Monday, September 20, 2010

100 Greatest Movie Moments - Part IV

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
The bad guy drinks from the wrong grail and ages 100 years in 50 seconds. When his body has faded to dust, the grail guardian comments, “He chose poorly.”

Beauty and the Beast (1991)
“Be Our Guest.”

Dead Alive/Braindead (1992)
The main character uses a lawnmower.

The Player (1992)
The opening tracking shot.

Jurassic Park (1993)
The T-rex attacks the jeeps.

The Sandlot (1993)
Squints puts the moves on the lifeguard.

Schindler’s List (1993)
Oskar Schindler watches a girl in a red coat walk through the ghetto as Nazi soldiers clean it out.

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Andy plays a beautiful Mozart aria over the loudspeakers in Shawshank prison.

Apollo 13 (1995)
Ed Harris sits down.

The Usual Suspects (1995)
Verbal Kint leaves the police station.

Mission: Impossible (1996)
Ethan Hunt must steal a file from an ultra-secure CIA computer, all in complete silence.

Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (1996)
Mike and the bots riff on their own credits.

Saving Private Ryan (1998)
The sniper takes out an enemy sniper. Through the sniper’s own scope. While quoting Scripture.

The Matrix (1999)
The camera swoops around Trinity in mid-kick.

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
Darth Maul pulls out his lightsaber.

Toy Story 2 (1999)
Buzz Lightyear lands on an alien planet and infiltrates Zurg’s lair.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi duke it out in a room full of weapons.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Boromir’s death.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
Smeagol has a conversation with Gollum.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
The lighting of the beacons.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
Captain Jack Sparrow’s entrance.

The Incredibles (2004)
Dash discovers he can run on water.

The Phantom of the Opera (2004)
The chandelier rises and the opera house is transformed from old and run down to its appearance in its glory days.

Children of Men (2006)
Soldiers and terrorists alike stop fighting at the sound of a baby’s cry, the first time they’ve heard it in almost twenty years.

Enchanted (2007)
Giselle turns Central Park into the setting of a giant musical number.

Friday, September 17, 2010

100 Greatest Movie Moments - Part III

The Graduate (1967)
“Mrs. Robinson, you’re trying to seduce me. Aren’t you?”

In the Heat of the Night (1967)
“They call me MISTER. Tibbs.”

The Producers (1968)
The song “Springtime for Hitler.”

True Grit (1969)
John Wayne rides down a group of bad guys, a gun blazing in each hand and the reins clenched in his teeth.

Patton (1970)
General Patton’s opening monologue in front of a giant American flag in which he expounds on his theories of war, including: no one “ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other [guy] die for his country.”

Dirty Harry (1971)
“I know what you’re thinking. ‘Did he fire six shots or only five?’... You’ve got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky?”

The Godfather (1972)
Michael Corleone becomes godfather to his nephew while his minions murder his biggest enemies.

What’s Up, Doc? (1972)
The madcap car/bike/Chinese dragon chase through the streets of San Francisco.

Jaws (1975)
A young woman goes skinny-dipping and learns that there is more in the water than just her.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
King Arthur and his knights are stymied by a group of French soldiers and their silly insults.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
Prevented from watching a World Series game on television, Jack Nicholson enacts an imaginary baseball game to the enjoyment of all the patients of the mental hospital.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
The alien mothership shows up and then finishes the song.

Star Wars (1977)
A spaceship flies across the screen, shooting at something behind it. It is immediately followed in close pursuit by a gigantic spaceship that dwarfs it.

Alien (1979)
There is an unexpected guest at dinner.

Apocalypse Now (1979)
“I love the smell of napalm in the morning!”

Breaking Away (1979)
Cyclist Dave Stoller keeps pace with a semi on a rural highway, all for the sheer joy of riding his bicycle.

Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
“I am your father.”

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Indy gets chased by a large boulder.

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
E.T. and Elliot fly across the moon on Elliot’s bike.

Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
Khan puts ear bugs in Chekov and the captain’s ears.

The Natural (1984)
Robert Redford knocks out the stadium lights with a home run while Randy Newman’s score soars.

This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
“This one goes up to eleven.”

Aliens (1986)
Ripley puts on a robotic load lifter to do battle with the alien queen.

The Princess Bride (1987)
Inigo Montoya duels with the man in black.

The Abyss (1989)
A tentacle made out of water explores an underwater station.