City of Films» Scene Stealers

Scene Stealers #7

The Mayor — Tue, 04 May 2010 15:12:46 +0000

Saving Private Ryan

THE MOVIE:
Steven Spielberg‘s World War II epic Saving Private Ryan chronicles the journey of a GI squad on a dangerous mission behind enemy lines. Led by Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks), the unit is under orders to track down a soldier, Private Ryan (Matt Damon), so he might return home to his mother in America, where she is grieving the unimaginable loss of her three other sons to the war.

THE SCENE:
The first unforgettable 20 minutes of Saving Private Ryan realistically and horrifically depicts the Normandy invasion as Miller and his unit land at Omaha Beach. It’s one of the strongest scenes in any film, but not today’s stealer. I recommend you watch the film in its entirety if you haven’t. The unit eventually finds Ryan and in this moment Captain Miller and the private share a scene where Ryan confesses he can’t even remember what his brothers look like. Matt Damon ad-libbed the story he tells, it has been noted that Steven Spielberg liked it so much he decided to leave it in the film.

Scene Stealers # 6

The Mayor — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 06:50:21 +0000

The Silence of The Lambs (1991)

THE MOVIE:
One of the finest films ever made is also often credited as being one of the best horror movies of all time as well. That title is mainly in part to the Best Picture Oscar that was awarded. Many people will say that horror often gets the snub come award season, but to be honest – true horror died a long time ago. What we get not is watered down PG trash, suitable for any stomach. Give me smarts! Welcome, The Silence of The Lambs; one of the smartest and well played out films ever made. Psychopath Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine) is kidnapping and murdering young women across the Midwest. Believing it takes one to know one, the F.B.I. sends Agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) to interview a demented prisoner who may provide psychological insight and clues to the killer’s actions. The prisoner is psychiatrist, Dr. Hannibal Lector (Anthony Hopkins), a brilliant, murderous cannibal who will only help Starling if she feeds his morbid curiosity with details about her own complicated life. This twisted relationship forces Starling not only to confront her psychological demons, but leads her to face with a demented, heinous killer. It all leads up to one of the best film endings I have ever seen, and that’s not even the Scene Stealer!

THE SCENE:
The character of Dr. Hannibal Lector is one of the best performances ever, and earning Anthony Hopkins an Oscar for it surely has to bare some proof of that. In preparation for his role, Anthony Hopkins studied files of serial killers. Also, he visited prisons and studied convicted murderers and was present during some court hearings concerning serial killings. Only appearing on screen for 24 minutes and 17 seconds (not the shortest, that would be David Niven in Separate Tables at 15 mins and 38 seconds) Hopkins leaves behind a chilling character study that has been studied ever since. Anthony Hopkins described his voice for Hannibal Lecter as, a combination of Truman Capote and Katharine Hepburn, check out this scene.

Scene Stealers #5

The Mayor — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:37:09 +0000

Reign Over Me (2007)

THE MOVIE:

Alan Johnson (Don Cheadle) has everything he needs to get through life: a good job, a beautiful and loving wife, and their wonderful children. Yet he feels isolated because he finds having a hard-working job and managing a family too much to handle. Charlie Fineman (Adam Sandler), on the other hand, doesn’t have a job or a family. He used to have both until a terrible loss took it all away. A chance encounter one night rekindles the friendship they shared. When Charlie’s problems become too much to deal with, Alan is determined to help Charlie come out of his emotional abyss.

THE SCENE:

Alan manages to convince Charlie to see a therapist, Dr. Oakhurst (Liv Tyler). After several sessions, Charlie finally begins to speak about his loss, but the experience leaves him severely jarred and shaken. In this Scene Stealer we see Adam Sandler give a powerful performance as Charlie breaks it all down for Alan. It is revealed that Charlie lost his wife and daughters in the September 11 attacks as they were on American Airlines Flight 11. Music is an important component of this film (the title of the film comes from the song Love, Reign o’er Me by The Who) as Charlie uses his iPod and headphones to selectively filter out the world. The scene uses Drive All Night from Bruce Springsteen’s The River (one of the best albums of all time by the way) coming from Charlie’s headphones, a great moment in Sandler’s career as well as great emotional filmmaking.

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Scene Stealers #4

The Mayor — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:23:21 +0000

Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)

Glengarry Glen Ross is a 1992 independent film, adapted by David Mamet from his acclaimed 1984 Pulitzer Prize- and Tony-winning play of the same name. The film depicts two days in the lives of four real estate agents and how they become desperate when the corporate office sends a representative (Baldwin) to “motivate” them by announcing that, in one week, all except the top two salesmen will be fired.

SCENE: Alec Baldwin as Blake is brought in by Mitch and Murray to motivate the salesmen in a ruthless manner; this character was created for the film and did not appear in the stage version. The scene is brilliant in its use of atmosphere. The only other sound besides Baldwin’s yelling is the rain. He berates the agents for over seven minutes in what is one of the best speeches of any film. Video after the jump.

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Scene Stealers #3

The Mayor — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 18:26:21 +0000

The Godfather: Part II (1974)

One of the best movies ever made has a scene stealer? No joke. The Godfather Part II is a history lesson in film making, everything on screen in amazing, I choose one particular moment. In this scene at a hotel room after a hearing, Kay (Diane Keaton) tries to leave Michael (Al Pacino) and take their children with her. Michael at first tries to mollify her, but, when she coldly reveals to him that her recent “miscarriage” was actually an abortion to avoid bringing another son into Michael’s criminal family, Michael explodes in anger and punches her in the face. I think my favorite part is when she goes on about”this Sicilian thing” and you can literally see Michael sink, defeated. Then of course he comes back with a right of his own. See it below.

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Scene Stealers #2

The Mayor — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:42:58 +0000

There Will Be Blood (2007)

In this Stealer we get to look at a scene from one of the best movie made in the last decade, There Will Be Blood. The film stars Daniel-Day Lewis (Gangs of New York, In the Name of the Father) and Paul Dano (Little Miss Sunshine, The Girl Next Door) and was directed by Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Punch Drunk Love). I saw TWBB with about five other strangers in an old fashioned movie house, no noise or interruptions, just a good old fashioned viewing of a fantastic movie. Needless to say I am sure they were as blown away as I was at the performances on screen.

Synopsis: Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) is, as he likes to remind those around him, an oil man: he finds it, he drills for it, and he makes money from it. Following a tip from a visitor named Paul Sunday, whose family sits atop a veritable ocean of oil, Plainview travels to the town of New Boston, California, with his young son. Sunday’s preacher brother Eli (both roles are played by Paul Dano) grudgingly accepts Plainview’s ambitions under the condition that he help fund the town church. As Plainview’s plans come to fruition, a series of events begin to fracture the insular world he has constructed for himself, pitting Plainview against Sunday and forcing him to become even more vindictive and ruthless. (Jump for Scene)

Set Up: Plainview is awakened by Bandy, who insinuates he is aware of the murder Plainview has just committed, when he returns Plainview’s revolver to him. Bandy agrees to lease his property for the urgently needed pipeline on one condition: Plainview must join the Church of the Third Revelation. Plainview, who has contempt for religion, agrees and suffers a humiliating initiation sequence at the hands of Eli, who makes him kneel and repeatedly confess that he has sinned and abandoned his child. Eli also repeatedly slaps Daniel’s face, with each blow shouting “get out of here, Satan!”, seemingly in retaliation for the beating Daniel inflicted upon him in the oilfield.

Scene Stealers #1

The Mayor — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:14:06 +0000

Revolutionary Road (2008)

My first thought watching Revolutionary Road was “what if Jack had lived?” Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet return together a decade after we saw Titanic take over the world. This time they are living the American Dream in 1955 suburbia. Frank and April Wheeler, in the seventh year of their marriage, have fallen into a life that appears to most as being perfect. They live in the Connecticut with two young children. Frank commutes to New York City where he works in an office job that he hates while April stays at home as a housewife which is a constant reminder of the acting life she gave up on. One day, April suggests that they move to Paris – a city where Frank visited during the war and loved, but where April has never been – as a means to rejuvenate their life. Initially skeptical, Frank ultimately agrees to April’s plan. When circumstances change around the Wheelers, April decides she will do whatever she has to get herself out of her unhappy existence.

The Scene Stealer (after the jump) from Revolutionary Road does include DiCaprio and Winslet, who are fantastic throughout the film, but this scene is more to do with Michael Shannon’s character John Givings. He is simply scary in this role as a former mathematician who is now under psychiatric care in a mental institution. John has no inhibition about asking the Wheelers direct personal questions and offering his blunt assessment of their dissatisfaction with marriage, work, and life; his parents are horrified, but the Wheelers admire him for his candor. However, when John learns the Wheelers have canceled their move to Paris, he becomes agitated and begins to insult them, saying he feels sorry for them.