Cinematic Moments Blogathon (A Fisti Blogathon)

The wonderful Andrew over at A Fistful of Films has a wonderful idea for a blogathon. He ask us to post a collection of moments where the film we were watching really spoke to us. Here are the rules:

1) Pick a number between 1 and 100 (any more than 100 is just gaudy)
2) Choose that many cinematic moments that are either your all time favorites or ones that could, on any given day, be your all time favorites
3) Post them on your blog (or Tumblr or whatever) with the above header (or one you create for yourself)

4) Send me the link by either posting it here in the comments or getting ahold of me on Twitter ( @fististhoughts )

Here's an example of what he's looking for

We all have them in the back of our minds; those moments that make us think "man, this is what the movies are all about". We relive those moments in our mind's eye, remembering them and dissecting them and adoring them. They come in all shapes and sizes, from all types of films, and yet they all share one very important aspect; they define why we love the movies. It could be the way that the moment is cut; the way it's edited together. It could be the way the moment uses it's actors to evoke a powerful emotion from us. It could be the way that music floods the scene and draws us even closer to the moment in question. It could be a grand climax, a breathtaking introduction or a simple interchange. It could be any and all things, because for every film lover, the list is different.

And here is my collection of 20 moments that moved me in no particular order. These are just a few of the reasons I love the movies.

1) The end of Whiplash - This film has one of the best endings I've ever seen. It's editing porn, it's electric, it's SO intense. I felt like I was going to have an anxiety attack on behalf of Andrew Neiman. I've never felt that way before.

2) This line in American Beauty - "It's a great thing when you realize you still have the ability to surprise yourself." That always sticks with me. I think it's one of the most beautiful things ever written

3) "You're baby loves you, I love you." - This is a quote from Precious. The funny thing about it is that it was actually in the trailer. So I heard it dozens of times before I saw the film. But actually seeing it in context moved me to tears. It was so powerful. 

4) "Imperial March" in the Star Wars movies. There is no score more menacing than that. 

5) The Pencil trick in The Dark Knight. I cheered along with the rest of the crowd at the midnight showing I went to.

6) When 8 year old me saw Susannah of the Mounties and taught myself how to Waltz from this scene. I think I pictured it every time I've ever danced. 

7) The fight scene in the snow in Kill Bill vol 1: It was shot so beautifully. I started to appreciate cinemotography a lot more after seeing that. 

8) Seeing the little girl in the red coat's body in Schindler's List. I watched that film for the first time in my high school history class, and we were all just gutted. It was like I suddenly realized the brilliance of her red coat being the only bit of color in the film. Brilliant and heart wrenching. 

9) The elevator scene in The Departed. I love it when a film truly shocks me, and I did not see that coming. 

10) Tracy's breakdown in Thirteen. The scene starts to lose its color. Everything just gets grayer and grayer as she just loses everything. That technique was perfect. 

11) WALL-E in space. That is the first time I've ever looked at an animated film and really thought about how far animators have come. It was just gorgeous.

12) The Quaaludes scene in The Wolf of Wall Street was a nice reminder that even serious dramatic actors like Leonardo DiCaprio can make me laugh so hard that I nearly cry. 

13) "Jack, I swear.." Those three little words in Brokeback Mountain crushed me. 

14) The bath house fight in Eastern Promises. How brilliant was that scene? Nikolai is as vulnerable as one can be, yet he kicks some major ass there. I think I gawked at that scene. I've ever seen anything like it. 

15) The "there's a storm coming" scene in Take Shelter. No one flips shit quite like Michael Shannon. I froze when watching that. Then to see how the film ended, wow...just wow.

16) The use of the typewriter in the score of Atonement. Genius.

17) Her. All of it. The idea that people could fall in love with their operating systems. It really doesn't seem so crazy to me. I could not stop thinking about this film after watching it. That was a perfect screenplay. 

18) Regan getting thrown around on her bed in The Exorcist. I was 8 when I saw that movie for the first time, and I've never been more terrified of anything on my screen then I was when I saw that moment. The amount of fear I got out of that scene, mind you, it was before she even had a cut up face or scary voice was intense. 

19) "The Heart Asks Pleasure First" in The Piano. It's such a beautiful piece of music and it's perfect in that film. I think I listened to that piece over and over after watching it. 

20) The dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. This movie made me and a million other kids interested in them, and when a movie makes you want to learn more about something, what's better than that?

Thanks for hosting, Fisti! I hope this was coherent enough!