Tuesday, April 26, 2011

100 Things I Love About The Movies

Inspired by Cinema Fanatic and Jason.



1. Raul Julia and Angelica Huston as Gomez and Morticia Addams
2. Harrison Ford's caving to Gary Oldman in order to save his daughter's life in Air Force One
3. Grumpy the dwarf
4. Nick and Nora
5. Disney's version of Captain Nemo's Nautilus
6. Mr. Whitmore and Helga in Atlantis: The Lost Empire
7. The five notes from Close Encounters of the Third Kind
8. Both performances of Peter Pan in Finding Neverland
9. Ernest as the snake farmer in Ernest Saves Christmas
10. Bowing to the Hobbits in Return of the King





11. Alastair Sim's standing on his head in Scrooge
12. Michael Wincott's voice
13. Tracey Walter and Grace Jones' giving Olivia d'Abo a sex ed lesson in Conan the Destroyer
14. Helvetica Black's theme song in Shorts
15. Bill Murray's almost having a perfect Groundhog Day, but screwing it up because Andie Macdowell thinks he's been stalking her
16. Watching the Harry Potter cast grow up
17. Robert Downey Jr.'s comeback
18. Alfred Hitchcock's surprises
19. Errol Flynn's swagger
20. Kate Beckinsale's look in Underworld



21. Jean Rogers as Dale Arden in Flash Gordon
22. Mysterious strangers in boarding houses
23. Christopher Reeve's Clark Kent
24. "In space no one can hear you scream."
25. Kirk's refusing to lose in Wrath of Khan
26. Hugh Jackman as Wolverine
27. Syndrome's island base in The Incredibles
28. River Tam's becoming badass in Serenity
29. Hulk vs. tanks in the desert in Ang Lee's Hulk
30. Friends becoming lovers as in Some Kind of Wonderful and When Harry Met Sally...



31. The creature from the Black Lagoon
32. Elizabeth Swan in Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3
33. The Dread Pirate Wesley
34. Robert Newton as Long John Silver
35. Joe Jr. in While You Were Sleeping
36. Any Vera Ellen dance number in White Christmas
37. The cantina scene in Star Wars
38. Orson Welles' laugh
39. Cary Grant's suits
40. John Hughes' soundtracks



41. Every song in Disney's The Jungle Book
42. "No smoking in the Skull Cave."
43. Johnny Weissmuller's Tarzan yell
44. Maureen O'Sullivan's outfit in Tarzan and His Mate
45. Buster Keaton's lack of facial expression
46. Clint Eastwood's squint
47. Bela Lugosi's accent
48. The flying cars in Blade Runner
49. The Star Destroyer fly-over at the beginning of Star Wars
50. "I don't know. I'm making this up as I go along."



51. Batman's trying to get rid of a bomb in the 1966 Batman
52. Yvonne's crying during "La Marseillaise" in Casablanca (hell, the whole scene)
53. "Now I have a machine gun. Ho. Ho. Ho."
54. John Rambo outnumbered in the woods or jungle
55. "Why don't you knock it off with them negative waves, Moriarty?"
56. Keira Knightley in King Arthur
57. Angelina Jolie's lips
58. Jody Foster's voice
59. Jody Foster's legs in Inside Man
60. Gerard Butler as Alex Rover in Nim's Island



61. Peter Lorre's eyes
62. Claude Rains' voice
63. George Sanders' voice
64. Ingrid Bergman's face
65. Sean Connery's first line in Dr. No
66. Harrison Ford as the bellhop in Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round
67. The theme song to Diamonds Are Forever
68. Roger Moore's pushing a car - with the villain still inside - over a cliff with his foot in For Your Eyes Only
69. Eddie Murphy's improv in his early films
70. Nicole Kidman's hair in Far and Away



71. The Bride of Frankenstein's hair and dress
72. Lou Costello when he's scared
73. German Expressionism
74. Lon Chaney Jr. as Larry Talbot
75. Everything about Curse of the Demon
76. Captain Jack Sparrow
77. Ray Parks in Phantom Menace and Sleepy Hollow
78. The Monster's fur vest in Son of Frankenstein
79. Brandon Lee on the fire escape in The Crow
80. Keifer Sutherland in The Lost Boys



81. Sidney Poitier's "I owe you nothing" speech to his dad in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?
82. Harrison Ford's hat in American Graffiti
83. The last five minutes of Rocky
84. The leg lamp in A Christmas Story
85. Helena Bonham Carter in period dramas
86. John Bender in The Breakfast Club
87. Steff in Pretty in Pink
88. The baby name suggestions during the credits of She's Having a Baby
89. Kenneth Branagh and Shakespeare
90. Keira Knightley's making my heart stop in Love Actually



91. King Kong's fighting three T-Rexes in Peter Jackson's version
92. The music in Gojira
93. "I am not a gun."
94. "I thought you said your dog did not bite." "That is not my dog."
95. Hilary Swank as Maggie Fitzgerald in Million Dollar Baby
96. Ian McKellen's "butter" sermon in Cold Comfort Farm
97. Don Cheadle as Mouse in Devil in a Blue Dress
98. John Travolta's watching A Touch of Evil in Get Shorty
99. Ashley Judd's sweat in A Time to Kill
100. Keyser Söze

13 comments:

Siskoid said...

I'm impressed with your 100! And now I must do the same (hopefully without copying any of yours)!

Erik Johnson Illustrator said...

Hm. I'm going to have to work hard to make a list of impressive moments like that.

Off the top of my head

1. Tie for reveal of the Phantom from Lon Chaney's Phantom of the original "Phantom of the Opera" with Vicky's first meeting with the Joker in Tim Burton's Batman. Both involve women's discovering the pesky villian has A GRINNING SKULL FOR A FACE!!!!!! Both scenes scared me as a kid and they still do as an adult.

2. Scary moments would probably make a lot of my list. Frankenstein's monster and Nosferatu walking through the door would be on there for sure.

3. The establishing shot of Xanadu from "Citizen Kane". That fade is awesome, I think of Neal Adam's artwork every time I see it. At least until we get to the zoo and I wonder why there are monkeys in a cage marked "Bengal Tigers"

4. "Dwayne"... "Ellen", from "Aliens". Its the closet this series gets to a "I love you"... "I know." like in "Empire Strikes Back. For all of Ripley's strength as a strong empowered woman, little vulnerabilities like this make her seem all the more human. After being betrayed by men like Ash and Burke, and the harshness of the aliens makes the glimmer of a potential romantic relationship seem all the stronger. Also, I got a little tear in my eye on a recent re-watch when Newt says "Aye-firmitive" before going to sleep.

5. "Love does the finer thing". Being a young man, I've had my heart broken many times over and know just how painful it can be. So when I see a hero having to sacrifice the love he wants for the greater good, or her own welfare, well, that just takes a lot of guts. "Casablanca" airfield scene is easily the finest example. I'd also recommend watching Sidney Poitier's reluctant romance in "A Patch of Blue".

6. "How would you even begin to cut up a body?" from "Rear Window". This scene is why Rear Window is not only my favorite Hitchcock movie, but one of the scariest films of all time in my humble opinion. Just dwelling on the idea of the audacity one human being is capable of doing to another is downright terrifying, and this notion heightens the tension. In a world constantly trying to outdo one another over the top kills, Hitchcock masterful scares us without showing anything.

7. The Bat Deduction from "Batman: The Movie". You already mentioned the Bat Bomb scene so heres my personal favorite scene. Batman, Robin, Gordon and O'Hara are all trying to figure out what villain is responsible, and based on the flimsiest of reasons, Batman deduces that all four baddies are involved. The fact that he's right just makes it all the more amusing and why even in something as campy as this Batman is still the smartest man in the universe.

8. The Mine Shaft Gap from "Dr. Strangelove". Everyone knows "This is the War Room", but I love then ending when the council is fighting about the Russian getting a lead on mine shaft strength. The world just ended, and they're still fighting about the most superficial thing given the situation. Wow.

9. Luke jumps off the Diving Board from "Return of the Jedi". We've seen Luke be courageous before, but now he's in charge and given the chance to cut loose on an army of alien mooks to save his friends. I remember being a little kid in school running onto the playground swings and pumping myself higher and higher in the air pretending I was a cosmic cavalier just like fighting off ugly monsters and saving the beautiful woman. Apologies to Errol Flynn and Douglas Fairbanks, who I've just rendered second best.

10. The Nebula Battle from "The Wrath of Khan". James Horner proves he's a musical genius by using silence to build tension. Theres no cue to let us know when the next strike will be. Each ship comes within inches of one another and doesn't even realize it. Wow.

Erik Johnson Illustrator said...

11. Indy Shoots First from "Raiders of the Lost Ark". Do I even have to explain this one?

12. "Do I feel lucky? Well, do you... punk?" from "Dirty Harry".

13. Audrey Hepburn in... anything. Get me started about what I love about her in "Roman Holiday" or "Sabrina" and we'll be here all night.

14. Kiki's flight from "Kiki's Delivery Service". The thing I love about Miazaki's love of flight is that he takes care to show that even though our heroine is ink and paint, that she still has weight, so that when the she her take off, it feels spectacular, knowing that you have just witnessed something that is both impossible and beautiful.

15. George McFly curls his fist from "Back to the Future".

16. "The town drunk just gave his life, because he believed I had a job to do." from "3:10 to Yuma".

17. The Elephant from "City Lights". If you've seen it, you know exactly what I mean.

18. The Reunion from "Its a Wonderful Life". I admit I'm more sentimental than I let on. There are a lot of scenes I love from this movie, but this one is just a reminder of how no matter how bad things seem, I can still count many hundreds of blessings, many of which I may never even realize. I wish this movie wasn't tightcast as a Christmas film, because it just so easy to get lost in the shuffle.

19. "We're going to need a bigger boat" from "Jaws".

20. The opening of "Jurassic Park". That "awwww...." chant before silence against the dark screen always gives me chills.

Erik Johnson Illustrator said...

21. Ernest Borgnine hits the stop sign in "Marty". Thats how they say "I'm in love!" in New York City!

22. "Say, I guess I love you." from "King Kong". Words of a poet.

23. "Get your stinkin' paws off me you damn dirty ape!" from "Planet of the Apes"

24. "Hasta La Vista... Baby." *shatter* Arnold beats the boogeyman of "Terminator 2"

25. Steve McQueen bouncing the ball in "The Great Escape", whistling the theme tune.

26. "Help me!" from the original "The Fly"

27. John Glenn sees fireflies in space from "The Right Stuff"

28. John Wayne in "The Searchers".

29. Clara Bow in "Wings"

30. The establishing shot in "Metropolis"

Wings1295 said...

Wow! What a list! Some of these are just great choices, well most are. I agree with a bunch of them.

Erik Johnson Illustrator said...

31. Sean Connery in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade". His performance and the movie itself are great, but I think they deserve even more credit than they get already. Think about it, after two dark adventure films, we lighten it up with broad comedy and... it works! When in the history of a franchise has this ever worked before? Batman and various horror series have tried to lighten the tone after they'd gone darker and darker, and it always came back to bite them.

32. Marilyn Monroe sings "I want to be loved by you" in "Some Like it Hot". The song itself is great, but I have no idea how that song past censors, or if it would even pass today. Its the kind of thing you could only do in Black and White Cinema.

33. Along the same lines; Jessica Rabbit sings "Why don't you treat me right?" in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit". Not only does this scene establish a sex symbol, but again, it shows that even ink and paint can have weight when we see Jessica grab Eddie's tie and pull him out of his chair!

34. The Three Fairies from "Sleeping Beauty". I never saw this movie as kid, I guess because I thought it was "too girly", but now as an adult I absolutely love it! The art direction and design is spectacular, but the thing I was most surprised by was that the movie wasn't about the titular "Sleeping Beauty" as much as it was about the three fairies, who all have wonderful dialogue and funny moments.

35. Gene Kelly dancing in "Singin' in the Rain"

36. Katharine Hepburn in "Bringing Up Baby". I was going to say "in anything" since she always plays such strong characters, but this is the first thing I saw her in and it is probably the most unique role of hers, just so bubbly and energetic, shes the most dangerously fun person to be around.

Mitchell Craig said...

Several off the top of my head:

1. Donald O'Connor singing and dancing to "Make 'Em Laugh" in "Singin' in the Rain".

2. Ron Grainer's Miss Marple theme music.

3. The sword fight between the Musketeers and the Cardinal's Guards in Richard Lester's "The Three Musketeers".

4. Lightning McQueen sacrificing his dream of winning the Piston Cup to help Strip "The King" Weathers finish his last race in "Cars".

5. Max Steiner's theme music from "A Distant Trumpet".

6. Every song in "A Hard Day's Night".

7. "Mine hit the ground first."
"Mine was taller."
Kirk Douglas and John Wayne, respectively, in "The War Wagon".

8. Dash Parr laughing when he discovers he can run on water in "The Incredibles".

9. Also from "The Incredibles": Helen Parr's talk with Dash and Violet about bad guys on television vs. the ones they're about to confront on Nomanisan Island. "They won't exercise restraint because you're children. They. Will. Kill you. If they get the chance. Do not give them that chance."

10. I could do a whole list of great moments from "The Incredibles", but I'll stop here with Helen telling Violet, "That's my girl."

11. The Monster's Crucifixion Pose in "The Bride of Frankenstein". I particularly enjoy how James Whale got such beautiful blasphemy past the censors.

12. Bruce Dern in "Smile". He's an upstanding citizen, a beauty contest judge, and optimistic to the point of creepiness. His quintessential performance.

13. Jack Nicholson's heroically doomed effort to get wheat toast in "Five Easy Pieces".

14. All the songs in Robert Altman's "Nashville".

15. The "You so cute" smirk on Oddjob's face when James Bond hits him in "Goldfinger".

16. The last walk of The Wild Bunch.

17. Kathleen Turner in "Romancing the Stone", a highly underrated modern screwball adventure comedy.

18. Errol Flynn as the definitive Robin Hood.

19. Charlton Heston in "Major Dundee", particularly for his marching orders: "When I signal you to come, you come. When I signal you to charge, you charge. And when I signal you to run, you follow me and run like hell."

20. Roscoe Lee Browne as Jedediah Nightlinger in "The Cowboys".

Siskoid said...

T'is done.

Thanks for broadcasting the meme in the first place!

Michael May said...

So many great moments, Erik and Mitchell (Siskoid, I'll comment on yours on your blog). I could easily have kept going, so I'm glad you pointed out so many that I didn't get to.

The Phantom of the Opera reveal is so awesome, especially when you have a copy with a great soundtrack.

That Bat Deduction always cracks me up. "It sure adds up to a sinister riddle! Riddle! Riddle-r!"

I'd actually written the words "nebula battle" in my list at one point and decided to expand it to Kirk's whole awesomeness. But that - along with the reveal in the cavern that he's still in control - was a huge part of what I was thinking about.

Indy's shooting the swordsman! *contented sigh*

There's so much to love about the Incredibles. Thanks for pointing out some of the other great stuff.

I wish I could comment on all of your items. Such great lists!

FrostQueen said...

Great List!!!!

Austin Gorton said...

Excellent list! I'm already composing mine in my head.

Michael Wincott's voice

Love it.

Batman's trying to get rid of a bomb in the 1966 Batman

You know, it might be possible to populate this list entirely with moments from that movie.

King Kong's fighting three T-Rexes in Peter Jackson's version

That's one of those moments that always pops into my head whenever I think about specific movie scenes.

Michael May said...

"You know, it might be possible to populate this list entirely with moments from that movie."

I wouldn't bet against you. :)

twochickens said...

"No smoking in the Skull Cave." Ha! That is excellent. My husband and I quote that all the time. Nice list, and thanks for the laugh.

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