Tag Archives: Scenes I Love

Scenes I Love: Conan the Barbarian

Posted on by Arleigh

Just been watching The Social Network on Starz and I couldn’t help but think back to this important scene from one of my favorite films of all-time. It was the film which propelled Arnold Schwarzenegger from just being a bodybuilding icon but into superstar film icon. The scene occurs during the part of the film where Conan has just gone through years of becoming the best pit-fighter in all the lands and now repaing the accolades from other warriors, warlords and women. One of the warlords (looking like a Mongol horselord) asks the important question that everyone should be asking: “What is best in life?”

The scene finishes with Conan answering this important life question. An answer which actually has it’s roots from a much more detailed quote from the greatest conqueror in history: Genghis Khan. A quote that goes like so…

“The greatest pleasure is to vanquish your enemies and chase them before you, to rob them of their wealth and see those dear to them bathed in tears, to ride their horses and clasp to your bosom their wives and daughters.” – Genghis Khan

Conan’s answer is quite similar but has been simplified for the film, but still retains it’s impact. This is a life lesson everyone should live by. Mark Zuckerberg definitely lives by them.

Scenes I Love: The Shining (dir. by Stanley Kubrick)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today’s scene I love is from Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 horror masterpiece The Shining.  No matter how many times I see that film, it still scares me and, for whatever the reason, the two little girls standing in that hallway scare me the most.  Here they are.

Scenes I Love: Blue Velvet (dir. by David Lynch)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

From David Lynch’s 1986 “mystery” Blue Velvet comes this scene.  Frank Booth (Dennis Hopper) visits Ben (Dean Stockwell), who, we’ve been told previously, is “one suave fucker.”  Ben proceeds to prove it by “performing” In Dreams.  On just the basis of sheer perversity, this is one of the greatest scenes in film history.  Also appearing in this scene — the daughter of Ingrid Bergman (Isabella Rossellini), an actor who would play bad husbands on not only Sex and the City but Desperate Housewives as well (Kyle MacLachlan), an actor who had previously appeared in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and would later show up in The Two Towers (Brad Dourif), and my very distant cousin, the late, great Jack Nance.

(Jack is the little man with the mustache and the hat.  He had the title role in Lynch’s first film, Eraserhead.)

Scenes I Love: Touch of Evil (dir. by Orson Welles)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Yesterday, I posted a tracking shot from Jean-Luc Godard’s Weekend.  Today, I want to offer up another great tracking shot, this one from a much better director and a much better movie: Orson Welles’ Touch of Evil.  This 3 and a half-minute, unedited tracking shot begins in the United States and ends in Mexico.  It also starts off one of the greatest films of all time.

Scenes I Love: Weekend (dir. by Jean-Luc Godard)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

As you may or may not know, I’ve been on a road trip with my very good friend Jeff since Monday of last week. 

That seems like as good an excuse as any to highlight this legendary 7-minute track shot (without any cuts) from Jean-Luc Godard’s 1967 film Weekend.  Weekend, by the way, was probably the last worthwhile film made by Godard before he became just another irrelevant Marxist with a film crew.

I have to admit that this scene takes some patience if you’re not familiar with Godard’s 1960s aesthetic but let me ask you this?  Do you love me?  If you love me, you’ll watch this scene and stick with it to the end.  The punch line isn’t totally unexpected but it does rank as one of Godard’s most effective attacks on the bourgeois value system.

Scenes I Love: Jason Segal loves disco in Freaks and Geeks

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

So, I’ve recently discovered an old show called Freaks and Geeks which, despite only actually airing for one season over ten years ago, appears to be popping up everywhere in syndicated reruns.  Freaks and Geeks was about high school students in the early 80s and basically starred a bunch of people who later went on to become famous — Seth Rogen, James Segal, and James Franco (!!!!) all got their start on this show. 

Anyway, today’s scene that I love comes from an episode of Freaks and Geeks and features not only a very fit Jason Segal disco dancing but a nicely disheveled James Franco playing a rpg as well.  Seriously, this whole sequence is just too adorable for words.

Scenes I Love: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Posted on by Arleigh

Yesterday, I had chosen my favorite scene from Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Today, I just finished re-watching the sequel to that film (though I think of it more as the second act of a 12-hour film), The Two Towers. From this second act I chose the one of the three climactic sequences in the film: Gandalf the White’s arrival and subsequent charge of the Rohirrim to break the siege of Helm’s Deep.

This second act had so many excellent scenes. From the last march of the Ents as they go to war against Isengard, to Gandalf’s descent and fight against the Balrog right up to the hour-long battle for Helm’s Deep. In the end, it was the charge by Gandalf, Eomer and the Rohirrim which sealed the deal for me. It wasn’t just the dramatic entrance of these characters to save their friends, but Howard Shore’s score which really added to the scene.

I love how just as the Rohirrim charge was about to smash into the front ranks of the Uruk-Hai spearmen the sun behind the charge peaked above the top of the incline and blinded the defenders at the bottom. For someone who has studied military tactics and maneuvers in battle this was a textbook use of the sun at a charging forces back to blind and confuse the enemy. Many who saw this film probably just saw it as just part of the scene, but not I. This is the major reason why this scene was my favorite in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

Scenes I Love: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Posted on by Arleigh

“I would have would have followed you, my brother… my captain… my king.” – Boromir, Captain and High Warden of the White Tower

It’s been five days since the season finale of the first season of Game of Thrones and the withdrawal symptoms are definitely starting to kick in. Season two of this fabolous series won’t be back for at least ten months. To help alleviate some of the withdrawal symptoms I decided to go on The Lord of the Rings Trilogy marathon all weekend. Tonight will be The Fellowship of the Ring (Extended Edition). It’s from this first leg of the trilogy that I choose today’s scene that I love.

The scene I have chosen is very close to the end of the film and it’s a scene between Viggo Mortensen’s Aragorn and Sean Bean’s Boromir. It’s soon after the attack of Saruman’s Uruk-Hai on the group. Boromir valiantly tries to protect and save Merry and Pippin from the Lurtz and his band of Uruk-Hai. It’s the scene which arrives after that really hits home for me just how great Peter Jackson’s adaptation of the first part of Tolkien’s massive tome.

This quiet and heartbreaking scene between Aragorn and Boromir cements Viggo’s performance as the reluctant hero moving towards embracing his legacy and destiny while at the same adding complexities to Sean Bean’s performance as Boromir being a flawed and tragic hero in his own right. It is a scene that will cause more than just a few tears to be shed.

Scenes I Love: Assault on Precinct 13

Posted on by Arleigh

I think by now both fellow writers for the site and those who frequent said site know of my love for all and everything John Carpenter. I consider him one of the most underappreciated American filmmakers. All his films contribute something even those where one wonders if he has lost his mojo (I’m looking at you Ghosts of Mars). One of his very first films and one that still resonate with many of his fans is the low-budget and modern remake of Howard Hawk’s Rio Bravo. The latest “Scenes I Love” come from this remake which was called Assault on Precinct 13.

This was a film made for just $100,000 and while the low-budget shows it doesn’t stop Carpenter from creating a grindhouse classic. One of my favorite scenes in this film is the scene chosen. It’s very close to the beginning of the film as a violent street gang called the Street Thunder has vowed a blood vendetta against the LAPD and the citizens of LA. The scene in question show just how far these gangbangers were willing to go with their vendetta.

There’s always been several cardinal rules of grindhouse filmmaker and this scene definitely stays true to the notion that nothing is off-llimits. Carpenter shows just how much he understands this rule. In mainstream films children are oft put in danger but never to the point that they actually die on-screen. There’s always some adult to save them in the end and give the film a happy Hollywood ending. Carpenter doesn’t care for that and this scene proves just how much he doesn’t.

The first time I saw this scene I was surprised, shocked and left speechless. Carpenter had the stones to kill that young girl (and a blond in pigtails at that) with her ice cream cone right on the screen. From that moment on I knew I was in for a ride and I wouldn’t know whether Carpenter would take it easy on his audience or just continue to mess with them. This scene begins a chain reaction of why I love Carpenter films and will continue to love his past, present and future work.