I found this old list hidden on my hard drive this morning. This was part of an old thread at Mobius Home Video Forum, where I've been a moderator for several years. The idea was to make a list of fifty of your favorite cinema moments. Not a list of titles or even necessarily scenes or performances, but just fifty things that make you light up and appreciate that cinema exists.
Making lists like these can be fun, but, in my case, they're usually amorphous, and if I made a new list today, it would be a lot different. Just looking at it, I can see one or two additions I would make to it. But here it is, as it was posted at Mobius July 4, 2004.
The no-legged Ron Slinker kung-fu-fighting in MR. NO LEGS
Jim Garrison's (Kevin Costner) "back and to the left" monologue in JFK
Caroline Munro's leather bikini in STARCRASH
Paul Newman's brilliant performance in THE VERDICT
Sonny Chiba taking a bull by the horns (literally) in CHAMPION OF DEATH
The crucified Lee Horsley pulling the spikes from his hands in THE SWORD & THE SORCERER
Steve McQueen jumping his motorcycle in THE GREAT ESCAPE
Mary Badham's performance in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
Stuart Whitman fights three transvestites in STRANGE SHADOWS IN AN EMPTY ROOM
Kurt Russell disco-dancing in USED CARS
Anne Randall disrobing during the opening titles of STACEY!
Brando's "coulda been a contenda" speech in ON THE WATERFRONT
The last scene of PLANET OF THE APES (1968)
Gene Hackman's sacrifice in THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE
Steve McQueen's car chase in BULLITT
The "Ecstasy of Gold" scene in THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY
Shatner vs. Shatner in WHITE COMANCHE
Tara Strohmeier's scrumptious body in HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD
Don Del Oro's costume in ZORRO'S FIGHTING LEGION
C. Thomas Howell dodges cars and exploding oxygen tanks in THE SWEEPER
The boys visit a nude beach populated only by men in EUROTRIP
Chuck Norris drives out of the ground in LONE WOLF MCQUADE
007 ski-jumps off a cliff in the pre-credits sequence of THE SPY WHO LOVED ME
The walking, talking cake of soap that wears jewelry in the educational short SOAPY THE GERM FIGHTER
The death and funeral of Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) in STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN
"Dancing Dildos" in THE FIRST NUDIE MUSICAL
Eddie Murphy takes on a barful of rednecks in 48 HRS.
Sorority girls play strip football in H.O.T.S.
Richard Crenna saying, "You'd better remember one thing: a fresh supply of body bags!" to Brian Dennehy in FIRST BLOOD
Richard Roundtree strutting down 42nd Street like he owned it in the opening of SHAFT
The "Too Many Secrets" scene in SNEAKERS
Michael Caine convincing a little kid that the giant hallucinatory bee floating above him doesn't really exist ("There's no bee there!") in THE SWARM
Bogie as Fred C. Dobbs in THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE
"I am Spartacus!" in SPARTACUS
Lance Henriksen's demise ("Oops.") in HARD TARGET (the theatrical version)
I like the movie too, but just the title of SH! THE OCTOPUS
John Williams' theme to RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK
Robert Forster's comeback performance in JACKIE BROWN
Burt Reynolds smiling at the camera in SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT
Mark Wahlberg and Julianne Moore's erotic sex scene in BOOGIE NIGHTS
Albert Brooks' on-air meltdown in BROADCAST NEWS
"They call me MISTER Tibbs!", says Sidney Poitier in IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT
Harrison Ford spies upon a bathing Kelly McGillis in WITNESS
Alec Baldwin in GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS
Dean Martin vs. Robert Mitchum at the end of FIVE CARD STUD ("If that's a bible, you read it. If not, you drop it.")
Robbie Lee in SWITCHBLADE SISTERS ("It's gonna turn out baaaaaaaad!")
The wheelchair kid tumbles off a cliff in MAC AND ME
Gene Hackman's breakdown in THE CONVERSATION
Cary Grant vs. cropduster in NORTH BY NORTHWEST
Bruce Lee trashes James Garner's office in MARLOWE
Exploding prison warden in TURKEY SHOOT
How about your own list? You don't have to do 50, but leave a comment with some of your own. It's fun!
Posted by Marty
at 10:52 AM CDT
