GOULET!!!
Great to be back in Burbank, Johnny. Love what you've done with the set.
Anyways...
Its been a few days, and I guess I haven't stumbled over anything so outrageous as to provoke my blogging ire; therefore no posts. (Well, there has been ONE incident... but the players involved have made a bit of a non-blogging pact so that only our close friends have the 411, not the internet community at large.) So, in order to keep myself writing and composing and (hopefully) growing a reading audience I am copping out (in a sense) and starting a kind of personal favorites list. But to avoid a MySpace-bulletin-esque boring list, I will try to give some exposition to each choice and critically attack my choices, rather than just jotting them down.
By the way, thanks so much for all the responses I've gotten to previous posts. Obviously its nice to know that someone is tuning in and your words aren't just floating silently off into a vacuum. The MySpace posts from people without Google accounts, and even the "lost" answers for those of you who attempted to sign up with Google that were relayed to me in person; they are all very meaningful to me.
On to the first item on the list... err.. self-discussion... ahhh.. its a list. As a sidenote, I fully understand that my favorite [fill in the blank] often is not "the best" [fill in the blank] but sometimes... sometimes, it is. I'll be sure and let you know.
Alright. I'm letting you know. We are starting off with a favorite of mine that happens to be the best at what it is. I mean, why delay the inevitable, right?
Individual scene in a movie: Hopper and Walken's head-to-head confrontation in True Romance.
Now, some of you might say, "Whoa, Jay. How can the best individual scene in any movie ever made come from a little known action-ensemble piece from the mid 1990's?" I know. I know. Let me explain.
There are good scenes, there are great scenes and then there are... Wow.
Good scenes (that don't get shuffled off to the trailer just to get you in the darkened theater in the first place) come from a nice combination of writing, acting, cinematography, directing and editing. Obviously, I'm not telling my astute readers anything they don't already know. Good scenes grab you and get in your head in some way. They move the plot along, and are the moments you find yourself talking about afterwards. They could be re-created down at the community theater troupe with enough success to still be considered "good".
Great scenes can change the movie. They might physically jolt the audience, or mentally shock them. Most movies have to build and build towards the scene that the powers-that-be already know is going to be a great scene. Kiss of the Spider Woman. The Blair Witch Project. They can, of course, sneak up on you. Dreyfuss going crazy during Close Encounters. The "I'm black and I'm proud" scene from The Commitments. The less manufactured, the better.
Great scenes have some special quality to them that wouldn't translate to you and I trading the lines back and forth. Its more than just the lines or the delivery.
"Wow" scenes just... happen, though. Its ethereal and fleeting. But when you see them; you know. A certain actor embodies a certain character and finds a particular voice that resonates perfectly. Baldwin in Glengarry Glen Ross. Morgan Freeman walking (and narrating) on the beach at the end of Shawshank. Affleck in Gigli. Just kidding. *
*Anyone else noticed that Affleck's four best roles (Dazed and Confused, Good Will Hunting, Dogma, and Boiler Room) are all virtually UNCONNECTED with a female lead? Whenever he is paired with a starlet-darling (a starling?) the results are Chasing Amy, Armageddon, Forces of Nature, Pearl Harbor and the aforementioned Gigli? I'm just saying.
The True Romance scene, however tops them all. And, understand that in no way am I suggesting that True Romance is a better film than Godfather, or Casablanca or Apocalypse Now. Just singling out this particular scene.
If you haven't seen it, please CLICK HERE to watch it. The thing to understand while you are watching it is that these two actors (and just as importantly their typecasted histories) have embraced their characters in an impressive way. The penultimate bad boy Hopper plays the fatherly-protective ex-cop with ice water in his veins. And the creepily voiced veteran of The Deer Hunter and King of New York tries on the Mafia trenchcoat and attitude for size. The timing, pacing and flow of their back and forth sucks the audience in to the stuffy smoke filled trailer. Each of them knows how the encounter has to end, and each of them is vying for control of the ending.
*shivers*
I remember renting True Romance when I worked at Blockbuster Video and was on a QT kick as Pulp Fiction was about to be released. The cast of the movie is amazing, and I was enjoying it. But I vivdly recall stopping the movie and rewinding through that scene about three times during my FIRST viewing. Amazed hardly sums it up.
It is, for me; the greatest single scene in cinema history. It is a hidden gem in a working-class movie that doesn't get nearly enough recognition.
*************
Verbose, much? Yikes.
The next time I'm stuck for a post, hmmm.... what topic to try? I'm about 91% sure on my answer to the following: What is the best single side of vinyl music ever pressed? (Original releases only, obviously) But I am still doing some research on that one, so I guess we'll get to it next time.
I'd love to hear your favorite individual scene!
04 May 2008
Raindrops on Roses
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2 comments:
Yes, my friend. Yes! I think at some point I have mentioned my particular fascination with this scene. If there is a better encapsulation of feeling into a brief exchange, someone show it to me.
Hopper knows it 's the end. He knows under no circumstances does he walk away. What does he do? Calmly asks for a cigarette, and casually hurts his tormentor in the only way that he can. Every word perfectly delivered for maximum impact. Walken's response is brilliant. You know he is cut so deeply that it will haunt him forever. The faces of his underlings tell the whole story. Hopper turns the tables and goes out with his metaphorical boots on. I can't imagine this scene being any better than it was. The dialog, the expressions and the feeling are all perfect.
Perfection in a scene is rare and it is always nice when the talents of actors of the caliber of Walken and Hopper are used to the their fullest.
In my book there are only a few scenes that truly hit this level. Buscemi not tipping in Reservoir Dogs (Tarantino again) Baldwin in Glenn Gary, Carrey pounding the wall in Truman, The shower scene in Schindler's list, Lizzie the witch in the phone booth in Waking Ned Devine. When people talk "movie magic," this is what they mean. When dialog, acting, cinematography and editing come together in a way that no one could have predicted.
Someday, if lucky, one of us will make that scene.
Fuck yes! Absolutely one of the best scenes ever. I have to echo Jay; the look of understanding in Hopper's eyes, the way he glances around the room, steeling himself for the inevitable end while he takes a drag off of what he knows is his last cigarette ever, perfect. Walken is the perfect gangster in this scene, the looks James Gandolfini shoots at Hopper as the climax is building up, so much great tension building up during this scene.
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