Why Love Movies?

As the kick-off post of this entertainment blog I thought I would keep things simple and visual.

So... Here are some movie images, scenes, and roles that encapsulate why I love cinema. These are by no means in order, ranked, or part of a complete list.

(Warning: Might Contain Spoilers)

Pitch Black - Sunset

Pitch Black starts off with a passenger ship crash landing on an unknown world that really really really bright. (I remember squinting sometimes in the theater) Then the survivors have to deal with the escape super criminal/murder/badass, Riddick... which seems bad enough. But, the movie does a great job dropping hints and clues that point to A) The planet sometime falls into a full eclipse and B) Something bad lives in the caves that killed everything on the planet and hates light. All of these foreboding elements combined with the intense brightness and contrast of the first part makes you get a real sense of dread when you see the first signs of the rings popping up over the horizon. Plus, the sunset is so visually striking when it happens that it sticks in my mind and is why it made this list.

 The Shawshank Redemption - The Escape

How can you not like this sequence in the movie. You just spent the first hour and a half watching Andy Dufresne's life go to hell and all glimmers of hope get shot down (literally) and then you think, like Red, that he might kill himself... then poof he's gone. Then you see how he escaped and screwed over all the bad guys as narrated by Morgan Freeman... simply awesome.

Unspoken Love - The Last of the Mohicans & Up

Weird combo I know but bear with me.

These two scenes... I think, are incredible example conveying a lot without any dialog. First, at the end of The Last of the Mohicans Chingachgook's son Uncas rushes ahead to save Alice. Now, up to this point the two have literally not said anything to each other but just by the way they act together you know that they're in love. Unfortunately, Uncas is no match for Magua and is killed then thrown off the cliff. Alice then approaches the cliff, and despite Magua's attempts to coax her back, she follows her love down to her death. The combination of no dialog, cinematography, and an amazing score make this a very moving scene for me... gets me every time.

On a lighter note... we move to Up. The Ellie/Carl life montage at the beginning of the movie is really incredible if you thing about it. Its able to convey all the emotional ups and downs of their life and how much they loved each other all in a matter of minutes without using a single word, which is more than what most romance movies can accomplish. Also, its even more incredible when you consider that its an animated movie.

Say Hello to the Bad Guy - Silence of the Lambs, There Will Be Blood, No Country for Old Men, The Dark Knight

One great thing about movies is they are able to magnify life... a police officer can be a hero in real life but a movie can turn him into John McClane... however, they can also magnify the villains. Sometime the perfect actor combines with the perfect villain and we get the following:

Anthony Hopkins portrayal of Dr. Hannibal Lecter was so good he had the entire crew creeped out during filming.

Daniel Day-Lewis is one of my favorite actors but after his role as Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood... I'm convinced hes evil. I drink you milkshake! I drink it up!

Apparently, Javier Bardem is good at pretending to have no sole...his role as Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men was amazing (...his role in Skyfall too). He was so bad and so ruthless in that movie that even toward the end you're not sure what he wouldn't do to someone. Which is show in the scene above where he walks into a random convenience store in the middle of no where and asks the old man who owns the place "What's the most you ever lost on a coin toss". He then makes the man call heads or tails and saying "You stand to win everything" implying that if he wins he'll keep his life otherwise he's dead for no other reason than chance.

And Finally... The Joker in The Dark Knight. Heath Ledger's performance conveyed the true chaos and insanity of the Joker so well that in produced one of the best villains in the cinema history.

Now for the sake of time... RAPID FIRE

Here are other notable movie moments that stand out to me over the years... some less sophisticated than others....

The Last Crusade: Best father-son duo.

Predator: Best waste of ammunition.

Jaws: Best reaction.

Jurassic Park: Velociraptor (really Deinonychus) vs. Kids in a kitchen.

V for Vendetta: The "V" intro speech

Aliens: This whole movie was pure sci-fi greatness topped off by the showdown with the queen.

Forrest Gump: Best friends say goodbye

The Godfather Part II: The baptism scene is incredible

I'd love to go on and on (maybe I'll do a Part II also) But in conclusion, I'll end with the best of the best... here it is my #1 top seed reason I love movies captured in a single shot no analysis needed (I wish I could include the music too)....