Thursday, December 09, 2010

The DH's Thursday Thirteen - Top 13 Movie Scenes (Part One)

Welcome to The DH's Thursday Thirteen, where my husband takes over the blog to share his top 13 in whatever category catches his fancy. He'll be dropping by from time to time to post. I've added as many video clips as I could track down. Hope you enjoy!

TOP THIRTEEN MOVIE SCENES (PART ONE)

1. Chariot Race, Ben Hur
11 minutes of amazing filmmaking.

2. Gene Kelly's dance in the downpour, Singin' in the Rain
Pure moviemaking magic. Will put a smile on your face.

3. "Do you feel lucky?" Dirty Harry
The first time Harry says the famous line, after the bank robbery. And then smirks after he pulls the trigger on an empty chamber.

4. Opening scene, The Searchers
When the character of Martha opens the door of the cabin, as Ethan is coming home. The transition from the black interior to the gorgeous scenery of Monument Valley. John Ford at his best.

5. German planes strafe the beach, The Longest Day
Fabulous long shot, from the German pilot's POV, where you can see the men on the beach diving for cover. Amazing to me.

6. The car chase, The French Connection
The quintessential car chase as police officer Popeye Doyle chases an elevated train. Bullitt is a close second, but this takes the prize.

7. Airplane chases Cary Grant, North by Northwest
Hitchcock doesn't get much better than this.

8. "Shane! Come back!", Shane
With the music swelling, this scene tugs at your heartstrings.

9. Captain Fred Derry's father reads his citation letter, The Best Years of Our Lives
Beautifully played by Ronan Bohnen. Emotional and touching.

10. Cafeteria breakdown, White Heat
Disturbing scene where Cody Jarrett goes nuts in the prison cafeteria after learning his mother has died. (It was VERY difficult to choose a James Cagney scene. "Made it, ma! Top of the world!" [White Heat] and the grapefruit scene [Public Enemy] were strong contenders.)

11. Train station, Gone With The Wind
When the camera pans over all the wounded soldiers, pulling past the Confederate flag. Powerful.

12. Earthquake, San Francisco
Included for the amazing special effects, particularly for that time period.

13. Any scene, Casablanca
Perfect film. All-time favorite.

(It was impossible for the DH to narrow this list down to 13. Expect a Part Two next week.)

How about you? Do you have a favorite movie scene that didn't make the list?

4 comments:

fatherbananas said...

While you're husband's choices are obvious, there's a reason for them being obvious. Because they're all AWESOME. I know because of the film degree I don't use. Sharing all my favourite scenes would take a blog of it's own, but a great scene from 2010 would probably be Joseph Gordon-Levitt's gravity-defying ninja skills in Inception.

Also, I've just got my dad Shane for Christmas, because I am a good daughter.

fatherbananas said...

And I meant "your". Not "you're".

I have a headache.

Kate Davies said...

Yes, exactly. They're known because they're done so well.

The one that was new to me was the scene from Best Years of our Lives. Quietly devastating. Wish it had been up on YT.

Maia Strong said...

The landscape-roaming fight scene from John Wayne's "The Quiet Man" leaps instantly to mind.

The long, single-shot across the field of Agincourt after the battle in Branagh's "Henry V" is another.

Both of the long single-shots from "Children of Men" are pretty freaking mind-blowing, although I find the second one more powerful when, near the end, all the soldiers stop and stare as Theo and Kee pass through their ranks. Oh, and earlier when the lens gets hit with blood, and doesn't get cleaned off because it's a single shot.

And one TV shout-out to Twin Peaks. Don't know the ep, but think it was early in S2. Two charaters standing behind diner-style kitchen doors, profile to the camera, their faces perfectly framed by the round windows in the doors, one of which swings throughout the entire scene. Okay, it lasted long enough that my logical mind said, "That should be slowing to a stop," but I didn't care because it was so nicely done otherwise.