Drive - The Elevator Scene
This is the scene where everything that preceded it is culminated and everything that followed it was decided. After an hour of tense, unspoken romance between Driver and Irene, they finally share a kiss, giving us just a glimpse of what they could have been under different circumstances. Seconds later, the moment is ruined as Driver has to murder a man in front of Irene in order to save her. It is here that he begins to understand what he'll have to do in order to protect her. And the best part is, all of this is achieved with, like, 2 sentences of dialogue. Also, there's the whole face smashing bit. That was fun.
Video? Click here.
Limitless - The Opening Zoom
A lot of the scenes I picked as my favorite will probably seem like style over substance, and this is probably the most obvious example of that. Absolutely nothing happens in this scene that is important or even relevant to the story that follows. It's just damn cool. The zoom effect seamlessly transitions from one shot to the next, changing directions, sizes, and angles. It's simultaneously thrilling and confusing, and I loved it. Halfway through the scene, I turned to my friend and said, "Wow dude, I hate 3D, but if that technology has to exist, this is the type of stuff it should be used for."
Video: Click here.
Martha Marcy May Marlene - Marcy's Song
I'm not gonna sit here and pretend like I've seen that many movies about cults. However, it seems obvious to me that, if you're going to do a movie about a cult, you need to make the cult leader likable. The greatness of Martha is that they accomplish this through just one scene. All the girls sit around Patrick (the leader) and he plays them a song he has written for the title character called "Marcy's Song". You can see and hear the sincere emotion he has for his followers, and you can see the admiration from the girls around him. For just this scene, it's obvious why these girls follow him. And that's exactly what it needed to do. Also, the song is great.
Video? No, but here's a video of John Hawkes (who plays Patrick in the film) playing "Marcy's Song" in the studio.
Midnight in Paris - The Dinner Party
There's a point in Midnight in Paris where the film turns from a simple romantic comedy into a whimsical ball of awesomeness. Luckily, that is very early in the film, and it's at the dinner party. From the moment Gil enters the party, he can tell that something is off. In fact, my first reaction when I watched the movie was that he had stumbled upon some type of nostalgic costume party. But the party rolls on, and it becomes more and more evident that no, that really is F. Scott Fitzgerald; that really is Ernest Hemingway; that really is Cole Porter. It blew me away how Allen allowed this concept to just subtly creep up on you, without feeling the need to throw it in your face. Or maybe I'm just stuck in the past, too.
Video? Well, here's part of it.
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol - Burj Khalifa
This is one of the best action scenes I've seen in a long time. It takes the original Mission Impossible formula and flips it on its head. What if almost every single thing possible went wrong? The answer is pretty standard for the series, though: just be more badass. Your sticky glove stops working when you're climbing up the tallest building in the world? Whatever, just take it off. The mask-making machine stops working? Whatever, we'll just wing it. The scene goes against basically everything that the first two Mission Impossible films shoved down our throats, and yet, this is exactly the type of scene that makes the Mission Impossible films worth seeing.
Video? Sadly, no (the movie just came out). But you can watch a behind-the-scenes featurette of Cruise doing his stunts by clicking here.
__________________________________________________________________
Stay tuned for parts 3 and 4!
Did you miss part 1? Click here to read it!
