The Muriels: Best Cinematic Moment

15 Responses to “The Muriels: Best Cinematic Moment”

1. joel - Feb 25 '08, 11:20 am

   For sheer audacity, the TWBB scene is a strong winner but I think that over time, the Chigurh moment in the gas station will become the iconic film scene no one will easily forget.

   I get chills just thinking about it.

2. Alison Flynn - Feb 25 '08, 11:22 am

   Hmm, I must say that I’m on the fence about this particular winner. It’s a great scene for sure, but not the best of the movie. I think I would have preferred the Chigurh moment in the gas station.

   But I love this movie, so I can’t complain. Great picks as always, Muriel. :-)

3. joel - Feb 25 '08, 11:30 am

   Huh, I noticed that my favorite scene from Zodiac is missing: When they interview Arthur Leigh Allen in the refinery. The Hurdy Gurdy Man scene is mentioned though, which is pretty good.

4. Alexander - Feb 25 '08, 12:01 pm

   When I think of cinema as a pure expression of light, shadows, and the imagery conveyed therein, I think the most anatomically cinematic (as in, the inherent genius of the structure of basic filmmaking) moment of the year was Moss sitting on his bed listening and watching, knowing that the man hunting him is behind his door.

   The nighttime oil well fire in There Will Be Blood is a rather close #2.

   My #3 would be the train robbery in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

   My #4 would be the first sixteen or eighteen minutes of There Will Be Blood, which is a brilliant extension of a cinematic concept, of the isolated, single figure as part of nature.

   My #5 would be Sheriff Bell hesitantly opening the motel room door and taking a look inside in No Country for Old Men.

   My #6 would be the Hurdy Gurdy Men opening killing in Zodiac.

   I love the scene in the refinery in Zodiac as well. The usage of silence–something the best films this past year utilized again and again–was particularly crucial and chilling. (At certain times in the interview, all you can hear is the background noise of workers in the refinery, which somehow makes the whole scene more chilling. It’s like getting to hear the outside world outside while the insular investigation of the film ensues and for some inexplicable reason it’s haunting.)

5. Nicholas Plowman - Feb 25 '08, 12:03 pm

   I slightly agree with the Bath house scene in E.Promises – even if all it did was make me laugh, and that scene from Ratatouille which I can vaguely, only vaguely, remember. I saw better last year.

6. Nicholas Plowman - Feb 25 '08, 12:04 pm

   Yes! The train robbery was just fantastic Alex, I loved that one immensely.

7. joel - Feb 25 '08, 12:08 pm

   Yes, the use of sound and Fincher’s choice of shots is excellent during that interview. The second time I saw it I realized that the background noise and the environment was reminding more of a slaughterhouse than a refinery and it was only because of John Carroll Lynch’s chilling performance.

   I like your breakdown of moments, Alexander, although for me the music in the oil fire scene of TWBB outdoes the scene itself so much that I still don’t think I’ve really SEEN that moment very clearly. Both viewings, I became so caught up in the sonic frenzy of Johnny Greenwood’s hypnotic score that the sequence itself kind of went by in a daze, and I suppose the imagery is extremely dreamlike in an odd way anyway.

   Did I mention it was criminal that he didn’t win Best Score?

8. Nicholas Plowman - Feb 25 '08, 12:13 pm

   Criminal indeed – but Atonement was the best out of the nominees – I thought.

9. Alexander - Feb 25 '08, 12:20 pm

   Nick, I don’t think there’s any doubt about that train robbery scene in Jesse James becoming a classic in its own right.

   Great call on it sounding like a slaughterhouse, joel. I think subconsciously I was thinking along the same lines but I never quite made the leap to the environment sounding like a slaughterhouse.

   You’re also right about the Johnny Greenwood score becoming wickedly insane during that scene. It took two viewings for me to really separate the music and imagery from one another; just genius, and along with the opening part of the film, brilliantly cinematic.

10. Alison Flynn - Feb 25 '08, 1:17 pm

    “I think the most anatomically cinematic (as in, the inherent genius of the structure of basic filmmaking) moment of the year was Moss sitting on his bed listening and watching, knowing that the man hunting him is behind his door. ”

    Amen, Alexander. Amen. That scene is brilliant. It’s scary and amazing-looking, the sound and film editing is unbelievable and you’re on the edge of your seat.

    Oh, also, since you bring up Greenwood’s score again, I absolutely hated the way it was orchestrated for the show. Ick.

11. Alexander - Feb 25 '08, 1:44 pm

    One of the great moviegoing experiences of my life was No Country for Old Men way back on November 9th, but every time I think about that experience I immediately go back to that specific scene, Alison. The level of tension in that theatre was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. To call it absolutely gripping is an understatement.

    Yeah, they really blew the orchestration of Greenwood’s score last night.

12. Hedwig - Feb 25 '08, 1:57 pm

    @Nick & Alex: the only vote for the train robbery scene in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford? Yup, that was me. Just felt like bragging about that for a bit ;-)

13. Alexander - Feb 25 '08, 2:52 pm

    Good for you, Hedwig, good for you. ;-)

14. sartre - Feb 25 '08, 2:53 pm

    Hedwig is my hero.

    But I mightily approve of Muriel’s first choice.

15. joel - Feb 25 '08, 6:54 pm

    Nice job, Hedwig. A well-spent vote.

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