With the close of the decade eminent I’ve seen a lot of “best of” lists out there in the blogosphere. Here are my top ten picks for favorite film scenes of the last ten years.
10. “Time Machine” – Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
While it’s hardly great, Napoleon Dynamite was easily one of the weirdest and funniest movies of the decade. It’s hard to pick just one scene that exemplifies that but I’ll go with Napoleon’s attempt at time travel:
9. “Remy cooks the final dish” — Ratatouille (2007)
I like what this quick little scene says about art and culture and how we relate to it:
8. “Weight lifting” – Unbreakable (2000)
The video quality is terrible but this clip from Unbreakable is one of my favorites. The scene where Bruce Willis and his son gradually discover his power really demonstrates Shyamalan’s skills as a director. I like the gentle humor that’s woven in there as well (“How much did you put on that time?” “All of it.”)
7. “Everyone has AIDS” – Team America: World Police (2004)
Nobody lampoons self-righteous liberals and their lame productions better than Trey & Matt:
6. “I hear everything” – Superman Returns (2006)
I’m not much of a superhero movie fan but I thought Superman Returns was an elegant and extremely well put together entertainment (I realize that many people disagree with me there–maybe if they had shook the camera around more and shot the whole thing at night in the rain?). The scene of Superman taking Lois into space and explaining his dilemma as a god-like hero has a real mythic feeling to it that I like (skip ahead to 6:20ish):
5. “Birthday video” – Signs (2002)
While it might look silly on it’s own, in the context of the film the scene is absolutely startling and real. Once again Shyamalan isn’t scared to inject some wit here (“Move children! Vamanos!”):
4. “Braddock vs. Baer” – Cinderella Man (2005)
I don’t have a clip of the actual scene but the final battle between Jim Braddock and Max Baer is a tour de force of cinematography, editing and tension. Ron Howard brilliantly cuts back and forth between Russell Crowe’s family listening to the fight on the radio and the fight itself. The slow but intense way the whole thing builds is genius.
3. “Battle of the Heroes” – Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
While it’s not the best lightsaber battle in the saga–that honor goes to “Duel of the Fates” from Episode 1– this is a close runner-up. Say what you will about George Lucas’s writing abilities (he’s been nominated for more best screenplay Oscars than you have) the man can stage, frame, pace and edit an action sequence as good as anybody (John Williams doing the score doesn’t hurt either):
2. “Asthma attack” – Signs (2002)
As Roger Ebert said this is a scene that basically puts the whole movie to the side and is only about itself. Mel Gibson gives an awesome and understated performance here as he struggles with his son’s attack but also with his own faith. I love the gentle way the score creeps in as well:
1. “Carl & Ellie: Married Life” – Up (2009)
This is probably the best 4 minute sequence in Pixar movie history (and that’s saying quite a lot). No dialogue–just simple visual storytelling. Pixar proves once again you don’t need a bunch of pop culture references, obnoxious sight gags and celebrity voices to connect with an audience. If this doesn’t choke you up you have no soul:
…would like to apologize for any hurt he may have caused you and he just wants things to go back to the way they used to be.
At his press conference this morning
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