Top 25 Scenes of all Time

#24: Merrill and Graham on the Sofa (Signs) (2002)




Only on #24 and already controvsery arises. Most people hated Signs. Except me. I fucking loved it. If you don't believe me, read my 'In Defence of Signs' on this very site. I particularly loved Joaquin Phoenix's performance - he gives one of those absolute, almost inaudible, depictions of ordinariness you would almost miss it if it wasn't so startling. From his little nudge towards Lional Wolfington in the army recruitment office (genius) to his frighteningly real telling off of Graham's son Morgan (Rory Culkin) for saying "I wish you were my Dad", Phoenix's performance bristles with imagination, insight, depth and brilliance. This is the film's standout moment, reflective of (but sadly not on a par with) a similar-ish scene from Jaws, at least in terms of the emotional context it sits in and the emotional punch it's attempting (very successfully as it happens) to throw.

Merrill and Graham swap stories whilst trying somehow to bridge a large divide that has fallen between them, despite (as we learn from another part of the film) Merrill's best efforts. It could be one of those awful scenes that shamelessly plugs the film's name ("are you...the sort of person, who sees miracles, who sees signs), but it isn't, somehow remaining magical, ordinary and believable. A conversation you could genuinely imagine two men having - and with a suitable emotional distance between them - upon finding out that aliens might be possibly about to destroy all civilsation. It's just so believable and so watchable, I look forward to it relentlessly whenever I start watching Signs (which, I'm afraid, is far too often). In fact, this has got me in the mood, I might even go and watch it again now.

Oh, and a warning - I'm afraid Signs might well appear again later in my list.

The Orphanage (El Orfanato) (2007)

It's been a good year (well a good decade really!) for Spanish-language horror films (owing in no small measure, of course, to a certain Guillermo Del Toro, who settles for production duties here) was, in many ways, topped off with this, which received critical and box office success and can even be seen lurking in the chart section of our revered high street stores these days. Tags such as "this years Pan's Labyrinth" (weighty and far off the mark I'm afraid) have been flying around like witches above woods in Burkitsville. So, in this epic head-to-head between two Spanish-language horror films - this and the mighty (and slightly more recent) [REC] - who comes out on top?

Well, as avid perusers of the sight will have realise, REC has set a high benchmark for this to measure up to, scoring two A grades from two different MyFilmVault critics, a feat few films have achieved! Does El Orfanato - darling of the critics whereas REC has slipped a little more under the critical radar - measure up in terms of shocks and frights?

Unbelievably, for about 100 minutes of its 105 minute run time, it - almost - does. El Orfanato goes for the same, deeply disturbing, level of psychological terror attached to the supernatural that has served so many horror films so well, Halloween, The Blair Witch and, of course, REC, to name a few. Set in a truly creepy mansion that was once the orphanage of the title there are suitably enough creepy backstories of kids being abused, murdered and bullied to cause a more than a few hairs to stand on end from the forearms of this well ard 29 year old critic. One kid who appears in the scariest mask you've seen since Michael Myers visited the old joke shop in Haddonfield (it's a cross somewhere between the Scarecrow from Batman Begins and Jason in Friday the 13th Part Two - the best 'part', of course) is particularly terrifying, and I do mean terrifying, especially in one scene with heroine Laura, easily the film's standout moment.

Also like REC, the performances here were far better than those normally found in horror films and Belen Rueda puts in a perfectly anguished, tormented and guilt-ridden performance at the film's centre. Fernando Cayo is also okay as her cynical husband. In a way, the quality of the performances is reminiscent of another Spanish-language horror, Delo Toro's own this time, the excellent and superbly performed, Devil's Backbone.

Yet, you are left with the horrible feeling throughout that the ending is going to be shoddy, as so many horror films are. That is the difficult thing with horror films and why horror directors elicit more sympathy from me than others might - for a horror film to be truly effective, the fear must live with you, deep in your blood, long after the credits role and it is, genuinely, a very, very, difficult thing to do effectively. However, after a hundred or so minutes I was left eating my words and reaching for an A grade of some sort (probably a lower one as it happens). However, the next five minutes are mind-bendingly awful and a staggering disappointment to the extent that I felt genuinely cheated having invested a hundred minutes of my life in genuine terror only to be soundly let down by this abject failure of knowing how to end a film. It is a grotesque ending, completely unbefitting of the film and, equally, the bold 5 minutes that precede it. Why didn't they just leave at the moment they should have left it (those who have seen it will know what I'm talking about)? Absolutely teeth-gratingly annoying. Like getting a ticket to watch the England football team and finding out you've just paid £50 to watch Beckham and Lampard sleep their way through the latest game when you'd been assured they would be left on the bench. That, I think, is a very apt analogy.

This plummeted from (probably) A- to B- in a shocking (in the wrong sense) 5 minute spell. The moral of the story? If you're going to make a horror film, be brave enough to end it like a horror film, otherwise don't bother with the shocks and do what you want to do. Either way, you'll have a more effective whole and not this ramshackle effort that's trying to be all things to all men, women and ghosts.

B-

I've just watched [Rec]

Matt gave it an A+. I rolled my eyes, scoffed and reassured myself that he was mad. I knew I'd hate it. I hate all these sorts of films. He loved Blair Witch, I gave it an F. He loved Cloverfield, I could only muster a C+. I don't really like many horror films because the acting is usually atrocious and characters behave incomprehensibly. I only watched it out of politeness. My verdict...



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I loved it. Go read his review if you haven't already. The film is the best of its kind by a distance.

A

List Time

Today: My 25 Greatest Male Performances
Tomorrow: My 25 Greatest Female Performances
Ongoing: Matt's 25 Greatest Scenes

Here's my top 25 men. There's a fair representation of villains on the list - Dr Szell (Laurence Olivier - Marathon Man), Don Logan (Ben Kinglsey - Sexy Beast), Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins - Silence of the Lambs). I suppose Hitler (Bruno Ganz - Downfall) counts as well! One of the greatest villains of all time was given to us about a month ago and I couldn't leave out Heath Ledger's phenomenal performance as The Joker, which also makes the cut. My numero uno though is though is a good guy - an ordinary Joe if you like. It is one of the few performances that also makes Matt's top 25. It is relentlessly captivating - an astonishingly good performance from an astonishing actor.

Top 25 Scenes of All Time

#25 - Raining Frogs: Magnolia (1999)



I thought I'd do a rundown of my top 25 scenes of all time and try to explain, or at least give context to, my decisions.

There's not too much to say about this to be honest and to be honester I'm too tired for a long post anyway so that's all good.

To begin with - my criteria: My sole criteria is this. These are the top 25 scenes which I would watch, in order, over and over again. They are the scenes I would happily jump to and watch over and over and over again.

I guess the raining frogs scene is a little bit different from the rest (or most of them) because there are no words and nothing major (in the sense of story defining) happens. It's just one of those sublime moments in film of great originality and brilliance that comes from nowhere and stays in the mind. It is also probably the only one that subverts my criteria as, truly, it cannot really be viewed on its own as it works so well as part of Magnolia's vast, magnificient and total cinematic landscape. There is so much to love about this film and I think this moment, an instant of quirky, subversive, genius, bottles the film perfectly. It's just great and I couldn't not include it in my list.

Modern Classics #3

" Sooner or later everyone has to take sides, if they are to remain human."

I don't keep a record of which films I've watched the most, but if I were to do so it would not surprise me one bit of Philip Noyce's The Quiet American came out on top. This is quite brilliant from start to finish - I love every single second of its 96 minute running time and a tenth, eleventh or twelfth viewing only serves to reinforce all that is exceptional with this adaptation of the short Graham Greene novel.

Noyce's film opens with Craig Armstrong's deep, aching strings playing over the opening credits. It's a soundtrack that pulls you in immediately, gripping you even before the picture has started. Noyce opens the film visually with shots of an opium pipe being lit, followed by a beautiful Vietnamese woman in a composite shot with a series of explosions. It is a such an elegant and simple way of adding a hint of foreboding that will hand over the entire picture. This sense of impending doom is further amplified by the haunting female vocal that accompanies the opening bars of Armstrong's brilliant score. The agonising, beautiful vocal gives way to Michael Caine's voice over. "I can't say what made me fall in love with Vietnam. That a woman's voice can drug you? That everything is so intense - the colours, the taste, even the rain." Noyce's challenge is filming this intensity, and making us fall in love with a place that has hypnotised the film's lead character.

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Insomnia

No not the film starring Al Pacino and Robin Williams (and a decent film it was too) but actual proper insomnia. Actually I suppose it is not that proper since I haven't been going to be before 4 am since the Olympics started, but it is now 5.01am and I am so wide awake it is unreal.

Phelps' win in the 100 Fly was absolutely incredible. Watching the super slo mo you think they've made some kind of huge mistake since the Serbian seems certain to touch first but, almost impossibly, Phelps does manage to get his arms over and win by 1/100th. Quite insane. This was even more unlikely that the 4x100 relay win, in which Lezak overhauled an unassailable lead with about 10m to go, and that was the most unlikely thing in the history of unlikely things.

Great TV and a shame it comes to an end tomorrow. Normally you wait for the swimming to get out of the way and for the athletics to start but I cannot believe the athletics will get anywhere near the excitement of the swimming. Shame that the BBC's inept anchor Hazel Irvine keeps telling lame jokes that make me want to kill someone - slightly takes the edge off of what is otherwise faultless coverage. Staying up for 3am sport has never been this easy.

The Dark Knight (2008)

I finally made it. Walking into the cinema, I had that awful sinking feeling of a film over hyped and over loved that would end up being a disappointment. It has been impossible to avoid the hype, not least over Heath Ledger's final performance (said by all to be stunning, even by those who did not love the film), and my film thermometer has been rising. So, was this worth the wait?

Find Out

Eagle vs Shark (2007)

If ever a film suffered from trying to be too quirky, it’s this. And, like with Superbad, also reviewed recently, this suffers hugely from having a central character who is just completely unlikable and not in any good way that you’re actually meant to sympathise with. Put it this way, if you are meant to sympathise with him (and I suspect that you are) that says it all. The film is just poorly judged. Throughout. It’s very difficult to stay engaged with and, to be honest, despite good moments, I was just waiting for the end.

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[REC]

How did I miss this one? Released on DVD just this monday I had never heard hide nor hair about this intelligent-looking Spanish horror movie that has suddenly exploded onto the scene. Not one to miss horror films, this has left me feeling truly perplexed that I hadn't even heard of it. My colleague might wish to reply that this might have something to do with the fact that I never make it to the cinema. Anyway, here's a nice up-to-date DVD review for our many readers.

Read the A+ review

Elegy

Character-driven, grown-up and slow-burning are perhaps not the most inspirational adjectives to open a review of a film you've just seen and loved but they do have one thing in common. Hyphens? No, I'm talking about the fact that they tend to be appropriate descriptors of films that is usually right up my street. If done badly these movies are often as dull as the adjectives that describe them, but in the right hands they can be every bit as gripping as a break-neck action film or unpredictable thriller. The thing about character-driven movies is that there's a greater focus on the inhabitants of the film, and by necesseity the quality of acting in such pictures is usually first rate. Indeed the quality of acting can rarely be better than it is here with a brilliant cast excelling as individuals and as an ensemble. Peter Sarsgaard, Patricia Clarkson and Dennis Hopper are all outstanding in supporting turns, but the film belongs to Ben Kingsley and Penelope Cruz, both of whome make a lasting impression as a couple who fall in love despite their 30 year age gap.

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Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Now it may or may not have escaped your notice that I don't really like comic book films. Whilst everyone else can't get enough Spiderman, Iron Man or Batman, I prefer my heroes to not wear capes, turn green or shoot webbing out of their wrists. With everyone falling over themselves to praise The Dark Knight, I could only muster enough enthusiasm for a B-. I don't really care for the original films, let alone the never-ending run of sequels they tend to spawn. Granted, TDK was better than Batman Begins, but usually the sequels obey the laws of diminishing returns. Once you've spent two hours with these characters, there's little value in watching the same people going through the same old angst within a variation of a plot that you've seen plenty of times before. If I could have one film related wish granted I would ban all comic book and superhero films and all sequels for a year and see what Hollywood came up with to fill the multiplexes over the summer months. It is therefore really saying something when I tell you I pretty much loved not only a comic book film, but a sequel at that.

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Man On Wire

Very few people get the opportunity to fulfil a burning ambition, especially one that involves accomplishing the near impossible, but that's exactly what the subject of this very watchable doc managed 34 years ago. James Marsh's film retells an improbable, but successful attempt to wirewalk between the Twin Towers in New York in the summer of 1974. The man that did it, Phillipe Petit, tells us his tale with an excitement that is still evident 3 decades on. Petit comes across as exactly the sort of person you'd have to be to conceive the idea of breaking into the world trade centre, bypassing security to gain access to the roof, and rig up a highwire between the two structures - and that's a slightly loopy, engaging guy with something of a death-wish. He has a passion and desire burning within and this come across in his always entertaining talking heads. Marsh intersperses these with recollections of the other team members, as well as some old video footage and a re-enactment. The whole is every bit as gripping as an intricately plotted bank heist.

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Superbad (2007)

Had heard many good things about this - essentially a familiar sounding teen movie about three hapless guys looking to score with the ladies and the catastrophic chain of events that befall them as they try to make their way to a party in order to achieve the above - but I’m not sure it quite lived up to them. Sure, in parts this is very funny and it plays, again in parts, like a classic Fawlty Towers episode, where things just degenerate from bad to worse for the protagonists but you’re still left clinging to this bizarre sense of sympathy for the characters you’re never quite sure is fully deserved. This aspect it did very well.

However…

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

This is everything a trailer should be. Exciting, captivating, enticing, without giving away most of the story (like all of the Spiderman trailers did).

Empire really got my back up about this recently. They had a picture of Harry on the front page for their 'preview special' and then claimed, when previewing the Half Blood Prince in their rag (sorry, mag), that 'nothing important happens in this book'. As anyone who has actually read Potter 6 will know, this statement is nothing more or less than a steaming pile of absolute horseshit (and, no, Empire were not being facetious). They could at least have bothered to read the book if they were going to comment on it.

I'm no crazed Potter fan (I thought Book 5 was awful and stopped reading after 200 pages of sheer drudgery) but I think Book 6 is probably the most important and most significant book of the series. There is potential here for a great film and the trailer suggests that the filmmakers might finally have delivered something worthy of the books.

I'm excited.

Officially.