Movie Moments
While my students busy themselves with the "Do Well On This Or The Government Will Take Over Your School" test this morning, I find my mind wandering. I should be using this time to ponder deep spiritual matters or at least to solve the philosophical paradoxes of the universe.Instead I'm thinking about movies.
I love the movies and, yes, there's no question that my love began in May of 1977 when that giNORMOUS Star Destroyer covered the big screen in pursuit of a poor little Corellian cruiser. But at 12 years old, I really didn't get everything that was happening that day. I just liked the way it looked, loved the characters, and just about flew out of my seat at that one Moment. So instead of making the world a better place this morning, I'm going to list some of my all-time favorite movie moments. Feel free to add yours.
1. WOO HOO!
Yeah, I bought it. When Han said he was going back to Tatooine to pay off Jabba I thought he was gone, a ghost, outta there. So when he came flying out of the sun to knock those Tie Fighters off of Luke's tail, I let out a whoop as loud as his. After that, blowing up the Death Star was incidental.
2. E.T. FLIES
When he took Elliot up into the night sky on Halloween, E.T. created sheer movie magic. But the second time, when he flew the whole gang up over the Grown Ups With Guns (and they DID used to have guns, before they were CG'd into walkie talkies), we all cheered like kids. In fact, I don't think I ever saw that movie in a theater when the audience didn't cheer at that moment. At the Oscars that year, E.T. lost the award for best movie. But I will never forget that all those stoic, hardened, Hollywood-types cheered when they saw that clip just like the rest of us. Hypocrites. "Ghandi???" Humph.
3. HEY, DAD?
I can't even write about the final scene from "Field of Dreams" without tearing up. It didn't help that I'd lost my own father not too long before I saw it for the first time. Or that I love baseball as much as breathing. So when Ray Kinsella asks his dad if he wants to have a catch, well, that's it, I'm done, bring the Kleenex and clear the room.
4. "HELLO...
...My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." And as you sit forward in your chair waiting for what promises to be the high point of "The Princess Bride," perhaps even the greatest swordfight in the history of cinema...Christopher Guest turns around and runs away like a little girl. Love it love it love it.
5. INDY REVEALED
I honestly didn't know what I was in for when I went to see "Raiders of the Lost Ark" the first time. I knew it was Lucas, Spielberg, Ford, and Williams. But, for some reason, I wasn't all that excited. So when Indiana Jones hears the pistol cock, turns and lets the bullwhip fly in one fluid motion, all those months of latent expectation caught up to me in one rush. A bullwhip? Are you kidding me? Oh, this guy is badddddddddddddddddddd. And then he steps forward from the shadows and the ride begins.
There are many more. As I've been thinking about favorite moments, I've realized that a lot of them revolved more around the words than the event. So some other day I'll list a few of my favorite movie lines. I'll probably end up adding to this list too. But first...it's your turn.
posted by Thurman8er @ 8:27 AM
7 Comments:
I'm right there with you on 3 and 4.
My list but not in order:
1. Patton - One of the few movies I ever saw with my Dad.
2. Airplane - "and don't call me Shirley"
3. Rudy - "Rudy, Rudy, Rudy."
4. Hunt for Red October
5. Stripes - "We were all dumb enough to enlist in the Army"
6. Animal House - "7 years wasted."
7. Blues Brothers - "on a mission from God"
8. Battle of the Bulge - "Not my life's story."
9. Saving Private Ryan - Not one I break out during a rainy day.
10. Remember the Titans - "Who's your Daddy?"
Steve- you and I must have watched exactly the same movies during our youth - because almost every one of those would go on my list.
I would add:
1. Blues Brothers: "108 miles to Chicago. Got a full tank of Gas, half a pack of smokes, its night, and we're wearing sunglasses."
2. Ghost Busters 2: "Nice job, Louis. Short, but pointless."
3. Christmas Vacation: the Christmas lights finally work!
4. Napoleon D: Scenes too numerous to mention.
5. Close Encounters: the first "full" picture of the mother ship. Awe inspiring.
6. Every Schwartzenager put-down-the-bad-guy-for-good line ever done.
7. True Lies: After his wife acts shocked about how many people he has killed, Schwartz. says "Yeah, but they were all bad."
8. Star Trek II: the shields go down on Kahn's stolen ship, much to his chagrin, and the Enterprise opens fire. So sweeet, in a nerdy way.
Okay, after the list of lines, I have to do scores. I have Horner's music from ST:TWOK in my head from the starship battle sequence and it's all Matt's fault.
I can remember seeing all of those movies for the first time. Of course, I'd never seen a film like Raiders, and the tension was way too great, going from one crisis to another. Fantastic.
Sure we all cheered at ET. But we ALSO cheered when Rocky rocked Apollo. I remember people standing up and yelling. Now, it's a bit embarrassing.
Maybe that's why they didn't vote for ET.
Matt - Thanks for reminding me of Christmas Vacation! It's a Walker Family tradition on Christmas Eve.
Amazing...the first two movies that came to my mind were your #'s 3 and 4. I too reach for the Kleenex. (Which sword fight? Not the one with Mandy Patinkin, was it?) I tend to remember the tear-jerkers...and a lot of them involving Tom Hanks
Sleepless In Seattle...at the top of the Empire state building...
"It's you..."
Turner and Hooch...at the vet's office when Hooch is dying...the sight of Hanks in tears just blows me away.
And who can forget his best line..
"Crying??? There's no crying in BASEBALL!!"
And from "Back To The Future"(II/III?)
"ROADS??? Where we're going, there ARE no...ROADS!"
Some great lines from another movie fav..." Top Gun"
"I feel the need...the need to SPEED!" Or..."This is a target rich environment..."
#3 is still my favorite tho'
But being an avid (read that rabid) "Wing Nut"...amazingly funny lines are all over the place...I even write some of them down for good "come-backs". (That's "The West Wing" for all you neo-conservatives)
Sam after giving out too much information as to how his day had been and is a bit indescreet to his bosses daughter, "Oh...this is so NOT good on so many levels".
WW repartee is my kind of humor...there's what we nurses call "TNTC" (too numerous to count" from microbiology terminology) when hearing the dialogue on the WW. That's why I buy each season as it released so I can use closed caption feature and read the dialogue as well, so I can write it down correctly. One X-mas long ago - 3 years? - I got the kids hooked on TWW...I send them each season as a X-mas stocking stuffer. Now I need to get them season 6 for R's BD. They refuse to watch them out of sequence on the TV re-runs unti they've watched the entire series. Purists...they are!
This blogging is FUN...I gotta sign up. I will try to go with my usual term "timeless" (Wendy's description of me when she was a wise teenager) but all of you know me as Carolyn - or Wendy and Rick's mum.
I forgot the most kleenex-used movie line from ET
The medicos are working on ET to keep him from dying, and the boy says afterwards, "What did they DO to you???"...and of course the sister's seemingly REAL crying with grief so deep, one could touch it. That scene still makes me cry. Just for the kids acting alone, it should have gotten the Oscar!!!
These lists could go on ad nauseum...
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