The Top 10 Scenes of 2012
Hugh Jackman in “Les Miserables”
I had every intention of posting my Top 10 Scenes of 2011. I also had high hopes to post my Top Scenes of 2012. I never quite happened. Back in 2010 it was the perfect way to honor "The Social Network" while still giving "Black Swan" the #1 spot it deserved in my Top 10 Films of that year. It was also a way to further explain my love for films such as "Blue Valentine" and "127 Hours" while also praising television shows such as "Fringe" and "Glee."
This year I was able to cross the Oscar finish line a bit earlier than years past. And although I somewhat miss the drama of the photo finish, this has allowed me to do a few things I have never done before. I have been watching some of my favorite "Oscar" movies of the past in celebration: "The Crying Game,""Pulp Fiction," "The Social Network," and "Black Swan" have been on the menu so far. I watched the last two...because (even though this year is an arguably better year overall for film) 2010 was the year of 2 films that might now be in my top 10 of all time.
I can't have an Oscar movie marathon without watching "Secrets and Lies" (one of my favorite films of all time!) and "The Silence of the Lambs." (That scene where Lecter kills the cops in Memphis would've definitely made this list back in 1991!) It might be another long night...but this time out of fun and not necessity.
Anyway...enough about that. To my top 10 scenes. Some of my top 10 films are representing here. Of course "Zero Dark Thirty" is here... and "Les Miserables." I was also able to include some films I might have undersold. I rewatched "Lincoln" and realized I was a little too ambivalent about it.
I loved "Prometheus" (definite minority there!) and am so happy to give it some attention. The same with "Nashville" which didn't quite make my favorite television of the year. And "Fringe," which I was so behind on that I didn't feel comfortable including it in the list either.
Finally there are the films I hadn't yet seen, "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" and the short, "Mondays at Racine," which may or may not have made my top 10...who knows. Alas they are represented here.
And there is also a "shout out" to that last top 10 scenes as well.
So...here is the list.
1. "Valjean's soliloquy" from "Les Miserables"
I could have easily chosen "I Dreamed a Dream," but this is the moment we are introduces to Tom Hooper's vision. The camera follows Jackman in one take...and his performance is incredibly raw, complicated and brilliant. We see him go from rock bottom victim to a determined free man. Valjean has a long way to go, with much more to learn ("Bring Him Home" being the denouement for the character) but this is where it all begins.
2. "If I Didn't Know Better" from "Nashville"
Sure..."Nashville" has its problems, but it is the most riveting of the new shows this season. (Here's hoping it has a 2nd one!) Scarlett and Gunnar might have seemed like an unwanted subplot for some, but seeing this scene and hearing this beautiful song made them my favorite part of the show. Ken Tucker from EW said it best (and I paraphrase...very much so). This is one of those songs that is brilliant...but would never become a hit because radio would never play it.
3. "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," The Riddle with Bilbo and Gollum
I liked "The Hobbit" much more than most. Sure...the "singing" scene near the beginning would've been cut had I been Mr. Jackson...but alas...I'm not. I actually loved the in depth character development...and although little "happened" I still had a blast. I'm quite sure the film would've made my top 10...but after all that I read, I didn't think I needed to see it in time. This scene with Bilbo and Gollum was the perfect collision of the original trilogy and new.
4. "Teenage Dream," acoustic version from "Glee"
Two years ago Darren Criss's original "Teenage Dream" made this list. Consider this a bookend.
5. "Prometheus" birth/surgery scene
Sadly I can't find a good video of this scene to post. "Prometheus" took a great deal of flack for not being the "Alien" prequel the masses wanted. It instead was a story of mankind's existence. I found it fascinating and thought provoking...as I assume most people would if they let go of the "Alien" connection (although I found the last "connecting" moments thrilling!). We all know Noomi Rapace is a great actress from the Swedish Millennium Trilogy. This scene is so horrific (a self performed "abortion"!!!) and well acted that you can't take your eyes away from the screen.
6. "Lincoln"
I find it hard to label this scene. "Mary and Abraham fight" is the least lame of my descriptors... This is when we see Daniel Day Lewis's Lincoln stand up for his sons and craftily, delicately and adamantly confront his wife about her motherly selfishness. It is my favorite scene in the film. I, again, couldn't find the scene...but here is Kushner's poetry for you to read.
MARY
The war will take our son! A
sniper, or a shrapnel shell! Or
typhus, same as took Willie, it
takes hundreds of boys a day! He’ll
die, uselessly, and how will I ever
forgive you? Most men, their
firstborn is their favorite, but
you, you’ve always blamed Robert
for being born, for trapping you in
a marriage that’s only ever given
you grief and caused you regret!
LINCOLN
That’s not true -
MARY
And if the slaughter of Cold Harbor
is on your hands same as Grant, God
help us! We’ll pay for the oceans
of spilled blood you’ve sanctioned,
the uncountable corpses we’ll be
made to pay with our son’s dear
blood -
Lincoln rises from the window seat, angry.
LINCOLN
Just, just this once, Mrs. Lincoln,
I demand of you to try and take the
liberal and not the selfish point
of view! You imagine Robert will
forgive us if we continue to stifle
his very natural ambition?!
MARY
(with a mocking smile:)
And if I refuse to take the high
road, if I won’t take up the rough
old cross, will you threaten me
again with the madhouse, as you did
when I couldn’t stop crying over
Willie, when I showed you what
heartbreak, real heartbreak looked
like, and you hadn’t the courage to
countenance it, to help me -
LINCOLN
That’s right. When you
refused so much as to comfort
Tad -
MARY
I was in the room with
Willie, I was holding him in
my arms as he died!
LINCOLN
- the child who was not only
sick, dangerously sick, but
beside himself with grief?
MARY
How dare you!
LINCOLN
Oh but your grief, your
grief, your inexhaustible
grief!
MARY
How dare you throw that at
me?!
LINCOLN
And his mother won’t let him
near her, ‘cause she’s
screaming from morning to
night pacing the corridors,
howling at shadows and
furniture and ghosts! I ought
to have done it, I ought have
done for Tad’s sake, for
everybody’s goddamned sake, I
should have clapped you in
the madhouse!
MARY
I couldn’t let Tad in! I
couldn’t risk him seeing how
angry I was!
MARY (CONT’D)
THEN DO IT! Do it! Don’t you
threaten me, you do it this time!
Lock me away! You’ll have to, I
swear, if Robert is killed!
Silence. Then:
LINCOLN
I couldn’t tolerate you grieving so
for Willie because I couldn’t
permit it in myself, though I
wanted to, Mary. I wanted to crawl
under the earth, into the vault
with his coffin. I still do. Every
day I do.
Don’t... talk to me about grief.
(beat:)
I must make my decisions, Bob must
make his, you yours. And bear what
we must, hold and carry what we
must. What I carry within me - you
must allow me to do it, alone as I
must. And you alone, Mary, you
alone may lighten this burden, or
render it intolerable. As you
choose.
7. "Skyfall" opening credits
Entertainment Weekly might have named "Casino Royale" the best film of the year a few years back...but as good as it might be, it can't hold a candle to "Skyfall," the best Bond film of my generation...even if it isn't quite as good as some of the other amazing films released this year. I was tempted to include the first Javier Bardem/Daniel Craig scene. Or the whole last act of the film at Skyfall...but instead it is the opening credits that truly deserve mention. The very creative Bond"death" motifs shown to the soundtrack of Adele's (Oscar winning?) title song set up the entire film...in a highly dramatic way that only a Bond film could get away with.
8. "Fringe" Peter and Walter say goodbye
When I was working on my top television shows of the year, I was very behind on "Fringe." I wasn't quite sure if I was happy with the direction the show was taking in its final season. Just a few years ago it was my favorite show of the year! Top Television of 2010. Even after catching up and finishing the season, I'm not sure it would've made the cut this year. Sure...the acting was brilliant...as scene in one of the final scenes of the series. Walter knows he must sacrifice himself for their universe to reset itself. Considering the show was originally centered around Walter reconnecting with his son, Peter, this expression of love and foreshadowing of goodbye is one of the most touching of the whole series. Unable to find the scene, I am linking to the final episode. It is a great one.
Fringe, final episode
9. "The Gatekeepers" Bus reenactment
I wish I could show you this scene...a scene that ignites life into a "talking head" documentary. Since I can't show it to you (see the film!) read what I (and the director) said about it on Awards Daily.
“The Gatekeepers,” for example uses an incredible technique to show us scenes from the past that is the perfect amount of “interesting device” to go along with the compelling information. In one particular scene, Dror Moreh (the director of the film) recreates an event where two terrorists are taken by Israeli forces and controversially killed. With no footage existing he relied on still photos and an unusual means of dramatization. When I spoke to Moreh he described how he did this.“I knew that I would have some of the stories that will have just still photos…I needed to develop a technique which nobody has done before which is basically taking photos and create the scene, the terrain of where it happened, in the computer based on those photos. And then after creating the whole scene-the environment, put the virtual camera in a “documentary way” running in the virtual terrain. He runs there through one still photo to another still photo….to create a more cinematic experience. ”
10. "Mondays at Racine"
I have predicted this beautiful short to win the Oscar...and I'm one of the only ones to do so. It moved me beyond belief. Racine is a salon in Long Island where on the 3rd Monday of each month breast cancer survivors can come get free salon/spa treatment. But the most important thing they do is comfort women who choose to shave their heads for the first time. I don't know the woman's name in the scene, unfortunately...but when this mother, wife, and woman chooses, finally to shave her head it is beautiful to watch. That might sound strange...but you will understand when you see the film. It is the most human moment. And I felt honored to see it on screen.
FEBRUARY 23, 2013