Favorite scenes - What inspires you?
We were at my father in law's house the other night, watching The Truman Show. My wife had never seen the movie, and we ended up sticking around, keeping everyone up, so that she could see one of my all time favorite movie scenes. It's the scene right before Truman is reunited with his father, when he's sitting on the edge of the dock with his best friend. Truman has come to believe there's some sort of conspiracy, that everyone is watching him, that his whole life may be a facade. His friend is assuring him it's all real, that no one is lying to him. After all, if this was a big conspiracy, he'd have to be in on it too.
It is during this dialogue we get the first look inside the television control room of The Truman Show, where the producer, Christof, is feeding the best friend his lines. It's an eery moment. Truman has all the trust in the world that his best friend can be believed, and yet... his best friend is feeding him lies straight from the devil himself. It gives me chills every time.
This led to a discussion of favorite scenes in movies. Not the movies themselves, but the best scenes, the ones you'd keep people waiting just to watch one more time (even though you have it on video). It's a good study for any writer: what scenes in movies inspire or touch you the most?
Being a comedy writer, my list includes a few more comedy scenes than most. These are in no order, and are subject to change, should I be reminded of something I forgot.
- The end of "The Usual Suspects." This scene doesn't shock people like it did originally for reasons I won't go into (and I still won't give it away here), but when I first saw the movie, I went from half-asleep to wide awake, mouth wide open. It was a phenomenal twist.
- The speeder bike chase in "Return of the Jedi." This scene cannot be fully appreciated unless you see it up close in a theater on a BIG screen.
- The death of the horse in "Animal House." My wife thinks I'm sick, but this scene makes me laugh so hard every time. I'm including the heart attack scene, and the one that follows, with the handiman, the tape measure, and the chainsaw. This ranks just above the horse getting punched out in "Blazing Saddles", but just below the drunk horse leaning against a wall in "Cat Ballou."
- Christopher Walken in “Pulp Fiction.” Monologues are often the death of movies, but this monologue amazes me. It’s a powerfully dramatic speech by Walken, as a soldier delivering an heirloom to the son of a fallen comrade, that draws you in – then sucker punches you with a twist making it the most awkward, gross, and ludicrous story a young man ever had to endure about his father.
- The stateroom scene from "A Night at the Opera." Grouch Marx's constant banter alongside the building gag of dozens of people piling into a tiny room on a cruise ship. A classic gag.
- The fountain scene in Clooney's "Oceans 11." Not sure why I love this scene so much. There's no dialogue, and none needed. It's a curtain call for a great ensemble cast, and the final bow goes to Carl Reiner. Sweetness.
- "Stonehenge" from "This is Spinal Tap." Making a big thing of it might have been a good idea.
- The "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" gunfight in "Face/Off." Proof that no one does violence like John Woo.
- Woody Allen plays cello in the marching band in "Take the Money and Run." I was a band geek, so this means a little more. Woody is so brilliant. Honorable mention would be Woody ordering lunch for the guerilla freedom fighters army in "Bananas."
- The final dogfight in "Top Gun." This movie didn't deserve to be a classic. The script is garbage, the dialogue is horrible, the characters are completely flat. Ironically, they got everything else right - especially the dogfighting shots - and it works.
- Gene Kelly performing the title song in "Singin' in the Rain." The greatest musical number ever filmed in my favorite movie musical.
- The first scene with Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel in "The Producers." I used to think this was the funniest scene ever written. Then I saw Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick do it in the remake. Not that they weren't funny, but they just couldn't match the insanity of Wilder and Mostel.
- Charlie Sheen's cameo in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." Another scene where I can't stop laughing. Charlie Sheen is a master of deadpan comedy, and this scene steals the whole movie. It's why the movie is in my top 3, and I never miss a Charlie Sheen comedy.
