Saturday 14 June 2014

Favourite Movie Scene Blogathon

Another day another Blogathon, I am loving these so much right now.  Not only do they encourage a sense of community in the movie blog world but they push us to write posts that might be a little out of our comfort zones and adds a bit of variety to the old blog post list! John from Hitchcock's World has started the Favourite movie scenes blogathon, here is the original post if you haven't already seen it http://hitchcocksworld.blogspot.ca/2014/05/favorite-movie-scenes-blogathon.html.

The rules are:
  • Each choice must be a specific moment from a film, not the film itself, even if it's a movie like My Dinner With Andre or Twelve Angry Men.
  • Since picking out scenes is hard, you can write about as many different moments from as many different films as you like. There are no specific restrictions in what types of films you can draw from, even if it's one of Godard's movies or Tarkovsky's Solaris or any other film I have criticized in this blog. I'll even try to control myself is you pick a scene from one of Connery's James Bond films (emphasis on the try).
  • I'd encourage you to try and diversify your range of choices as much as you can. In both my lists I cover movies in the science fiction, war, western, comedy, surrealist, and adventure genres with periods ranging from the 1950's to the present day. 
  • For each film you refer to you can only discuss one scene. For instance if you decide on writing about 2001: A Space Odyssey, you can't do both the shuttle docking sequence and the scene where Dave disconnects HAL, you'd have to make a choice between one or the other.
  • For each scene, you should provide a reasonably clear description. I would advise some context regarding what is happening in the scene (though you are not required to do so depending on the circumstances, i.e. if you want to avoid spoiling a crucial twist that happens here), but the focus should be on what you like about that particular moment.
  • I would also recommend making sure your descriptions are not too long. I'm not going to give a precise maximum length but try to keep your explanations from being longer than necessary.
I have been pondering my response to this for a while as it's really tough for me, do I go with something that is classic and a lot of people would consider a fantastic scene or do I go with my sentiment and go with the scenes that I love for my own reasons.  After much deliberation, I decided to go with my gut and I ended up with two scenes, both chosen for my love of these scenes not because they are well shot or visually epic but because I could watch them over and over again and never get bored.

My first choice is from The Goonies (surprise surprise I hear you say) this is my all time favourite film so why wouldn't my favourite scene come from it.  It's The Wishing Well Scene:

 
This was an epic scene where they had to decide whether to carry on to find One Eyed Willy's treasure or go up the wishing well and back to their boring normal lives.  There is no big set pieces or giant octopusses to distract you it's just Mouth (Corey Feldman) and Mikey (Sean Astin) making big speeches to their friends and I love it.  In fact this came up in my Top 10 Film Quotes as well.
 
My second choice is from Toy Story 3, this scene had no words but I sobbed like a baby.  Its the key scene in the movie where the toys are in the incinerator and have no way to escape so they just look at each other and hold hands, knowing what is about to happen.  It seemed like such a grown up scene for a children's film but it made it for me.
 

 
I wanted to ask if it was wrong to love a movie scene even though it makes you cry every time, but I think Jenna's already answered this for me! I briefly studied animation in college and so animated films have always had a soft spot in my heart. One of my all-time favourite films (I don't have just one) is Monsters Inc, and although there are many funny scenes, this touching scene is the one that stuck with me.
 



I tend to sob quite often during films but what amazes me is how much you can fall in love with an animated character. It's easy to relate to a human actor, and sympathise with whatever they're feeling, but it's brilliant how animators can make us feel exactly what these cartoon-y monsters feel.

Have you ever watched Wallace and Gromit? Gromit, the dog, doesn't even talk and yet you know exactly what he would be saying just by his facial expression!

Confession time. Jenna chose her favourite scenes ages ago, and she's been patiently waiting for me to do mine. I've only recently widened the spectrum of films that I watch, and so most of my favourite films and scenes are from comedies. So with that in mind, you'll have to forgive me for now and ask me again in a years time, and then you might get a different answer!

Thanks again to John at Hitchcock's World for this Blogathon, it's been great fun to do and really made me think about why I love the films that I do.

4 comments:

  1. Cool scenes. I especially love the choice from Toy Story 3. I haven't cried during a movie since I was 8, but this was one that had me pretty close. The knot rose in my throat, but I managed to choke it down. What a great movie it is, overall.

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  2. Great choices. I don't discuss animated films very often but that was a very dark scene at the end of Toy Story 3. The toys did ultimately get out before being incinerated but the fact that they came so horribly close without knowing they were going to be saved made it very emotional, and a big relief when they are finally rescued.

    I saw Goonies once in Grade 8, and I definitely remember that one scene, and the speech about how "this is our time".

    If it is of any interest I've actually set up two other blogathons since starting this one. Perhaps you'd be interested in finding something for one of these two:

    http://hitchcocksworld.blogspot.ca/2014/06/women-in-film-blogathon.html

    http://hitchcocksworld.blogspot.ca/2014/06/blogathon-journey-across-cosmos-through.html

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  3. Hi both, Thanks for the comments. I was in tears at this scene in Toy Story, it was incredible emotional for a kids film, I think that's why I love it so much, you just didn't see it coming!

    John, Just having a look at your other two Blogathons with Allie and we will be in touch soon :-)

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  4. Those are great picks. You really can’t keep from falling in love with those scenes, which are full of emotions and lessons. Most of the movies in the market today have been focusing on the impact of the story to the hearts of the watchers, while keeping them fast-paced and interesting. Anyway, I’m hoping that you'll post another set of personal favorites in your future posts. Have a great day!

    Simon Walker @ The ViewLorium

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