Moments of 2022

Inspired by the now defunct Film Comment "Moments Out of Time" series and the great Roger Ebert's year end recap, this Moments of the Year list (now in its 24th edition) represents indelible moments of my film-going year. It can be a line of dialogue, a glance, a camera movement or a mood, but they're all wondrous examples of a filmmaker and audience connecting emotionally.

 

The long shot holding on the face of a jockey (Clifton Collins Jr) as he starts and finishes a race. The range of emotions curbed by splotches of dirt being kicked up into his face don’t lessen his array of feelings.  “Jockey”

A young girl munching precociously on chips in the backseat of a car and then her small arm protruding into the frame with a juice box for her mother to drink while she drives  “Petite Maman”

The diner scene between Jessica Chastain and “The Good Nurse” (Eddie Redmayne) as she tries to gently coax a confession from him. The unease slowly builds

"I don’t even know what you make at the factory!”    “You’ll know what we make at the factory, when you work at the factory!”     The comic line reading of the year by Toby Huss in “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story”

The dance title sequence.  “After Yang”

Pretty much any line reading of  Andrew Scott in “Catherine Called Birdy”

From a comfortable bedside reading to a tortured wounded soldier screaming. Just one of the many sublime (and heartbreaking) transitions in Terence Davies’ exploration of self identity in “Benediction”

A woman (pleading?) saying that the woman (Dolly de Leon) inching up behind her with a rock can work equally in their new household.   “Triangle of Sadness” 

“Everything Everywhere All At Once” and the Wong Kar Wai inspired wet, moonlit alley conversation between Evelyn (Michelle Yeoh) and Waymond (Ke Huy Quan). Both are dressed to the nines, but the spare emotion expressed between them is heartbreaking

“Montana Story” and the performance of Eugene Brave Rock as a Native American car seller. It's a complex moment in the film. Can we trust him? 

Colin Farrell and his imitation of Werner Herzog. “After Yang”

“She Said” and the numerous shots of tense bodies carefully poised around a speakerphone intercom

The first meeting between Jakob (Tom Schilling) and Cornelia (Saskia Rosendahl) in “Fabian: Going to the Dogs” as she emerges as a shadowy figure bathed in blue light behind, and the quick succession of future images that will mark their torrid love affair. Perhaps the most romantic moment all year

A man hitting on two women at the bar as Modjo plays and his line of “I have a lot of money. A lot of money….” and they perk up to him.     “Triangle of Sadness”

The waves taking a baby’s body with it.  “Bardo, False Chronicles of a Handful of Truths”

An empty bed. "Sr."

The needle drop of ethereal music as a young girl floats on a boat. "Petite Maman"

Strobe lights on a dance floor. A father and daughter oscillating in time. A long walk down an airport hallway and then out a door. The gutting final few minutes of Charlotte Wells' brilliant debut "Aftersun"

 

Moments of the Year 2021

Inspired by the now defunct Film Comment "Moments Out of Time" series and the great Roger Ebert's year end recap, this Moments of the Year list (now in its 23rd edition) represents indelible moments of my film-going year. It can be a line of dialogue, a glance, a camera movement or a mood, but they're all wondrous examples of a filmmaker and audience connecting emotionally.

 

After efficiently taking down a guard, the way Elena (Florence Pugh) struggles and grunts to move the body. Superhuman ability juxtaposed with real humanity.  “Black Widow”

The way a woman (Marion Cotillard) gently buries her face in the shoulder of her lover (Adam Driver) as he sings to her. One of the few emotionally resonant moment between a hurried romance in Leos Carax’s bonkers “Annette”

 

“Shiva Baby” and the sly little smile given as two women hold hands in the backseat of a mini van

 

Lady Di (Kristen Stewart) playing a game with her children by candlelight in “Spencer”.  One of the few times she’s not vibrating with angst in Pablo Larrain’s masterful film

The subtle (but seismic) shift as Vicky Kreps wakes up and says “oh hi Anders” in “Bergman Island”. In a year of prism box films about filmmaking and finding oneself within the camera’s images, Mia Hanson-Love’s effort is startling and beautiful.

In “The Lost Daughter”, the thrust of a hat pin, almost imperceptible, and the way it jars Olivia Colman back into her reality of broken motherhood.

“Oh cool, ma, a hamburger!”   “The Many Saints of Newark

 

The running joke of why a three star general would charge everyone for White House snacks. The world may be ending but it reeeaaally bothers Jennifer Lawrence.   “Don’t Look Up”

Harriet Sansom Harris and the way “Licorize Pizza” holds on her face in a jazzy, scene stealing performance as a talent scout who seems to control the world at her desk

 

The way Bob Well’s voice cracks as he talks about his son’s suicide.  The weaving of fact and fiction become something cathartic in Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland”

Wesley Snipes and his walk.  “Coming 2 America”

Sly and the Family Stone taking the stage in “Summer of Soul”

 

An editor’s burial.  “The French Dispatch”


In the middle of a shouting rant on live television, a scientist (Leonardo DiCaprio) momentarily knocks his glasses askew…. And then keeps on going. Whether it was a gaffe or scripted, it lends a moment of unhinged passion to things.  “Don’t Look Up”


With a dissonant Jonny Greenwood score, the long shot as it follows Gary (Cooper Hoffman) inside and around a promotional event, eventually ending up with him being tackled and hauled away by the police for murder. “Licorice Pizza”

Moments of the Year 2020

Inspired by the now defunct Film Comment "Moments Out of Time" series and the great Roger Ebert's year end recap, this Moments of the Year list (now in its 22nd edition) represents indelible moments of my film-going year. It can be a line of dialogue, a glance, a camera movement or a mood, but they're all wondrous examples of a filmmaker and audience connecting emotionally.

 

 

 Bill Nighy and his predilection for fire place screens in “Emma.”

A gunshot and a dog scrambling from the scene. Haunted memories and regret that plague an informer in “The Traitor”

In "The Sound of Metal", the single scene of Mathieu Almaric and Riz Ahmed in a kitchen together as a father who knows more than he says, and his silence speaks volumes as he allows a couple to reunite for the last time.

A woman (Mackenzie Davis) walking down a hallway, casting a shadow and another light shadow eerily stalking behind her.   “The Turning”

The way Fay (Sierra McCormick) says “stop smiling” twice to her friend when she asks about Everett (Jake Horowitz)    “The Vast of Night”

Sarah Bernhardt (Rebecca Dayan) coming backstage to meet "Tesla" (Ethan Hawke) as if she's exiting a psychotropic rave

Black water slowly recessing in a toilet to reveal….. A thing.   “Amulet”

A kitchen pot rocking itself out after being thrown to the floor during a police raid.  “Mangrove”

The desperate faces fixated on an unknowing man (James Northern) as he peels an orange and then throws the peel to the floor, causing a small scuffle from the rabid group of poverty-stricken people.  “Mr. Jones”

Wisdom from Abel Ferrara in “Sportin’ Life” when he states “old keys don’t open new doors, man.”

Willem DaFoe initially going out to chastise a homeless man yelling in the street beneath his window, and the scene that unfolds afterwards between the two men.   “Tommaso”

In “Texas Trip”, the performance of body horror by Mother Fauker.

The badly drawn Obama tattoo.  “The King of Staten Island”

When Tutar (Maria Bakalova) states she wants a nice cage like her female neighbor. Cut to a woman in a cage giving us the finger in “Subsequent Borat MovieFilm”

The way the camera slightly shakes alongside Jean (Rachel Brosnahan) as she learns to shoot a gun in “I’m You’re Woman”

A wedding reception and the alleyway into a street. Regret and time passing slowly for two different people in “The Traitor”

"His House" and the anxiety of waiting for a flip of the light switch to a netherworld of terror

A dinner scene with a group of hearing impaired people having a conversation in sign language, and then an abrupt cut to allow us to hear the innate noise caused by all the hand gestures and mouthing. Just one of the ways sound design is used brilliantly in "Sound of Metal"  

Hands connecting from opposite sides of a subway pole. "Never Rarely Sometimes Always"

In "A White White Day", the simple time lapse of a house and field over an undisclosed amount of time as weather and the passage of time take its toll.

A radio controlled car.  "Train To Busan: Peninsula"

Moments of 2019

Inspired by the now defunct Film Comment "Moments Out of Time" series and the great Roger Ebert's year end recap, this Moments of the Year list (now in its 21st edition!)) represents indelible moments of my film-going year. It can be a line of dialogue, a glance, a camera movement or a mood, but they're all wondrous examples of a filmmaker and audience connecting emotionally.




The completely disgusted glare a bank robber gives Nicole Kidman as a splash of purple dye explodes in slow motion around him and the drop of a bag before he re-enters the bank. “Destroyer”

Customers in a dilapidated movie theater slipping on 3D glasses, which serves as our key to do the same for an extended 50 minute long take through the somnambulist mind of our male protagonist in “Long Day’s Journey Into Night”

From the window of a small prop plane, Joe Pesci’s car held in a slow pan to the left as it disappears from view.   “The Irishman”

In “Apollo 11”, the readings of heart rate and blood pressure from each astronaut. And Buzz Aldrin coming in at a cool 88 compared to Neil Armstrong’s 110.

Greta (Isabella Huppert) standing completely motionless in the street, a gargoyle keeping watch over her prey (Chloe Grace Moretz) in Neil Jordan’s potboiler deluxe “Greta”

“The Beach Bum”- Sprinkled in red light, Moondog (Matthew McCoughnahy) and Lingerie (Snoop Dogg) wax poetic against a dark blue sky with Miami’s lights twinkling in the background. It may be a frayed interpretation of life at the margins, but Harmony Korine envisioned some of the year’s most precisely imagined images

A stuffed animal tiger becomes a full sized one- and the gasp that Estrella (Paola Lara) emits when she first sees him lying in front of her.   “Tigers Are Not Afraid”

“Little Women”  Two timelines of running down the stairs with drastically (and heartbreaking) different results. Just one of the many thrilling ways Greta Gerwig plays with her literal translation.

“But what about the Ken Burns documentary we were gonna watch tonight?”   “Fuck The Dust Bowl”    “Booksmart”

In “Caballerango”, the camera observing a horse on a ridge line, and then the sudden shift to catch it as it momentarily runs out of view.

The guttural, howling cry of a woman (Florence Pugh) doubled over on the lap of her boyfriend as the camera slowly pans out the snowy window behind them.   “Midsommar”

Otis (Noah Jupe) translating the voices of his sparring parents during a contentious phone call. Humor and incisive trauma inflicted all at once.  “Honey Boy”

A woman (Jillian Bell) seeing herself in the reflection of a pretzel cart.  “Brittany Runs a Marathon”

The needle drop of a Scott Walker song that harmonizes perfectly with the drugging of a john in “Hustlers”

Waiting in the hallway for an old lover to ascend, the way Salvador (Antonio Banderas) wipes at his face and goes through a range of emotions.  “Pain and Glory”

Emily (Taylor Russell) telling her father (Sterling K. Brown) that she could have stopped the horror that shattered their lives and the way she breaks down.   “Waves”

The canvas of boats that sail out to meet and bring home the “Maiden”

In “Marriage Story”, Adam Driver singing “Being Alive”, and then impulsively running back to the microphone after starting to sit down, as if when he stops singing, his marriage will be over.

“Geminin Man” and a motorcycle chase through the streets

A slow pan backwards through a group of white-dress clad people standing in front of their respective slots at an outdoor dinner table, and then the slight bow along with them as they all take their seats in unison. In Ari Aster’s “Midsommar”, his camera is just another specter. 

“The Last Black Man In San Francisco”- A man preaching fire and brimstone next to a garbage-filled Oceanside while standing on a milk crate, and the slight smile and wave he gives as a car passes by, breaking his momentary anger into neighborly gesture  

“Tigers Are Not Afraid” - Fish swimming in the muddy water of a puddle.

Tao Zhao and the way the camera fiercely lingers on her as she steps from the backseat of a car and fires a gun in the air, then proceeds to walk around the car and prevent any more harm coming from a gang of thugs in front of her.  “Ash Is Purest White”

A room full of lawyers easily ordering from a lunch menu, and then the slow confusion of Henry (Adam Driver) not knowing what he wants.  “Marriage Story”

“You don’t know how good of a friend you got here.” “Oh, I know.”  No, you DON’T’ know.” Harvey Keitel basically telling Frank Sheeran (Robert DeNiro) ho close he came to being killed.   “The Irishman”

An underwater swim that transitions from nervous flirtation to crushing realism… and the look that Katherine Devers gives upon surfacing.  “Booksmart”

Pretty much anything Martin Lawrence did in “The Beach Bum”, but especially saying “be careful, you may shoot a dolphin” when MoonDog fires a gun into the air on his boat.

Amy (Florence Pugh) sternly describing how marriage is an economic proposition.  “Little Women”

Moments of 2018

Inspired by the now defunct Film Comment "Moments Out of Time" series and the great Roger Ebert's year end recap, this Moments of the Year list (now in its twentieth edition!)) represents indelible moments of my film-going year. It can be a line of dialogue, a glance, a camera movement or a mood, but they're all wondrous examples of a filmmaker and audience connecting emotionally.



 - The sheer frustration of a woman (Maryana Spivak) tossing her head back on the car headrest, and the abrupt overhead shot as her hair flows wildly in the wind, illuminated on-and-off by the light outside the car as a heavy metal song plays on the radio.   “Loveless”

- The first time Brady rides his horse again and the swell of music….. “The Rider”


- The nose of a dog leading us to a jaw dropping twist of narrative in Steve McQueen's jaundiced heist film "Widows"

- The entrance in slow motion , mouthing the words…..”where’s the biiiigggg felllaaaa?”   “The Death of Stalin”

- In Cory Finley’s restrained ode to psychopathic youth, we’re not quite sure why the camera is being so deliberate, but a long, serpentine stead cam shot as Amanda (Olivia Cook) wanders around a big house, quietly snooping on its surroundings.  “Thoroughbreds”


- Fonny (Stephan James) and Tish (Kiki Rivers) and the bursts of glee as they shout in the middle of the street. Youthful exuberance soon cut short by the inequality of everything.  "If Beale Street Could Talk"

- Expecting his love to be reciprocated, all the man (Nathan Zellner) gets is a rock to the face. So goes the unexpected pathos of the Zellner Brother’s “Damsel”

- Perhaps the shot of the year and one worthy of DePalma- outside a heavily glass windowed exterior, the camera follows action in and around the interior of a house of four girls come under siege from a group of men hell-bent on violence.  “Assassination Nation”

- An explosion of a car observed silently from a lengthy overhead shot, then cut to the abrasiveness felt on the ground. Peter Berg’s editing style may be distractingly overwrought at times, but this moment of extreme opposites works well.  “Mile 22”

- In “Happy As Lazzaro”, the faces of a group of people as they wait on the stairs to be let into a lunch that will never happen

- The faces of Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams as they ride up an escalator and the swell of music that surrounds them, both trying to hide the emotions swirling just beneath the surface.  “Disobedience”

- In Lynn Ramsey’s deliberately fractured masterpiece “You Were Never Really Here”, the first sound of Jonny Greenwood’s jangly, nerve-shredding guitar as a man (Joaquin Phoenix) slumbers down a motel hallway and out the fire exit door


- Playing musical chairs in front of Stalin’s coffin in order to have a conversation.  “The Death of Stalin”

- The first appearance of Emily (Blake Lively) in “A Simple Favor”, complete in pants suit, moving in slow motion through the wind and rain as an umbrella blows by her like a scared puppy.

- Quite the muscular shot in “Adrift“- a man (Sam Claflin) hovers on the edge of a cliff and then jumps into the water below as the camera hovers right alongside him and then follows him sidelong into the plunge

- In “Hearts Beat Loud”, Nick Offerman asking his daughter if her mood swings are because she’s found a girlfriend and the casual understanding between father and daughter not tied to the usual ravages of expectations in most films



- “It’s tough teaching faith to people.”    Jonah Hill in “Don’t Worry He Won’t Get Far On Foot”

- In “Assassination Nation”, a girl carries a metal bar as the camera pans along the ground behind her for what feels like an eternity before shifting upside down to observe the blood-soaked carnage said bar just inflicted on another girl

- “Don’t Worry He Won’t Get Far On Foot”, the pained, mournful expression on Joaquin Phoenix’s face as he’s flipped over slowly in a bed, perhaps fully realizing for the first time  his confined status in life.

- In Naomi Kawase’s gentle “Radiance”- With traffic lights gently out of focus behind her, Misako (Ayame Misaki) closes her eyes and walks on a path for the blind, partially trying to understand the darkness of those around her and partially to imbue herself with patience.

- “How to Talk to Girls at Parties”- Zan (Elle fanning) belting out an impromptu punk rock song with Enn (Alex Sharp) and the subsequent psychedelic scene that follows

- In “A Simple Favor”, the nervous look over her shoulder Anna Kendrick does when seated at the library looking over old computer articles about Emily (Blake Lively). It’s a film that continually echoes and makes fun of 40’s film noir as if soccer moms ran the P.I. firm.


- "Mid90's" and the fall through a hole in the rough and the shattered 'thud' that presupposes a young man's attempt at skateboarding greatness

- Xavier Legrand's "Custody"... the final ten minutes, which is far more terrifying than any horror film eleased this year.

- The bracing pop of an explosion, then cut to the exterior of a space shuttle where a metal door crumples outward like pop corn.  “First Man”

- The floor level crawl of the camera and a quick pivot onto her when Susie (Dakota Johnson) murmurs, “I’ll do the dance….” and her sinister legacy begins to take shape.  “Suspiria”

- A swift opening of attic doors and the ensuing gatlin gun battle that eats up about 7 minutes of screen time in Jeremy Saulnier’s “Hold the Dark”. Evil is brooding and inbred into every frame of his uneven but memorable violent reverie

- The smile and look Dr. Shirley (Marshala Ali) gives Tony (Viggo Mortenson) after proofreading his fnal letter to his wife, giving it his nod of approval with, Yes, Tony, it’s perfect.”   “Green Book”

- “Panshot!”     “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”


- Organ music that follows a family into the street in “Happy As Lazzaro”.   Ethereal and magical

Moments of 2017

Inspired by the now defunct Film Comment "Moments Out of Time" series and the great Roger Ebert's year end recap, this Moments of the Year list (19 years running now!) represents indelible moments of my film-going year. It can be a line of dialogue, a glance, a camera movement or a mood, but they're all wondrous examples of a filmmaker and audience connecting emotionally.


- Rooney Mara listening to “I Get Overwhelmed” by Dark Rooms on the headset her husband (Casey Affleck) carefully places over her head, and the way her eyes try to avoid showing the emotion welling up inside her.  “A Ghost Story”

- The casting of Peter Verby as a psychiatrist in Josh and Benny Sadie’s “Good Time”. He’s the type of real life person who would be at home in a Frederick Wiseman documentary.

- In “Call Me By Your Name”, the needle drop onto the Psychedelic Furs “Love My Way”…. the impetus to get Elio (Timothee Chalamat) onto the dance floor.

- A flash of lightning in the sky and a long, slow pan down the city landscape, eventually settling on an alleyway as a man (Denzel Washington) creeps in the shadows.  “Roman J. Israel, Esq.”

- A handheld shot of a man hustling through a crowded newsroom and laying a piece of paper on the desk of a copy editor, muttering “you’ve got ten minutes”…. and then pencil begins making marks on the paper. The distillation of the urgency and intelligence of Steven Spielberg’s “The Post”


- “What is this… a compatibility test? Like what some people do with Vonnegut or “The Big Lebowski?”  Zoe Kazan in “The Big Sick”

- In Charlie McDowell’s “The Discovery”, Will (Jason Segal) turning back to the woman (Rooney Mara) and child on the beach, beginning to say something when the film cuts to black and leaves us imagining what life comes next for him.

- A chimpanzee gently taking bananas from the silent hands of Jane Goodall.   “Jane”

- Really the whole performance of Willem Dafoe in “The Florida Project”, but especially the way his glances and body language slowly evolves as he begins and ends a conversation with a man talking to his group of kids, culminating with an outburst of anger that’s so real, startling, humane.

- A man (Alex Brendemuhl) watches his wife (Marion Cotillard) frantically run after an ambulance and the painfully altered reality that snowballs into damning focus for both.  “From the Land of the Moon”

- A potion being dipped into the water and lifeless fish gently rising to the top.  “The Lost City of Z”

- Fred Armisen’s appearance in “The Little Hours”. One scene is enough to send this film over the top as one of the year’s best comedies.

- In “BladeRunner 2049”, Two women- one real (Makenzie Davis) and one not (Ana de Armas)- intertwining and meshing their bodies. A spectacular piece of visual trickery made all the more poignant for the ways it exudes sensuality and dare I say ‘human’ emotion.

- “First They Killed My Father”. An explosion reflected in the black pupil of a little girl (Sareum Srey Moch) and the frightening confusion that begins.

- In “Columbus”, an explanation told from behind glass, gently withheld from us as Casey (Hayley Lu Richardson) describes her feelings to Jin (John Cho).


- An overhead shot of bullets ricocheting off a shield.   “Wonder Woman” and her battle for no man’s land.

- A girl, ambling slowly over to a hospital window and a young boy on the bed saying “I want to try and see to….” before his body rolls off the bed and thuds on the floor. Yorgis Lanthimos exploring the myths of the nuclear family and how easily they come undone in “The Killing of a Sacred Deer”.

- The way Florence Pugh constantly squirms, writhes and bites her teeth in the background as the people around her try to ascertain the truth. Call it the ultimate bit of modernity infused into a Victorian domestic drama.  “Lady Macbeth”



- The fight in the fog and judging where the creatures are by the sound of the ‘whistle arrows’. “The Great Wall”

- The boorish way Kristen Stewart relents and tries on the harness dress after being urged on by the dresser… and then she seductively commands the screen for the next few minutes in wordless glances in the mirror at herself.  “Personal Shopper”

- The reaction of Nick Offerman to the line reading by Lee (Sam Elliot). Sci-fi schlock from the paper turned into poignant and real commentary.  “The Hero”

- Taylor Sheridan never met a row of speeding cars he didn’t like….. The swooping crane shot as four cars zoom across an Indian reservation in “Wind River”.


- In “The Lost City of Z”, several men jump overboard their small boat and the piranha attack that begins. That’s the reason they couldn’t catch fish in their nets.

- In Dee Rees’ “Mudbound”, the final voiceover from Ronsel (Jason Mitchell) and the moment he sees his son peer out from behind the doorway.

- “I’m gonna create some weird shit.”    “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2”

- Partially obscured by a mesh screen, the thousand yard stare emitted by Connie (Robert Pattinson) from the backseat of a cop car.   “Good Time”


- Two men fighting, and then the muffled reverberating sound of a plate glass window from the inside as their bodies slap against it.  “Gold”

- The reserved, almost pathetic stare Lady Bird (Sairose Ronan) gives her mom (Laurie Metcalf) before retreating back into a dressing room and wondering if this is currently the best version of herself.  “Lady Bird”

- After spending an entire movie choking back her emotions, the way Jane Banner’s (Elizabeth Olsen)
body convulses into a wave of deep sorrow, lying on a hospital bed murmuring “she ran six miles”.  “Wind River”

- “Well, my story line’s disappearing. What. The. Fuck.” Alison Janney in “I, Tonya”

- The sunset in the sky behind Carey Mulligan as she showers for the first time in her exterior homemade bathroom.  “Mudbound”

- Casey (Hayley Lu Richardson) and her mad dance illuminated by the headlights of a parked car. “Columbus”

- With the camera poised inches from her face, the way Brea laments her pain is too much to endure on that given day and is she really invisible? Luckily, her documentary gives visibility to the invisible.  “Unrest”

- And the scene of the year: after finding “never cursed” sewn into the lining of a wedding dress, the cut to a fire-lit bedroom and Reynolds (Daniel Day Lewis) seeing his mother in the corner of the room and the short but heartbreaking confession he begins to mumble…. And we thought fathers were the problem in Paul Thomas Anderson’s universe.   “Phantom Thread”


Welcome 2018!

Moments of 2016

Inspired by the now defunct Film Comment "Moments Out of Time" series and the great Roger Ebert's year end recap, this Moments of the Year list (18 years running now!) represents indelible moments of my film-going year. It can be a line of dialogue, a glance, a camera movement or a mood, but they're all wondrous examples of a filmmaker and audience connecting emotionally.




After ninety minutes of carnage, the way a man (Macon Blair) stumbles across a campsite and murmurs “We need the police.”   “Green Room”

An RV….a yellow raincoat flailing in the wind…. And the rush of music as a woman tries to catch up with a car on the road in “Tumbledown”

In Barry Jenkins‘ “Moonlight”, the sheer honesty and emotion on the face of Mahershala Ali as he silently answers a little boy’s questions at the dinner table

Emma Stone's audition scene in "La La Land"

“The Conjuring 2”. Hands slowly wrapping from around the edges of a painted picture, literally coming to life in the dark edges of the shadows. A scene just as spine tingling and eerie as the best Kiyoshi Kurosawa freak outs in films like “Pulse”

The first divergent strings of Scott Walker’s score to Brady Corbet’s weird and austere debut “The Childhood of a Leader” and a young boy, glimpsed from outside a window, wearing wings

Taika Waititi as a priest, eulogizing during a funeral about doors leading to other doors, and then his perfectly-timed aloofness when, after asking what is behind a second door, young Ricky (Julian Dennison) says “vegetables?”    “Hunt For the Wilderpeople”

The uncontrollable, girlish giggle let out by a nun as Mathilde (Lou de Laag) gently examines her pregnant belly, and then the way she quickly stifles the laugh as Mother Superior looks on in discontent.  A caveat of WWII history given grace and intelligence in Anne Fontaine’s “The Innocents”

In “Dheepan”, the elegant framing of two people in separate windows, surrounded by a sickly yellowish light- a little girl plays in the far corner of the frame while the woman (Kalieaswari Srinivasan) on the left pleads with her husband to return home

One of the more hypnotic transitions of the year in Gabriel Mascaro’s “Neon Bull” sees a man lovingly fitting a woman for her dress and head size, then the same woman bathed in red light as she dances a striptease wearing a horse-head

The way the camera patiently swings back and forth, POV from inside the wooden cage of a Jesuit priest (Andrew Garfield), as he's forced to watch peasants being drawn outside and killed in front of his eyes. "Silence"

“There looks like a man who could foreclose on a house…. I’m gonna go talk to him.” Jeff Bridges doing his best Jeff Bridges in “Hell or High Water”

Max Richter’s simply stunning music that bookends the more human aspects of Denis Villeneuve’s masterpiece “Arrival”

During a Day of the Dead celebration… and all the face masks that come with that…. An array of hands reaching up for Superman as he gently drops a little girl into their arms. One of the few poetic moments in an overtly stylized actioner. “Batman V. Superman”

“It’s easier in here without a penis. We don’t shank each other. We form self help groups.” The response by “Miss Sloane” (Jessica Chastain) when told she looks good in prison

A 50’s dance scene that transforms in front of young Conor (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) as his band rehearses, momentarily washing away the sadness and disappointment of reality.  “Sing Street”

In Naomi Kawase’s delicate and aching “Sweet Bean”, the way Sentaro (Masatoshi Nagase) quietly breaks down as he eats with Tokue, followed by the way she gently consoles him by saying “one should smile when they eat something delicious.”

In the middle of a spasmic dance to The Rolling Stones’ “Emotional Rescue”, Harry (Ralph Fiennes) looks and dances straight into the camera.  “A Bigger Splash”

A stray bullet. A random man on stilts at a wild, orgiastic party being hit by said stray bullet. Just one of the many shocking and seriously funny detours in Shane Black’s wonderful sun noir “The Nice Guys”

In Damien Chazelle’s “La La Land”, after a long walk together, Sebastian (Gosling) returns to his car that was parked right in front of the valet all along

The way  Kevin (Andre Holland) licks his fingers and moves seductively around a kitchen, fixing a late night dinner for his friend.  “Moonlight”

In Chad Hartigan’s “Morris From America”, the gentle exterior pan around a moving car’s windows as Craig Robinson recounts, to his son (Markees Chritsmas) the time he traveled to Germany to meet up with his girlfriend. Life lessons expounded into a moving relationship between son and father, encompassing forgiveness and understanding

“Whiskey Tango Foxtrot”.  A night time raid set to the tune of Harry Nilsson

In the foreground, a man’s face in clear focus as he throws out questions… and in the background, out of focus, a little girl transforms into something hideous. Just one of the many unsettling tricks in “The Conjuring 2” and its nightmarish palette

In “Christine”, the way Rebecca Hall offhandedly remarks that the vase of flowers sitting on their news desk is fake.  Sometimes it takes a rare and sensitive person to notice the artificiality in the world and then a struggle to ignore it. It won't happen, but Rebecca Hall deserves Oscar support

Those final 4-5 minutes in “The Childhood of a Leader”. Words can’t do justice to the malestrom of images and music as a ‘leader’ comes into his own. God help us all

The final glance between  Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) and Mia (Emma Stone) and the way they nod at each other, their eyes encompassing so much forgiveness, regret, warmth and, finally, acceptance.  “La La Land”

The way the camera suddenly swings upward and a group of bodies are walking on the ceiling before our perspective is changed, I can’t imagine a better way to transcribe man’s first entrance into an alien spaceship than that in “Arrival”

"Indignation". The almost doll-like eyes growing a bit dimmer as Olivia (Sarah Gadon) quickly covers up the scars on her wrists.

While asking about his two children, the way Fahim (Christopher Abbot) remarks that his boy is “getting strong.” When asked about his little girl, he comments “she’s stronger”.   “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot”

The long sequence as Tokue (Kirin Kiki) and Sentaro (Masatoshi Nagase) make their first batch of bean paste together.    “Sweet Bean”

One woman hangs by a rope from a tree while the other screams in jealousy, all captured in a serene long shot. "The Handmaiden"

That nervy opening credit sequence in Tom Ford's "Nocturnal Animals". From that moment on, expect nothing and suspect everything

In "Les Cowboys", the look between Kid (Finnegan Oldfield) and his sister in a small grocery store. No words are exchanged, but its crystal clear that this tale is far more devastating than its unexpected narrative turns suggest

Moments of the Year, 2015

Inspired by the now defunct Film Comment "Moments Out of Time" series and the great Roger Ebert's year end recap, this Moments of the Year list (17 years running now!) represents indelible moments of my film-going year. It can be a line of dialogue, a glance, a camera movement or a mood, but they're all wondrous examples of a filmmaker and audience connecting emotionally.



The extreme wide shot of a river with one man walking towards the shore while at the other end of the frame, a man flounders, trying to pull himself up after being shot.  “Timbuktu”

The landscape of Mother Russia and the way filmmaker Andrey Zvyagintsev’s “Leviathan” centers a huge mountain in the distance of a ramshackled apartment building. It’s not just the politicians lording over the people.

In Bertrand Bonello’s fantastic “Saint Laurent”, old Yves Saint Laurent (Helmet Berger) carefully arranging his lighter and other trinkets in distinct order on the coffee table before him as if he were sketching another fashion collection in his mind.

In an extreme close-up of her hand, a woman (Arielle Holmes) trying to thread a needle, unable to hold her drug addicted hand steady.  “Heaven Knows What”

“Sicario”. A row of heavily armed assault vehicles methodically bobbing and weaving in line as they race through a Mexican  border town. Then the eyes and tense face of Emily Blunt trying to absorb every bob and weave.

The momentary closing of the eyes for Therese (Rooney Mara) as a hand glances her shoulder, evoking so much passion, sadness and dutiful remembrance of the action that it leaks off the screen. “Carol”

The long opening shot of Trey Shults’ “Krisha” as it follows the title character down a suburban street pulling her luggage, struggling to find the right address, through mud puddles in a neighbor’s yard and finally to the right home where she enters into an orgiastic holiday of hellos and embraces, then the red title card tells us this is a horror film of a different sort.

In Abderrahmane Sissako’s “Timbuktu”, a group of children playing soccer with an invisible ball.

The way in which Kumiko (Rikyu Kukichi) deflects the casual conversation of a friend she meets in the street as if the words are physically hurting her, flinching and vulnerable in a wonderful performance in “Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter”.

Eddie Redmayne mimicking a peep show stripper’s actions from behind the glass, then their eyes meet when she catches him… and the sensitive cat and mouse glances that ensues. “The Danish Girl”

“Beasts of No Nation”. The ferocity of capturing the bridge in a shanty town.

Ben Stiller trying to explain his seven hour documentary to a hedge fund investor (Ryan Serhant) in “While We’re Young”.

The unmatched whimsy of David Gordon Green: Al Pacino opening his locked van door with an invisible key tossed to him by a mime.  “Manglehorn”

When asked by Carol (Cate Blanchett) “What do you want to do?” during their first lunch together, the way in which Therese (Rooney Mara) replies “I don’t even know what to order for lunch….” and then the silence that falls over both women. "Carol".

The face of Melinda (Elizabeth Banks) listening to Brian Wilson (John Cusack) talk about the abuse at his father’s hands and the range of comprehension, emotion and empathy that flashes across it, followed by a half-hurt, awkward reply of, “well, shit….”   “Love and Mercy”

The first appearance of the “man who can’t breathe” in “Insidious Chapter 3”

A piano player’s eyes welling up when he sees the concentration camp numbers slowly protruding from underneath the sleeve of Nelly’s (Nina Hoss) blouse, and her voice carries through the air as he stops playing. “Phoenix”

Fireworks exploding from the rooftop… … a group of officers using a bullhorn from a vacant window as the fireworks pour into the opening…. a police crane slowly raising officers towards the roof and then the quick cut to black. The final images of “Black Coal Thin Ice”, as offbeat and stunning as the rest of the film.

In “Aloft”, the confrontation between son (Cillian Murphy) and mother, finally, after all these years.

The sound of a young man’s dying breaths, violently sucking in air and then crying out for his mother. Haunting and unforgettable in Russell Crowe’s “The Water Diviner”

In Christian Petzold’s “Phoenix”, the seductive, charming way in which an American soldier flips a cigarette to Nelly (Nina Hoss) and tries to brush her lips, then becomes instantly dissatisfied when a voice behind him says, “hey captain, wrong woman.” Just like the rest of post war Berlin, its exploitative until it isn’t.

Devereaux (Gerard Depradieu) being locked in a New York City jail cell and the way he and other cellmates encircle and glare at each other liked wild animals testing the anxiety in the air. As Abel Ferrara’s camera maintains its gaze from outside the bars…. “Welcome To New York”

Tall, waif-like Betty (Aymeline Valade) hovering across the dance floor, demurely denying Yves Saint Laurent (Gaspard Ulliel) with “I can’t” over and over as he asks her to model for him. In that ethereal moment, a lifetime friendship is borne.  “Saint Laurent”

Making a left and coming head-on to an “end sign” where his house used to be, and then the little ticks of confusion then acceptance as Brian Wilson (Cusack) confronts his past. “Love and Mercy”

A classroom of students not believing their professor’s message about Kennedy’s death in “Experimenter”.

In a scene framed from behind the gentle swaying of amber curtains, the way they eventually fall aside and perfectly frame Yinniang (Qi Shu) as she studies the conversation going on in front of her. “The Assassin”

“Oh I love that outfit.” The non sequitor that emerges from Sindee (Kitani Kiki Rodriqguez) as an infuriated Armenian mother-in-law (Alla Tumanian) bursts into the verbal and emotional carnage going on in a donut restaurant in Sean Baker’s “Tangerine”

In Paolo Sorrentino’s haunting companion piece “Youth”, A masseuse (Luna Mijovic) dancing in an open window, her body serving as the fluctuating ebbs and flows of a high class hotel where everyone is observing everyone else…. And then we see her movement is from playing a dancing video game.

The conversation between Catherine (Elizabeth Moss) and Virginia (Katherine Waterston) that veers from old flames to guilt to victimization in one sobering long take. “Queen of Earth”

In Adam McKay’s “The Big Short”, the quick bursts of montage editing that serve as logistic, spatial and cultural time stamps in a film whose sobering message of unrequited greed and malignancy falls silent amongst the winds of hip pop stupidity and technological solipsism. 

In “The Look of Silence”, a daughter, hearing about her father’s atrocities for the first time, and the small twitches that erupt across her face, trying to process what she’s hearing.

A close up of a young girls a face. Her rapid breathing. A figure moving in and out focus in the background. Horrors hinted at off-screen. The final shot of Melanie Laurent’s “Respire”

Hitler walking down a spa hallway. “Youth”

Moments of 2014

1) The unnoticed tear that falls slowly from a woman’s eye as she lies comatose in a bed and the man beside her holding her hand…. Farhadi’s visual gut punch in “The Past”.

2) In “Snowpiercer”, the slow-motion scream and wide eyes of a young girl (Ah-Sung Ko) as a set of doors opens up, and we see the terror lying in wait.

3) The final scene and conversation between father (Benecio del Toro) and daughter… the way he slightly hunches towards her, trying to mend the mistakes of the past in Arnaud Desplechin‘s “Jimmy P.”

4) A reflection through a cold, dirt window as we see a woman (Marion Cotillard) sailing away and a man (Joaquin Phoenix) watching her…. “The Immigrant”

5) As director Alejandro Jodorwosky talks about the special effects of his never made film “Dune”, the way he picks up and quiets his cat, then without missing a beat, continues his story. “Jodorwosky’s Dune”

6) In Anton Corbijn’s austere spy thriller “A Most Wanted Man”, the primal scream that Philip Seymour Hoffman lets out once he realizes he’s been duped at the end… and the way he staggers around without direction in the street. 

7) The face of forgiveness….. A daughter (Kelly Riley) meeting her father’s killer in prison and the way her face shatters with emotion. “Calvary”

8) A young girl (Lika Babluani) literally dancing away her sorrow at her best friend’s wedding. “In Bloom”





9) The girls breaking into “hate hate hate Vasteros!” when the crowd turns on their climactic performance. This is certainly no 80’s slow clap moment in Lukas Moodyson’s “We Are the Best!”

10) In one of the most entertaining big budget spectacles of the year, the monster literally ripping open the throat of his nemesis and spewing fire down it in “Godzilla”. 

11) Emmanuel Seigner, deftly orchestrating the house lights of the theater, then removing the gum from her mouth and sticking it under the desk as she walks away, not only deconstructing sensuality but playing a big game in Polanksi’s “Venus In Fur”

12) The way Shasta Fay (Katherin Waterston) playfully collapses her leg against the wall and she and Doc (Joaquin Phoenix) make out in the corridor of a building during a rainstorm- the happy driver of past times in a sinister new world  “Inherent Vice”

13) A group of Robert de Niro impersonators outside the window in “Neighbors”

14) In “Interstellar”, the rescue of Dr. Brand (Anne Hathaway) by TARS, a moment that literally made me squeal with excitement in a crowded movie theater 

15) The zombie-like walk of a group of weary soldiers, hunting a runaway slave amongst a canvas of tall pine trees in Chris Eskin’s “The Retrieval”.


16) To calm her down and fully virtually record her range of emotions, the story Harvey Keitel spins about how he got into the business of talent agent at the age of 12.  “The Congress”

17) In the best horror film of the year, the ominous darkness that barely lights the face of Sarah (Alex Essoe) beneath her gray hoodie in a derelict kitchen and the downright terrifying blood spillage that occurs next  “Starry Eyes”

18) The way sunlight slowly, very slowly creeps up on the face of Juliette Binoche as she sits outside during one of her numerous sessions to her herself, trying to make sense of her situation and enjoy some remnants of normal life in “Camille Claude 1915”


19) Just a month after that picture was taken, me wife was taken away to heaven by the angels.”  “there must have been a lot of them”.  Quick wit in “Alan Partridge”

20) The first interaction between the judge (Robert Duvall) and his granddaughter…. Completely turning a jaded old man into something touching and tender.  “The Judge”

21) The glare and shoulder twitch that emanates from Fletcher (JK Simmons) as his drummer (Miles Teller) launches into a drum solo. “Whiplash”

22) Revealing a warm glow of yellow sunlight through the station windows and then a deliberate pan down with American flags positioned on both sides of the frame as a host of people mill about aimlessly… the first image of America after her sister has been taken away.  “The Immigrant”

23) In “Calvary”, a boy drawing the ocean, and when he’s asked who the two figures in the forefront are, he replies “I don’t know…. I’ve been reading a lot of ghost stories lately”. Then those two figures appear on the beach later with devastating consequences.

24) Ranting away at her dad (Michael Keaton) and then the slow resignation that falls over her face after the harsh words have ended. Emma Stone in “Birdman”

25) In “Inherent Vice”, the way Jade (Hong Chau) says, “these people are freakin’ me out….” in reference to a sprawling party, as if her previous scene of voyeuristic lesbianism was totally normal.

26) The slow, almost unbearable tension as a man (Guy Pearce) makes his way through a quiet house, then stumbles upon a sleeping man. "The Rover"

27. Watching himself in a department store two way mirror, then the jolting cut to black- Jesse Eisenberg studying his own mortality in "Night Moves"

28. In "Interstellar", 23 years worth of messages and the heartbreak that cascades over Matthew McCoughnay's face.

29. "Inherent Vice" Bigfoot Bjornson’s (Josh Brolin) look off-screen followed by “what the fuck?” as Doc’s maritime lawyer (Benecio del Toro) gallops into the police station.

30. “Birdman”. The various whip pans to the stage hands, quietly observing the wheels coming off on Broadway in Michael Keaton’s Raymond Carver adaptation.

31. That final glance of uncertainty between two teenagers sitting on a desert cliff and the endless possibilties for twelve more years.  "Boyhood"

Moments of 2013

In conjunction with my favorite films of the year list, I offer up some moments out of 2013 films that made an indelible impression on me. Older online buddies will recognize this as a recurring event. This list is a collection of film dialogue, gestures, camera movements, moods or looks and ideas within a given scene. This list is inspired by Roger Ebert's list of movie moments as well as the once great (now defunct) yearly wrap up in Film Comment. Possible spoilers so beware!


 1. The lip curls and eye twitches of Sarah Polley, sequestered in a sound studio, listening to her father read the story of her mother…. The intimate moments where non fiction becomes unbridled emotions across her face in “Stories We Tell”.
2. A truck with its headlights on positioned in the center of the frame as two bodies writhe in pain on either side of it in what feels like the longest and most intimate shootout in recent film in “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints”
3. A long crane shot, down the mouth of a river as a horde of people walk in line searching for bodies that will never be found… “Prisoners”
4. The burning embers of a letter illuminating the screen, then slowly burning out. “12 Years A Slave”
5. In a techno club, the camera holds on a man (Brady Corbet) and French girl as they dance to LCD Soundsystem‘s “Dance Yrself Clean”… the young man only delaying the inevitable in Antonio Campos’ strikingly deliberate “Simon Killer”
6. “All Is Lost”. Letting go of a pink strap, and his schooner slowly sinking into the water in front of The Man (Robert Redford).

7. The final scene in “Laurence Anyways”, as Laurence and Fred (Suzanne Clement) meet over a catering table and the meaning of their "minimizes my pleasure" mantra that's been echoed through the whole film is given shattering weight.

8. The striking cut as we open on a man welding, and then he turns around to reveal Department of Corrections on the back of his suit. Christian Bale in “Out of the Furnace”

9. “Dallas Buyers Club” The meeting between son (Jared Leto) and father.

10.The overhead shot on a line of cars as a group of SWAT officers deploys slowly onto them. Yet another striking set piece in Johnnie To’s “Drug War”.

11. The look of Christopher Walken going from boredom to disbelief as he sees his partner in crime Val (Al Pacino) slow dancing with a pretty girl. “Stand Up Guys”

12. The slow tracking shot as a group of children approach an old German house, and the horrors that await inside… “Lore”

13. The final scene of Tom in “Stories We Tell”, hidden away during the credits that causes a gasp with “we did sleep together one time…..”

14.In “What Maise Knew”, watching a crosswalk sign turn from stop to walk, and the way Maise (Onata Aprile) reaches up for the hand of Alex Skarsgard.

15. The sad resignation on the face of Bruce Dern as he wanders into his parent’s old room in an abandoned house with “they used to beat me if I came in here. Can’t beat me no more….” Past and present coming together in monochrome melancholy in “Nebraska”.

16. Gilles (Clement Metayar ) describing the film he’s about to begin work on with “it’s a science fiction film… with prehistoric animals… and Nazis.”  “Something In the Air”

17. The tentative finger hold and hesitation over the ATM machine as it asks to charge $3 processing fee for her usage… and all this after running six blocks. Frances (Greta Gerwig) in “Frances Ha”

18. The eyes of a random woman, covered by a Muslim headdress, as Jep (Toni Servillo) wanders the streets of Rome at night. Is she sad, worried or in deep thought? Yet another fleeting moment of life in Paolo Sorrentino’s “The Great Beauty”.

19. The sheer excitement on Christian bale’s face as he looks back at the prison he juts left, rapping his hands on the hood of a car. “Out Of the Furnace”

20. Imitating her mother, the quick slap that Lore (Saskia Rosendahl) gives to Thomas (Kai Malina) refuting his hand between her legs .  “Lore”

21. Laurence’s (Melvin Polpaud) first walk down a school hallway dressed as a woman and the tracking shot across the faces of everyone as he walks by, alternating between the dumbfound to the inquisitive in Xavier Dolan‘s “Laurence Anyways”

22. The performance of Kevin Costner in "Man of Steel".... sheer father-like humanity as he raises his hand to stop his son from saving him.

23. In "Short Term 12", the way Brie Larson tilts her head, allowing her hair to gently fall to one side as she tries to reach the hurt and afraid kids in her care.

24. Where to choose in Wong Kar Wai's sumptuous "The Grandmaster", but probably the train platform fight where Gong Er (Zhang Yiyi) shows us exactly who the real Grandmaster is.

25. The perfect Park Chan Wook murder in "Stoker", where a large bed overtakes the scene, a head drops to one side of the screen while the blood splatter on the wall on the left side slowly drips down.

26. At night, a long slow zoom above a house in the Hollywood hills as two teenagers sulk around the glass tinted rooms with carefree abandon, Los Angeles glowing in the background. "The Bling Ring"

27. In "Dallas Buyers Club", the meeting between father and son (Jared Leto).

28. Jesse (Ethan Hawke) reading a letter to Celine (Julie Delphy) from himself in the future. 

29. In "The Great Beauty", a woman's face encompassing the whole screen as she backs away up the steps of a lighthouse from young Jep... lost in memories and regrets, its one of those fleeting moments that we don't do something and regret it for a lifetime. 

30. The way John Goodman blurts out "oh fuck!" when a cat appears on the lap of Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac) in the front seat. "Inside Llewyn Davis".

31. The way the sound slowly falls out in Miguel Gomes "Tabu" as one story in the present begins to unwind into the past... and we're introduced to the young Aurora (Ana Moreira).

32. The dinner scene in "Before Midnight" where couples, young and old, talk about literature, love and life. One of the most adult scenes in any film this year.

33. The long steadicam shot as a group of men are paraded through a small village, mothers and wives weeping at the edges of the frame, and then the sound of them being hanged in Serge Lotniza's harsh "In the Fog".

34. "Captain Philips" and the utter precision and sound design as a group of snipers finally get their shots.

35. The burst of laughter that emanates from Sandra Bullock as she faces being burned alive upon re-entry in "Gravity".

36. The opening shot of Derek Cianfrance's "The Place Beyond the Pines" as stunt bike rider Handsome Luke (Ryan Gosling) crosses the carnival grounds.

37. In "Prisoners", a man drives a young girl to the hospital in a torrential rainstorm, the camera cutting back and forth from on top of the car to inside the car as the cop (Jake Gyllenhall) wipes blood from his eyes and tries to stay focused on the road. 

38. Michael Cera and his juice box... and a blowjob. "This Is the End"

39. A rock crashing through a window and a man falling out of frame. "Like Someone In Love"

40. A man making sounds inside a metal storm sewer drain. "Upstream Color"

Moments of 2012

In conjunction with my favorite films of the year list, I offer up some moments out of 2012 films that made an indelible impression on me. Older online buddies will recognize this as a recurring event. This list is a collection of film dialogue, gestures, camera movements, moods or looks and ideas within a given scene. This list is inspired by Roger Ebert's list of movie moments as well as the once great (now defunct) yearly wrap up in Film Comment. Possible spoilers so beware!


1. Gina Carana slipping off her heels before a fight. “Haywire”


2. John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) standing to fight with his dog Woola as a horde of alien warriors encroaches upon them in “John Carter of Mars”

3.“oh shit… our donkey’s in the ditch” Texan poetry in “Bernie”

4. Penny (Kiera Knightely) and Dodge (Steve Carell) looking into each other’s eyes as the world crumbles around them… probably the finest scene in film this year “Seeking A Friend For the End of the World”

5. In a long tracking shot, a group of men hide behind trucks and vehicles underneath a highway overpass and engage in a confusing shoot-out- and then a burning tire rolls by….. The excitement of Gerardo Naranjo’s “Miss Bala”

6. In “Beasts of the Southern Wild”- in what feels like an improvised moment- a man (Dwight Henry) looks at the camera and says “I got this”

7. In a jail cell, a man and woman sit with their backs to each other and talk “Seeking A Friend For the End of the World”

8. In a wordless, dreamy sequence lit only by candlelight, the expression on each man’s weary face as they look up at the beautiful girl serving them drinks…. A brief, melancholy respite from the doldrums of searching for a murdered body in “Once Upon A Time In Anatolia”

9. “Polisse” and the disco dance of a group of cops at play

10. The small hesitation of the hunter (Willem DaFoe), his gun slightly lowered, and the almost welcoming head bob of the Tasmanian tiger he’s been hunting. “The Hunter”

11. At a house party, the gently protracted long shot as Monica Bellucci dances with various partners….. Yet another glorious musical interlude in the work of Philippe Garrel in “A Burning Hot Summer”

12. Against a sunset backdrop, Christopher Walken talks into a tape recorder and weaves a story about a homicidal priest and his few final last thoughts…. While intentionally self deprecating for most of its running time, “Seven Psychopaths” turns genuinely moving

13. The way Pete (Paul Rudd) begins to walk into the kitchen, and sees his wife (Leslie Mann) and father (Albert Brooks) talking.... then slowly backs out of the room.  "This Is 40"
14. The stuttering and stammering of Mark Duplass with “what did you, how did you, what did you, what are you doing here?” as Emily Blunt crashes a drunken hangover in a cabin…. “Your Sister’s Sister”

15. A man walking up the pier, the camera seamlessly going in and out of focus on him, then a yacht, back to him as if the two images are inextricably linked in “The Master”

16. In “The Day He Arrives”, a group of people stumble into the cold morning waiting for a cab and the way one of them leans forward to hold his balance. The drunken state we’ve all experienced in a patient long take

17. “Jack Reacher” and the very 70’s car chase

18. “I wanna do heroin and listen to Radiohead!” Patton Oswalt in “Seeking A Friend For the End of the World”


19. Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) meeting “The Master” and a series of questions where the camera holds on is face for an uncomfortable amount of time, then tears begin to fall and he fights them back

20. The sound of fists pummeling a sheet of ice.   "Rust and Bone"

21. Inside a wooden bridge, two dark shadows fight and the sounds of a knife ripping open skin... probably one of the more boldly staged  final fights I've ever seen in "Lawless" where foreground and background are blurred into one another

22. A slow motion death.... a simply breathtaking puzzle of images and sounds as Garret Dillahunt meets his end.  "Looper"

23. A hand fan, fluttering at the speed of running horses, and then the scream that erupts from Anna (Keira Knightley) as her lover is tossed from his horse.... and the crowd turns to face her.  "Anna Karenina"

24. In "Rust and Bone", a woman (Marion Cotillard) walks up to a glass of blue water that fills the screen and summons a whale with a gentle tap on the glass and then forgives it.

25. The reverberating sound of a car bomb... one of the most realistic sounding explosions I've ever heard. "Zero Dark Thirty"

26. The performance of Lola Creton in "Goodbye First Love" and the way she carefully puts a straw hat back onto her head after years of leaving one like it behind

27. After being asked if Django should be taken into the house, the way Don Johnson replies "no!" to Christoph Waltz   "Django Unchained"

28. The droning music of "The Turin Horse". I'm still not a Bela Tarr convert, but the music made his final film all the more haunting and disturbing

29. In Sam Mendes' "Skyfall", a gunfight at the top of a glass building that ranks as the best Bond set piece in years

30. A boy suddenly falling from a tree and then the impending silence.  "The Kid With a Bike"

31. When asked "where to", the complete look of utter cluelessness and relief on Mya's face in "Zero Dark Thirty"

32. A volleyball game in the Vatican courtyard.  "We Have a Pope"

33. The tracking shot, partly underwater as a man swims for his life and then a giraffe swims the opposite direction in "Life of Pi"

34. Making small talk with a neighboring hotel resident and the sense of normalcy, for a fleeting moment, for "Barbara" (Nina Hoss)

35. The close up on Philip Seymour Hoffman's face as a bike disappears into the desert and he screms "Freddie!"   "The Master"

Moments of 2011

In conjunction with my favorite films of the year list, I offer up some moments out of 2010 films that made an indelible impression on me. Older online buddies will recognize this as a recurring event. This list is a collection of film dialogue, gestures, camera movements, moods or looks and ideas within a given scene. This list is inspired by Roger Ebert's list of movie moments as well as the once great (now dead) yearly wrap up in Film Comment. Possible spoilers so beware!


1. Elle Fanning trying to apologize for her father in a long take, as black and white movie images flash across her face. A star is born…. “Super 8”
2. Shadows fighting on the pavement. “Drive”
3. The look of James Mcavoy as he overlooks the chaos being caused by a president’s body being carried through the street in “The Conspirator”
4. In Michael Winterbottom’s “The Trip", Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan exchanging Michael Caine impersonations over breakfast
5. The abrupt way in which Paul (Mimi Branescu) tells his wife that he’s having an affair, and her quiet reaction, soon becoming an explosive confrontation in an astounding 12 minute long take. The Romanian New Wave does it again, creating unbearable tension out of the mundane in Radu Muntean’s “Tuesday, After Christmas”
6. “I feel all gushy down there….” Ellen Page in “Super”
7. The downright disturbing voice captured on a baby monitor walkie talkie in James Wan’s hugely under appreciated “Insidious”
8. The lateral pan following Javier Bardem along a street, over a bridge and then up into the sky as he watches a flock of birds dance in the sky. “Biutiful”
9. In “Take Shelter”, the extremely violent eruption of emotion as Michael Shannon overturns a table at a community pot luck dinner, and the ensuing silence as everyone watches
10. The entrance of Jeremy Irons and his boardroom discussion of what exactly is going on with his company in “Margin Call”. Surely the scenes that a best supporting actor award are made for
11. Through a breath of tears, the way Ricky Tarr (Tom Hardy) mumbles… “she wasn’t even my type” when telling the story of his overseas affair. “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”
12. A plane gently crashing into the water. “Road To Nowhere”
13. The night time meeting on a beach between two brothers and a shimmering city poised directly above them…. Something the film has been building towards for over 90 minutes in Gavin O Conner’s lovingly crafted “Warrior”
14. A lost calf quietly dying under a tree and the slow fade to winter time in “The Four Times”
15. The way Michael Fassbender’s body collapses under his own disappointment as he climbs off a woman, unable to make love with her in a hotel room and the way director Steve McQueen frames him just off-center in the next shot in “Shame”. Technique as psychology
16. In “Young Adult”, the little snarl laugh Mavis (Charlize Theron) gives off when asked “what’s wrong” by Patrick Wilson as she stands with coffee spilled on her dress in front of a party
17. The beautifully constructed pawn shop robbery in “Drive”… editing and point of view rendered with utmost clarity. And the camera never even goes inside the pawn shop
18. The final scene in “Carancho”…. a long take of spiraling vehicle crashes and distorted gunfire.. And then a woman (Martina Gusman) trying to resuscitate her lover on the street
19. A terrified glance straight into the camera and then… “what was that guy doing”. Abrupt cut to black in “Martha Marcy May Marlene”
20. “No, he’s not my husband.” “Good because I’m gonna climb that like a tree”. Melissa McCarthy in “Bridesmaids”
21. The point of view shot of a daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) blocked by three bodies as they descend towards her mother in “The Conspirator”
22. A punishing experience from start to finish, but the indelible black and white images of a bombed out city in Chuan Lu‘s “City of Life and Death”
23. A girl crying uncontrollably on the porch. “Putty Hill”
24. A group of women in a 1900 era brothel cavorting and laying around, timed to Lee Moses’ funky tune “Bad Girl” in "House of Tolerance"
25. “Now what”… cut to Pearl Jam. “50/50”
26. The eyes and smile of Emily Blunt in “The Adjustment Bureau”
27. In the midst of Armageddon, a small community dances and enjoys each others company. “Stake Land”
28. A confrontation in the hallway of a burglarized house between John Hawkes and the owner… And the quiet suspense that builds between them. “Martha Marcy May Marlene"
29. Aryton Senna’s mother kissing his racing helmet at a funeral… the image that probably got to me more than any other this year in “Senna”
30. “Margin Call” and Paul Bettany explaining exactly how one spends 1.5 million dollars a year
31. A slow motion fireball engulfing two people as they stare into each other’s eye in Duncan Jones terrific “Source Code”… a sci-fi companion to “Groundhog Day”
32. In the film’s most pivotal moment, a slow tracking shot into a vehicle from across the street, leaving the conversation to our imagination in George Clooney’s “The Ides of March”
33. The complete look of disillusion on the face of a young boy when he sees a variety of phone numbers scrawled on a girl’s hand in “Myth of the American Sleepover”
34. With downtown Los Angeles glimmering in the background of a living room apartment, the Driver (Ryan Gosling) and Irene (Carey Mulligan) exchange a long, pregnant pause… “Drive”
35. Rhoda (Brit Marling) telling a story about a Russian cosmonaut and that persistent thumping coming from his ship… “Another Earth”
36. Smiley (Gary Oldman) talking to an empty chair and the straight stare into the camera…. Talking is the most precious commodity in Tomas Alfredson’s intelligent spy re-working of “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy”
37. In “Hanna”, the long tracking shot as Cate Blanchett walks up to a car, gun in hand, as it sits at the end of a road in flames
38. The almost paternal relationship over the phone between Kate Winslet and Laurence Fishburn in “Contagion”- “when’s the last time you ate something that didn’t come out of a vending machine?” “Taco Bell?”
39. “Courtney, quit f***ing around with those children!” and the absurdity of the opening scene in David Gordon Green's “Your Highness”, a film that I laughed at more than any other this year
40. The nervous jump as a meat clever hits food behind him and a desperate phone call that never reaches Irena (Svetlana Chodchenkova). “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”
41. The ten minute storm cellar scene in “Take Shelter” and the crescendo of music as Curtis (Michael Shannon) finally opens the door
42. The lateral pan as Fassbender jogs across owntown New York, and the way the camera patiently waits with him at the crosswalk in "Shame"
43. In "The Descendants", the abrupt kiss on the porch and the stunned look on the face of Judy Greer
44. The t-shirt of Rooney Mara, expressing a very nihilistic worldview. "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
45. The smash cut onto the face of a prostitute (Alice Barnole) as her face is cut apart... her screams breaking the tranquility of an 1899 Paris bordello. "House of Tolerance"

Moments of The Year '10

In conjunction with my favorite films of the year list, I offer up some moments out of 2010 films that made an indelible impression on me. Older online buddies will recognize this as a recurring event. This list is a collection of film dialogue, gestures, camera movements, moods or looks and ideas within a given scene. This list is inspired by Roger Ebert's list of movie moments as well as the once great (now dead) yearly wrap up in Film Comment. Possible spoilers so beware!


1. Floating through the entire film with a beautiful waif-like presence, the way in which Alice de Lencquesaing tries to act grown up and orders a coffee… “The Father of My Children”.

2. A camera crew roaming around the burial grounds of a killer at nigh time, running into a group of kids playing urban legends in “Cropsey”

3. Sitting in the backseat of a car, slowly fazing out of focus, a girl (Katie Jarvis) listens to Bobby Womack. “Fish Tank”

4. The percussive editing of Christian Caron’s “Farewell” and a group of spies being arrested, including the wide eyed face of a jogger (Diane Kruger) realizing what’s happening as she tries to run away.

5. A man violently slashing a cabbage patch with a scythe. “The White Ribbon”

6. The lateral pan behind a fence as Nazi soldiers are shot… just the beginning of a nightmare in Martin Scorsese’s “Shutter Island”.

7. Lizzie Caplan in “Hot Tub Time Machine” and the hug she gives John Cusack with “…maybe the universe will bring us back together.”

8. In “The Ghost Writer”, a note being passed on and on and the camera trained in almost reverent observation.

9. “Hey” as the black swan in her nightmares finally speaks to Nina (Natalie Portman). “Black Swan”

10. Here’s one that got away monologue. “Red Riding Trilogy”



11. A regular guy (Andy Garcia) doing an audition for a Martin Scorsese movie in “City Island”

12. On a rooftop, silhouetted by the setting sun, a guy consoles a girl as a flock of birds flies away. Wordless romanticism visualized to perfection in “The Exploding Girl”

13. The thrashing guitar drone as One Eye (Mads Mikkelson) tramps up a hill in one long take. “Valhalla Rising”

14. Like a beautiful matte painting, a group of scholars and priests surround a man as darkness engulfs the edges in Alejandro Amenenbar’s hugely under appreciated “Agora”

15. Rebecca Hall as a tormented mother almost melting away as she asks Eddie (Andrew Garfield) “are you gonna save me?” “Red Riding Trilogy”

16. The opening black and white surveillance camera images of a bank robbery timed to beautiful music. Just the first images in David Michod’s startling debut “Animal Kingdom”.

17. Val Kilmer oil painting an old woman modeling for him… “MacGruber”

18. “Do you wanna finish this?” and a hand on a gun on the passenger side as a sheriff (Garret Dillahunt) slowly backs away from the vehicle he’s just pulled over in “Winter’s Bone”.

19. “Secret Sunshine”- A woman wailing uncontrollably in a pew in an extreme long take, and then a hand slowly reaching out and touching her head

20. Bathed in red light, the furious struggle of a naked man (Tom Hardy) with his guards timed to The Walker Brothers’ The Electrician. “Bronson”



21. A man looking into the reflection of himself in his computer monitor screen and making a decision. “Father of My Children”

22. A fight amidst a windy garbage dump and each side rolling balls of garbage as their protection… just another absurd and totally unique shoot out scene in a Johnny To film “Vengeance”

23. The eyes of Cora (Olivia Wilde) as she sees her first sunset. “Tron Legacy”

24. In Le You’s “Spring Fever”, the boat ride shared by three people in silence as they all understand their time together will not last much longer… a longeur visualized in heartbreaking terms.

25. “You can tell me anything. Just tell me” and the seemingly caring prodding by a true beast played to scary perfection by Ben Mendelsohn in “Animal Kingdom”

26. A young girl pushing her horse into the water and treading across it as two professional bounty hunters look in on stunned silence… this ain’t your daddy’s western. “True Grit”

27. A woman (Anna Bederk) slowly dancing to techno beat, bathed in blue light, her head tilted and staring straight into the camera. Seduction and lots of food in Fatih Akin’s lighthearted “Soul Kitchen”

28. A horse riding into the frame and suddenly tripping over something invisible. Just the first evil episode in a long line of quiet atrocities. “The White Ribbon”

29. A van diving into the river.. And the 45 minutes of universe and dimension that propels from it. “Inception”

30. During a Fourth of July picnic, the quick, scared glances shared across the grass between a man and woman when they see a house fire in the distance. “The Square”

31. Probably the most unique and inventive car chase in years….a man follows the directions of a saved GPS route in “The Ghost Writer”

32. Wordless, wandering around in despair… and the way her husband picks up her shoes and tries to give them to her. “I Am Love”

33. “fuck you very much” the desperation of being stuck in a coffin and not having a very friendly operator on the cell phone. “Buried”

34. In “True Grit”, the high pitched squeal/scream as a man has his fingers cut off .

35. A man, in slow motion, walking directly into the camera as he carries the limp, lifeless body of a dead girl…. Crime and punishment in “Animal Kingdom”

36. Mack the Knife playing as a man (Tahar Rahim) walks down the street with a baby and woman in tow… and a slow line of vehicles joining in the fray. A king is born. “A Prophet”

37. Walking along a sandy, cold beach in nothing but a flannel shirt, the smile she (Alicja Bachlda) gives the man (Colin Farrell) as he returns home in Neil Jordan’s sublime modern fairy tale “Ondine”

38. A man framed deep in the left corner of the frame, through a window with a vase of yellow flowers dominating the center of the frame…. The cold blooded hit-man-thriller given a painterly point of view in “The American”. It only continues to look better from there.

39. Like something straight out of a 40’s noir, the way smoke curls around Leonard diCaprio as he stands in the center of an adorned room caught between reality and nightmare in “Shutter Island”

40. “Tastes like coconut…and metal.” “Iron Man 2”

41. An overturned vehicle after a chase, and a man running up to peer inside when he discovers something in the backseat. Just more tragedy piled on in “The Square”.

42. Tilda Swinton fighting with her son by the pool… and then…. “I Am Love”

43. The long tracking shot following two men (Geoffrey Rush and Colin Firth) as they talk, and eventually fight, along a fog-covered street in "The King's Speech"

44. Just about everything Emma Stone does in "Easy A", but especially as she spells out the word "cunt" with her peas

45. A quiet, slow tracking shot behind a parked car. As a train loudly rolls in front of the car, a shadow jumps up from the backseat to provide food for his young love. "Let Me In"

Moments of 2009

In conjunction with my favorite films of the year list, I offer up some moments out of 2009 films that made an indelible impression on me. Older online buddies will recognize this as a recurring event. This list is a collection of film dialogue, gestures, camera movements, moods or looks and ideas within a given scene. This list is inspired by Roger Ebert's list of movie moments as well as the once great (now dead) yearly wrap up in Film Comment. Possible spoilers so beware!

1. In “Nothing But the Truth”, the performance of Vera Farmiga and the cold threat she administers with a smile when she meets Kate Beckinsale outside her daughter’s school.
2. A dolphin breaking through the roped off net and swimming madly, finally sinking under a trail of blood. “The Cove”
3. The final ten minutes of Andrejz Wadja’s “Katya” where we finally get to see what happened in the forest in all its cold savagery.
4. “She’s the new temp.” She’s a tramp?!” “Extract” and a mix up of words.
5. The story of the 100th monkey in “Collapse”
6. The long tracking shot that enters the Destroyer in Cary Fukunaga’s “Sin Nombre”. Virtually entering into hell.
7. In a haze of explosive terror, the quick, almost subliminal cuts to a terrifying face in “House of the Devil”… effectively mimicking Friedkin while carving out its own place in low-fi contemporary horror.
8. In a fill full of high-wire performances, the way Julia (Tilda Swinton) mumbles away an excuse not to be involved with a kidnapping proposed by a new neighbor. “Julia”
9. A pair of hands and bodies meet in a semi darkened room…. The breathless and perfectly rendered final scene in Greg Mottola’s “Adventureland”.
10. “William, it’s me” and the shell shocked look of a soldier who doesn’t even register his wife’s face as he returns home in “Edge of Love”
11. The final shot that holds on the face of Marion Cotillard for what feels like an eternity, and the single tear that falls down her cheek in Michael Mann’s masterpiece “Public Enemies”.
12. “C’mon… it’ll be easy peezy lemon squeezie.” :No, it won’t. It’ll be difficult difficult lemon difficult”. “In the Loop”.
13. As two cops interrogate her in her apartment, the series of yes and no answers given by Lorna (Arta Dobrishi) and the range of emotions, from defensive to eventually heartbroken, that streaks across her face. “Lorna’s Silence”
14. In “Summer Hours”, the long tracking shot through a house of teens party-goers, emerging into the garden and a girl facing up to her enormous family history.
15. The “I failed John Keats” scene from Paul Schneider in “Bright Star”…. a performance that feels somewhat off-center the entire film, yet ends up being one of the most spectacular roles of the year.
16. The Will Ferrell cameo scene as a falling skydiver in “The Goods” and the way he screams “oh… don packed the wrong bag!” This type of thing usually fails miserably, but it works to side splitting perfection here.
17. “It’s called Dionysus. And they act like it.” “Humpday”
18. A couple (Adrein Brody and Rachel Weisz) walk behind a row of pillars and emerge holding hands in Rian Johnson’s candy colored heist film “The Brothers Bloom”….. a sweet and evocative example of innocent, budding love.
19. The shoot out at Little Bohemia. “Public Enemies”
20. Building to the torturous payoff that we all know is coming, the long black screen pause before we see the footage from the four hidden cameras placed strategically around the cove… and the sounds begin. I had to look away…. And I hardly ever do that in a movie theater. “The Cove”
21. The slow zoom into the face of a young boy (Kodi Smit McPhee) and his glacial response of “ok”. “The Road”
22. In one of the year’s best female performances, Emily Blunt going ‘tressling‘, as sparks fly above her head and her laughter turns into sadness…. If only we could all scream away our sadness without being noticed. “Sunshine Cleaning”
23. Fanny Brawne (Abby Cornish) falling to her knees, losing her breath after receiving word that Keats has died in “Bright Star”.
24. A man (Bard Owe) standing at the edge of a ski lift at night with a satisfied smile after seeing the image of his mother in “O Horten”.
25. The color home movie footage that abruptly breaks up the previous monochrome black and white as three kids enjoy themselves in Paris. Whether its real or imagined is beside the point. “Somers Town”
26. In a film full of haunting images, the final shot in “Sin Nombre” as Sayra (Paulina Gaitina) talks on the phone, a ray of sunlight breaking through the frame behind her.
27. Corneliu Porumboiu’s “Police, Adjective” and the agonizing long take in which a young police officer tries to explain his reasoning with his commander, only to be beaten down and bested by his superior’s totalitarian understanding of the language and dictionary.
28. The quiet gravity gravity given to a man on a street corner as he puts his head down after its mentioned he used to play baseball in the States… a dream once held that now evokes quiet despair. “Sugar” is a film that’s attentive to these glorious little details.
29. The way Wincoat (Stephen Lang) lights a cigarette and turns away from the media circus on the street in “Public Enemies”.
30. The absolutely hungry stare on Garrett Dillahunt’s face as he looks a young boy over. And the flicks of his tongue in “The Road”
31. As a door slides open, the way Glenn Kenny spurts out “what the fuck is up?” to Sasha Grey in “The Girlfriend Experience”
32. “Did I get any in my mouth? Did I get any in my mouth?” probably the most absurdly funny and grisly scene in the catalog of Sam Raimi. “Drag Me To Hell”
33. The long tracking shot as a man (Nichols Cage) runs into the fresh destruction of a plane crash and a man on fire runs past him. “Knowing”
34. The slow emergence of Lisa P. (Margarita Levieva) timed to the Stones’ “Tops”- not as carnal as Phoebe Cates slow dip in the pool, but pretty damn close. “Adventureland”
35. “Inglorious Basterds”- the loud, pulsating drone of music as Colonel Landa (Christophe Waltz) appears behind Shoshanna (Melanie Laurent) in a fancy restaurant.
36. The emergence of a shadowy figure down a long alley. “Two Lovers”
37. The near perfect visual representation of paranoia- a black figure stands deathly still in a snow covered field, watching for something in Richard Kelly’s maligned and under appreciated “The Box”.
38. The Guggenheim shoot out. Probably the most well staged scene in Tom Tykwer‘s “The International”.
39. The static home video camera shot of a school hallway, then the bodies of two girls staggering into the frame and collapsing. “Afterschool”
40. Rose (Amy Adams) offering to sit with an elderly woman on the porch in “Sunshine Cleaning”
41. And keeping with the death theme, the eyes of a family slowly changing from spite to reverential gratitude as a man (Tsutomu Yamazaki) transforms their recently deceased into something quite beautiful in “Departures”
42. The imprint of a hand on a dirty car window. A possible foreboding premonition of things to come. “The Headless Woman”
43. The performance of Colin Farrell in “Crazy Heart”. We expect him to be an asshole of biblical proportions, yet he strides in and out frame with generosity and caring for his old mentor Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges).
44. Those slanted and heavily font ed captions that roll and spray across the screen in “Il Divo” laying out a history of execution and corruption… setting up a punk rock exposition that feels like young Scorsese. Sadly, the rest of the film never comes close again.
45. “ow.. You hit me with a whole corn dog.” The lament of the dweebs in “Adventureland”
46. The long shot as Sasha Grey sits just out of frame in Stephen Soderbergh’s visually resplendent “The Girlfriend Experience” as she breaks up with her boyfriend (Chris Santos). As with her sexual excursions in the movie, even the break up is handled with detached patience…

Moments of 2008

In conjunction with my favorite films of the year list, I offer up some moments out of 2008 films that made an indelible impression on me. Older online buddies will recognize this as a recurring event. This list is a collection of film dialogue, gestures, camera movements, moods or looks and ideas within a given scene. This list is inspired by Roger Ebert's list of movie moments as well as the once great (now dead) yearly wrap up in Film Comment. Possible spoilers so beware!

1. The performance of Robert Downey Jr. in "Tropic Thunder" and his many reaction shots.
2. In Christophe Honore's "Love Songs", the dreamlike image of a man hovering towards the camera down a rainy French street.
3. In You Le's "Summer Palace", the shot of a man and woman silently walking in silhouette against a sun-drenched river.
4. Richard Jenkins finally letting out his emotions on a man behind glass in an immigration center. "The Visitor".
5. In an internet cafe, cut to a dog, back to a man waiting for an internet connection to connect, back to the dog outside... timed to a U2 song. "Tell No One".
6. No finer performances this year than Laura Linney and Paul Giamatti in HBO's great, epic "John Adams".
7. The slow zoom into a blank TV screen and the reflection of a man (Sam Rockwell) waiting silently in a chair with a shotgun draped across his lap in David Gordon Green's "Snow Angels".
8. The ice-cold evil image of the Joker (Heath Ledger) hanging his head outside the back window of a police car, hair blowing wildly in the wind, completely at peace with the chaos he just created in "The Dark Knight".
9. The performance of Winona Ryder as Death Nell in "Sex and Love 101"- one scene with her in a diner is worth suffering through the whole movie.
10. Medium length shot down a blood splattered hallway as Beatrice Dalle ferociously tries to kick down a door separating her from her pregnant prey in the French horror movie "Inside".
11. The dream like home movie images that open "Paranoid Park" as skaters rumble across concrete ramps.
12. The POV shot from inside a closet- Brad Pitt looks at the door, to the bathroom where George Clooney is taking a shower, across the bed, to a window... and then back to a purple pillow laying on the bed. More visual brilliance from the Coen Brothers in "Burn After Reading".
13. Mickey Rourke, emerging from his slumber in the back of his van to playfully wrestle with some kids outside... a giant with a heart of gold in "The Wrestler".



14. In "My Blueberry Nights" alcoholic bar patron David Straithern explaining the symbolism behind the colored poker chips in his wallet.
15. The way Christine Collin's (Angelina Jolie) first phone call to the police registers sadness and confusion... and the way her voice cracks when she first tries to explain her name- either a marvelous stretch of method acting or serendipitous coincidence that loans her performance a gut wrenching sense of loneliness. "Changeling".
16. A little girl covering her ears and standing motionless in silhouette as doctor's restrain her storytelling friend in "The Fall".
17. Col von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise) looking down trying to follow which briefcase is his in Bryan Singer's impressive, taut thriller "Valkyrie". One of the many moments that gets the viewer's pulse racing and brow sweating with tension.
18. Ed Norton's face dropping with sadness the first time he sees Betty (Liv Tyler) on a park bench. "The Incredible Hulk".
19. A car passing a woman on the street... and two lovers not reuniting in "Summer Palace".
20. "My tooth really hurts" "I can fix that for you." the final lines of dialogue spoken in "Ghost Town", ending on the right note of connection and tenderness.
21. A young boy sitting on a train, tapping the top of a trunk... and a final scene that reverberates with chilling connotations. "Let the Right One In"
22. In "Rachel Getting Married", the rehearsal dinner scene that runs on for far too long yet creates a palpable sense of community.... until Kym (Anne Hathaway) stands up and gives her speech. I could feel the tension in the theater rise with every word, waiting for the breakdown.
23. In "The Visitor", the way Richard Jenkins slowly turns his head to give a mother her moment while reading a letter from her son.
24. The way that Heath Ledger curls out the response "yes" after being asked "you think you can just come in and here steal from us!?" The Dark Knight.
25. The non-chalant and robotic way that a shirtless Asian man picks up a gun and walks into a room to kill someone just because he's told to do so in Oliver Assyas' abstract thriller "Boarding Gate".
26. The long take of a woman trying to get comfortable on a hotel room bed while a man unrolls his black bag of knives and utensils on a table in the corner of the room in Christi Mungui's agonizingly brilliant "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days".
27. A foot chase across a busy French highway in "Tell No One" and pretty much the exact way a foot chase across a busy highway would end.
28. The first phone call to Cox (John Malkovich) and Brad Pitt's reading of "the security... of your shit." "Burn After Reading"
29. A smoke outside a cafe on a cold night with an ex-girlfriend and the uncomfortable, all-too-real conversation that follows in Wong Kar Wai's much maligned and overlooked gem "My Blueberry Nights".



30. "Damn, I don't know why that smelled like bologna." Robert Downey Jr. in "Tropic Thunder".
31. A seance captured in night vision, full of hidden corners and ominous sounds that had the hair on the back of my neck standing straight up. "The Orphanage".
32. The contest of putting dishes into the dishwasher. "Rachel Getting Married".
33. The quick zoom as Randy the Ram (Rourke) looks up to the second floor and sees Marisa Tomei gone, and his jump into the oblivion. "The Wrestler"
34. In Neil LaBute's nice return to suburban-malaise-form "Lakeview Terrace", the way Samuel Jackson quietly turns a dinner party into an aggressive attack on inter-racial marriage.
35. I'd like one mocha coffee, black." "Can't you see we're havin' a conversation here... white." Craig Robinson in "Zack and Miri Make a Porno"
36. A penguin making a break and wandering off into the white abyss by itself in Werner Herzog's overly pretentious but visually sumptuous documentary "Encounters at the End of the World".
37. What happens if you don't invite a vampire in... and the explosive hug that Oskar gives Eli after seeing it. "Let the Right One In"
38. The slow motion way that Harvey Milk (Sean Penn) puts his hands up in a vain attempt to stop the bullets in "Milk".
39. The first sounds of Etta James' voice (Beyonce Knowles) partially obscured by a bathroom door, and the mournful voice that overtakes the film. "Cadillac Records".
40. A cell phone ringing... and ringing... "Slumdog Millionaire"