Favorite Scenes of All Time: #5-The Mexican Standoff (The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly)

Sometimes in a movie, if you know what you're doing, you can accomplish a great deal with very little. Films like Star Wars, Jaws, and Halloween became blockbuster smashes despite touting very little in funding or big name stars, and with a talented director, a good crew, and competent actors, you can make fantastic films that resound with the audience better than all the CGI dick punching robots in the Transformers franchise can. Nowhere is this philosophy more apparent than in on particular scene from the Sergio Leone classic The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: The Mexican Standoff.

This is literally a scene where three guys stand around doing nothing for almost five minutes and it's still one of the tensest, most exciting, and most brilliant scenes in the history of cinema. The subtle looks between Tuco and Blondie tell more of a story than all the dialogue in the world could ever accomplish, and the musical score conveys more power and exhilaration than most action scenes from any summer blockbuster can. Remember a few weeks ago when I said that a scene is 60% music, well this score proves how a good scene can really be amped up with some good, fitting music.

Here is an example of how proper film making can turn what is more or less an action-less scene and turn it into something thrilling and enthralling. If you were to try to describe this scene to someone who has never seen the actual film it would go something like "It's basically a scene where three guys stare at each other for about five minutes and then one of them shoots another one". It sounds awful, but in the proper context it comes across perfect because something so simple accomplishes so much in the long run of the film. It's an action that leads to something, and it harkens back to my first article on the new blog (http://gump-o-rama.blogspot.com/2011/08/my-thoughts-on-action.html) about how every action should have a purpose.

William Shakespeare once wrote that "Brevity is the soul of wit", and while he was actually talking about the written word, this philosophy can apply just as well to properly and simply directed scenes in movies. Keeping it simple can help accomplish miracles when it comes to conveying emotional associations in film, and it's about high time Hollywood begins to remember that.

I enjoy sending my readers to great movie review sites, so for anyone reading this you should give the Weekend Ronin a shot. They have been kind enough to feature this blog on the show, and their knowledge of film is second to none.

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Godzilla

Beware, here thar be spoilers

Godzilla, like Star Trek, is one of the only nerd properties that I only have a passing knowledge of. I don’t know the difference between Rodan and Mothra, I don’t know how the Oxygen bomb killed him in the first film, and I don’t know which Kaiju it was that had the ability to communicate with humans. All I remember is the basic films from my childhood, those classic Technicolor or black and white monster films, and I remember how they were constructed to play to both children and adults hearts.

In that regard, and in that spirit… this movie totally knocked it out of the park.

Now don’t get me wrong, the film certainly flaws, but when you view in the context of what a Kaiju monster movie should be, I can’t really find much to complain about when it comes to this film. I was so invested in the spectacle occurring on screen (especially during the non-stop and epic third act) that I really couldn’t care less that Elizabeth Olsen’s character was barely more than a cardboard cutout of “wife in peril”. This is one of those examples of film that sets out to accomplish a very particular goal, and not a whole lot else. It’s the special teams or designated hitters of movies, and in that regard it’s damn near perfect.

What do I mean by damn near perfect? Well let’s look at some staples of the monster movie genre that this movie does or doesn’t accomplish.

The Reveal-Most monster movies these days seem really anxious or excited to show off all the goods way to early into the film. Typically, a commonly accepted practice is to not show the monster until around the end of the first act or just before the halfway point of the movie. This allows the film to build up tension from the anticipation of wanting to see the monster, but not being allowed to. This tactic was employed masterfully (and accidentally) in Jaws, and it has been a staple of film since then.

Godzilla doesn’t just adhere to this rule, it flat out perfects it. The reveal itself is placed at just the right moment in the film, and when it does finally occur it is a slow, drawn out reveal instead of a simple snap zoom or edit that seems to have become the staple of modern movies. As much as I really ended up liking Pacific Rim I always felt that the film showing the Kaiju in the first ten seconds of the film was a bit of a mistake. I understand that this film is more about the Jaegers than a typical monster movie, but I think it would have been more effective to just show the devastation and news clips in the beginning and save the Kaiju reveal itself for the first time it comes out of the water in front of the fishing boat.

The Mystery-Perhaps the most surprising thing about this movie is that despite all the press, rumors, and stories I had heard about this film, it was absolutely NOT the film I was expecting to see. This movie has had one of the most brilliant and successful ad campaigns of the last twenty years, and despite all the fanfare and speculation surrounding it, I legitimately didn’t see a lot of what happened on screen coming. All things considered, it’s a nice change of pace, especially considering how most trailers nowadays seem to be obsessed with accidentally or intentionally giving away key plot points of the film.

This works as a massive advantage to the film, as another staple of monster films is in the mystery, research, and discovery of the monster’s motivations. This film does a great job of accomplishing this, and I should really warn you that from this point on my review is going to be quite spoiler heavy.

Ken Watanabe does a good job with the time he has on screen explaining the possibility that maybe Godzilla isn’t the destructive force of terror that the trailers have made him out to be, that maybe instead he is natures’ bounty hunter instead of natures’ weapon. He seems to have a respect for the monster as much as he has a fear of it, and in this way he reminds me of Charlie Days’ character from Pacific Rim, just not quirky. As much as I liked him though I felt like the film could have used more of these scenes. You know, the old monster movie laboratory scenes where a bunch of 

scientists are standing around in a room that looks like this:

And always seemed to have a low hum in the background that suspiciously sounded like Aunt Beru’s food processor thingy from Star Wars.

But perhaps what I love best about this sense of confusion and desperation that is present in the film is the fact that we never have that overused stereotype of military vs. scientist mindset. The military is always using the advice of the scientists, and at one point “Admiral Expository Dialogue” flat out tells Watanabe that if he has any ideas better than theirs that now is the time to voice it. It just plays well in the film, and as a result the mystery of Godzilla and the MUTOs are that much more interesting.

The Characters-Having the monster be the main spectacle of a monster movie has always been a tried and true staple of the genre, but so has developing the characters in the limited time they have on screen. This is the only staple that I believe the film stumbled a bit with.

I already mentioned how the characters stood out a bit as cardboard cutouts and they needed some more time for development, but I think that removing about ten minutes of action from the film to lend to Aaron Taylor Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen would have gone a long way towards making these characters more relatable. Even more disappointing was the idea of (and again… SPOILERS) killing off Bryan Cranston’s character so early in the film, especially when he was established to be the most interesting character with the most depth at that point. Just because the audience didn’t anticipate his death didn’t mean it was a good idea to include it.

All the characters in the film, despite their somewhat rushed stories, were surprisingly likeable though. I especially empathized with Johnson, who was just trying to get home and seemed to have the absolute worst luck on the planet. Johnson goes to Japan, the MUTO chooses that moment to wake up. Johnson goes to Honolulu, the MUTO follows him. Johnson hops a train to get home, the MUTO finds him there. Finally the guy just has to jump out of an airplane to get back to his home city, maybe the scientists were wrong and the MUTOs just wanted Kick-Ass’ autograph instead of nuclear material.

In addition to this, I couldn't help but notice a gradual withdrawal from the characters to the story of the monsters. At first I believed this factor to be an oversight or side effect of the film, but the more I thought about it, I think this was intentional. Notice how this withdrawal occurs in conjunction with the increasing importance of the Kaiju's influence on the corresponding cities. I also noticed there was a very apparent Spielbergian influence present in the film (the main character was named Brody, hellooooooo?), and just like in Jaws there was a gradual withdrawal very similar to that film.

I would also like to point out that whoever was in charge of Johnson’s training in the military deserves a promotion and a medal, because JESUS is this guy trained for every imaginable scenario. It’s established that he was EOD in the Navy (more or less a military bomb squad guy), but suddenly he has knowledge of infantry tactics, antiquated detonators, and even HALO jumps, the most complicated and dangerous jump in the world.

A lot of other little things impressed me about the film as well, namely the look of the monsters. Godzilla looks flat out awesome in this movie, he’s huge and he’s scary, and he looks a little like a cross between the classic Godzilla look and a grizzly bear. But then there’s a hint of something else added to his face, something mammalian that helps lend a sense of emotion to him and lets us relate to what is going on in his face. Then we have the MUTOs, big, ugly, scary insect looking things that seem to be there to just tear shit up to get at the gooey nuclear waste they so want. There is nothing in those eyes, just a fiery sort of glow that conveys pure hatred.

The pacing of the film was great, if not a little bit rushed, and the cinematography was absolutely perfect for what a monster movie should have been. They also nailed what made Godzilla so awesome in the first place, sheer unbridled power and unknown surprises. I started giggling like a child when I saw that tail start glowing, because I knew the awesomeness that was about to follow, and oh boy, it did not disappoint. I also loved the HALO jump itself. It was scary and exhilarating, and even after watching it two dozen times in the trailer it still manages to be awesome (you’ll understand why when you see the finished product. The music is scary and tense, and lets you feel the fear and severity of the situation at hand. I loved the opening scenes, both in the caverns and the nuclear power plant.

Bryan Cranston nailed the painful loss of a loved one with a sort of effortless grace that reminds me why I think he is going to be one of the biggest things to hit film in the last decade. I also loved when he and Johnson were going through an abandoned part of Japan, it was beautiful and terrifying at the same time to see the slow decay of such a previously vibrant part of a city. Finally, I liked David Strathain in his role of the commanding admiral of the situation. Even though he was there mostly to spout expository dialogue, he did it with enough grace and talent that it made something out of something that could have been a thankless role.

There were certainly some other things I didn’t like about the film however, namely that there was just a bit too much action. Like I said earlier, if they had cut about fifteen minutes from the action and tacked on fifteen minutes of “science talk” this film would have been pretty much perfect. The pacing was a little rushed at some points, whisking us from point A to point B with little explanation, but it’s handled nowhere near as poorly as it is in the Transformers films. The film also had not one, but two instances where characters were able to magically find who they needed in a sea of faces. Finally, one last thing that bugged me a lot more than it should have was the caption on the bottom of the jumbo-tron at the end of the film. I won’t ruin what it says, but I would have liked it a lot more if it had said  “____ __ ________ ALIVE!” instead of “____ __ ________ SAVIOR OF OUR CITY!”, the audience doesn’t need to have it pounded into their face how Godzilla wasn’t the bad guy of the film, we can figure it out.

These are minor complaints of course, because overall the film was exactly what it needed to be. These small distractions didn’t really detract from the spectacle on film because I was too enthralled in the fact that we were finally getting a Godzilla movie done right in America!

This is the monster movie we have been waiting for.

This is Godzilla.

And the best part of all? Ferris Bueller was nowhere in sight.

8.5 out of 10

I enjoy sending my readers to great movie review sites, so for anyone reading this you should give the Weekend Ronin a shot. They have been kind enough to feature this blog on the show, and their knowledge of film is second to none.

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Favorite Scenes of All Time: #6-The Greatest Twist Ever (The Usual Suspects) SPOILERS!

Many of you young ones may not remember this, but there was a time when every other film in Hollywood didn't have a twist ending. There are few things more exciting in film than a well executed twist, as it not only turns your predictions and expectations of a film upside down, but wraps up open questions and unexplained portions of a film in the blink of an eye. Extremely well done twists have the added bonus of making you want to watch a film a second time to see it in a new light, like in films such as The Prestige, The Sixth Sense, Psycho, and Fight Club. But despite all these great examples, the best twist I can think of in a film comes from the Bryan Singer independent film The Usual Suspects.

20 YEAR OLD SPOILER INCOMING!

Everything in this film so far has led up to Keaton being the mastermind of the entire operation and the alter-ego of infamous crime lord Keyser Soze. The entire film has revolved around revealing this mysterious man's true identity, and when Baer explains that Keaton has done this trick before when he left the police force it seems like it's only natural that he pull the same trick twice. This goes hand in hand with the earlier (and now legendary quote) "The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist".

But then, out of the BLUE, we get this scene that totally changes our perception of what we have been seeing. It's an absolutely brilliant scene of storytelling and revelation, and while there maybe better twists in film (heck, even The Sixth Sense), you would be hard pressed to find a better filmed twist. It's so basically shot that it's brilliance in its' simplicity, and it allows the revelation to come to the viewer without cramming it in their face ad nauseam. The simple score underlying Verbal subtly losing his limp in the street is almost a textbook example of proper framing combined with a fitting score, and the slow coffee mug drop is still five of my favorite seconds in film for this same reason.

My one complaint with the scene (if you could call it a complaint) is that the addition of the overlying dialogue almost spells it out a little too much for the audience. It isn't nearly as irritating as the "micro-flashbacks" that accompany most flashbacks in film these days (Sixth Sense's twist is pretty awful in this regard), but it still detracts from the scene being even more quietly resounding. It reminds me of when they made Alex Proyas add that scene at the beginning of Dark City that completely explains the answer to who The Strangers are in the film, and I wonder if maybe there is an edit out there of  this scene without the dubbed over lines. Regardless of this small problem though, this scene is still a masterpiece, and stands out as the coup de grace in a nearly flawless crime drama.

I enjoy sending my readers to great movie review sites, so for anyone reading this you should give the Weekend Ronin a shot. They have been kind enough to feature this blog on the show, and their knowledge of film is second to none.

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Favorite Scenes of All Time: #7-Omaha Beach (Saving Private Ryan)

I have a love/hate relationship with the Omaha Beach invasion scene from Saving Private Ryan. On one hand, it's arguably the best, most brutal, realistic, and unflinching battle scenes in the history of war films. On the other hand, it began countless trends in Hollywood that are now so common that it's getting f**king annoying. But while these trends are overused and stagnant in most Hollywood films nowadays, at the time Saving Private Ryan was made these advancements and tricks were flat out groundbreaking, paving the way for countless directors to take these tricks and try to pass them off as their own. Sadly, it's a trend in Hollywood that will never go away (just think of all the movies that featured "bullet time" after The Matrix was released).

When Saving Private Ryan was released, Hollywood had more or less perfected camera technology. Specialized lenses eliminated the most stubborn of lens flare, internal servos and gyros allowed steady-cams to collect a perfectly level picture despite constant jostling, and digital film cameras allowed a much broader spectrum of colors to permeate the screen. So when Steven Spielberg wanted to recreate a scene from war without the use of any of these camera features, a lot of people thought he had lost his mind.

But the gambit paid off, and in the end we received a scene that is just as gut-punchingly brutal to watch today as it was when it was released. Not eliminating the lens flare of the scene added a depth of realism to the battle, especially since it would be a common sight as soldiers were emerging from the freezing waters. The elimination of the steady-cam created an effect known today (for better or worse) as shaky-cam, conveying a frantic sense of confusion to the viewer which creates an emotional link with the scared, panicked soldier on D-Day without saying a word. Nowadays Hollywood uses this trick non-stop, even in places where it doesn't belong. The Hunger Games even uses this effect in the opening scene, when Katniss is just walking through a field!

But most daring of all was Spielberg's decision to de-saturate the color spectrum to create a film that had a sepia toned look and splashes of water and blood occasionally obscuring the shot. By doing so through the painstaking switching of lenses and cameras Spielberg was able to create a movie that looked half Hollywood, and half documentary, adding a level of realism never before scene in a movie. Nowadays you can see the same effect in every "stylized" Hollywood film through the use of computer effects labs, but back in the day it was innovative and unheard of, creating a scene that has aged as well and resounds as strongly with the audience as it did the day it was released.

The entire film is a work of art, but this scene in particular stands out in peoples' minds as the high point of the movie. And while apparently Saving Private Ryan lost the Oscar that year to Shakespeare in Love, the test of time (and common sense) reminds us that it is still the superior movie for countless reasons.

I enjoy sending my readers to great movie review sites, so for anyone reading this you should give the Weekend Ronin a shot. They have been kind enough to feature this blog on the show, and their knowledge of film is second to none.

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Favorite Scenes of All Time: #8-The Interrogation (The Dark Knight)

There's really a lot to like about The Dark Knight. It's easily the best film in the Dark Knight trilogy, and features Heath Ledger in a role that has become legendary despite Jack Nicholson playing it decades earlier. One scene however, is so well shot, so well executed , and so all around perfect, that it rises to the top of all the great scenes featured in this trilogy... the interrogation.

Like Vader's redemption from last week, a lot of the greatness in this scene stems from the villain utterly stealing the show with his delivery of his lines. This is a big boon in itself, but what makes this aspect so important in this film is that in doing so Heath Ledger has also subconsciously let the audience know that the Joker is the one in charge of the situation despite his apparent seat of weakness in the scene. This is important because it subliminally allows the audience to still be threatened and intimidated by a clown in handcuffs, not an easy feat in any sort of film.

Notice how Christopher Nolan took a page from the Francis Ford Coppola and initially has the Joker hidden in the shadows like Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now to convey how they are almost one with the darkness:

But then Nolan expands on this idea and has the light come on with the entrance of Batman, allowing the viewer to realize that Batman represents the light and order as opposed to Joker's darkness and chaos, a yin to his yang, a battle of symbolism if you will.

Next we have the brilliant dialogue between the two juggernauts on screen, and we begin to see how fractured Joker's psyche and sense of morality really is. But what really kicks this scene into high gear is when Batman finally snaps and begins beating him down, and this is the first time (and only time) that we see Batman truly powerless against someone. He has met someone who can beat him one way or another, and despite all his strength and skills we see him unable to save the people who need saving and forced into a choice he swore he would never make.

Finally, we have the score, a slowly building violin score that plays whenever the Joker comes on screen. Nolan has stated that he chose this score because it represented the growing madness inherent in the Joker's character, his growing wishes to simply see the world burn. It's a perfect piece for this character, and when coupled with this scenes' escalation of crisis it really places it over the top to get my number 8 scene of all time.

Favorite Scenes of All Time: #9-Darth Vaders' Redemption (Return of the Jedi)

Return of the Jedi is a bit of a conundrum for me. On one hand, I consider it by far the weakest film in the Star Wars trilogy because of its' strange choices in film making such as replacing Wookies with Ewoks, the entire first act, and more of less neutering the awesomeness that is Han Solo. On the other, it contains most of my favorite scenes in the series, such as the best space battle in the series, any scene with Ian Mcdiarmid, and the final showdown between Luke and Vader. But while I could have probably comprised this entire list of scenes just from Star Wars films (Han Solo saving Luke at the Death Star, the Battle of Hoth, Darth Vader telling Luke he is his father, etc.), my favorite scene in the trilogy revolves around Darth Vader's redemption scene.

This scene is so emotional and there is so much going on in it that it's hard to even put into words how utterly brilliant it is, but I'll try. First of all, we have Ian Mcdiarmid completely stealing the show with every line of dialogue he utters. This scene has more memorable lines in it than most of the rest of the Star Wars trilogy combined, and his delivery is so evil and perfect that his brief appearance in the series has earned him a place as one of the greatest big screen villains of all time.

Next we have the music, and while last week I pointed out that the lack of real music amplified the power of the scene, in this case we have the opposite effect. The score is perfectly set to what is happening on screen, and punctuates every point with an appropriate pitch or tune. Just listen to that crescendo that follows "Now young Skywalker... you will die". For the life of me I seriously can't think of a more perfectly fitting score in the history of film.

Now it's hard to deny that the prequels have completely ruined the concept of the Emperor using lightning against Luke, but the first time I saw this film and saw that lightning shoot out of Palpatines' fingers I was in complete awe. Here I thought Luke and Vader were the epitome of what the force could accomplish, but now we have this new threat who is able to literally command the elements at his whim to torture our hero. I may have been seven at the time, but to this day I still remember that this was the first time I ever felt uncomfortable watching a movie. Lukes' torture went on so long that right before Vader gave the Emperor the old heave ho I just wanted Luke to die so he would be out of his misery. Whether you love or hate the Star Wars film, you can't deny that this scene really created a visceral reaction in the audience.

Finally we have Vader himself, filled with emotional conflict between the choice he is being forced to make: either side with a man who has been his friend and mentor for the last twenty years, or save the son he never knew he had and who represents everything he hated in his former life. Not being able to see his face underneath the mask makes the scene even more powerful, since we can only imagine the emotional struggle occurring on his face. and while the recent addition of a "No... NOOOO!" in recent editions has tarnished this silent moment, it still remains one of the greatest redemption scenes of one of the greatest big screen villains of all time.

I enjoy sending my readers to great movie review sites, so for anyone reading this you should give the Weekend Ronin a shot. They have been kind enough to feature this blog on the show, and their knowledge of film is second to none.

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Favorite Scenes of All Time: #10-Quint Revisits the Indianapolis (Jaws)

Quints' speech about the USS Indianapolis is (in my mind at least) the greatest monologue ever caught on film, but not for the reasons you may think. Yes, the scene is brilliant in the fact that the simple act of a guy talking manages to be mesmerizing, creepy, and legendary all at the same time, but it's the things you don't really notice about the scene that makes it stand out above all other monologues in film history.

As Quint delves into the ghosts that have haunted him since World War II, we begin to glimpse into the dark obsession that will eventually lead him to his demise, made even more terrifying by the fact that he knows this will likely be the outcome of his hunt. In doing so Spielberg  makes Quints' obsession transform him into a modern day incarnation of Captain Ahab from Moby Dick, so whether you know it or not the film has just made a literary link that can resound quietly and effectively with the audience.

Not only is Shaws' delivery brilliant, but something that should be noted is that this scene is largely improvised. Everyone knows the nightmare that "Bruce" the shark caused the film, and filming this scene was just a way for Spielberg to buy time for the maintenance crew to get her up and running again. The fact that this man could pull this out and create a scene that will go down in history pretty much on a whim is a testament to the acting skills of Robert Shaw. The occasional shots back to Brody and Hooper show them just as transfixed and terrified by this dark story as we the audience are.

They say that a scene is 60% music and 40% what's happening on screen (we will further discuss this in next week's scene recap), but in this film the only music we hear is a soft, haunting classical that doesn't even enter until about halfway through the scene. This delivery is so brilliant, so well shot, and so timeless however, that I believe it would be just as effective and haunting if there had been no music at all!

There may be other, better monologues out there in film, but the combination of Spielberg's direction, Shaws' performance, and the overall tone of this scene places it as my personal favorite in film history.