Great Movie Scenes of the Decade January 2, 2010

Year-end lists are tough, so naturally decade-end lists are tougher. Instead of a list of my top films for the decade, I’ve compiled notes on 50 51 of my favorite movie scenes from 2000-2009. Please keep in mind a few things:

A) Most of these movies have many great scenes. I simply picked ones that are either my personal favorite or ones I feel encompass the film as a whole in the best way a mere one scene can.
B) I mean the scene in which these events take place, not just the small moment I write about. The leading up to (through foreshadowing), right before, and right after are to be considered as well.
C) These are not my top 50 films of the decade. Do not take this list as such. If I made such a list, I’m sure somewhere between 50-80% of the list would be the same, but that’s a topic for some other time.
D) These are in no particular order, other than the first, which may very well be my favorite.

If you have seen these films, I hope you will enjoy remembering these moments as much as I do. If you have not, I urge you to take the time to do so. There is much to be felt.

---

Graysmith looking Arthur Leigh Allen in the eye at the end of ‘Zodiac’

When Jack gives “directions” to some tourists to the “Louvre” in ‘2 Days in Paris’

Battle of Carthage recreation in the Coliseum in ‘Gladiator’

Jake Sully flying through the Floating Mountains on Pandora in ‘Avatar’

Cady meeting the Plastics in ‘Mean Girls’

Climax of ‘Oldboy’ in Woo-jin’s penthouse

The gathering of the crew in ‘Ocean’s 11’

WALL-E playing in space with EVE using the fire extinguisher in ‘WALL-E’

‘Drag Me To Hell’ the Mini-Review May 29, 2009

A lot of people say that no new horror movies come out these days. I agree, to a point, but it seems like there are just so many bad horror movies that it makes the good ones seem scarce. Then again, they are scarce. Fortunately, once in a while a director who knows what he is doing takes the reigns. To make it even better, that competent director got started in horror films. Obviously we are talking about Sam Raimi and ‘Drag Me To Hell‘.

The plot of the film is simple enough: Christine (Alison Lohman, whom I like more and more in every picture) works at a bank and refuses to give an old hag a third extension on her loan. The lady puts a curse on her. During the next three days, she will be tormented by demons, until the end of the third day, when she will be taken. Yet in this plot, there are enough nuances to keep us interested. She has a boyfriend (played by the one-note Justin Long), wants to impress his parents, wishes to advance at work, and has a cute kitty who looks much like my own. And everything comes together, in one way or another.

This movie is scary. There are many kinds of ‘scary,’ in my opinion. There is ‘jump-out scary,’ there is ‘creepy scary,’ and there is ‘gross-out scary.’ The film has all three, and in abundance. Dozens of things jump out throughout the movie (got me a few times for sure), the looming sense of the curse is haunting (mystery in the monsters), and I could list pages of gross antics in the film, most of which involve the old hag vomiting goo and bugs and bile and anything else into Christine’s mouth.

But damn, is this movie fun. What was so great about ‘Evil Dead’ and ‘Army of Darkness’ was that they were not afraid to be campy. They didn’t take themselves too seriously. ‘Drag Me To Hell’ is also very funny. I won’t spoil, but I will say that one of my favorites involves Christine pondering at a diner, and another is with her cat. Of course, there is also a scene where quite literally an anvil falls on someone, so Sam Raimi knows that this isn’t serious business. He’s just having fun, and when he’s having fun, we are too. Too many horror movies have been ruined because the characters tried to be ‘serious business’ and overacted a terrible script into laughing territory. The script here is funny intentionally, not as a consequence of bad production.

I love ‘Spider-Man’, but it would be nice if Sam Raimi did a Chris Nolan bit, where he does a superhero movie, then a personal movie, then a superhero movie, then a personal movie (‘Batman Begins’ -> ‘The Prestige’ -> ‘The Dark Knight’ -> ‘Inception’ -> inevitable Batman sequel). Movies like ‘Drag Me To Hell’ are too good to be put on hold. If anything, we need an equal balance of films like this, and films like ‘Prom Night.’ That way, all the kiddies and idiots will go see ‘Prom Night’ and the good crowd can see the real thing. Oh, what a great world that would be….