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!

Comments

  1. Great list! Oh the Whiplash ending is totally going to be in my list too. Same for Quaaludes. And I have no idea how to choose one scene from Kill Bill. I could easily make a separate list of favourite cinematic moments from that one movie alone.

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    1. Oh, I know. There's so much brilliance in that film. It's perfect.

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  2. Awesome! I love so many of these. I also love that you included the aspects of some of those films, like how it wasn't a mere moment in Atonement but the score itself which laced EVERY moment...UGH, that movie is so perfect.

    Thank you SO MUCH for playing along.

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  3. This is the best thing I've seen you post yet. I love your choices.
    The ending of Whiplash absolutely slayed me. The ending of Take Shelter is such an ominous scene. The whole Ludes scene in Wolf of Wall Street has me in stitches every time.

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  4. Awesome list Brittani! Oh man, that red coat scene in Schindler's List is so poignant and powerful... hard to forget that one. It'd be hard to pick a moment from HER, I so love that film!!

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    1. That's why I picked the whole thing. lol It was just brilliant.

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  5. Some pretty damn fine choices, I think I had Jurassic Park in my list too.

    The Quaaludes scene in Wolf of Wall Street was absolutely hilarious.

    Don't think I even breathed during the last drum solo in Whiplash...surprised I'm still alive to be honest.

    Some films I certainly need to see like Atonement, a film my mum keeps on talking about. She loves the single, take tracking shot on the beach.

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    1. Atonement is beautiful but it is absolutely devastating. I'm not sure that I was breathing during the ending of Whiplash either. Now I want to watch that again as well.

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  6. Awesome choices! The ludes scene from WoWS almost made my list, the entire audience in the cinema was in tears during that.

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    1. I actually popped in my DVD earlier today and watched it again. Why did Leo not win an Oscar? lol

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    2. Well I was rooting for Matt but Leo's performance will definitely have legendary status

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    3. I was rooting for Leo because I figured Matt would win an Emmy for True Detective. (Guess I was wrong there) I still think Leo was better, but I'm okay with Matt's win because he was amazing too.

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  7. That is a great list. Especially that scene in WoWS.... I remember watching that on Xmas day 2013 where myself and the small number of people that was watching the film were laughing their asses off. I hadn't laughed that hard in a long time. I was in tears with laughter.

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    1. Same here. I rarely laugh aloud in movies when I watch them alone. I usually just snicker to myself, but I was dying during that scene. omg.

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  8. Wonderful post! I love your choices. I don't remember that scene in Thirteen. I need to watch it again soon.

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    1. Yes, that movie is brilliant. Make your kids watch it if you haven't :)

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  9. Awesome list! Loved your choices, especially the scene in Wolf of Wall Street, Her and the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park!

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  10. Oh that Jack I swear moment... I thought I was the only one who noticed it. Great picks, Brittani!

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  11. Great list. I continuously nodded my head in agreement with the ones I've seen. Glad to see the Quaalude scene get so much love. It really is a great moment. And The Imperial March, yes!!! I need to ser Thirteen, though. It's popping up a lot already.

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    1. Thirteen is in my top 5 favorite movies. I love it so much.

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  12. So many amazing scenes here. End of Whiplash, “I love you,” from Precious, Kill Bill fight (love the cutaway shots to the wood fountain!)… really, everything here is gold. Great picks.

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  13. I started and stopped this post, like, five times, as this list was more or less going to be my list. Seriously, most of these ran through my head when I was kicking a few ideas around. Awesome, stuff.

    I have never seen Take Shelter...but clearly I have to.

    Ha...'gawking at Eastern Promises'. Yeah, I think we were all gawking during that bit...

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    1. Eastern Promises was definitely one of those moments where I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I love that movie so much.

      Take Shelter is a wonderful film. Shannon and Chastain are so good.

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  14. So many awesome moments. The elevator scene in The Departed is one I'll never forget either. Good list, Brittani! :)

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  15. Excellent list! Like, awesome! I was so close to going with that Schindler's List moment myself. The quaaludes scene, Yes! The Dark Knight scene, Yes! Jurrasic Park! Whiplash! Loving this blogathan.

    Love that we both did the elevator scene from The Departed. It is one of the great shocks in all of movies. I so wish I could relive it like the first time.

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    1. Right? I gasped so loudly in the theater when I saw that.

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  16. So much YES here! Atonement, The Departed, Star Wars, Schindler's List, Whiplash... So many great moments!

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  17. YES, another list that includes Atonement!

    God, please forgive me for not putting Schindler's List.

    Great list!

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    1. Atonement is such a masterpiece. I cried like a baby at the end ofi t.

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  18. That is a pretty good selection of films. I did Kill Bill for my Blindspot Challenge last year and I do recall that fight scene being pretty amazing, even after the epic confrontation with the "Crazy 88" and O-Ren's assortment of eccentric subordinates. It was actually kinda amusing how after that whole confrontation the fight at the end with Bill ended up being somewhat anti-climactic by comparison.

    I will confess that I never understood the appeal of The Departed. I saw that once back in college and couldn't understand any of it. You have five billion characters on both sides and every single one has their own plotline, it just got too convoluted. (Thinking about it now, I also find it odd that out of those five billion characters on both sides, the only person they could write as a woman was the police psychologist; was there really nobody among the five billion cops or crooks that could have also been played by a woman without changing the plot?) If you mean the elevator scene I think you are mean, I can't say I totally understood that since by that point I'd gotten so lost in the overly complicated plot I had no idea why everyone was suddenly shooting at each other.

    That final scene of Take Shelter was pretty impressive, I will admit that. I remember having to do a whole paper on that film last year (I had to use the film to compare the difference between art and classical filmmaking) and I even did a breakdown of that scene. I probably should watch it again at some point under less stressful circumstances because I do recall it being a pretty good movie.

    Also, funnily enough, I actually just saw Her this week for one of my classes. I'd put it off since it came out but it was strangely brilliant. Considering it only came out a year before Under the Skin, I'm curious if this is going to be a new career for Scarlett Johansson: making non-human characters seem surprisingly human.

    I've still been trying to decide which scenes to pick for my own. So far I've got one and a few other possibilities for choices. Hopefully I can get something together before Monday. On the bright side, I have had an opportunity to start my own action movie-themed blogathon if it's any interest. I think you'll enjoy this one:

    http://hitchcocksworld.blogspot.ca/2015/04/summer-blockbuster-cast-thon.html

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    1. I look forward to your list! As much as I love for more female roles in movies, I'm not too broken up over The Departed not having any female cops/gangsters. We really only spent time with 6 different men on both sides, the rest were all background.

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  19. Great picks here, oof, lots of memories.
    J

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