8 Perfect Cinematic Moments

Perfect Cinematic Moments

Andrew over at Fistful of Films started this Blogathon of listing those "perfect Cinematic Moments". Below he's listed a few rules and his description of that "perfect" moment

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 )

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.

So Below I've made up my list, which turned out to be 8 perfect moments. I'm sure there are a lot more I've experience, but these are the ones that come quickest to mind. It's a lot of recent films, and a lot of these movies are just all-time favourite of mine. Enjoy the list and feel free to share your favourite moments in the comments! 

The Dark Knight

This exact moment, shown in the gif above. It's right after he escapes from prison and he's killed Rachel. With the sound muted, the Joker has his head out the window like a dog and is just enjoying the ride, basking in all the chaos he's created. I know there's a lot of moments from this film I could've picked (I was initially going to pick the opening sequence, which is also perfect), but this moment, this short shot, always sticks out to me and gives me chills. It's such a dark moment, but I love it.

Gone Girl

"I'm so much happier now that I'm dead"/Cool Girl

This reveal scene is just so, so, so perfect. Amy is now "dead" and she's so much happier. In a back and forth montage of realizing how she framed Nick for murder, and what she's doing now that she's dead is perfection. Just even that line, "I'm so much happier now that I'm dead" is spoken so perfectly, and this image of Amy, sunglasses and hair waving in the wind just looks so cool. And that cool girl rant, of talking about girls who try to become that girl who men find "cool" and makes them "one of the guys" is so iconic and true. This scene, with the music, Rosamund's fantastic performance, and the perfect and precise editing makes this scene perfection. Even though I knew this reveal was coming, it was still such a brilliant scene.

Singin' In The Rain

The Opening Sequence

The opening sequence of Singin' In the Rain is my favourite. It starts with Don Lockwood arriving at his movie premiere with Lina Lamont. Don gets asked to tell how his career began, and he does. We got Don's voice over with flashback images, but they often don't quite match. Don talks about getting the best education, and we see him singing at bars. He talks about how he and Cosmo were quickly getting offers in Hollywood but exclusively picked a certain studio, when really, that was their only offer. It's a great sequence of mismatch and irony. Also, it includes the great performance of Don and Cosmo at a crappy show, tap dancing while "playing" violin. 

The Social Network
"I'm coming back for everything" 

The Social Network was a film I didn't originally care for. I was kind of new to this whole actual-good-movies thing and I was in the Kings Speech camp. But even then, I knew this scene was amazing. It's right near the end and Eduardo finds out he's been cut down on his share and he swears to sue Mark. There are just so many fantastic lines ("Sorry! My Prada's At the Cleaner! Along with my F*** you flip-flops, you pretentious douchebag") But my favourite is when Andrew Garfield tells Mark to Lawyer up, and he's coming back for everything. The line delivering on this is perfection on the part of Andrew Garfield and I'm still so angry that he was snubbed an Oscar nomination for his performance. Eduardo has finally snapped, this was the last straw in a huge pile of straws and it's incredible to watch him finally break and finally truly speak his mind. 

(500) Days of Summer

Expectations vs Reality

I love all the experimental and quirky stuff that (500) Days of Summer does. The documentary style interviews, the dance sequence, etc. So much of it reminds me of Annie Hall, but for a new generation. But expectations vs reality is probably the best sequence of the movie. Played exactly side by side, running at the same time, it shows Tom's expectations of getting back together with Summer, but instead has him drinking alone and finding out she's engaged. It's shown exactly how people think. These expectations we have that almost always turn out so different from what we think. It sums up a lot about the movie overall, actually, and it was a unique way to show Tom's disappointment

Whiplash

Final scene

Is there really anything to say about this scene that hasn't already been said? The editing is lightning fast, the solo is 9 minutes long, and the tension is about a mile high. It's such a fantastically amazing and tense scene. Who knew a drumming scene like this could put you completely on edge? Miles Teller completely owns this. I love how he just gets so into the drumming. His face is weird and funny but it shows just how much effort he's putting into this. Andrew is playing his heart out. Also, can I talk about that shot of his father looking through the door at Andrew on stage? In his expression you can see that he thinks Andrew has completely lost his mind, and he's gone completely insane. He's just completely fallen off the bridge. And this, out of everything, is the only audience reaction we get at all. We don't see anyone else or what they're thinking and whether this is making of breaking Andrew's career. We see the reaction of Fletcher, the man he's ultimately trying to impress, not the audience. But the shot of his father is heartbreaking. But again, I could go on and on about this scene and how perfect it is. If you haven't seen this movie, do it now!

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Dumbledore & Voldemort Ministry of Magic Battle

I probably could've picked different moments from any of the Harry Potter films, but I've always loved this battle scene. Ralph Fiennes is so awesome as Voldemort, and this battle is just great. It's a battle between two of the greats, and they constantly deflect each others shots. This battle is just something different we've seen in any of the films before this point. It's generally Harry or other students doing battle against someone experience, but it's so great seeing these two go head to head. The graphics are great and the choice to leave out any music is great. Also, that gif on the bottom, of Ralph Fiennes taking in power and then releasing it, shattering all the glass in building is a beautiful moment.

The Sound of Music

"The Hills Are Alive!"

One of the most iconic moments in film is definitely one of my favourite moments in film. The Hills Are Alive is such a beautiful and positive song that you don't hear often these days. This gives us our first taste of exactly who Maria is, and it shows who she is so perfectly. She's loving and positive and always looking for the sunshine in everything. The setting of this is just so beautiful that I can't blame her for singing a song like this, in mountains like these ones.