Scenes that I Love: Anna Chlumsky has a meltdown on Veep


Like our intrepid TV correspondent, Patrick Smith, I also watched the Emmy Awards last night.  There were bits of the show that I liked and there was a lot about the show that I didn’t care for.  I felt that Andy Samberg fell flat as host.  I thought that a lot of the acceptance speeches were so dull that I considered them to be a personal attack on anyone watching.  (I’m looking in your direction, Lisa Cholodenko.)  The political posturing felt shallow, as it often does at the Emmy awards.

(Even the political speeches that did work often seemed like they were being wasted on a crowd that has no concept of self-awareness.  Viola Davis made a passionate, timely, and articulate plea for diversity but it’s hard not to feel that, even though all the white liberals in the room patted themselves on the back for listening to her and applauding, that’s probably all that they’re going to do.)

And yet I was happy because Veep — my absolute favorite show — finally won for Best Comedy!  I love Veep because it’s a show where everyone in politics — regardless of party or ideology — is revealed to be either a terrible human being or totally and completely ineffectual.  Julia Lous-Dreyfus won the Emmy for Best Comedy Actress while Tony Hale picked up his second consecutive supporting award.

The only disappointment in Veep‘s victory?  Anna Chlumsky did not win the Emmy for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy.  This season of Veep was truly Chlumsky’s season!  The scene below — which is today’s scene that I love — shows Chlumsky at her absolute best.  In this scene, Chlumsky’s Amy Brookhiemer finally reaches her breaking point as she realizes that her boss, President Selina Meyer (Louis-Dreyfus), essentially stands for nothing.

Even though most of us will never work for or even know a President, I think we can all relate to Amy’s feelings.  And, seriously — who hasn’t wanted to tell someone off as beautifully as Amy does here?

For this scene alone, Anna Chlumsky deserves all the awards in the world!

Scenes That I Love: The Opening of Suspiria!


Today is not just Labor Day!

It’s also Dario Argento’s 75th birthday!  And what better way to celebrate the maestro‘s birthday than with a scene that I love?

The opening of Argento’s 1977 masterpiece, Suspiria, is about as perfect an opening as one could hope for.  American ballet student Suzy Banyon (Jessica Harper) arrives in Frieburg, Germany.  Both Argento and Harper perfectly portray Suzy’s confusion as she makes her way through the airport and, as torrential rain drenches her, attempts to hail a taxi and get a ride to the dance academy.  (What Suzy doesn’t know, of course, is that the dance academy is home to the ancient witch known as Our Mother of Sighs.)  With this opening scene, Argento both immediately establishes the off-center, nightmarish atmosphere of Suspiria and establishes Suzy as a character who we, as the audience, relate to and care about.  Suspiria is a great film and it all begins with this brilliant opening.

Happy birthday, Dario!

Dance Scenes That I Love: Ex Machina


Earlier today, Jeff and I saw Ex Machina and we thought it was brilliant!  Now, before I (among others here at the TSL) get around to posting a full review later this week, I thought I would share a scene that I loved from the film.  This is the scene that, when it happened, everyone in the theater suddenly realized that they were watching a movie that they would never forget.

I’m not going to go into the details of just why Oscar Isaac and his “friend” are dancing in this scene.  For now, all that’s important is that they are.

See Ex Machina!

Scenes That I Love: Anita Ekberg and Marcello Mastroianni In The Trevi Fountain


La_Dolce_Vita_(1960_film)_coverart

Anita Ekberg, RIP

This famous and iconic scene is taken from Federico Fellini’s 1960 film, La Dolce Vita.  The film follows tabloid journalist Marcello (Marcello Mastroianni) over the course of 7 days and 7 nights.  He spends the 2nd day pursuing a famous actress named Sylvia (Anita Ekberg).  As the day comes to an end, he finds Anita wading into the Trevi Fountain.

As famous and celebrated as this scene is, it’s often forgotten that it ultimately ends with Sylvia being slapped by her loutish boyfriend, Robert (Lex Barker).  That slap is not included in the video below but that’s okay.  For today, at least, let’s allow Sylvia her happiness.

Let’s Say Goodbye to 2014 with Leonardo DiCaprio in The Aviator


Well, 2014 is nearly over.

Soon, it will be 2015.

Soon, the present will become the future.

2014 will not go down in history as one of humanity’s finest moments.  Considering all that’s happened over the past year, it’s hard for me to be surprised by the fact that several of my favorite films of the year were films that I would normally describe as being entertaining escapism.

In 2014, we needed to be entertained.  We needed to escape.

Will 2015 be any better?  What will be the way of the future?  It’s a question that Leonardo DiCaprio asked at the end of Martin Scorsese’s 2004 film The Aviator and it’s a question that we’re still asking today.

Scenes That I Love: Eli Wallach Searches For The Gold In The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly


Eli Wallach

I just heard that, earlier today, the legendary character actor Eli Wallach passed away at the age of 98.  Wallach made his film debut in 1956’s Baby Doll and made his final film appearance 54 years later in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.  I have to admit that I don’t really remember much about Wall Street or Wallach’s performance in the film.  However, I do remember his wonderful cameo appearance in The Ghost Writer.

And, of course, everyone remembers Eli Wallach’s best role, that of Tuco in Sergio Leone’s classic spaghetti western The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.  In the role of a comedic yet ruthless bandit, Wallach brought a lot of life to Leone’s epic portrait of greed in the west.  His unabashedly flamboyant performance provided a wonderful (and much-needed) contrast to the more stoic performances of Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef.

For me, the best scene in The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly is one in which not a single bullet is fired nor a word uttered.  In this scene, Tuco has finally discovered the cemetery where a stolen shipment of gold has been buried.  All he has to do is find Arch Stanton’s grave and he’ll be a very rich man.  What Tuco did not take into consideration was just how many other graves there would be in the cemetery.

This is a rare moment in the film in which Tuco is not speaking but just watch Wallach’s performance here to see how much a great actor can do with just body language and facial expressions.  (Needless to say, Ennio Morricone’s classic score helps out as well.)

Eli Wallach, R.I.P.

Scenes That I Love: The Fashion Show From The Adventurers


The Adventurers

I’ve never actually seen The Adventurers but everything that I’ve read about it (and the film is mentioned in just about every “Terrible Movie” book that I own) would seem to suggest that this 1970 film is pretty bad.  In fact, just about every review that I’ve read has referred to the film as being lurid, trashy, melodramatic, and over-the-top.

However, that’s not really a problem for me.  That’s what a lot of people say about the Valley of the Dolls and that’s one of my favorite movies, precisely because it is so lurid and ludicrous.  (Lurid and ludicrous are two Ls that equal love, as far as I’m concerned.)

I was recently doing a YouTube search on The Adventurers and I came across the following video, which is described as being the “amazing fashion show from Lewis Gilbert’s The Adventurers.”  Having watched the video, I can agree that this fashion show is pretty amazing.  In fact, it pretty much epitomizes everything that I love about the over-the-top, big budget event films of the late 60s and early 70s.  As I watched this scene, I especially enjoyed the random jump cut and the unnecessary use of the split screen.  It’s just so 1970!

I may not have seen the entire film but this scene from The Adventurers is still a scene that I love.