The meme-ification of movies continued unabated in 2019, when even some of the best films of the year—including our No. 1 favorite—got sliced and diced and broken down into shareable non sequiturs, like Al Pacino staring daggers while cutting into a slab of sirloin. Are we seeing the first omens of a dark future for the medium, when all films will come in GIF and JPEG form? Eh, probably not. Movies, by their very frame-by-frame nature, have always been divisible: As with, say, the United States, you can look at them as both a whole and as the individual parts that make up that whole—the shots, the performances, the effects, and so forth. It’s why, every year, The A.V. Club runs not just lists of the best and worst films but also a separate rundown of our very favorite standalone scenes, unranked save for the selection of a single, consensus top choice. Below, you’ll find our picks for the year’s greatest movies within movies, the fragments of beauty and horror and excitement plucked from the pictures that contained them and arranged in no particular order, except for a tendency to stick the most climactic and spoiler-heavy ones toward the bottom. Some of them could, of course, be chopped up even further, into some pretty good memes. But we’ll leave that micro-movie game to the real deconstructionists.
Scene of the year
“Heaven,” Her Smell
Never underestimate the power of a good power ballad. Last December, we called Lady Gaga belting “Shallow” the movie moment of 2018. One year later, it’s a quieter but no less stirring performance of a lighter-in-the-air radio smash (this one preexisting, not original) that’s soared to the top of our great-scenes retrospective. It arrives in the eye-of-the-storm portion of Alex Ross Perry’s volatile backstage drama Her Smell. Years after trashing her life and career in a tornado of self-destruction, Elisabeth Moss’ burnt-out rock star Becky Something emerges from the fugue state of addiction, broke and clean, her priorities now entirely shifted to parenthood. It’s plenty stunning just seeing Moss, who’s barreled through the previous three acts like a bull in a china shop, downshift to such a regretful register; her sobriety, in every sense of the word, hits like the unexpectedly melodic bridge of a hardcore anthem. But this penultimate passage reaches transcendence when Becky sits at the piano and—in a single take—plays for her daughter a tender rendition of the Bryan Adams ’80s-cheese hit “Heaven.” Finding emotional truth in a cornball FM staple is an irresistible hook deepened through context—here, a grunge goddess shedding any remaining vestiges of her countercultural cool to embrace the sentiments of a profoundly uncool song. What we’re seeing, in a sense, is the death of “Becky Something” and the birth of someone new from the ashes. Still, old showbiz habits die hard: “This one’s a cover,” she announces, before gently bearing her soul and shattering our hearts over the ivory. [A.A. Dowd]
“Supernature,” Climax
“A French film, and proud of it,” declares a cheeky title card at the beginning of Gaspar Noé’s drug-fueled, dance-crazed freak-out as the camera tilts down from a French tricolor to reveal Sofia Boutella taking one last drag from a cigarette to an infectious remix of Cerrone’s 1977 disco single “Supernature.” What follows are five minutes of pure dance, mesmerizingly captured in a single camera movement—a variety of young bodies voguing, waacking, and contorting on a slasher-blood-red dance floor, breaking off into solos and then coming back together as though compelled by some unseen utopian energy. It’s a hell of an opening number and a tremendous showcase for the cast (most of whom are professional dancers) and for Noé, whose dazzling technical gifts have often been overshadowed by a weakness for empty provocation and dorm-room philosophizing. [Ignatiy Vishnevetsky]
The job offer, Bombshell
A single scene in Bombshell so effectively condenses the entire thrust of the movie, it essentially works as a self-contained short film. A real one-time rising star in the journalism world, Rudi Bakhtiar (played in the movie by Nazanin Boniadi) is only months into her new position at Fox News when she gets sexually propositioned by a superior, who implies that a major promotion would be contingent upon her sleeping with him. As the two talk at a restaurant, we not only see the nightmare scenario unfold in real time, but hear the internal monologue Bakhtiar conducts with herself—how to massage this man’s ego while not compromising her integrity or losing the promotion?—and suddenly the whole world of impossible situations and near-daily degradations for women forced to deal with a culture of abuse comes into stark clarity. (Depressing coda: This effectively ended Bakhtiar’s journalism career.) They’re three minutes as powerful as the entire film that surrounds them. [Alex McLevy]
Esther’s confession, Our Time
In Our Time, director Carlos Reygadas and his wife, editor Natalia López, play an analogous bohemian couple, Juan and Esther, whose open marriage begins to crumble with the entry of Esther’s new beau, a gringo named Phil. The film centers around the senseless, banal, repetitive cruelty of the male ego, so much so that when it’s finally Esther’s turn to speak, the effect is one of utter lucidity, even transcendence. Affixed to the bottom of an airplane, the camera glides over the countryside and descends into Mexico City in one long uninterrupted shot, while a disembodied Esther narrates a confessional letter. Her monologue, sincere and conflicted, is in stark contrast to the language employed by her poet husband, whose intellectual pretensions mask his insecurities. Esther’s letter is entrancing, a brief but glorious respite from the insularity and delusions of the film’s otherwise masculine purview. [Beatrice Loayza]
Lunar chase, Ad Astra
For the most part, Ad Astra is a pretty pensive science-fiction film, about a stoic astronaut hopping across our solar system while reflecting on a lifetime of hurt. But at each stop, Major Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) also deals with the after-effects of a faltering space program that has left the galaxy littered with unpredictable dangers. That’s how Roy ends up zooming across the far side of the Moon, with—well, there’s no better way to put it—space pirates on his tail. These ravagers represent the unexpectedly malevolent byproduct of our well-meaning human endeavors. But director James Gray makes sure their attack is exciting to watch, too. The big chase scene is eerily beautiful, as the bad guys emerge from the desolation and silence of the lunar surface, like literal forces of darkness. [Noel Murray]
The Fuck Box, High Life
After a long day of trying to forcibly inseminate her fellow captives in the floating prison that houses them, Dr. Dibs (Juliette Binoche) likes to unwind by getting nude, straddling a shiny metal dildo-machine referred to as “The Fuck Box,” and grinding in futile pursuit of an orgasm as if her life depended on it. Once the viewer’s nervous giggles subside, they’ll realize just how many warring tones have been bound up in this tableaux. There’s despair and desperation, linked to Dibs’ inability to get that elusive release; a faint deadpan levity, as in the automated cleanup activated once she’s done with it; and an earnest, ripe eroticism all too rare in English-language cinema. Claire Denis’ vision of biological distortion in deepest space posits bodily processes as the foundation of our humanity—by her measure, to come is to live. [Charles Bramesco]
Feeley Meeley, Annabelle Comes Home
These days, horror movies tend to favor the easy, almost always effective jump scare, and you’ll find plenty of those in what we’re apparently now supposed to think of as the Conjuring Universe. But the latest installment about haunted doll Annabelle frequently prolongs the anticipatory dread, most memorably when three girls sit down to play Feeley Meeley, an actual Milton Bradley board game from the 1960s that has players stick their hands inside of a box and attempt to guess the identity of an object via touch alone. That would be unnerving in virtually any context—just the name “Feeley Meeley” seems creepy, somehow—and it almost doesn’t matter that there’s no horrific payoff involving, say, a bloody stump being withdrawn from the hole. Playing on our fear of what we can’t see is all that’s required. [Mike D’Angelo]
Release the hounds, John Wick: Chapter 3—Parabellum
After years of abuse at the hands of the John Wick universe’s roster of criminal lowlifes, the dogs at last have their day in the franchise’s third installment. When Keanu Reeves’ dapper assassin and his begrudging ally (Halle Berry) find themselves on the run from a typically faceless gang of knife-and-gun-toting thugs in Morocco, the duo turn to the ultimate secret weapon: a pair of highly trained German shepherds with a taste for parkour stunts and minion crotch. Nowhere does Parabellum’s gleeful mixture of technically brilliant action choreography and outright silliness land better than when you’re watching synchronized canine missiles take down doomed goons in tandem, leaping up buildings with practiced skill and unerringly guiding their fangs to the inner thigh of the next soon-to-be-screaming mook. It’s simultaneously hilarious and impressive as hell; best of all, the violence in this sequence is all dog-bites-man, rather than the other way around. [William Hughes]
Return to Fengjie, Ash Is Purest White
Charting two decades of cultural change through allusions to the movies Jia Zhangke made over that same period, Ash Is Purest White may be the most self-referential work of the Chinese director’s auspicious career. About midway through, it offers a fiendishly clever callback, one that creates waves of cognitive dissonance. Jia places his muse, Zhao Tao, on the deck of a ferry approaching the Fengjie of 2006—a shot that directly mirrors one from that same year’s Still Life. Except that Jia’s earlier movie was both shot and set in ’06; it used the framework of a fictional story to show how the rural area was in danger of being submerged by the rising tides caused by the Three Gorges Dam. So though Ash Is Purest White is supposed to be unfolding, in this scene, at the exact same place and time as Still Life, Fengjie looks very different—there’s a bustling city there now. In the anachronism, Jia locates one of his most potent metaphors: How better to communicate the idea of constant transition than to depict the past as the future it will become? [A.A. Dowd]
“Coyote,” Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story By Martin Scorsese
Scorsese’s other 2019 movie may be all about Bob Dylan (in ways both real and fabricated), but its most glorious bit of archival footage finds Joni Mitchell teaching her newly written song “Coyote”—which she’d later perform in Scorsese’s The Last Waltz—to Dylan and The Byrds’ Roger McGuinn. It’s an informal jam session, the kind of thing that ordinarily would never be seen by anyone who wasn’t in the room. “Okay, D minor now,” she tells them as she heads into the “No regrets, coyote” section, nodding in approval and adding, “Yeah, some dissonance,” when they get it right. Scorsese chooses to layer audio from a present-day interview over this unearthed moment of musical history (in order to note Mitchell’s frustration at not receiving her due as a songwriter), but that barely diminishes its offhanded, freewheeling power. [Mike D’Angelo]
Spahn Ranch, Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood
Quentin Tarantino is no stranger to slow-burning set pieces, and they’ve become especially prominent in his later-period work. Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood doesn’t depend on suspense as much as Inglourious Basterds or Django Unchained, but it generates similar historical-pulp frisson during an extended scene following Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) after he drives a hitch-hiking hippie (Margaret Qualley) home to Spahn Ranch, a former movie set he knows from his stuntman glory days. Booth’s attempt to drop in on the ranch’s elderly owner is met with simmering hostility, barely masked (at least at first) by hippie bonhomie, from the property’s new Manson-family inhabitants. Booth also gets to further blur the line between stuntman for hire and genuine cowboy, embroiled in his own tension-filled standoff. So much of Hollywood has a warm movie-star glow, and the creeping menace of the Spahn Ranch scene serves as an indelible crash course in the menace lurking for its characters on the outskirts of their Los Angeles privilege. [Jesse Hassenger]
“Criminal,” Hustlers
Lorene Scafaria’s Hustlers is hip to the ways women struggle, connive, and sacrifice to gain control in traditionally masculine spaces. Few actors embody that battle more than Jennifer Lopez, survivor of the Bennifer era. Lopez stomps into Hustlers in six-inch platforms, iridescent body glitter, and a negligible G-string, and with all the swagger her decades of experience provide. While her Ramona spins and writhes along to Fiona Apple’s “Criminal,” Scafaria’s gaze is as self-aware as Apple’s song. “I’ve been a bad, bad girl” is what the men throwing cash at Ramona want to believe, and she indulges that fantasy. But Scafaria’s focus is on her strength, winking pride, and lusty embrace of all those bills. “Doesn’t money make you horny?” she knowingly whispers to future protégé Destiny (Constance Wu). The line’s a perfect accessory to a performance that transforms a booty quake into a subversive act. [Roxana Hadadi]
Clamshell umbrella attack, Shadow
Umbrellas have been used as weapons in movies before. Hell, there’s even a book entitled Death By Umbrella! The 100 Weirdest Horror Movie Weapons. But the umbrellas in Zhang Yimou’s Shadow are both more versatile and more deadly than one would ever imagine, even after hearing that they play a major tactical role in multiple battle sequences. It’s not just that each canopy consists of numerous sharp metal blades rather than fabric, allowing spokes to be flung at the enemy. It’s also that warriors can crouch within two such discs and go skittering down a village’s main street, using the bottom umbrella as a dry-land sled and the top umbrella as a shield. Dozens of these clamshell contraptions mounting an offensive creates a spectacle so bizarre that you have to blink and rub your eyes to confirm that you’re seeing it. [Mike D’Angelo]
Lovers’ reunion, Pain And Glory
There’s a sleepy quality to the first half of Pedro Almodóvar’s semi-autobiographical drama Pain And Glory. Charitably, it’s a reflection of the pain- and sometimes heroin-induced stupor of rudderless aging filmmaker Salvador Mallo (Antonio Banderas), although it feels more like an opening act that lacks a center. But the film shifts on its axis with the arrival of Federico (Leonardo Sbaraglia), an old lover Salvador hasn’t seen since their difficult breakup decades earlier. The pair’s spontaneous late-night reunion is a delicate dance of uncertainty, flirtation, and anticipation. A bittersweet wistfulness replaces whatever animosity the two men felt in the past, and a palpable charge sits just underneath their increasing comfort with one another. Almodóvar slowly builds the gently cathartic conversation into something that feels equally like an edge-of-your-seat romantic thrill ride. The reconnection sends a much-needed jolt through Salvador’s life and through the entire film around him, too. [Caroline Siede]
Motorcycle chase, Gemini Man
Ang Lee’s Gemini Man is more than just a forward-looking technical showcase with a stale sci-fi script, thanks to the director’s typically accomplished action staging. Never is this clearer than during the initial face-off between rogue agent Henry Bogan (Will Smith) and the assassin—his younger clone—sent to kill him. A tense rooftop shoot-out segues into a propulsive motorcycle chase through the streets of Colombia, which culminates with the younger Smith wielding his bike against Henry with deadly precision. Unlike the baroque set pieces of the recent Mission: Impossible installments, Gemini Man doesn’t foreground the effort invested in making the scene. As in the bounding, balletic highs of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Lee’s emphasis is always on clarity and grace, so the sequence is fluidly choreographed but still punchy and visceral; it’s the increasingly rare action scene that’s effortless without ever feeling weightless. [Lawrence Garcia]
“Being Alive,” Marriage Story
“Someone to need you too much / Someone to know you too well…” In putting together this list, we received a number of suggestions from our contributors for scenes from Marriage Story (including, of course, the climactic argument). But none capture the themes of Noah Baumbach’s drama of separation and theater more elegantly than the sequence near the end of the film in which the newly divorced stage director Charlie (Adam Driver) briefly lets out his inner teenage theater geek as he takes the mic at a piano bar for a deeply sincere impromptu rendition of “Being Alive,” an ode to the annoyances and comforts of couplehood from Stephen Sondheim’s classic 1970 musical Company. In a banner year for left-field Sondheim homages (including an entire Documentary Now! episode dedicated to parodying the making of Company, and impromptu beltings of Sondheim tunes by characters in Joker, Knives Out, and even elsewhere in Marriage Story), “Being Alive” stands apart as the most moving. It also perfectly conveys the central irony of the story: that Charlie and Nicole (Scarlett Johansson) can find such deep feelings in other people’s words, but can’t communicate with each other. [Ignatiy Vishnevetsky]
The Songwriter, Under The Silver Lake
What if all the music you ever loved wasn’t borne from creativity? What if it was just the work of an indifferent mercenary? For Sam (Andrew Garfield), a paranoid conspiracy theorist with a knack for finding clues in popular culture, this is a nightmare scenario. The Songwriter (Jeremy Bobb), an elderly man holed away in a Los Angeles castle, poses a true existential threat. Not only does he confirm that the messages exist (though they’re certainly not meant for Sam), he tauntingly dismantles the amateur gumshoe’s entire identity by revealing its hollow core. As he plays a medley of hits he supposedly wrote (“Jump,” “I Want It That Way,” “Earth Angel,” the Cheers theme song, etc.), he tears down the concept of artistry, exposing it as a commercial hoax. “There is no rebellion,” he sneers. “There is only me earning a paycheck.” Anyone who has ever cared about art, or, say, writes for a pop culture website, will feel the sting of those words. [Vikram Murthi]
Family reunion, Doctor Sleep
Mike Flanagan’s horror epic tasks itself with both adapting Stephen King’s sequel to The Shining and sequelizing Stanley Kubrick’s film, which means this follow-up for everyone often feels stuck in a crossfire of callbacks. But there are moments where the movie takes on the refracted, eerie quality of memory, especially the scene where an adult Danny Torrance (Ewan McGregor) returns to the Overlook Hotel and chats with a ghostly bartender, just like his dad, Jack, did. Only this time, the bartender is Jack—at least in appearance. They talk briefly about the past and the alcoholism that has plagued their family, and naturally, Jack offers Danny a drink of “medicine,” poignantly bridging supernatural hauntings with a more earthbound variety. A key to the scene’s effectiveness is Flanagan’s avoidance of the latest in digital technology when conjuring Torrance Sr.: He’s played by Henry Thomas made up to resemble Jack Nicholson in 1980, which makes the character seem both unreal and familiarly tactile. For a few minutes, Doctor Sleep’s liminal nature crystallizes into something sad and scary enough to live up to its lineage. [Jesse Hassenger]
Cracking the case, Knives Out
Given that Rian Johnson’s Knives Out is an homage to classic Agatha Christie-style mysteries, the movie pretty much had to end with a surprising reveal. But rather than gathering all the suspects into an elegant drawing room before pointing a finger at the murderer, the drawling detective Benoit Blanc isolates the actual perpetrator, and then proceeds to deliver a dazzling explanation of the crime, connecting loose ends and minor clues that many audience members may have forgotten. Johnson throws in a couple of final crowd-pleasing twists to close out the scene. But the real thrill here is hearing Daniel Craig as Blanc—doing his most preposterous Southern accent—piece together Knives Out’s bigger picture, sparing no detail, right down to “the Nazi child mastuh-batin’ in the bathroom.” [Noel Murray]
Happy birthday, Parasite
The invisible suffering of the poor, and how it allows the rich to live their lives of carefree luxury, is a recurring theme in Bong Joon ho’s Parasite. So it’s appropriate that the film’s final confrontation between exploiter and exploited takes place at an elaborate impromptu birthday party, the type of event whose effortless charm is built on diligent behind-the-scenes toil. Beginning with son Ki-woo (Choi Woo-shik) asking his tutoring student/underage girlfriend if he “belongs” at the party and culminating with father Ki-taek (Song Kang-ho) exploding with rage after his boss holds his nose at an impoverished person’s smell one too many times, the scene assuredly stacks the film’s many narrative and thematic threads on top of each other like a cinematic game of Jenga. It then knocks down the resulting structure with a well-timed flick of the director’s finger, typical of the wicked sense of mischief that makes Parasite such an enjoyable ride. [Katie Rife]
Avengers assemble, Avengers: Endgame
It was never a matter of if it would happen, but how. When Thanos snapped away half of the planet’s defenders in Avengers: Infinity War, there were more than enough outside elements (like a confirmed Spider-Man sequel, for one) to dull the initial sting of watching the wind carry away the ashen remains of T’challa, Peter Parker, and the rest of the dusted superheroes. But nothing could diminish the rush of hearing Falcon’s scratchy warning “On your left” through Steve Rogers’ earpiece or the manifestation of hope in the form of portal after portal welcoming the return of a new hero. Gathered before Earth’s biggest threat was the overwhelming culmination of a universe 11 years in the making, simply waiting for a signal. And Captain America’s hushed “Avengers, assemble” was just what they—and audiences—needed. The battle that followed was undoubtedly epic, but the triumphant, appropriately dramatic return of almost every hero was the real payoff fans deserved. [Shannon Miller]
The phone call to Jo, The Irishman
The phone call Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro) makes to Jo Hoffa (Welker White) marks the point at which The Irishman splinters, bending strangely toward its end. It’s a symphony of hollow words, stuttered in one static shot of Sheeran sitting alone in a well-appointed bedroom paid for with Jimmy Hoffa’s money. That simplicity is a masterstroke, Scorsese placing focus exactly where it needs to be: De Niro’s face. The star doesn’t oversell the thing, either. He doesn’t have to. The false starts and stammers land fast and fierce, each a shot you don’t see coming. The sound editing aids De Niro here—you hear the wetness of his lips and tongue, increasing the call’s intimacy and thus the depths of the betrayal it contains. But really, all The Irishman’s best scene needs is the man sitting on the bed with the phone in his hand, lying and splitting in two. [Allison Shoemaker]
Vivaldi, Portrait Of A Lady On Fire
The affair between 18th-century French painter Marianne (Noémie Merlant) and her reluctant subject, Héloïse (Adèle Haenel), is based on mutual regard as much as physical attraction, and their slow accumulation of intimacy culminates in Portrait Of A Lady On Fire’s aching final scene. A coda set many years after the two are forced apart by societal pressure, the scene calls back to their original dynamic by having Marianne secretly observe Héloïse at a gilded concert hall. Director Céline Sciamma’s camera gazes at the latter with the tender absorption of a lover, slowly zooming in on her face as she’s overcome with emotion listening to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons—music Marianne once played for her during their too-brief lovers’ idyll. Evoking feelings of nostalgic warmth as well as bittersweet longing, it’s a sublime expression of the love between these two women, as well as a triumphant example of the female gaze. [Katie Rife]
Together at the end, Paddleton
“Bromance” is a word that should maybe be retired; it frames close male friendship as a joke, nervously tittering at the idea of love between men. We used the term, alas, in the headline of our review of Alex Lehmann’s melancholic buddy comedy Paddleton, which is very much about how guys sometimes couch the sincerity of what they feel for each other in competitive games and jokes and nonchalance. Though Michael (Mark Duplass) has received a terminal cancer diagnosis and decided to end his life on his own terms via medication, he spends most of the film avoiding any deep conversation with his best friend and neighbor, Andy (Ray Romano), who agrees to be there with him at the end. But after 80 minutes of awkwardly talking around their feelings, both men find themselves faced with the profound reality of what Michael’s about to experience. The ending, an overwhelmingly powerful duet between these two actors, pushes the characters to the limits of their vulnerability; what they’re able to say to each other, and exactly when, speaks volumes. [A.A. Dowd]
The queen and the bear, Midsommar
“Listen, you can’t speak, you can’t move. All right? Good.” The key to Midsommar’s horror is in the contrast between its sunny setting and disturbing content, as epitomized by the smiling face of the Hårga woman who speaks these words to Christian (Jack Reynor) in the opening moments of the film’s finale. The messy unraveling of Christian’s relationship with his girlfriend, Dani (Florence Pugh), is reflected with harrowing clarity as the scene toggles between their separate perspectives, the camera pushing away from Reynor and toward Pugh as she’s asked to choose whether he lives or dies. Surrounded by beaming villagers in the bucolic Swedish countryside, Pugh’s face registers a complex melody of emotions as the Hårga carry out her verdict, and director Ari Aster superimposes cleansing fire over her changing expression for a horrific and brutally honest final image. [Katie Rife]
317 Comments
I know long shots are seen as terribly gauche on here, but the 37 minute single take in One Cut of the Dead is terrific in its absurdity.
Extra points for being a real 37 minute single take.
Pom!
I genuinely don’t understand why it’s considered a 2019 movie. It came out in 2017. In Japan, yes, but I saw it in a mainstream theatre in the US in 2018. Did it have an expansion or something…?
Maybe you saw it as part of a festival? It wasn’t formally released here until later in 2019.
Huh. No idea. As far as I know, it was just a normal thing, at a normal chain theatre. The theatre *was* in a Japantown though; maybe that was it.
Probably. We have theaters that cater to HK, Korean, and Indian films that sometimes land outside their U.S. release windows.
British viewer here, came out in January this year to our cinemas, then on home release a few weeks later.I thought the official US release was this year too, but it had been uploaded to Amazon by a user previously? May have got that story slightly muddled.
That movie was brilliant.
So So Wrong ….No . 1 no dispute !
And that scene works so well because of how well they set it up years ago.
And what makes that Endgame scene especially moving is that, if you’ve seen all the films, all your memories come rushing in. You think of that previous scene and think, “Of COURSE Cap can weild Mjolnir and of COURSE back then he was just faking being mostly unable to because he’s the kind of guy who wouldn’t want to embarrass anyone unnecessarily…which is one of the reasons he’s worthy!” It was quite the payoff.
I’ve said this before but my issue with Bombshell is that it’s the story of women who spread propaganda for The Leopards Eating People’s Faces Party for years who got rightfully upset when leopards ate their faces but don’t really care when leopards eat other people’s faces.
So are you telling us that only Leftist abused women deserve to be heard?
No I think they’re saying that it’s harder to empathize with people who spent their career pointedly not empathizing with others.
So there are the victims you agree politically with, and the victims you don’t, and the later… deserve less? Ok.
Peter you may as well just start responding to yourself, since you’re so committed to your own narrative.
Again, you dumb fuck. That’s not what he’s saying. It’s not about disagreeing politically. It’s about them not giving a shit before about people that were in the same situations as them.You’re literally proof the Right have no reading comprehension.
You’re a big baby and everyone sees it.
A company that promotes propaganda for a party within the US government that is actively anti woman, LGBT+, and minority ain’t a great place. Shocker. They should not have faced sexual assault for their jobs, but their jobs actively elevate people who cover up sexual assault. Stop trying to pretend leftists think sexual assault is ok. We don’t, you guys support Trump and countless other representatives currently still in office and you keep fucking voting for them. “I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. … Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.”
I’m waiting for the next one to be about the struggle for a better work week undertaken by the Nazi youth, MagaCommenter22: “hey you hypocrites, why aren’t you on the side of the working man now?”
If by “deserve less” you mean “don’t deserve to have us spend our hard earned money seeing the awards season-bait film loosely based on their experiences,” then, sure. Not consuming media based on someone’s story isn’t persecution.
That’s exactly what he’s saying. These people are so deranged they actually believe they’re at war with their neighbor who marks republican on their ballot. It’s a sickness at this point.
You’re the retards who think shit like that. Just look at your War on Christmas bullshit. You are, though, the worst Americans. By far. You’re also literally the only side talking about taking up arms for Trump.
This post is the perfect example of what I’m talking about. I’m not even a conservative and vote republican maybe 20% of the time (and certainly not for Trump). But your mind is such a diseased and toxic wasteland that you’re in constant emotional turmoil and attack mode. You’re a hysterical little child and that’s *actually* what is destroying this country.
Yeah, right. Guess you’re going to ignore what you posted after blatantly sticking up for some dipshit with zero reading comprehension.
You’re just as toxic and irrational as the MAGA crew. You’re just so deep up your own asshole you can’t see it.
Shouldn’t you be trolling over at the WaPo, you Russian piece of shit?
Proof that you can be an insufferable fuck regardless of who you vote for.
“ (and certainly not for Trump).”Sure, why are you arguing so hard then? Why do you think Fox News is cool and deserves defense? Why do you keep moving goal posts? Are you gonna say, “It’s people like you that are going to force me to vote for Trump this time” or some other nonsense I’ve seen highly defensive argumentative people like yourself say? If you actually gave a shit about sexual assault you wouldn’t be defending this horseshit network that lies constantly.
The ‘ho is obviously a Russian troll. Don’t waste your time trying to reason with it.
I was seeing if it would respond. Incel’s for comment being – “The controversy exists because a bunch of obese feminists literally cannot comprehend the fact that some people like exercise.”Makes me assume it’s an idiot.
This is the exact shit we saw running up to the 2016 election – “Bernie-bro” trolls across these sites who if you checked their comment history were the same ones cheering Peter Thiel for taking Gawker down.
Yeah, whatever happened to “Alvin Greene Dream”, now that you mention it? Disappeared right after 2016, didn’t he….? Huh.
Holy shit, blast from the past! If I’m thinking of the same account you are, he was a perfect example of the (likely) fake Bernie-bro accounts I was referencing.ETA: curiosity got the better of me and yes appears it was this guy. In hindsight even the proliferation of posts per day is suspect. I remember him being every-fucking-where back then and I never even saw probably 80% of what’s on here.
Good times.
https://kinja.com/alvingreenedream/discussions
Yup, I was just going off memory, but it looks like his posting dropped off sharply after the 2016 election, then he disappeared completely less than 2 months after Trump was inaugurated. How convenient.Well, I guess we all should’ve guessed what his game was just from his handle, right? I mean, when you name yourself after a notorious U.S. Senate candidate famous for being widely believed to be a plant by outside forces actually trying to scuttle the Dems’ chances, you can’t really be faulted for not being obvious enough…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvin_Greene
*calls people deranged and sick**is surprised when people get upset for being called deranged and sick*
You’re a hysterical little child and that’s *actually* what is destroying this country.
lol. Look in the mirror if you can even stand it.
Speaking as an American who is Jewish, what exactly is this “war on Christmas” thing I keep hearing about?
Basically the Right have been claiming for years that saying Merry Christmas has been banned or outlawed or will be banned and outlawed because people take in to consideration the plethora of other holidays around the time and say “Happy Holidays” instead.
Yeah, that’s what I have heard legend of, but I’ve never seen anything along those lines. I was wondering if this person (bot?) who seemed to have earned a Purple Heart in the bloody war may have been able to share some specifics.
Trump and Fox News invented it and say it all the time. Now claiming Trump is the reason we’re able to say Merry Christmas all the time. And their constituents eat it all up. There was even a point a few years ago where the attacked Starbucks for removing the Christmas stuff like snowmen and Santa Clause from their cups. And they’re the ones that have the nerve to call us snowflakes. I don’t see how you’ve missed it.
As someone from the Netherlands, even I am aware of the ridiculous “War on Christmas” myth that was invented by Fox News and originated I think on Bill O’Reilly’s show. They’ve just been running with it since. From what I know, at this moment, Republicans seem to think we’re simultaneously waging a war while also having won it.
effectively, its jsut the latest incarnation of the “culture war” narritive that conservatives have pushed for decades. its not super original, any critical analysis of it will reveal that its nonsense, and basically its there for people who oppress other people to pretend that they are the ones being oppressed. for the more literal “what is it” a few businesses may or may not have told their employees to say happy holidays instead of merry christmas, and the fox set went full on persecution complex. funny part is i had been saying happy holidays since the 90’s just because it covered new years too.
The dumbest thing about the opposition to ‘Happy Holidays’ is that Christians have more holidays than anyone: in addition to Christmas, Christmas Eve, Advent,which is a whole month, and Epiphany, and often St. Nicks, in addition to the shared ones: New Year’s and NYE…
Dude “retards” is not the preferred nomenclature.
I’m pretty sure all insults aren’t the preferred nomenclature. That’s why they’re insults. I have never thought of mentally hanidcapped people as that word. But people that have warped thinking – that’s, by definition, a perfect word for them.
“I have never thought of mentally handicapped people as that word.”it has been commonly applied to lots of people who are not mentally handicapped..often it has been used towards people with a variety of physical handicaps, learning disabilities, speech issues, deformities, MS, Down Syndrome, Autism, and a host of other issues.
it’s a slur, it’s always been used as a slur and it’s always been used to attack people who are vulnerable and have lower social status. Just as there are various words that have been used as racial slurs, religious slurs, and LBGTQ slurs that are no longer acceptable it’s a word that should no longer be ok to use.
No. It’s mostly used towards people who aren’t mentally handicapped at all. But whose way of thinking is absurd.
I can only speak for my experience over the last 40 years. I have always seen it applied as a slur to to people with various handicaps.Is this a word you would use; at work, in school, at a social event, on a date to describe someone?
Not only are you losing insult points with words like that, you are gratifying the scumbag you are trying to insult (pls, see thread about using the word “bitch” as an insult on some other board not worth remembering which recently). “moron” “half-wit” “paste-eater” (not really “mouth-breather” as it doesn’t have very clean connotations) will do.
I was going to respond with “Asian American, please.” But out of context that could be grossly offensive.
“I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. … Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.”
Jesus Christ, shut up.
Whiny zennial baby
JFC you are a joke of a human.
OK boomer
I’m pretty sure there hasn’t been a boomer on this site since 2002, and even then it was probably a click-through accident.
No he’s not, dumbass. My neighbors vote Republican and I still shovel their driveway. Shut the fuck up.
Feel better now? Good. Time for your nap now.
Why would any of you even reply to this guy??
Nobody seems to know how the “dismiss” button works anymore…
Ahh, the perfect hypocrite.
Exactly, thank you!
If you think concentration camps for children is ok you are my enemy.If your job is selling hate toward women, the poor, and the sick don’t be surprised if people don’t care if you got screwed over.
awwww peter i’m glad you tried though
He’s clearly saying it’s hard to feel sorry for people that ignore the same plights when it happens to people that are not them.
Oh, everyone deserves to be heard. But to borrow a phrase from my profession: “sir, you have the right to a trial. You don’t have the right to win it.”In this analogy, the “trial” would be one of public opinion; a woman who actively seeks to profit from creating and defending a regime that obviously, naturally is going to provide a safe haven for gross men harassing women, and displays zero empathy for other women who get harassed (especially the ones who *don’t* aid or abet these regimes,) and is also 100% onboard with said regime’s go-to ploy of constantly *playing* the victim while demonizing everyone else? Yeah, that trial should not go well for them. Not at all. They do not deserve to win that trial.And I suppose it should go without saying that that regime they’re aiding and abetting, when it gets enough power to influence the actual legal regime, makes it vastly more difficult for harassed women to seek any kind of civil or criminal redress at all. That’s not many dots to connect. These women were actively making it harder for themselves to ever get any kind of justice if/when this stuff happened to them.So, what exactly are YOU stumping for? Should the rest of us let them off the hook completely for their rank hypocrisy and/or nihilism?
Let’s not also forget these women themselves are horribly shitty people: racist, xenophobic, misogynistic. They aren’t just enablers, they are active participates. But yeah, you hit the nail on the head. Fuck those asshole trolls.
Only people who weren’t complicit deserves to be celebrated (and this is definitely a celebration). They deserved justice as much as anyone else but that’s all. Even the trailer of that movie made me cringe atrociously.
No. These women have been “heard.” But I’m not sure part of being “heard” as a victim also involves getting a major motion picture that paints them in a sympathetic light and that glosses over all of their problematic bullshit. Plenty of abused women, of varying political persuasions, will never have their story dramatized and told this way.
Thank you for this. I can’t stand hypocrisy.
No, but hypocrites aren’t taken as seriously as those with moral compasses.
Everyone deserves to be heard, and to be taken seriously but we don’t have to see a fuckin’ fictionalized movie of it.
So deep#brave
I haven’t seen it, but I think for Carlson, Fox, etc. it was a combination of thinking they’d become so critical to the network that it couldn’t happen to them, and the equivalent of golden handcuffs. They could turn a blind eye because it didn’t affect them directly – until it did.
I think that’s kind of a really smart premise, though it made it a tough sell, obviously.
No jokes. This is by far the best comment thread I’ve read all day.
Usually this stuff gets me down but today I am just full of smiles.
I’m sorry that nutcases invaded it but I’m a little bit glad. You took one so that I could have a giggle.*Salutes*
I was hoping the Spahn Ranch scene would be on here. So much tension in this scene, I’d imagine it would be nearly the same if the viewer had little to no knowledge of the Manson family.While the “big reveal” is usually the centrepiece of any whodunnit, I preferred the scene of Marta covering her tracks in Knives Out. Both figuratively during the night of the murder, and then literally when aiding Blanc in his investigation.“Avengers Assemble” might be a crowd pleaser, but “Five…Years…Later” drew some audible gasps from the audience.There’s just so many in The Lighthouse that could be on here, mostly the ones that would venture into spoiler territory. I guess “spilling the beans” is the one that sticks out the most in my mind.
The opening scene with the Barton family was a real gut punch too.
Iit’s so much worse if you know about the Manson’s because a stuntman was murdered on the ranch. So Quentin is seriously fucking with some heads.
The more you know about the Manson family, the more it’s used against you in this film.
Absolutely. It would be interesting to see how someone who knows nothing about Manson feels about the film.
The film had an international release, so it is pretty easy to find these people.Actually, the first conversation I had about the movie was in St. Petersburg with a handful of Russians that saw it and knew nothing about the subject.
Oh that’s interesting. I wonder how it did at the international box office and the foreign press.
Can math most of that with available data:https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7131622/?mode=desktop&ref_=m_ft_dsk
A lot of people on of course Twitter who didn’t know about the Mason family thought the ending was just plain misogynistic, while if you do know the history of the murders you can get why Quentin had that woman have the most extreme and brutal death.
The Lighthouse scene that stands out to me is the “You’re fond of me lobster, right?” back and forth.
there’s so many good scenes in Knives Out that could’ve made it. I think the will reading might actually the best because you’ve got the entire cast pulling their weight for one amazing scene, but Marta covering her tracks or Ransom’s “eat shit” scene are easily contenders too
The thing I like about the “cracking the case” scene of ‘Knives Out’ that the AV Club chose is that, for most of the film, you start to wonder if Blanc is actually a decent detective at all, as Marta is able to run rings around him and he doesn’t seem to be picking up on any of the clues. But then, he suddenly unravels everything in a moment and you can see he was picking up everything.If I were to pick another great scene, though, I think it would be the family slowly turning around to see Marta on the balcony, drinking from the “My House, My Rules, My Coffee” mug.
Honestly any time they mention the alt right kid I laughed pretty hard.
The Spahn Ranch is a bit of a cheat — it’s not really a scene, it’s almost an entire act. But it’s so well done that I’m not complaining.
It was a great dramatic use of spacingFiveYears LaterIt was like ‘Can you believe we’re doing this?’ which is exactly what they were going for according to the commentary.
“Damn ye! Let Neptune strike ye dead Winslow! HAAARK!“Hark Triton, hark! Bellow, bid our father the Sea King rise from the depths full foul in his fury, black waves teeming with salt foam to smother this young mouth with pungent slime, to choke ye, engorging your organs til’ ye turn blue and bloated with bilge and brine and can scream no more — only when he, crowned in cockle shells with slitherin’ tentacle tail and steaming beard take up his fell be-finned arm, his coral-tine trident screeches banshee-like in the tempest and plunges right through yer gullet, bursting ye — a bulging blaggard no more, but a blasted bloody film now and nothing for the harpies and the souls of dead sailors to peck and claw and feed upon only to be lapped up and swallowed by the infinite waters of the Dread Emperor himself — forgotten to any man, to any time, forgotten to any god or devil, forgotten even to the sea, for any stuff for part of Winslow, even any scantling of your soul is Winslow no more, but is now itself the sea!”
I liked Knives Out well enough, it’s a fun mystery with an amazing cast, but *SPOILERS* the twist was pretty predictable given the fact.
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The person who did it was enormously famous, but had barely been in the film for the first hour, I think I’d have enjoyed it a lot more if it had been a lesser known star and so it wasn’t quite as odd when they (properly) turned up so late in the film.
It wasn’t a twist though
True, I guess I was just using the same phrasing as the article does.
I liked Knives Out well enough, it’s a fun mystery with an amazing cast, bu *SPOILERS* the twist was pretty predictable given the fact.
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The person who did was enormously famous, but had barely been in the film for the first hour.
But pretty much everybody in it is enormously famous.
But they’re also in it from the beginning, and even though they’re very well known they’re not quite on the level of Captain America / The Avengers star Chris Evans.
Don Johnson, Jaime Lee Curtis, and Christopher Plummer are less famous than Chris Evans?
Worldwide at this moment? Yes.
Basically what kirenaj1971 said. To film fans of course they’re just as well known, but ask the average occasional cinema goer in their twenties which of those names means anything to them and chances are Chris Evans would be the only one they’re aware of.
I mean, were you really watching Knives Out for “the twist” though? I didn’t spend any time trying to figure out who the killer was because it didn’t really seem like the main point. I assumed it was probably Chris Evans and was interested in how he would get caught.
Well call me crazy but when I’m watching a murder mystery, trying to work out who the killer is is all part of the fun.
I’ve read so many Agatha Christies that, at least for me, figuring how the author’s going to reveal the killer is most of the fun. Like, you can usually narrow it down to one or two so it’s more about how and why they did it. And, in this case, since the movie was just packed with Christie references, I was just excited to see how they’d prove that the character everyone they thought did it, didn’t actually do it.I’ll admit, there was a moment where I wondered whether there would be a twist where Evans’s character didn’t do it, but it was okay that there wasn’t. At least for me.
I’m just a casual thriller / mystery fan so get most of my pleasure trying to guess who’s guilty, but I do understand that different people get different things from the film.
One thing I like about the use of Evans as the killer is that they play nicely with his natural charisma. He’s introduced as a spoiled prick, but then he’s giving shit to the rest of the family, who are all awful, and seeming sympathetic to Marta, and you start to wonder if maybe he’s not so bad, because he’s Chris Evans. But then the reveal comes and you think, “Of course he’s a bastard! We were shown that from the beginning!”
There are plenty of worthwhile questions to address in a mystery other than “who did it” – Knives Out in particular is more focused on “how.” To pinpoint “who” as the only worthwhile question just seems unnecessarily narrow and unimaginative.
Okay—you’re crazy. It’s a linear story; you’re going to find out who it is eventually, and the author has concealed the information you’d need to make the deduction yourself. It’s entertainment, not a contest to accurately gauge Q ratings.
1. Those were Belgian Malinois, not German Shepherds.2. “Chewbacca must have been on a different transport!” obviously came out too late to be included.
I’m glad someone on staff was willing to cite the Avengers Assemble moment. I was afraid I’d have to be that basic bitch.I was not a super-big fan of The Irishman, but that phone call really was extraordinary. One of those moments that reminds you of what Robert de Niro is actually capable of, even after decades of phoning in performances in crummy movies.
Yes, that scene is terrific and reminded everyone what De Niro is still capable of.
very good scene that reminded me what he’s capable of
I’d forgotten what he was capable of. But when I saw that scene, I thought, “Now THAT is what he’s capable of!”
This time he phoned in a great performance!
Yeah, clearly Shannon didn’t get the AV club’s memo that Marvel movies are to be either ignored or derided.
Shut the fuck up
The first thing I thought of when I saw this article was “I’m going to have to be That Guy and call them out for Avengers: Assemble, aren’t I”.
I think the Marvel movies are kind of hard to use in these things, because the biggest moments are often not predicated on the movies themselves, but on the existing franchise.Like no scene all year got me as pumped as this one…but it also feels weird to include it, because what made the scene really work was the years of build-up in other movies, y’know?
And Ill be the basic bitch who thought that was the biggest eyeroll moment of that overrated borefest, even worse than the “only the key characters left standing at the end of The Long Night” moment in GoT
“Overrated borefest” – Sir, not only do I endorse your words but I’d like to buy you a drink. I cringed real hard when that scene occurred. I almost can picture the exec: so when do we get a pan shot of the heroes charging at a climatic moment of the film?
Disney Exec 1 – “This sounds an awful lot like a Deus ex Machina”Disney Exec 2 – “you idiot! They didn’t make a sequel to Ex Machina”
Disney Exec 3 (who has a corner office) – “Shut up the both of you. It has spandex in it and it’s from Marvel. Who cares how cliche it is? We’ll be richer than Scrooge McDuck!”
Disney Exec 4: “These guys mocking us seem to not understand the basic premise of how summer blockbuster movies work.”Disney Exec 5: “Yeah, it almost makes you wonder why they’d bother going to see them if the basic beats of this type of movie is boring to them.”Disney Exec 6: “Wait, did that one guy mock this scene as a Deus ex machina when the infinity gauntlet is literally exactly that, and had been explained as such? What the fuck else would he expect?”
Disney Exec 7: And best of all, the grown ups who don’t want to see this sort of drivel will have kids that will force them to go! We can’t lose! Disney Exec 8: And if we release it in April, it’ll be a summer blockbuster! April is in the summer, right?
Disney CEO: “Yes, April is considered the beginning of Summer blockbuster season, and has been for some time, thanks for asking Mr. 8! And I’m sorry Exec 1, you’ve been fired as clearly the joke was that ‘deus’ sounds like ‘deux’, I don’t know who would compare a sci-fi/isolated horror film to Endgame. Make sure to call CPS on Disney Exec 7 on the way out.”
Exec 9: I know I’ll be fired for pointing out the CEO is wrong, but Jaws, which begat the Summer Blockbuster, was released in July. At the end of July to boot. And said Sci-Fi/isolated horror film makes about as much sense as said shoddy endgame. It’s okay though: I know CEO’s are a bit out of touch with reality Sir.
CEO: “You’re damn right you’re fired. Now I want-”*Lights go out, shuffling and a scream is heard, lights go back on*Exec 10: “My God, someone has killed the CEO! And the culprit is in the room!”
You know, there’s a Knives Out (which was AWESOME) rip off potential in this…
Disney Exec 1: Um, I’m not sure why Disney exec number 6 didn’t get the premise of the initial joke on the terrible film Ex Machina that this hunk of shit resembles. But I do recommend cutting his bonus this year.
Please tell me what bar you’re both going to so I can avoid it.If you’re yawning by that moment in the film, you are the worst person to take to the theater.
The one filled with grown ups. Don’t worry, you can go to a “Dave and Busters” or some other place to play video games. If you’re thrilled by that moment in the film, you are the worst person to discuss film with.
God forbid you should discuss films with people who also enjoy them.
My 4 year old enjoys films as well. I’ll go discuss some Truffaut later with her.
So you can bore her too?
She’s seen Avengers Endgame: nothing can bore her more than that film. Or as she called it, “The Paint Drying Film”. She also wondered what sort of dullard would defend it so vigorously or enjoy it so much. She’s pretty precocious for a 4 year old.
Ok, you and your imaginary four year old are assuming a lot about me. I neither defended the movie nor told you I enjoy it. I did indicate that I find you to be a joyless fuckstick. I find your opinions about as interesting as you would find it if I walked into a classroom of people watching Truffaut (pretty much the only place his movies are viewed btw) and started complaining about how it didn’t have enough dialogue.But hey, keep on preaching.
Well, username fits. But hey, keep on trolling. By the way, said four year old is now laughing at you. Or maybe just the cartoon she’s watching. No, it’s you. She also exists and is a delightful child, albeit way too into the Frozen franchise. But that’s children.
THAT’S what you come up with? You’re a terrible troll.
My imaginary four year old daughter thought it was funny. Then again, she liked Avengers Endgame so…
Even an imaginary four year old doesn’t have that level of patience to sit through that dull of a film…
Lol I guess you’d know.
My real four year old just beat up your imaginary one. It was pretty awesome.
If that’s your attitude, then I doubt that was the only scene you rolled your eyes at.
I personally would’ve gone with Cap wielding Mjolnir, but Assemble is an incredibly rousing moment.
I agree. Or I might have gone even more outside the box and picked Thor talks to his mom, or Ant-Man re-unites with his daughter.
I was scrolling down the list and think the same as well…no End Game scene? That was the best 2 minutes of any comic book movie, it was a 2 page splash scene come to life and we got to hear Cap finally say “avengers, assemble”, along with a fantastic orchestration.
There’s something really weird about a site dedicated to watching film not wanting to talk about a film that basically united everyone on earth to enjoy.Theaters are going away soon, just drop the smugness for a minute to appreciate what this film accomplished.
Agreed on both points. DeNiro is an actor capable of some serious acting chops when he tries.
The performance of the play in The Last Black Man in San Francisco.
The “Avengers Assemble” scene was the cause of more cinematic goosebumps for me than anything since the Charge of the Rohirrim in Return of the King. Epic.
What about the orgy scene from Cats?
Well crap now I have to see Cats.
It doesn’t count if it only happened in your cinema, not in the movie itself.
You can’t just list the whole movie as a “scene.”
justice for the part when they hit the 4th turbo booster in hobbs & shaw
Good list, I love Joni Mitchell so of course her teaching someone one of my favorite songs she wrote is gold. I’d change a few entries though, the knife fight in John Wick 3 stands out a little bit more although you can’t go wrong with most scenes in the film. For Once Upon A Time its definitely the ending, no question. Goddamm I will not forget that anytime soon. For the Irishmen, I’d go with the fish conversation or Jimmy Hoffa yelling at his associates.
If only we could get a Scorsese doc on Joni in the 70’s now…
Maaaaaan I wish. No Direction Home is fantastic and her life is anything but dull.
If you’re going to pick something from Endgame (and I’m not saying you shouldn’t), I would be very hard-pressed to decide between the one you went with or Mjolnir flying into Cap’s hand. I’ve never experienced a reaction like that in a movie theater. Either those or Hulk offering Scott Lang a taco.
Cap wielding Mjolnir would 100% be my choice for an Endgame scene.
Yeah, since that moment was so many movies in the making. Heil Hydra was brilliant too.
Perhaps I’m alone in thinking this, but if I had one moment to pick from Endgame, I would pick the conversation that Thor had with his mother Frigga, played by Rene Russo. To me, the thing that really elevates Endgame, and indeed why it may have been the one series conclusion of the year that really stuck the landing, is because it took the time to focus on the character’s grief and struggle, and offer emotional support for those characters in their time of need.Say what you will about how awkward it was for the comic-relief character to be suffering from an incredibly well-realized case of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, but it was well-realized in the writing, it was extremely well-acted, and the script did show that mocking Thor was making things worse. The people who were able to help Thor (Hulk, Stark and Frigga) were the ones who were empathetic and supportive, even if Hulk and Stark were ultimately saying “No, Thor. You are not in the condition to do this thing.” And nobody was more empathetic in that film than Frigga. Even better, it showed not a Thor that magically cured himself, but a Thor that could now turn the corner, and start coming back.
I really loved that scene. It was one of those quiet drama scenes the film desperately needed.
Thank you Caroline for writing about that beautiful scene in Pain & Glory, especially considering the fact that whoever wrote the original review of the movie in this site thought it was one of the least effective scenes and my mind was blown.
It’s going to be hard to top the experience of seeing Endgame, at the midnight premier, and the explosive roar the theater made when Cap said “Avengers assemble”.
For my showing, that cheer wasn’t the loudest of the screening. It was the Mjolnir moment that had that honor. Thor’s enthusiastic “I knew it!” really was the capper.
That scene had the same reaction and honestly, I probably cheered louder at it.
For sure, it made people go crazy. Seeing Cap be the leader he is and being worthy was the best moment for sure. And Glad people cheered, I’ve been talking to some friends and family members and they can’t stand how so few people cheer anymore at the movies.
Same. Might have been the loudest cheer I’ve heard in a movie theater, ever.
Reasons I would never live in America:1. Guns2. Expensive healthcare3. People cheer at movies
Aren’t you the same person that bitched about people cheering last time it was brought up? If so, remember when everyone told you how wrong you were?If that wasn’t you, remember, this was a midnight premiere. You know who goes to midnight premieres? The biggest fans, the people that are going to cheer, the people that care more than the typical movie goer. Go any other day and there’s no cheering. There’s no need to be captain of the fun police.
No, that must have been someone else who understands how cinemas work
Bud, if you want silence, just watch movies at home. When you’re in public you cannot and should not expect pin drop silence at all times, especially when you watch movies like Avengers. It is wrong for you to take others to task because you want this ideal silence. Despite what you say, that is not how cinemas work.
No, that must have been someone else who understands how cinemas work another asshole that doesn’t understand how midnight showings work.FTFY
3. People cheer at movies
They actually don’t, though. I see 2 or 3 movies in a typical month, including plenty of popular blockbusters, and it’s exceedingly rare for there to be an audible audience reaction other than a little laughter at the jokes and, rarely, light applause at the closing credits of a highly anticipated movie. Actual cheering, more than maybe one or two people letting out a gasp, is pretty much not a thing at most regular screenings.
Exactly. If it’s an event, fans are going to cheer at those special moment. I saw Endgame a second time the next week with a different group and no one in the theater cheered.
Same here. I remember seeing Rocky IV in theaters as a kid and everyone got up and cheered when Rocky beats Drago (spoiler alert), I think in Anchorman with the big news battle scene people were laughing quite a bit too.
Otherwise, it’s usually in the beginning of a Star Wars or Lord of the Rings film in the beginning because people are psyched.
But I will jump on the grenade that is Cap picking up Mjolnir in Endgame, the place went nuts and it is one of my favorite experiences in a movie theater.
https://gph.is/g/aejR7zN
There is no better movie experience, and no better reason to still go to the movies, than being at one with spontaneous applause at just the right time. It’s why movies, and, movie theatres, are still great.
I remember at Mystery Science Theater 3000 the movie there was a wave of applause when Joel’s name came up. It was awesome.
That is precious. <3
Full disclosure: I started the applause. But it caught on! A very proud feeling.
You would’ve loved my theater; it was as quiet as the grave.The biggest drawback? You’d have to live in Alabama. I wouldn’t recommend that fresh hell to anyone.
I’ve been tracking the number of times I’ve seen a full cheer (or any significant reaction) at movies. For me, enticing the same reaction out of everyone in the theatre when it is a sellout is a massive achievement. I can count them on one hand, and name them accordingly:1. R2D2’s intro in Phantom Menace (cheer)2. The Pencil Trick in The Dark Knight (gasp, and ‘yeah!’)3. “I knew it!” (cheer)I feel like I’m forgetting one, but maybe not. Point is, I make a point to go to the massive screenings. The first two were opening night/day, and the third was the Saturday. Much beyond that, most of what I experience is some sporadic clapping, sometimes with a bit more intensity, but not often. The audience rarely gets on the same page, so it’s quite the thing to witness.
There was an audible GASP in the theater when Ceaser spoke for the first time in Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
OK, I love your anecdotes. This brings me joy.
I’ve seen two, both seemingly odd, but incredibly well-deserved.In the West Philadelphia screening of The Avengers, every adult in the theater cheered at Captain America’s line “There’s only one God, ma’am, and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t dress like that.” Steve Rogers instantly won over the entire audience with that one line.The entire audience also burst into applause when Octavia Spencer’s character stole the books from the library in Hidden Figures.
So what everyone else around the world is void of any sort of emotion or reaction? That is pretty easy to call bullshit on.
Just don’t go to the sold out opening weekend show and you should be fine.
Why see a movie with others if not for the reaction? As long as it’s not obnoxious levels of reactions, people laughing and cheering during a film can really enhance the experience.
It’s not just America. Fans are fans.
“3. People cheer at movies”What bothered me in USA wasn’t people cheering, but when they cheered. I saw an old Seagal movie on a campus, and people cheered at the most brutal scenes like Seagal breaking a man’s arm.
I’m sure the people watching the movie were really into it and not watching it and cheering at it ironically. Us Americans all love Seagal films and would never watch them to mock how horrid they are.
This was long ago when Seagal was still taken seriously as a star, and it was not ironic cheering. It was in Florida BTW. Ironic cheering is when Rambo shoots down a helicopter with bow and arrow, not seeing a man get his arm broken.
Alright, fine you got me, all of us love whooping and hollering at over the top violence because we’re boorish animals. I was jumping up and down in the seat when Thanos snapped Loki’s neck and started flinging feces at the screen in glee. This was in Florida too, that is a relevant and important detail.
Steven Seagal was never taken seriously as an actor.
I don’t think that there is anything wrong with an honest visceral reaction during a film.
They cheered in my screening in Denmark too. Normally I’d be annoyed, but for this movie I let it slide.
Aristotle says you would have really disliked living in Greece as well.
Cap lifting Mjolnir, Spidey’s return, and Avengers: Assemble were the loudest cheers in my theater.
The spontaneous applause in my theater was pretty damn cool. The asshole ruining the moment by shouting “Where’s Deadpool?” Less cool.
Oof that’s obnoxious.
It’s kind of sad that a group cheer during a B movie moment was a life-defining experience for you. But if you “Sort of”… drive “Something,” I can see why you easily SETTLE, lol.I’m guessing that your fridge and toilets are messy AF too, because you won’t hire a cleaner (‘cause you will “get around to it eventually”).
Oh hey, I recognize your screen name from another post. You’re that huge asshole.
It’s kind of sad that a group cheer during a B movie moment was a life-defining experience for you.Oof, nice generalization there asshole. Life defining experience? Who said that?You’re being willfully obtuse pretending the culmination of 22 movies over 10 years wasn’t a big deal in popculture. The question is “best film scenes of 2019″, I picked one. Why are you even here?Clearly you’re the life of the party.
Hmm, you dismissed my comment? How sad.I guess I’ll do the same.
Regarding The Irishman, my wife summed it up best. It was a good movie, but it feels like I’ve seen it before.
Where have you seen anything like the last 30-45 minutes of the Irishman performed by such an elite cast? Because that’s what separates the film for me from other Scorsese/Scorsese knock-off movies.
Agreed. I was enjoying it well enough up to the ostensible climax, but enjoying it for it’s familiarity and it didn’t really feel special. Everything that happened after that was when I started sitting up and really getting engaged.
Have you seen any of Scorsese’s other mob films? That’s probably why.
Yes.
In plot and premise, yeah, it’s right in line with Scorsese’s other mob movies. But in tone and pacing it is a pretty dramatic shift away from those films.
When it comes to the actual feel of the film, it’s super different to how it felt to watch Goodfellas or Mean Streets. Anyone pretending it’s just like his other mob movies is either misremembering or lying.
I would have agreed with your wife except for three things: Joe Pesci speaking impeccably terrifying soft-spoken truths, Anna Paquin being devastating with almost no dialogue, and the last act which is like very few films in any genre. The closest I can think of is Ikiru (a very different film with a very different emotional take on the same theme, so fair warning: don’t watch it expecting action, gangster or otherwise!).
No scenes from Uncut Gems??? [MAJOR SPOILERS]…..* The scene where KG returns a certain item and they’re stuck in the security door and Howie’s employees struggling to get it to open. And then that private convo KG and Howie have.and of course the final part where Howie and the henchmen watch the game that may or may not be the big payout he hopes for, just that whole sequence.
The fact that there are no scenes from Uncut Gems in this is an astounding travesty and invalidates the list. There are multiple scenes you could reasonably pick. Amazing movie.
“Avengers Assemble” was absolutely epic, especially after making us wait ten years for it. But the scene of the year, let alone just Endgame, was Cap wielding Mjolnir. There was no more energizing scene in any film this year, literally and figuratively.
Really it’s the entire sequence from Cap getting Mjolnir to Tony’s death.
Willem Dafoe’s burial monologue in The Lighthouse is goddamn brilliant.
“What kind of man makes a phone call like that?”Also, I feel like this scene deserves an honorable mention. For setup, Kaitlyn Dever’s character has been crushing on the girl for the whole movie up to this point, but wasn’t 100% sure if she was also gay. And the guy said girl is seen making out with is the guy her best friend had been trying to woo. Also here is the tracking shot just after the clip below.
I was looking through the comments to see if anyone had mentioned the pool sequence.It’s been a while since this sort of studio-style comedy had that sort of visual flair.
So many touches that defy expectations for a “one crazy night” film.
Plus Perfume Genius is a perfect music choice
That film’s soundtrack is just the perfect party mixtape (and I mean that in the best possible way, it’s not supposed to be a quietly scored kinda thing – it’s a film where the idea of parties is woven into it’s DNA). Some great moments, accentuated by big but slightly off mainstream song choices (as well as the aforementioned) DJ Shadow, Handsome Boy.., Death Gripz, Anderson .Paak, J5, SBTRKT, LCD Soundsystem etc…It was so fun to see a film keep reminding me of fun songs I love and keep feeling like “well of course, this is the best possible song for this moment”. Which is another testament to the film, the film came first and the song choice was extra rather than “oh I love this song, and some movie happens to be occurring at the same time” that some lesser films do
It was pure serendipity.
This scene was so beautiful and heartbreaking. Olivia Wilde’s direction really impressed me. That is the perfect example of music enhancing a visually stunning scene. Thank for for highlighting this!
POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR 1917 (I’ll try to be oblique):I’d nominate several different scenes from 1917: the german bunker, the barn, the refuge in the bombed-out town. Of course since the whole movie is presented as a single unbroken shot, it’s hard to say exactly where one scene begins and ends.
“POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR 1917″.I think once it’s been 102 years, the statute of limitations for spoilers is over.
God, Shadow was so gorgeous. I went in to the theater not having read one review and was completely blown away. The first half was somewhat slow (but still visually breathtaking), but those final scenes with the umbrellas? I think I cried “WHAAAAAAT?!?” out loud in the theater. And I wasn’t the only one.Knives Out rightly gets a lot of love, but I always want to remind people that Ready or Not is also great, sort of a scrappy satanic little cousin to Knives Out. I would probably choose either the initial game or the final very bloody scene as the best.Tom Hanks slowly turning to look into the camera/our very souls as his Mr. Rogers reminds us to take a moment to remember those who have loved us was also an amazing scene this year.
Watches Ready or Not last night at home, then went out to see Knives Out in theaters today. It makes for a nice little “shitty rich people” double feature
Add You’re Next for the triple feature.
Shadow took me by surprised. It was released in only one theatre in all of Paris (possibly one in all of France cause I can’t find another) and I still don’t get why. House of the flying daggers was a very well known movie here at the time and it was very successful and when Shadow was released the director was just finished from doing the superproduction “the great wall” which was extremely successful too (at least from the theatres’ perspective). How the hell did it only get released in one theatre? And a very small indie one too.
One of the biggest gut punches of the year was in ‘Tigers Are Not Afraid’. I gasped out loud and put my hand over my mouth when Estrella uses her final wish to take away Shine’s scar. The wish comes true in the most heart wrenching way ever. A horror movie has never made me so emotional.
So you put the contrived, nausea-inducing scene from Marriage Story, but not a single scene from The Last Black Man in San Francisco, where every scene was beautiful and intricate and real? C’mon man.
The phone call scene from The Irishman reminded me why De Niro was considered one of the best actors of all time. How much he manages to convey by just not being able to really say anything is phenomenal.
Dog scene easily the worst part in JW3. I couldn’t stop laughing when the ramps showed up. Making me chuckle thinking about it.
Finally saw Under the Silver Lake two nights ago, and that songwriter scene has been fucking with my head since. It feels too real, like an actual peek into the thinking of Hollywood execs who don’t care about any artistry (because there isn’t any, really, from where they’re seeing the world). And which makes pop culture screwups like the new Star Wars and Justice League and all the other mass media, “CONSUME” type entertainment make a lot more sense.The equation isn’t, “What will make the best movie?” but only, “What will be liked well enough by the most people to maximize profits?”And I knew that, but seeing the songwriter explain it – a character who’s an amalgamation of several very real people in the industry – slapped me in the face. We’re all being duped, and what we enjoy is being created for the most cynical reasons possible.
Love the combination spoiler and spoiler alert in the title of the Parasite youtube clip. Very “it’s his sled SPOILER ALERT.”
Re: Avengers, Assemble.
I’m still super fucking bitter than not even once has there been the line ‘robots in disguise’ in any one of the 17 Transformers movies, and i’m reminded of it whenever fan service is willingly offered.
I have seen the “Being Alive” Adam Driver sings a show tune from A Marriage Story on a couple of best scenes lists.I thought that was one of the very few false notes in a film that got so many things right. In fact the film came to a screeching halt for me.What I am not seeing in Best Scenes is WOODY STAYING
Yea, I agree; that part took me completely out of the movie. If something from Marriage Story is needed, I would have picked the argument in Driver’s apartment.
Yeah I think that was actually the one spot I skipped ahead a minute or two. Literally the only scene I DIDN’T like.
Woody Staying is an incredibly good call, partially because the meta-knowledge of the film (big, tentpole, Disney) meant he could *never* do that.
100% RE: Climax. That scene gives me chills every time. I would disagree RE: Dr. Sleep. I found any scene trying to recreate Kubrick / 70s drained my excitement. Was much more interested in non-Shining aspects. I thought the Henry Thomas scene would’ve been stronger if we didn’t see him but knew who he was talking to.
I’ve rewatched the dance in Climax multiple times!
A key to the scene’s effectiveness is Flanagan’s avoidance of the latest
in digital technology when conjuring Torrance Sr.: He’s played by Henry
Thomas made up to resemble Jack Nicholson in 1980
That’s one of the things I really liked about Doctor Sleep – Wendy, Jack and Hallorann all appear in the movie but instead of doing it with digital doubles, it’s all acting and makeup. There’s a moment when Hallorann’s ghost appears to Dan that Carl Lumbly juts his jaw out and for a few seconds he looks exactly like Scatman Crothers. It has a far greater impact than doing it with CGI which we’ve all seen by now.
Agreed, and I thought the woman playing Wendy was fantastic.
Good list but I gotta say, little disappointed to see the dogs scene from JW3 on here. JW3 did have a lot of great moments- the knife fight, for instance- but to me, a surprising misfire by the franchise was the segment in the desert. The problem is we get a reeeally long sequence of these dogs attacking, then about two people get taken out by gunshot, then repeat, over and over… it’s very stale after the first couple of times and seems endless. Was I the only one that felt that way? I feel like the JW franchise makes the longcut gunfight an art and this was a rare blunder.
Agreed. The knife fight in the library (?) is fucking insane, but I think the movie lost its mojo after Halle Berry was introduced (not because of her, that’s just when the pacing seemed to change radically).
The motorcycle set piece from Gemini Man was incredible. But it sad that it was such a fleeting moment because I don’t think you can get the full effect without the 3D and high frame rate. Also well the script is very stale, I do like how in Ang Lee action movie the hero solve the problem not by killing his enemy but by become a better father to himself than he had. Anyways this is great list, the only things I would add is literal any shot of the Alps from A Hidden Life and the wedding from The Farewell. Not since John Ford filming his beloved monument valley in the Searchers has filmmaker so perfectly captured what is beautiful about a landscape. The wedding scene in The Farewell is not as visually stunting, what could be. But it gets at the joy and discover of being reunited with far flung family for a celebration. It was a warm hug in picture form.
The Martin Lawrence dolphin scene in Beach Bum! Uproarious. Also, to pick another McConaughey movie, the end scene of Serenity. It kind of, touched me? And I kind of, loved that movie?
The scene with JoJo and Elsa at the end of JoJo Rabbit culminating with them dancing to Bowie’s “Heroes” tore me wide open.
I think either that or Jojo seeing the dangling shoes. Both were beautiful (in very different ways) scenes that I think deserve to make the cut.
I love Taika Waititi and enjoyed JJR, but JoJo sure seemed to get over his mother’s public hanging pretty quickly.
I don’t really know if he does “get over it” that quickly? The montage that follows the hanging seems to imply some undefined span of time passing that is open to interpretation, but I took it to mean that some weeks or months passed between her death and the finale. And regardless of how much time has passed, that montage also shows that Jojo didn’t really have time to grieve. As a boy on his own midst the devastation of war, every day his only real focus was survival.
This list is missing the thermonuclear Godzilla scene
The drinking game and the slow-mo walk in The Farewell (best slow-mo walk since Guardians of the Galaxy!) are both worth a mention.Also filming the sex scene in Dolemite is My Name
Good call on the scene from Her Smell. I watched it last week and that particular moment really stood out for me. The piano performance was both entertaining and a really clear statement of how Moss’ character’s life had changed.(I think the article is a bit hard on “Heaven”, though!)
The description for Parasite implies a very different reading than what I took away from the film. I don’t think it’s so straightforward who is the exploiter and who is the exploited in that film. It’s called “Parasite” after all…
American critics have, for the most part, been rather simple-minded and culturally insular in their critique of Parasite. A few have been very good.
> I don’t think it’s so straightforward who is the exploiter and who is the exploited in that film.Only if you’re so taken in by its premise as to ignore the class realities. Even if one family is scheming and devious, while another is benevolently ignorant, it’s still clear who the exploiter is.
Wait, you saw Parasite and your takeaway was “poor people are parasites”?
No, of course not. That’s just as simplistic as the original take I was criticizing. I’m just saying it’s not the kind of film where you’re rooting for the heroic Good Guys to defeat the evil Bad Guys.
It doesn’t matter how calculated the Marvel movies can seem, or that there was no way almost all those people killed in “Infinity War” weren’t coming back, or that the heroes all hit their marks and strike their poses in the most unnatural ways… every pixel of that scene was EARNED and it’s beautiful.
If there was a single moment in THE IRISHMAN I never want to forget, it’s that late scene when Action Bronson is detailing casket options, asks a question, and his pause after the response just guts me every time.
Just saw “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” last night. Not a perfect movie, but it’s got a strong performance from Hanks that makes for a few knockout scenes that could go on the list. Particularly, there’s the scene where Vogel interviews Rogers at a restaurant, where Rogers encourages his interviewer to take a moment to think about “all the people who loved him into being”. Not only is Vogel moved by this suggestion, so are all the people into the room, who turn to look at Rogers and fall one by one into contemplative silence. And finally, Rogers peers into the lens of the camera, and you, watching at home or in the theater, are quite likely to find yourself crying along with them.
I love how that was dramatized. It’s also done in the doc to similarly moving effect.
It’s difficult to choose which of the individual scenes in
Knives Out is the real standout. It’s a movie full of standout scenes, piled on
top of one another. I agree that any time De Armas is on screen, doing what she
can to keep up the ruse, the film really soars. I think De Armas hasn’t gotten
as much credit as she deserves, in a film full of A-listers. But I loved her.However, the greatest moment of the movie for me was right
at the end, with the needle drop of my favorite Rolling Stones song ever. I
found that to be really profound, and I certainly did not expect that feeling
from a whodunit. Rian Johnson is a true master.
It’s an incredible performance from De Armas considering that for most of the film you’re led to believe she’s responsible in some way for the crime and yet she retains your sympathy. Ultimately, the film is squarely about her goodness as a character, and De Armas is able to sell that in every scene.
Not a single scene involving THE LIGHTHOUSE?May the gods strike ye dead!HARK!!!
Yer fond of me lobster, ain’t ye?
I’m not sure I love “The Lighthouse” overall, and yet I can easily think of a half-dozen scenes that should be in the running for a list like this.
I would add:
Energy is off the charts, with that awesome simulated long take.Also, the scene in Honey Boy when Otis tries to get his dad’s attention, and when his dad speaks all we hear is a consoling soundbite from Otis’ imaginary TV father. Possibly the most heartbreaking scene of the year.
Oh yeah, and surely something from Us should be on here? I’d vote for the Elisabeth Moss mansion scene. As hilarious, unnerving, and multi-layered as anything from Get Out.
Yeah, they have it as a Best Film of the years when really, as a whole it doesn’t work. It’s only great in individual scenes.
Oh yeah. **spoilers** Her double trying on makeup like her glamorous above-ground counterpart for the first time and quickly realizing that doesn’t change what she is was mesmerizing.
you guys putting a gemini man clip in here tells me everything I need to know about the garbage list.
IMO this article got the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood scene very wrong. Dalton filming his episode of Lancer was the best part of that movie. The revisionist history with the Mansons was fine but just par for the course with QT movies.
The revisionist history didn’t happen until the final scene. Given all that’s been written about Manson’s cult, particularly by Ed Sanders in “The Family”, the Spahn Ranch scene has elements of truth and no revisionism. Underneath the fake hippie exterior the whole group was extremely hostile to outsiders, including Sanders who was an iconic figure in the counterculture at the time.
nice
I’d add two films to the list. First is the Water Spirit scene from Frozen 2 as I thought it was a genuinely visually striking and innovative scene in the film that really stuck with me even if it wasn’t the big emotional moments of the film.The second is the Joker where I’m torn between three scenes. First is when the cops ask Arthur if the laugh diagnosis is real and he asks them what do they think, kind of capturing a central approach to the story. Second is Arthur finally dressing up as the Joker, with the hallway walk and finally the stairway dance. I just felt they subverted the triumph of that moment by then having the cops shout out Arthur only to see him start running away. And the third is the ‘You wouldn’t get it’ line as that was for me the final moment that indicated that Arthur had truly become the Joker.
The most unexpectedly moving moment in Little Women is Chris Cooper’s Mr. Laurence silently listening to Beth play the piano at his house.
Am I the only one who hated Paddelton? I expected to really like it, but what a bunch of sappy hokum.
I didn’t like Once Upon a Time in Hollywood but I feel like AV Club didn’t have the balls to give it to the scene at the end where Brad Pitt beats the fuck out of a teenage girl. My audience cheered, which I found somewhat disturbing.
So you weren’t disturbed that those women, who were in their twenties at the time, would have slaughtered everyone in that house? Do we need to recap what those women actually did in real life?
no to mention the fact that they were White Supremacists. I was under the impression that punching people trying to start a race war was ok in 2019.
Don’t know how Midsommar got on this list. Yes, it is a good horror movie. But its just beyond the pail.
God, why is Florence Pugh SO. FUCKING. HOT…
Seriously seems like The Lighthouse is being flat-out ignored in so many lists; feels like a forgotten January release and it legit came out like 2 months ago. Almost any given scene could be a contender, but the “all right have it your way; I like your cooking” scene is career-best work from Dafoe, and rousingly funny to boot.Also The Last Black Man In San Francisco play scene is wonderful; cathartic, strange release in a mostly tranquil, introspective film.
I know it’s popular to hate Joker around here, but I still remember that scene after he shot the douchebros, runs into the bathroom, and just… dances.
I’d add- China-US dinner discussion/graveside ritual/wedding from The Farewell. So many great scenes though – Arthur dancing in the bathroom in Joker (I don’t love the movie, but I’m surprised how little the dancing is brought up, it’s a truly unique part of the film)- Frat shootout in Good Boys (also a number of great scenes in an underrated movie)- Recording the first album in Yesterday. There’s so much pure joy in that sceneI’d also argue the best scene in Knives Out was her scene with Christopher Plummer in the attic. Wonderfully acted, incredibly tense, and leaves you wondering where the movie can possibly go from there.
Adam Sandler’s monologue to Kevin Garnett towards the end of Uncut Gems was one of my fav scenes of 2019
I’m glad to see “Her Smell” included somewhere. I thought it was phenomenal and basically nobody is talking about it. It sounds crazy, but I swear that it would have done better if it just had a different title. I think it literally put people off. It’s a shame. The emotional dynamics were extremely well sketched and performed. And yeah, that scene was beautiful.
The “Avengers Assemble” moment struck me as really stupid. They’re already fucking assembled! He says it really quietly, but somehow “assemble” is the word that fires them up to charge?
Midsommar, yes.
That scene from Midsommar was hilarious. In one of the most inadvertently funny movies in years that took the cake. Close second was “Mallet Crew Assemble!”
The space pirate chase in Ad Astra was the first time I LOL’d. It went downhill from there. I had a harder and harder time taking that movie seriously, especially after the random monkey attack. Fuck Ad Astra.
My most memorable scene is from Midsommar but not the one listed here. It’s the roughly 60 seconds of scene time of the two elderly members throwing themselves off the cliff… it’s a horror presented as so banal that it actually becomes more horrifying.
Not so much a scene, but the opening 15 minutes or so are the best thing about that movie, and perhaps any movie this year. I though the second hour was really kinda terrible though.
Man, you guys totally left out The Lighthouse which I felt was full of stunning moments. Especially the cooking argument.
Heaven was a cheesy power ballad because that’s what sold in the late 80s. This scene demonstrates that the lyrics themselves weren’t the issue.
Hello? AV Club are you there?
Did they get Deadspinned?
A drag.
That Avengers moment was cool as was the moment when Cap first lifted Thor’s hammer. But my personal favourite scene was Tonys breakdown and anger at Cap when he first returns to earth. That scene is why the Marvel movies work so much better than DC’s or even other massive franchises like the new Star Wars. It’s about the characters as much as the spectacle.
I still think that Midsommar would have been such a better film if the gore had been left out of it. People would be talking about it and The Wicker Man together.
The Avengers Assemble scene was so incredible. Glad it was listed.
Weeks late on this but I can’t believe the opening skateboarding scene from The Last Black Man in San Francisco doesn’t appear here. It’s one of the most triumphant scenes I’ve ever seen.
It’s Ray Romano’s character and not Mark Duplass’ that gets a terminal cancer diagnosis.
Holy F – I just re-heard those lyrics to Heaven through my ear as a mother for the first time and started bawling. Talk about a reframing (especially from the dance remix of my clubkid days). Hooooooooooooooo