Tag Archives: Scenes I Love

Scenes I Love: Nichijou

Posted on by Arleigh

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Have I mentioned just how much I love the anime series Nichijou? If I haven’t then this latest “Scenes I Love” should provide a fine example why this anime series has pretty much captured my otaku-heart and has now made it into my top 10 best things I’ve ever enjoyed watching.

It’s well-known amongst fans of anime that Nichijou is just so random an anime series. While it might confuse the uninitiated for the most part everyone who watches anime just rolls with it. I love this particular scene involving two of the show’s leads in Mio and Yuuko because of just how it escalates so quickly from a misunderstanding into a full-blown mutual assured destructions conflict in so very little time.

This scene illustrates how the series takes very normal and common situations that happens in every high school kids life and just ramps it up past 11. I know that I’ve had arguments and fights about something so innocuous as getting the wrong lunch. Yet, despite the over-the-top nature of the scene and how hilarious each lead takes their argument to the nth-degree it ends in a way that makes one feel good about things.

Amazing, indeed.

Dance Scenes That I Love: The Red Shoes

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

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I’ve spent the last two weeks sharing with you some of my favorite cinematic dance scenes.  I hope you’ve enjoyed them.  While this particular series of scenes that I love is ending with this last entry, I do hope to share some more in the future.  For now, what better way to end this series of dance scenes that I love than with the ballet from the classic 1948 film, The Red Shoes?

Dance Scenes I Love: Saturday Night Fever

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

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There’s no way that you can post a series of classic dance sequences without including at least one scene from Saturday Night Fever.  Even though this scene is nearly 40 years old, it still perfectly captures the excitement and the promise and the pure exhilaration of spending a night out dancing.

That said, I still don’t understand how anyone could mistake John Travolta for Al Pacino.

Dance Scenes I Love: John Leguizamo and Mira Sorvino in Summer of Sam

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today’s dance scene that I love comes from Spike Lee’s frustrating yet brilliant 1998 film, Summer of Sam.  In this scene, a perpetually unfaithful husband (John Leguizamo) dances with his wife (Mira Sorvino).  In this scene, Lee establishes the dynamic of Leguizamo and Sorvino’s troubled marriage.  Leguizamo may be the man but Sorvino is definitely the star.

Dance Scenes I Love: Step Up Revolution

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

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Last year’s Step Up Revolution is, in many ways, the epitome of guilty pleasure.  On the one hand, it’s totally and complete ludicrous.  And, then on the other hand — well, there is no other hand, to be honest.  It’s a silly little film but the dancing is really good and how can you not love something that over-the-top?  With it’s quick-cut editing, relentless beat, and hilarious attempts at being socially relevant, Step Up Revolution is the type of film that, in the future, our children will watch and laugh at even as we savor the nostalgia.

Case in point: the film’s opening dance sequence.

Dance Scenes I Love: “America” from West Side Story

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

There’s no way that I could ever write about the dance scenes that I love without including at least one scene from 1961’s best picture winner, West Side Story.

Sadly, people tend to underappreciate West Side Story.  They focus on the fact that the singing voices of Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer are overdubbed by Marni Nixon and Jimmy Bryant, respectively.  They laugh at the sight of “tough” street kids dancing around and singing that when you’re a jet, you’re the best.

Well, they’re wrong.

West Side Story is still one of the best musicals ever made and every time I see it, it’s a magical experience for me.

I think my favorite number from the film remains America.  Watching this scene, you can tell why both Rita Moreno and George Chakiris won Academy Awards for their performances.  They both bring a lot of fire and passion to their roles and nowhere is that more apparent then in America.

Dance Scenes I Love: Cyd Charisse in Silk Stockings

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today’s dance scene that I love comes from the 1957 musical Silk Stockings.

This is a special scene for me because it features one of my favorite dancers, the legendary Cyd Charisse.  Many years ago, before I discovered that I wanted to be a writer, I dreamed of growing up and being a beautiful and talented dancer like Cyd Charisse.

In Silk Stockings, Cyd Charisse plays a humorless Russian who, when she comes to Paris discovers that life doesn’t have to be drab and boring.  She discovers the joy of freedom and what better to express freedom than through dance?

Dance Scenes I Love: The Finale From Center Stage

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

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Today’s dance scene that I love comes from 2000’s Center Stage.

Center Stage is one of those films that can be fairly criticized for a lot of reasons but — oh my God, y’all — I used to love this movie so much!  Actually, I still do because every time I watch it, I feel like I’m 15 years old again and I’m just so in love with dancing and performing that I can’t even begin to put it into words.  I think everyone has a film that they irrationally love because it reminds them of a certain time, place, or state-of-mind.  For me, Center Stage is that film.

The scene below is a long one and the video is not the best quality but I still love it because it captures the excitement of both dancing and of being on stage.  Add to that, I’d love to be in that show… (I look good in both black and red.)