BLOGATHON: (21) Cinematic Moments

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Andrew of A Fistful of Films is hosting a very wonderful blogathon to celebrate our love to cinema. It’s called A Fistful of Moments or simply Cinematic Moments blogathon. What he asked was: we post a set of cinematic moments that made us attached to movies. So, here’s the rules:

1) Pick a number between 1 and 100 (any more than 100 is just gaudy)
2) Choose that many cinematic moments that are either your all time favorites or ones that could, on any given day, be your all time favorites
3) Post them on your blog (or Tumblr or whatever) with the above header (or one you create for yourself)
4) Send me the link by either posting it here in the comments or getting ahold of me on Twitter ( @fististhoughts )

This is what Andrew means as cinematic moments:

We all have them in the back of our minds; those moments that make us think "man, this is what the movies are all about". We relive those moments in our mind's eye, remembering them and dissecting them and adoring them. They come in all shapes and sizes, from all types of films, and yet they all share one very important aspect; they define why we love the movies. It could be the way that the moment is cut; the way it's edited together. It could be the way the moment uses it's actors to evoke a powerful emotion from us. It could be the way that music floods the scene and draws us even closer to the moment in question. It could be a grand climax, a breathtaking introduction or a simple interchange. It could be any and all things, because for every film lover, the list is different.

I love cinema and I love odd numbers, so this is 21 most perfect cinematic moments that got me attached to cinema. I do not put it in order ’cause I love them all the same.

01. Fight Club‘s crumbled town ending makes the clincher of the whole movie—about Tyler Durden’s true identity—that was already mind-blowing feel less mind-blowing. This finale is terrific: the real purpose of the fight club is, in the end, dreadful.

02. In the Mood for Love‘s Angkor Wat put the fire off the love and affair in Wong Kar-Wai’s beautiful world elegantly—with a single secret whisper to a hole that made me broken for I never know what the secret was.

03. Drive‘s Elevator Scene is sweet, brutal, but beautiful at once—it’s a once in a life time Ryan Gosling moment.

04. Love Actually‘s TO ME, YOU ARE PERFECT scene was the most heart-breaking scene in a romantic Christmas movie ever!

05. Once‘s Falling Slowly in a music shop makes me sing along anytime I watch the scene; and anytime I sang the song I felt thrilled and almost cried.

06. Warrior‘s sibling-hood ending always got me thrilled. After a breathtaking MMA duel with mesmerizing choreography between two brothers, the ‘I love you, Tommy’ clincher—the ending wasn’t so relieving but it’s worth-cheering!

07. (500) Days of Summer‘s Expectations vs. Reality is the most audacious scene in this feature. The film was always my favorite, but instead of the IKEA make love scene, I got attached to this scene real hard. How can a split-screen scene be this bitter?

08. Up‘s opening is a Harry-met-Sally scene with Carl and Ellie crafted with Pixar’s finest touch. Who can argue?

09. Kill Bill Vol. 1‘s Showdown at House of Blue Leaves was beautifully shot—it was the most beautiful gory moment captured with great cinematography.

10. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford depicts the titular act of treason in a brutal beauty shot by Roger Deakins. Look at Casey Affleck’s eyes there—he’s sad.

11. Bronson wants some music and defines what kind of music he wants—a loud, violent, and abusive one. I always enjoyed his ‘music’.

12. There Will Be Blood‘s I drink your milkshake is figuratively dangerous and proving a reason why the monstrous Daniel Day Lewis won 3 Oscars.

13. Pan’s Labyrinth‘s Pale Man shows that some actors are born for some roles.

14. 5 Centimeters per Second‘s One More Time, One More Chance is the best animation ending ever—juxtaposing monologues with a sad song. It always drives me crazy!

15. Watchmen‘s opening credit is the most extreme superhero movie opening credit; it reflects everything in the film—death, treachery, and irony.

16. The Dark Knight‘s Joker is a legend.

17. Inception‘s running time is 2 hours 58 minutes—an elusive juxtaposition of Edith Piaf’s Non, je ne regrette rien (the song played during a dream in the film) whose running time is 2 minutes 58 seconds. That’s unbelievable!

18. The Departed‘s elevator scene wrapped a you-think-it’s-a-wrap moment into a you-think-you-know-the-story-but-you-don’t moment.

19. Oldeuboi had a formidable corridor fighting scene that becomes a mainstream milestone in the heyday of Asian cinema and action flicks in general. What makes it terrific is: it was choreographed to enhance the pitch black comedy of the film.

20. Whiplash‘s Are you rushing or dragging scene which is followed by Was I rushing or dragging scene is awesome! Even the most evil villain in movie wouldn’t be that menacing; J.K. Simmons rules.

21. Memento introduced cinema to the most groundbreaking story-telling I ever seen.


Hey, Andrew, thanks for hosting this! This blogathon is awesome!

25 responses

  1. Andrew Avatar

    Love the odd number of choices…and more importantly…I LOVE THESE MOMENTS! UGH, The (500) Days of Summer moment, the Drive moment (how did I forget that one), the Love Actually moment (tears, so many tears), Oldboy…that tidbit of Inception info!!! Thank you so much for playing along!!!

    1. Thank you, Andrew! It was a completely awesome blogathon. I loved all those moments and I always thought that they needed space to be appreciated!

  2. Irene McKenna Avatar
    Irene McKenna

    Terrific post! So many of your choices are perfect. I especially love #21.

    1. Thank you! Glad you liked Memento’s groundbreaking narratives, too. It’s one in a million invention!

  3. Oh, brilliant choices! I’m so glad you included Falling Slowly…it’s my favourite song of all time 🙂
    – Allie

    1. Glad you like it! Falling Slowly is one of the best Oscar winning song, frankly.

  4. A lot of fantastic moments here. Glad to see thw ele

    1. My phone is the Devil is how I’ll explain my other comment (if it’s not deleted). I was saying there are lots of fantastic moments here. Really glad to see some love for the elevator scene in Drive. And yes, Heath’s Joker is a legend. Great post.

      1. Oh, I just replied it too. Lol. I’m feeling great that you liked that scene of Drive and Heath Ledger’s Joker. This blogathon is awesome!

    2. Thank you! Great that you stranded here

  5. Brittani Avatar
    Brittani

    Ahh I love SO many of these! The Milkshake scene, the expectations vs reality. Those are excellent moments.

    1. Those scenes were amazing! Glad you liked them.

  6. Such a beautiful post! Love all your choices and I’m in love with Joker! Batman’s Nolan is the best version ever! https://cinemaliquido.wordpress.com/

    1. Thank you! Heath Ledger’s a legend, right?

      1. You’re right 😉

  7. Some really great moments here. I loved that you included Drive. Memento absolutely blew my mind when I first watched it and the big reveal at the end made my list of 10.

    1. Oh that’s even better! The revelation of Memento, glad you make it too.

  8. You’re so brave to do 21!
    My friend Matt did Momento and I’ve got Up. Great picks all around though. Love teh 500 days of summer and once and fight club and love actually! Man!

    1. It was just a random number anyway! Oh, we got some in common. The more the merrier I guess.

  9. Great picks here Paskalis. I really love that scene from Love Actually, it’s just perfect! Nice to see lots of people pick scenes from The Dark Knight, I will too 😀

    1. I’m a great fan of The Dark Knight, anyway. While that scene from Love Actually was always numbing!

  10. thanks for giving me informations about so many blogathons, haha!

    1. That’s cool! You should participate!!!

  11. Anyway, I want to tell you that we share three same moments! (Angkor wat, expectation vs reality, and fight club’s ending).

    I hate Tony Leung and Wong Kar Wai for making me want to go to Angkor Wat, lol.

    1. Those were great moments, ain’t it? That’s why we got em in common. You wanna unravel the secret?

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