Welcome to the last edition of Awesome Scene Sunday for 2009. In celebration of this joyous event, I thought I'd post not one, not two but five awesome scenes; specifically, five of the most awesome scenes from movies released this year. They're not necessarily my five favourites as I can't find all of those online - with that in mind, shoutouts to the ingeniously bizarre "goys teeth" sequence from Joel & Ethan Coen's A Serious Man, the horrifying dolphin slaughter footage and subsequent redemption of Ric O'Barry at the International Whaling Commission in Louie Psihoyo's outstanding documentary The Cove, the repulsive yet mesmerizing naked slow motion chase scene from the end of Jody Hill's Observe and Report, as well as pretty much every scene featuring Christoph Waltz in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds (seriously, the entire opening chapter and that amazing strudel scene would both easily make the top five if I could find them on YouTube.)Thankfully there were plenty of other outstanding scenes in 2009 to choose from, and with the power of internet piracy on our side we can enjoy them once again. Only instead of watching them on the big screen, you can stream them on a tiny one on my blog. Hoo-ray!
Number 5: "The American dream"
I loved Zack Snyder's Watchmen in spite of it's many flaws. And indeed, the dialogue in this particular scene between Patrick Wilson's Nite Owl and Jeffrey Dean Morgan's Comedian is downright terrible. What I so love about this scene though is the choice of music - the song that you hear in the first minute and a half of this clip is I'm Your Boogie Man by KC and the Sunshine band and I think it plays perfectly into the films (wait for it) sexual subtext. Along with The Comedian's swagger at around one minutes and twenty seconds into the clip, the song hints at the slightly homoerotic idea behind a mans choice to dress up in a costume and fight crime...and it's done in a way far less cringeworthy than the batsuit nipples in Batman & Robin.
(Unfortunately the YouTube clip cannot be embedded, but you can watch it by clicking on the image below)
Number 4: "I don't want your cat you dirty pork queen!"
After the disappointment that was Spiderman 3, Sam Raimi's latest returned him to his horror comedy roots. Drag Me To Hell was easily the most ridiculous, over the top and downright entertaining movie I saw all year. Although this scene doesn't have anything too gross taking place (it might be the only scene in the entire movie in which Allison Lohman isn't splattered with something), it still demonstrates exactly why I enjoyed this movie so much; everything from the Evil Dead style quick zooms to the organ music to the talking goat shows an enormously talented B-movie director at the very top of his game making the kind of movie he so clearly loves to make.
Number 3: "Antichrist Prologue"
This opening sequence to Lars von Trier's Antichrist is so beautiful that I devoted an entire paragraph to it in my review. So rather than write something new...here's that paragraph (I'm all about conservation of energy.)
The movies prologue is absolutely stunning. Set to the reverberations of a elegant Handel aria, the five minute long sequence in shot monochromatically and in slow motion, and depicts the two nameless protagonists, played by Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg, fornicating passionately in their apartment. We watch mesmerized in horror as their intensity increases, whilst in the other room their infant son Nic opens his baby gate, climbs onto a window sill and falls several stories to his death. This scene will burn itself into your brain, and it also sets the films tone perfectly; harrowing visuals, pornographic sexual content and a narrative focused entirely on the misery of both its characters and the audience. Undoubtedly, von Trier plays his strongest card first.
Ok so if you couldn't tell from that paragraph, the following scene is extremely graphic, so don't watch it if you're easily offended or upset. I would also like to make it clear that there is one single shot in this scene that I feel is totally unnecessary. Not because I'm grossed out or anything, it's just...very distracting, and I'm not entirely sure while von Trier felt he had to insert it (pun fully intended).
Number 2: "We'll see what happened in there"
The strange animated style of Waltz with Bashir, the Israeli documentary about the Sabra and Shatila massacre during the Lebanon war allows filmmaker Ari Folman to dive into peoples memories and dreams with a bizarre beauty unlike anything I've ever really seen. However as great and interesting as the animation was, it did have the disadvantage of keeping us somewhat separated, emotionally, from what was going on on screen. That is until the films horrifyingly effective final minutes. Again, I quote from my original review of the film:
This film is at times very upsetting; the scenes in the refugee camp reminded me of Schindlers List, and the abrupt change that occurs a few minutes before the end credits role (you’ll know it when you see it) is as brilliant as it is devastating, and I sat in the cinema in silence for minutes afterwards, stunned. The film is worth seeing for the final shot alone.
Without the rest of the movie to serve as context, this ending won't have quite the same effect. But anyone who has seen the movie will be able to testify as to the heart breaking power of the films sudden switch from animation to live action footage. Again, I recommend you do not watch this scene if you are easily distressed.
Number 1: "Married life"
This beautifully constructed montage from Up is in my mind the single great scene that Pixar has ever produced...and that's saying a lot. As they did with WALL-E, they demonstrate exactly how much you can say without words; the music by Michael Giacchino is gorgeous and the animation is superb, as the scene continues our emotions are thrown into turmoil as Carl and Ellie's love is challenged by the most heartbreaking of circumstances. I am not ashamed to say that after seeing this scene for the first time I was in tears, and in fact when I went to see the movie a second time in theatres it had the exact same effect. This is more beautiful than any live action scene of the year, and just as Up is undoubtedly my favourite movie of 2009 this is undoubtedly my favourite scene. Once more, I quote my review:
The way a lifetime of love is communicated so beautifully using just music and images in this sequence in awe-inspiring, and if I had one complaint of Up, it would be that after such a superb first act the film never quite manages to reach such insurmountable heights again. But I wouldn’t trade those scenes for anything in the world.
I hope you've enjoyed this trip down memory lane. Here's to 2010 and all the awesome scenes it may bring.
