’s moody and weird and I remember trying to buy the single after seeing the movie and at that time, it wasn’t available and I don’t know if it’s ever been released but even when I hear the original Tears for Fears version, I think of this odd, odd movie.

Be For Real, Afghan Whigs, Beautiful Girls: Greg Dulli’s voice is gritty and familiar in the same way that the characters and hometown in this movie are gritty and familiar. It makes me want to drink cheap beer and waste lots of money on a jukebox.

More Than This (potentially not allowed on this list as it is karaoke), Bill Murray, Lost in Translation: It makes my heart hurt. This is my idea of a perfect movie and while the karaoke might not be technically eligible in this category, Bill Murray says everything while he is singing to Charlotte/Scarlett.

In Your Eyes, Peter Gabriel, Say Anything: It's too obvious, sure, but how can I *not* include the boombox? I was a thirteen year old girl when I saw this movie. It was my prom theme, for christ's sake. I mean, COME ON!


This Woman's Work, Kate Bush, She's Having a Baby: (Starts at 3:20ish)Tears.  The first time I saw this movie I thought it was funny. I was a kid and things like ‘marriage’ and ‘fertility’ and ‘fatherhood’ were not really forefront in my mind, but I knew that when Kevin Bacon was in that waiting room, he was scared. When I watch that scene now, as an adult, it stings even more because I can appreciate how complicated relationships can be, but I also can appreciate those moments of clarity that come along every now and then.

American Girl, playing as Brooke Smith drives to her abduction in Silence of the Lambs: Classic. I can think of several singing-along-in-the-car scenes that stand out (Tom Cruise singing Free Fallin’ in Jerry Maguire, John Mahoney singing Ricky Don’t Lose that Number in Say Anything), but this one wins for me because the actress is so open and comfortable yet you still can feel something sordid and dark on the edge of the scene and them BOOM, she’s putting the lotion in the basket.

Tiny Dancer, Almost Famous: So sincere it is impossible not to love. This entire movie is sweet and sun-dappled and watching this scene is like leaning against your best friend’s shoulder and getting a soft hug in return. Or something like that.

Sister Christian by Night Ranger, in the scene with Alfred Molina and the coke, Boogie Nights: Duh. It’s uncomfortable to watch it’s so tense and vivid and everything about it is strung out and it’s pretty much perfect.

I have to give one honorable mention to the song Breathe Me by Sia which was played over the last scene of Six Feet Under and is therefore forever and always linked to my greatest emotional breakdown, ever. EVER! For months and months I could not hear that song without almost choking. No other song has ever had a lasting and visceral impact on me like that, no other scene has ever caused MASSIVE EMOTIONAL TRAUMA the way the end of Six Feet Under did, but as it's not in a movie I am leaving it off my list. Or at least, off *this* list.  Layla/Goodfellas, Gimee Shelter/The Departed, If You Leave/Sixteen Candles, Stuck in the Middle With You/Resevoir Dogs, I’m Shipping Up to Boston/The Departed, Dry the Rain/High Fidelity are all on my short(well, shortish) list as well.

Motoring

A few weeks ago Don and I were at Bar Coastal (his east side sports bar; he has a separate west side bar he visits as well and never the twain shall meet) watching a baseball game (Red Sox, duh) and Tom Petty's "American Girl," came on the stereo (iPod? Satellite radio? Internet jukebox?). I cannot hear that song without thinking of two things: 1) my college sorority WOO! days in which friends and I would paint our toenails baby blue and listen to music and claim OMG THIS IS TOTALLY MY SONG, during which I may or may not have WOOed over American Girl, and 2) Silence of the Lambs. I love Brooke Smith and I loved her in Silence of the Lambs and I loved her in Weeds and I loved her in Matilda & Matilda, and if I watched Grey's Anatomy I'm sure I would have loved her in that as well but to me, she is forever and always linked to Buffalo Bill, the lotion in the basket, and American Girl. Silence of the Lambs came out in what? 1990? Nearly twenty years later that song and that scene are inextricably linked in my mind.

I asked Don for some examples of what he thought were the best uses of music in movies, and over the course of the following five innings we circled round the topic, refining the criteria and making mental notes of items to fact check later on IMDB. Without much thought or hesitation, we both immediately mentioned the scene in Boogie Nights with Alfred Molina, the coke deal, and Night Ranger. I threw out Layla playing over Goodfellas and the bus scene in Almost Famous in which everyone sings Tiny Dancer. We both agreed that Martin Scorcese, Quentin Tarantino and Cameron Crowe were probably the directors who best use music; the effing stereo over John Cusack's head is so iconic it's disqualified from my list while Gimme Shelter played over the beginning of The Departed definitely earned a spot. Narrowing down examples of music in Tarantino movies is challanging: Don went with Urge Overkill singing Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon while I was torn between Son of a Preacher Man and Stuck in the Middle With You (from Resevoir Dogs).

There is a giant soft spot in my heart for the movie Beautiful Girls and I love the Afghan Whigs in it; Don nominated the Ghetto Boyz song/scene from Office Space (because what is funnier than Michael Bolton wailing on the printer? Not much.) I love the moment in High Fidelity in which John Cusask says, Want me to sell 10 copies of this album? Watch this, and then plays Dry the Rain by the Beta Band. We had this conversation shortly after John Hughes' death and had a hard time choosing between If You Leave (OMD) and Don't You Forget About Me (Simple Minds) and certainly Twist & Shout gets a nod for Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

Eye of the Tiger goes without saying, pretty much...I love Bill Murray singing Roxy Music's More Than This in the karaoke scene of Lost in Translation (warning: recurring theme. I love everything about Lost in Translation.)...I can't remember who brought it up, but The Bangals, Hazy Shade of Winter in Less Than Zero got a mention...Which is all just to say: We're working on our final lists.

Watch this space.

Memorable Scenes: Boogie or Brokeback?

So today's question ...what are your ten favorite movie scenes in film history?
No rules ........

Molly's List  (It's too hard to list the 10 "best" or even my all time favorite so I guess it's more a list of 10 Movie Scenes Near and Dear to My Heart): 

• Jake Ryan, standing outside his red Porshe, waiting for Molly Ringwald as she looks behind her after leaving the church at the end of Sixteen Candles. "Yeah, you." Sigh. It's hard to overstate the significance of Jake Ryan on impressionable 10 year old girls' minds.  
• I'm a sucker for this movie and while I can admit the dialog here is a little over-written, I will nominate the scene with Willy and Andira, sitting in the ice house, in Beautiful Girls. "Can you think of anything more romantic than making love to an attractive stranger?" "Going back to Chicago, Ice cold martinis. Van Morrison." Note: I'm submitting the ice house scene, but it's hard for me not to include Good Night Sweet Girl.
• I have to include the scene in Almost Famous where everyone starts singing Tiny Dancer. It's the best scene EVER of friends making up: no words, but just through singing that song they all get past being angry at Russell and he gets over feeling embarassed and the tension disappears and the bus keeps driving and no apologies are necessary.
• I'm having a hard time narrowing down the scenes in this movie, but I have to include the karaoke scene from Lost in Translation. I'd have to write a 12 page essay on all the reasons why I love Lost in Translations and all the subtle and sad little moments that grabbed me, but I think the karaoke scene sums up the sadness and sweetness of Bob and Charlotte pretty well. But there are a million tiny moments that deserve mention (the Sauntory commercial, their fight, Bob telling Charlotte about having kids, the very end, Bob talking to his wife on the phone, Charlotte asking him, "Did I scowl at you?")
• "...And then do you know what happens? Six years later you find yourself signing Surrey with a Fringe on Top IN FRONT OF IRA!"
• It's hard for me to single out any one scene from Silence of the Lambs because the whole movie is SO FUCKING GOOD but I'm going to go with the end, when Buffalo Bill shuts out the lights in the basement and Clarice knows he's there, hunting her, and he's just watching her with the night vision goggles and she's all wide-eyed and alert and I can hardly breath when that scene comes on and part of the reason I love it so might be because I've read the book so often that I hear the narrative in my head when I watch it and I know how she hears the almost silent click of his gun and reacts to it and then her ears are ringing and right before he dies he says, "tell me what it's like...to be...beautful" and THAT IS SOME INTENSE AND CREEPY SHIT RIGHT THERE.
• I'm not generally a sucker for the emotional tearjerker type movies but Terms of Endearment is a really good movie with some really funny bits but there is one scene that KILLS ME and makes my heart hurt whenever I watch it: Debra Winger is in the hospital and her two little sons (sweet sweet Teddy and Tommy) come to visit her and say goodbye to their dying mom and they are scared and nervous and she puts on makeup before they walk in to try and cover up her pallor and they walk in and stand there so scared and uncomfortable and she reaches out to the older one who has a shaggy bowl cut and she says, You need a haircut. And when they leave she says to sweet sweet Teddy, "I was so scared. But I think it went pretty well, don't you?" AND THEN I DIE INSIDE.
• Ferris Bueller in the parade, Twist & Shout. Pure joy.
• The opening to Woody Allen's Manhattan: 3 minutes of voice over with Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue playing while we see black and white shots of NYC culminating in fireworks over Central Park. Also in that movie: Isaac's reasons for living.
• Okay, bear with me on this one: Brokeback Mountain packs a wallop from start to finish but two scenes stand out for me, and they are tied together so I am having a hard time separating the two. First, Ennis (Heath Ledger) goes to visit Jack's (Jake Gyllenhaal) parents after he learns of his death (Jack's wife told Ennis it was a car accident; he was actually beaten to death because he was gay) and walks into this stark, spare little prairie house in the middle of NOWHERE (in Wyoming) and meets Jack's parents who are these very grave, serious, devout but ultimately kind people, and before he leaves they ask if he'd like to see Jack's room which turns out to be this spartan space upstairs and he sits there and looks around and then opens the closet and finds his old plaid shirt with dried blood on it (which is from the first summer he and Jack met, 20 years prior; the blood is from a fight they got into) hanging on a hanger with one of Jack's shirts (jack's shirt is on the outside) and he grabs the shirts and breathes in their scent. He takes the shirt and asks Jack's parents if he can have it (Ennis, by the way, can barely speak. Throughout the entire movie he speaks in this very forced mumble; he's so closed off and afraid of who he is that he is physically unable to communicate). Then, in the last scene of the movie, his daughter comes to visit him in this sad little trailer where he's living and tells him that she is engaged, and asks if he can come to the wedding. He mumbles about how it's a busy time for him (rancher, has to drive the sheep) but before she goes, he asks her if her fiance loves her (which might be the only time the word 'love' comes out of his mouth in the entire movie; it took him a lifetime to realize that love is important). After she goes, he stands looking out the back of his sad little trailer and we can see that he has the two shirts he took from Jack's house hanging on a peg with an old postcard from Brokeback Mountain (where he met Jack). Only now, his shirt is wrapped around Jack's. And he stands there and just says, "I swear, Jack..." Brokeback Mountain was probably one of the most powerful movies I have ever seen. Ever. It's basically perfect.

 (There are MANY ommissions. The birthday pool party in Rushmore. Anything from Broadcast News or All the President's Men. WHY'D YOU MAKE ME PLAY SECOND BASE in Parenthood, You know how I know you're gay? in 40 Year Old Virgin, Catherine Zeta Jones in Chicago. Mia Wallace dancing in Pulp Fuction. All of Forrest Gump. Many ommissions.)

 
Don's  List (A nearly impossible exercise ...but here is my list, in no particular order):

• Boogie Nights: Dirk, John C Reiley and their knucklehead friend go to Alfred Molino’s house and try to rob him of his drugs and money. Many have tried, but no scene in history has ever done drug paranoia like that. Moreover, no one has ever done “bottoming out” better.
• No Country for Old Men: Coin Flipping scene. This scene literally sucked the air out of the theatre. Literally. I mean, there wasn’t enough air left. No really, I actually was chocking.
• I have to have a war scene on my list ….and the competition comes down to the beautifully-staged and adrenaline-packed Helicopter attack scene in Apocolypse, the Opening to SPRyan and the Steve Mcqueen motorcycle chase scene from The Great Escape. I will focus this selection on SPR but just the scene where The Company is on the boat and headed to shore. The uneasiness and weight of the moment on that boat is palpable. I don't need the whole opening 20 minutes. Those two minutes on the landing craft are plenty.
• Final Timeout in Hoosiers ……Gene Hackman maps out a play that is poorly received and then Jimmy chimes in and confidently calls for the ball: ”I can make it coach!!" The most inspiring moment of any sports film and that includes both Kurt Russell's pre-game speech in Miracle and then his pre-third period speech. If you can outdo Coach Herb Brooks screaming: "You can beat these guys!" than you know you know you have watched something special.
• Rocky getting in shape in Rocky I …..maybe the best original score ever in the background as Rocky runs through the streets of Philadelphia. If this scene didn't (doesn't) get you off the couch, perhaps you deserve a sedentary life that ends with diabetes.
• I love a good vengeful jury verdict ……..and my favorite was probably from The Verdict, where Paul Newman is able to get enormous damages off the Church in a malpractice suit. I am a total sucker for these scenes and I always enjoy seeing The Church get burned.
• There are so many great scenes from Raising Arizona and it’s hard to pass over the Opening, which lasts for 20 minutes, but I am picking the scene where Nicholas Cage and Tex Cobb square off in a custody battle over the baby. Chris Kuhner and I spent three weeks in college saying nothing to each other than the lines from this scene. We used to watch reruns of this movie, in different rooms, with the doors open and end up dying when this scene came on.
• Dance scene in Little Miss Sunshine. I can’t imagine laughing harder or feeling better after watching a movie scene.
• Bad News Bears: Scene where Vic Morrow’s son stands up to his dad on the pitching mound and his abusive Dad ends up hitting him while he takes him out of the game. this reminds me of so many things including Southern California in the 70s, youth baseball and the time my Dad tossed me into a rose bush!
• Defending Your Life: Final scene where Albert Brooks has failed his test in Judgment City but then rallies and shows the requisite courage to get Meryl Streep back and “move on.” This is my “pull at the heart” nominee, but it was close over every scene from the last 20 minutes of Field of Dreams and many more.