Hi, I got bored and started making a list (I'm a bit like Liam Neeson that way), so here it is. It's not gonna be a regular blog post in that I'm gonna go into any sort of loquacious detail about why any of these scenes are amazing or anything, I'm just simply throwing them out there so people can watch (some) of them and see if they agree. There's plenty of films I think are great that didn't make the cut, as these are the best singular scenes that I just adore for whatever fucked-up reason.
Also these are mostly off the top of my head and the order's pretty arbitrary until about the top four. And I'm only gonna give them a little bit of a comment, as really, they all mostly speak for themselves. So anyway, here are my TEN favourite scenes from all the movies I've seen so far.
10. Carrie's First Dance
I was thinking putting the completely insane split-screen denouement in here, y'know, as in the scene from Carrie, but then I thought about it and, apart from that being predictable as fuck, this is really the scene that is Carrie's centrepiece; we all know where the film's going, or at least have the feeling it's not going to end well, and this is the film at its happiest point, almost dreamily happy, so sickly happy that it's loaded with tension, especially as the camera starts spinning deliriously around the end. LOVE IT.
9. The Ending of Evil Dead II (The First Time You Watch It)
Yeah, I'm not even gonna put a link here because, if you haven't scene Evil Dead II, FIRST OF ALL GO WATCH IT, and second of all, the ending couldn't be more perfect in its ridiculousness, and the less you see it coming, the better. GO SEE IT, FFS.
8. The Beach Scene (The Piano)
The Piano's fucking awesome, and about ninety percent of the reason it's awesome is its main theme, Michael Nyman's beautiful listen-on-repeat-til-I-die masterpiece. This scene sums up what The Piano's about - communication, the instrument itself being Holly Hunter's character's only true means of expressing herself in a dull, lonely existence. It's just swelled with emotion, and also it's the last happy/funny scene on this list, so you'd better get lost, all you people who want their films to be cheerful.
7. Jack's Lament (The Nightmare Before Christmas)
Sure, it's no secret: The Nightmare Before Christmas was a childhood favourite of mine, becoming the iconic merchandise-fest of my generation, but it really is fucking great, especially as a fan of stop motion. This scene just shows off everything that makes it magical, especially in the eyes of a gloomy-minded child like myself; great song, great set, great spindly animation. And that curling hill/tree thing in the full moon, like, damn. So sick.
6. Melancholia's Overture
Now I love Melancholia, and I love Von Trier's bold decision to start the film with an eight-minute sequence of semi-painting shots of things that we don't understand or that even, if I remember correctly, actually happen in the rest of the movie, which is, incidentally, filmed in a completely different style, with raw, handheld footage as opposed to all the fancy cinematic shots you see here. It's a great way to set up a pessimistic killer of a film, and it works on its powerful imagery alone, too.
5. The Drowning (Don't Look Now)
Yeesh, I told you that the happy scenes were over. This is a weird, weird film, and just like its famous ending, its opening scene is stark, mesmerising, effectively edited and completely unforgettable, especially right at the end. But, uh, yeah, it's pretty grim, so maybe a little trigger warning for people who don't like seeing bad things happen to adorable innocents.
4. The 'Rape' Scene (Perfect Blue)
Unfortunately for you, most gracious reader, I can't for the life of me find a YouTube or any other kind of video link to this scene specifically, and you may have a few questions on your mind, like why 'rape' is given the inverted-comma treatment. My suggestion? Just go fucking watch Perfect Blue. It's amazing, it's dark, it's masterful, and everybody in the West (It's an anime) ripped the fuck out of it. Also, you'll know the scene I mean when it gets to it, and you will know why I think it's amazing, disturbing, thought-provoking, brilliant, as is the rest of this fucking BELTER.
3. Kirsty Opens the Box (Hellraiser)
Pinhead's a bit of a show-stealer. I mean, fuck me, just look at him. If you enjoy the anime Berserk, you may notice a few superficial similarities here, all of which are right up my proverbial dark, nasty alley. The costumes are great, the atmosphere's stifling, and the dudes and dudette just scream authority - freakish, terrifying authority that is not to be fucked with. Plus basically every one of Pinhead's lines is a nuclear battering-ram of a quote. AGH it's just so BADASS, I LOVE IT.
2. Heather's Confession (The Blair Witch Project)
Yep, so I've already done a blog post on why Blair Witch is the fucking dog's bollocks, so I don't need to go into that. But this is the scene, the fucking scene. This is everything Blair Witch is about - nothing happens, nothing is really seen, and all you're watching is the pure, real (IRL real, in many respects) emotion of the main character; lost, defeated, realising that they are totally, utterly fucked. It's interesting how the Razzies had the fucking nerve to award worst actress to Heather Donahue back in 2000, when, just... just WATCH it. It's obliterating. It's naked. It's wonderful. People can be fucking idiots sometimes. Oh, and the extreme close-up was apparently a mistake; maybe the best mistake ever made in a movie. SICK.
1. Club Silencio (Mulholland Drive)
Okay, so here it is, the reason I made this list - just so I can remind everyone how fucking brilliant the Club Silencio scene is. I don't even have to say anything. Just watch it, and you'll know. And if you've never seen Mulholland Drive in your life, then there's no greater advertisement for it than this. I've seen it like a million times now, and every time, it rattles my shaky little heart. If this scene doesn't make you feel something, no matter what it is, then the only explanation is that you must be some sort of brain-damaged vegetable or emotionless psychopath. Pure, freakish brilliance. Utter beauty.
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