Top Ten Tuesdays: Movies With (Mostly) One Actor

Earlier this month, The Martian came out and received wide critical acclaim. If you haven't seen The Martian yet, do yourself a favor and go: it's a wonderful return to form for director Ridley Scott and will undoubtedly be appearing on my "Best Films of 2015" list later in the year. It is a truly excellent movie. In The Martian, astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) gets accidentally stranded on Mars after his crew believes he has been killed during a violent storm and they are forced to evacuate the planet. Knowing that there won't be another ship arriving on the planet for several years, Watney is forced to use the limited resources he has to survive on a planet where there's no ready access to food or water (well, until a couple days before the film's release at least). Damon gives a wonderful performance--his portrayal of Watney is a character we can root for and empathize with, and he comes across as someone who could credibly survive in the harsh conditions with which he's faced. But while he's certainly the main character, the film does not only take place on Mars. The film actually features a large ensemble cast, as we follow Watney's former crew, and the employees of NASA who are working to try and bring Watney back to Earth (the film is well acted, but of these supporting players, Chiwetel Ejiofor stood out to me as the strongest performance of the lot). By juggling these different locations, Scott stops us from feeling too claustrophobic. After all, no matter how gosh-darn-charming Matt Damon is (when he's not unfortunately putting his foot in his mouth) any movie where we're stuck with just one person in just one location would be way too boring to watch, right?

Matt Damon is like the sun. If you gaze at him too long it's not good for your eyes no matter how beautiful he is.

Not necessarily. Films with small casts can be undeniably effective when done well (such as Twelve Angry Men, which uses its small scale to wring intense emotional poignancy). And while it is rare, it is not unheard of for a film to focus exclusively on a single performer. And so I thought I would consider these brave films which have attempted this feat and compile my list for the top ten films with one actor. Or, to be fair, MOSTLY one actor. Most of these films do have other actors show up at least briefly or find some other way to skirt the limitation of one character. So, here we go, these are my picks for the top ten films with (mostly) one performer!

Honorable Mention) Life of Pi

I know the CGI is incredible, but I still think it would have been better if they had gotten Andy Serkis to play the tiger.

Life of Pi focuses on the story of a teenager named Pi (Suraj Sharma) who is stranded on a boat in the middle of the ocean with a tiger. I must admit that, right off the bat, I'm cheating a little bit. This film actually spends a considerable amount of time off of the boat--there's ample build-up where we see Pi as a young boy and get to know his family, and the film also constantly cuts back and forth to the older Pi (Irrfan Khan) as he tells the story to a reporter. So, this entry definitely leans heavily on the "mostly" part of this list's qualifications. This is also why it only gets an honorable mention--in terms of quality alone, it is better than several of the entries that have made the list outright. But I decided that it does deserve inclusion. In The Martian, the time spent away from Mars is vital to the story and to the overall success of the film. In Life of Pi, the time not spent on the boat with Pi is actually to the film's detriment. The film's strength lies in the material it mines from its one actor and, were you to only watch the parts of the movie where it is just Pi and his tiger alone on the boat, I actually think you'd get a better film. Credit here is due entirely to Sharma. I've actually talked a little bit about his performance before when I spoke about child actors, and how I think his performance was criminally underrated. The performance he gives--especially when you consider that he didn't have his CGI co-star to work off of--is truly remarkable.

10) All is Lost

I wasn't a huge fan of this recent film, where an unnamed man (Robert Redford) is stranded at sea. I think it took a big risk and ran with it--not only is Redford the only actor, but his performance is almost wordless. In most of these films, there is some trick that explains why the narrator would speak to us. In The Martian, Watney keeps a video log explaining his actions and emotions. In Life of Pi, Pi communicates with the tiger. But in All is Lost, they bravely attempted to forego any such conceit and stick to the basics. If this man does not have anyone around him, then he's not going to talk to anyone. They let the stakes of the situation and Redford's reactions to those stakes do the talking. For me, the risk doesn't really work. Redford's performance is very committed and impressive, but while I empathized with his situation, I never felt all that invested in him as a character. But this film swings for the fences and is a commendable experiment despite its overall failings.

9) Buried

Wishing he still had that Green Lantern ring right about now.

The idea of Ryan Reynolds being buried alive in a coffin for an hour and a half sounds like a) an apt punishment for The Green Lantern and b) a pretty terrible movie. And while I wouldn't exactly call Buried an incredible film, it's far better than one would expect, and features an adept performance from Reynolds as a truck driver who terrorists have buried underground with nothing but a lighter and a BlackBerry (the phone, not the fruit although the fruit would have made for an even more interesting movie). It's a deeply flawed film, but the clever camera and interesting storytelling work makes this film far better than anyone would expect it to be.

8) Gravity

"Wheeeeeeeee!"

Alfonso Cuaron's film has experienced an interesting roller coaster of reactions: it was hailed as a cinematic achievement when it first came out, but while it is still well-regarded, I have recently heard a considerable amount of backlash against Gravity, where it is lumped with films like Avatar in the argument that movies are leaning on technical accomplishment as opposed to an emphasis on story and character. I have to disagree. It would be foolish to think that Gravity succeeds on technical merit alone. Cuaron and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki are technical masters, but they do not ignore the other crucial elements that make up a successful film, and the film features some excellent performances from Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. Now, you will notice that I mentioned two names just now, and like with Life of Pi, the prominent presence of another actor is why this film is not ranked higher on the list. But Clooney's character leaves the film fairly early on and for a good portion of the movie, focus is places solely on Bullock's character Ryan Stone. This is undeniably a solo performance for the vast majority of the movie, and it's an effective one at that.

7) Swimming to Cambodia/Gray's Anatomy

Lies! He isn't swimming at all, let alone to Cambodia.

One of the most influential storytellers in recent years was Spalding Gray, an actor and writer who rose to prominence through his solo shows. Through his strong writing, unique choices of subject matter, and charismatic presence, Gray quickly rose as an iconic figure in the world of theater. During his career, a few of the monologues that he performed on stage to much acclaim were later filmed and released as films in their own right. And it is two of these films which I have lumped together for this entry. In Swimming to Cambodia, Gray talks about, among other things, his experience filming a role in The Killing Fields in Thailand. In Gray's Anatomy (directed by none other than the great Steven Soderbergh) Gray offers a reflection on his own mortality as he seeks alternative methods to cure an eye condition. I am sure there are those out there who would question whether these are "real movies" considering that they really are just monologues set to film. But they're still undeniably effective. Gray is not talking to us as if it's a documentary--he is performing for us. And the films do more than simply plop a camera down on a tripod. Filmmaking techniques are used to enhance the story. "Real movie" or not, both are engaging and worthwhile showcases for arguably one of the most iconic solo performers of all time

6) Wall-E

I love Wall-E. The whole film could have been him trying to solve that Rubik's Cube and I'd still watch it.

One of my favorite films of all time, Pixar's masterpiece Wall-E is about a robot who forever roams a long-since evacuated Earth cleaning up junk after a commercialism-driven apocalyptic event. But everything changes when another robot named EVE arrives, whose appearance starts of a chain of events where we discover why Earth was abandoned and what has become of the human race. Once again I'm cheating by including a film with multiple characters. There's EVE, there's a bizarrely adorable cockroach, and there are several humans who all play prominent roles. But like with Life of Pi, I justify Wall-E's presence on this list by saying that, even if you were to take out everything except the parts that focus on the titular robot, you would still be left with an incredible film. And, like with Life of Pi, if I were ranking based on quality alone and ignoring the prompt I've given myself, this film would be MUCH higher on this list. In many of the films on this list, someone is abandoned and stuck in some situation, and the film is about them trying to survive. But Wall-E doesn't have to do anything to survive. He doesn't need food, he doesn't need shelter. So, instead, the film is a love letter to curiosity and a touching reflection on the effects of loneliness. Even as the scope of the film expands and more characters are introduced, the emotional core of this film remains our curious robot with a heart of gold.

5) The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe

Hopefully you already know and love Lily Tomlin. If you don't, then know that she voiced Miss Frizzle and NOW you know and love her like all the rest of us.

Like with Spalding Gray's films, this is a filmed version of a one-person stage show. Like with Spalding Gray's films, the movie makes no attempt to hide its theatrical origins. And like with Spalding Gray's films, none of that matters because that stage show is good enough that this film is a must-watch even without the frills and whistles of more traditional filmmaking. In this case, the solo performer is comedy legend Lily Tomlin (who does excellent work in this year's Grandma, her first starring film role in years). Written by Tomlin's wife Jane Wagner, The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe was hailed as a triumph as both a stage show and as a film, and is a truly unique tour de force. If you haven't seen it yet, watch it immediately. As a film, it doesn't really make much of an attempt to adapt the material beyond what was done on stage, but the collaboration of Tomlin's performance and Wagner's writing is absolute magic.

4) 127 Hours

There's going to be a sequel to this film which documents Ralston's life after the events of the first movie, and how everyone jokes to him "Talk about being between a rock and a hard place, am I right?!" It is far more torturous than anything in the first film.

When I first heard about Danny Boyle's true story film 127 Hours, where Aron Ralston (James Franco) was trapped in a cave by a boulder and had to sever his own arm to escape, my first instinct was to avoid the film at all costs. I was sure it would be a good movie, but it was not a story that I had any interest in seeing. But, eventually, I gave in and watched it and I am really glad I did. 127 Hours takes this event and turns it into poetry. At times hauntingly beautiful, 127 Hours doesn't just show Ralston's perilous situation, it puts us in his state of mind. It is not about survival, it is about desperation and hope. Tremendous credit is due to Franco, who uses a combination of charm and panic to craft a brilliant performance that helped cement his status as a movie star (despite some questionable choices as of late). Perhaps most impressive about Franco's performance, though, is his subtlety. His portrayal of Ralston is realistic and quiet, which is in stark contrast with some of the more dreamlike and fantastical shots and images that Boyle puts forth as a director. The collaboration between actor and director allows the film to have its cake and eat it too: as a director, Boyle can go abstract and symbolic and free-form, while Franco's work keeps the film grounded and nuanced. The film exceeds all expectations and forms a finished product which is greater than the sum of its considerable parts.

3) Secret Honor

This is, for me, the definitive version of a film with only one character. Directed by the great Robert Altman, known for his work with ensemble casts, here he focuses on one actor. That actor is Philip Baker Hall--a reliable character actor who is rarely given a chance to carry a film. And that's a shame, because this is the definition of a performance carrying a film. His talent is put front and center, and Hall rises to the challenge. Much like with the work of Spalding Gray and Lily Tomlin, this is a monologue, but it's a far more traditional performance than in either of those films. Playing a fictionalized version of Richard Nixon, Hall reflects on his actions and speculates as to his thought process on his controversial actions throughout his life. Hall's work is blatantly honest, and while the film is inconsistent, his performance stays with you far after the film is done. This is probably the most ambitious film on this list, and in less capable hands than Hall's and Altman's, it would not succeed as well as it does.

2) Cast Away

Robert Zemeckis' Cast Away, about FedEx employee Chuck Noland (a wonderful Tom Hanks) who gets stranded on an island takes the #2 spot not just because of its quality, but because of its iconic status. Whenever there is a film about anyone stranded anywhere, it is compared to Cast Away. The Martian? It's Cast Away in space. Life of Pi? It's Cast Away with a tiger. Secret Honor? It's Cast Away but as an introspective drama about Richard Nixon contemplating suicide.

With a bloody volleyball as Spiro Agnew!

Zemeckis is one of the most accomplished directors working today. He consistently demonstrates an instinctive understanding of his audience. While many great filmmakers create works that can be viewed as divisive (someone like Paul Thomas Anderson comes to mind), Zemeckis creates films that will reliably appeal to a wide range of audiences. He creates engaging films that are not superficial and have far more depth than a traditional "popcorn flick." What could have just been an uplifting film of survival, becomes an emotional reflection of humanity. Only a great filmmaker can mine so much emotion from a fucking volleyball, from crying out loud. I will seriously never get over the "death" of Wilson. Sorry, I would have said spoiler alert but my eyes were too busy gathering water all of a sudden.

I will never recover.

1) Moon

This movie is incredible, and not unknown to any regular readers of this blog. I mentioned it on my list of favorite films of all time, and I mentioned it in my review of Interstellar as an example of an actual good science fiction movie. So if you haven't seen it, please watch it now! Especially because I'm about to talk about it and give away some major plot points. So, don't get spoiled, just watch Moon and you won't be disappointed. Especially because of the incredible performance from the always underrated Sam Rockwell.

Rockwell plays Sam Bell, an astronaut who is on the final days of a mission on the moon. All he has for companionship are occasional video messages from Earth and a robot named GERTY (a hugely underrated movie robot). And, then...himself. Sam is shocked to find another version of himself on the moon. And then another one. And then another one. Moon solves the storytelling problem of having just one character by having that character show up multiple times. And Rockwell is instrumental in making each of these characters believable as iterations of the same person, but also distinct enough so as to be their own character. With all of the other films on this list, you never forget that you're just watching one person. Even with films like Cast Away or 127 Hours where the sense of a wider world is created, part of the film's power is its isolation. But Moon is the only film I've mentioned here that doesn't feel like a one-actor movie. You seriously forget just how small the cast is thanks to the richness of the story, the filmmaking, the writing, and Rockwell's performance. It's the only one-actor movie I can think of where you truly forget about the gimmick.

GERTY the robot just watched Cast Away and will also never recover.

So, those are my choices. Are there any one-actor movies that I missed? As I did research online, I found out about a film called Locke starring Tom Hardy where it's apparently just him, and also found out about a one-actor Japanese film called Symbol that's supposed to be excellent. So I'll have to check those out and see if they would have cracked this list had I seen them before. As always, let me know your thoughts in the comments and feel free to send me recommendations for future Top Ten Tuesdays and/or other things to write about in the future.

2014 Oscar Predictions: Best Picture

So, I promise this blog will focus on other subjects come March when the Oscars are over, but for now, it's still Oscar time and I am in an Oscar frenzy, which means it's time to start with the predictions of who will win the coveted Academy Award. It's almost a month before the Oscars, so things are still subject to change, but despite the wide array of great films this year, things are starting to settle in and the frontrunners in the major awards have already become fairly clear.

I will be releasing my full list of predictions in every category, and to start, here's the big one-- Best Picture.

Nominees:

American Hustle

Captain Phillips

Dallas Buyers Club

Gravity

Her

Nebraska

Philomena

12 Years a Slave

The Wolf of Wall Street

Will Win: 12 Years a Slave

Let's start off with the main category of the night, which features a rather incredible lineup of nine films. This is really one of the best list of nominees in a long time. But, of this list, three films have emerged as frontrunners: 12 Years a Slave, American Hustle, and Gravity. Expect Gravity to clean up the technical categories-- it's going to rake in a bunch of awards-- and that might give it the edge it would need to take home Best Picture. But, 12 Years and Hustle are the two real contenders here.

Of the two, 12 Years has always been the real frontrunner. An enormous wave of critical acclaim for Hustle pushed it into the spotlight, so that it was a major player in multiple awards ceremonies. And it had a great showing when nominations were announced. Receiving nominations in all four acting categories is no small feat. David O. Russell has done it two years in a row, getting four acting nominations for Hustle and for Silver Linings Playbook last year-- but the last time this had happened was for the film Reds. In 1981. And given Russell's recent string of successes in the past few years, he's seen as an Oscar darling at the moment and the Academy is famous for awarding people when it's "their time." But, despite the near universal acclaim and buzz when American Hustle first premiered, there has since been backlash against the film, with more and more people coming out of the woodwork to declare the film overrated. 12 Years a Slave, meanwhile, is still riding high and seems like a near lock for the prize. Unless something shifts in the next month, it will be named best picture of the year.

A lot of the backlash against American Hustle has been, in my opinion, because people are comparing it to 12 Years a Slave, which I think is incredibly unfair. Both are great films, but both are also incredibly different movies, obviously. Between the two, I actually prefer American Hustle but not because I necessarily think it's a "better" film. It's just the type of film that I personally enjoy more. 12 Years a Slave is a more important film, certainly, and I don't wish to take anything away from it and will be perfectly happy if/when it wins Best Picture. But American Hustle is a smart and slick film, which features a really strong screenplay and great performances all around (while I thought Chiwetel Ejiofor and Lupita Nyong'o gave some of the best performances of the year, the supporting performances in 12 Years didn't thrill me, while I thought American Hustle had an impeccable performnces from even the smaller roles). Both are great films, and should be celebrated for their many strengths.

Should Win: Philomena

But, honestly, looking at the list of nominees, my personal favorite on the list was the somewhat unexpected nominee Philomena. A charming film which takes an unexpected dark turn, Philomena was one of the most surprising films of the year and I think has the potential to become a classic years from now. It doesn't have any chance of winning, but I encourage everyone to see it if they have not already. It doesn't make as much of a statement as 12 Years a Slave or have the panache of  American Hustle, or the unconventional storytelling techniques of Gravity, but it's also not just a fun fluff piece. It's just a great story that is told wonderfully, with beautiful work from the always amazing Dame Judi Dench, and surprisingly understated work from Steve Coogan.

Should Have Been Nominated: Prisoners

As for which film I think should have been nominated, there are really a lot of options. Many films with Oscar buzz ended up out of the running, such as Inside Llewyn Davis, Rush, Lee Daniels' The Butler, August: Osage County, and Saving Mr Banks. Of these four, the first two are the ones that I feel actually deserved a place on this list. Inside Llewyn Davis is one of the Coen Brothers' best and most intriguing films to date, and Rush is one of the more underrated films in a long time, which could have been a contender had the producers marketed it more wisely.

But my personal favorite film of the year was the now forgotten Prisoners, which is deservedly nominated for Best Cinematography. Prisoners is, at any given moment, a gripping emotional drama, a philosophical puzzle, an expertly crafted mystery, and even a perverse horror film. There had been some minor buzz for Hugh Jackman to win Best Actor, and he is good in the film, but the film features many incredible performances who, I think, outshine the somewhat hammy Jackman in the movie. Jake Gyllenhaal gives a beautifully restrained performance as a beleagured detective, Paul Dano gives an intriguing and devastating performance as the prime suspect in the kidnapping of two children, Melissa Leo is spot-on and intense as Dano's aunt, Terrence Howard and Viola Davis are both great as the friends of Jackman who worry about their friend's behavior, and Maria Bello gives a heart-wrenching performance in a minor role as Jackman's wife who grows withdrawn at the kidnapping of her daughter. It's an unrecognized gem, and I have high hopes that director Denis Villeneuve's next film, Enemy, will match Prisoners in quality and gain recognition. Villeneuve is already well-respected in Canada and, if Prisoners is any indication, he's bound to break into the mainstream in the United States soon.

What are your thoughts? What film will win? What film should win? And what film would have been nominated? Do you agree with me? Do you think I'm way off the mark? Let me know in the comments!

The 15 Best Scenes of 2013

2013 was, as many have said, an amazing year for film. Here, I have compiled my favorite scenes from film this year. Now, I should note that this list has nothing to do with the films as a whole-- naturally, some of my favorite films of the year also have some of my favorite scenes, but as a rule, a film's placement here is not necessarily an endorsement. For example, I enjoyed the film with my #1 pick, but it wasn't one of my favorites of the year (an indication of how many great movies there were). Now, some of this discussion does involve spoilers, so if you haven't seen the film, I'd encourage you to read the entry with caution.

15: Anchorfight 2 (Anchorman 2)
The endlessly-advertised Anchorman 2 was fun, but only time will tell if it will be as quotable and legacy-creating as the original Anchorman. It was certainly out there, and oftentimes worked. But it worked best when the silliness wasn’t forced, which happened often, as Will Ferrell and company have a talent for making the most absurd things work. While there are certainly objectively better scenes out this year in other movies, I felt like I had to include the Anchorfight at the end of the film. Following up on the joke of the first film, where a bunch of cameo-laden newsteams fight in a battle royale with a perplexing assortment of weapons, this film takes it to a whole other level. In one scene alone, we get cameos from Sascha Baron Cohen, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Kanye West, Jim Carrey, Marion Cotillard, Will Smith, Liam Neeson, Kirsten Dunst, and John C. Reilly as the ghost of Stonewall Jackson. The weapons are more absurd, the cameos are more numerous, and the whole joke is amplified to the point of absurdity. And it’s simply a joy to watch happen. Also, Brick has a laser gun from the future.

14: The Dinner Scene (August: Osage County)
With the exception of Chris Cooper, everything about the film version of August: Osage County paled in comparison to the stage play-- including, in my opinion, Oscar nominees Julia Roberts and Meryl Streep. But what is often considered the best scene in the play was still the best scene in the film. The Westons gets together to have what turns out to be probably the worst family dinner in history. It starts with an awkward grace, and just gets worse and worse, with large secrets being causally revealed, and power struggles coming to a head.

13: Nelson Mandela sees his daughter (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom)
There are many great moments in this somewhat uneven film biography—most of them involving the amazing and underrated performance of Naomie Harris as Winnie Mandela. But the best scene in the film involves when Nelson Mandela, still in prison, is visited by his daughter Zindzi who is visiting him for the first time in her life (having not been able to until she was 16). The emotion on Zindzi’s face, and the overjoyed yet unsure Mandela trying to figure out what to say as a father, and recognizing his wife in their daughter’s personality, is a beautiful reunion. This scene sums up what the film does best—it does a better job dealing with individual relationships than it does with the grander political themes.

12: The whipping (12 Years a Slave)
Everyone’s talking about the brutal scene from 12 Years a Slave where the young slave girl Patsey is whipped mercilessly. Not much to really say about this scene. It’s incredibly morbid and horrifyingly realistic. Which, of course, is the whole point. In a particularly disturbing film, this scene in particular stands out.

11: Klara is interrogated (The Hunt)
This Danish film which is nominated for—and could win—best foreign language film this year, focuses on the persecution of a man named Lucas (Mads Mikkelsen—who deservedly won the best actor awards at Cannes for his portrayal) falsely accused of molesting a very young girl. Mikkelsen is incredible, but is matched note for note by child actress Annika Wedderkopp, portraying the young girl, Klara. In this scene, taken almost word for word from the real-life transcript of an investigation of a similar case, Klara is asked questions by a policeman who has the intent of getting her to implicate Lucas, and ends up feeding her answers and blatantly misinterpreting her responses. Not only is the scene horrifying as it sets up the titular witch-hunt that will last throughout the film, but it makes it clear that Klara is not a villain. She is a young and innocent girl whose only crime is not really understanding what is going on. It’s one of the best films of the year because of complex and thought-provoking scenes like this one.

10: The apocalypse gets canceled (Pacific Rim)
Amidst all these critically acclaimed Oscar contenders (and, um, Anchorman), I’m throwing in Pacific Rim, which is quite simply the coolest movie ever made, and which was unfairly snubbed in the technical categories. Like most movies in this genre, it had a rousing and motivational pre-battle speech. Now, the trope of the inspiring speech is a fairly common one, but the one given by Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba) will, I think, forever rank as one of the best and, quite simply, most badass. I want to make Idris Elba saying “Today we are cancelling the apocalypse,” into my ringtone. It would inspire me to do absolutely anything.

9: The first reenactment/the last reenactment (The Act of Killing)
This chilling, Oscar-nominated documentary follows a group of executioners from a military uprising in Indonesia 1965 who were responsible for killing anyone deemed an enemy of the new regime. In a truly original concept, documentarian Joshua Oppenheimer asked the executioners to reenact the killings in any way they wanted to, giving them creative control. Scenes are produced in various styles and genres, including a Western, and even a musical. While many of these reenactments have a terrifying effect, the creepiest for me is the very first one shown, where executioner Herman Koro finds a group of schoolchildren to portray his victims, as well as one passerby to play their mother. As he directs the kids, he’s joking around, playing with them, and acting like a goofball. All the time we know that he was responsible for personally killing hundreds of people. More time is spent on the later reenactments, and more imagination is used, but this scene perfectly sets up what we’re getting in for with this terrifying yet worthwhile documentary.
While the beginning scene is surreal, the end is poignant, and just as strong for its own reasons, as the head executioner Anwar Congo, believed to have killed more than 1,000 people, portrays a victim for the first time in all of the scene reenactments that they’ve done throughout the film. Congo was present for all of these reenactments, and spends most of the film brushing off any questions about the morality of his former job by saying he doesn’t want to think about that. While he acknowledges the horror of his crimes, he seems almost gleeful as he does the reenactments and guides Oppenheimer through how so many people met their end. But when he plays a victim, you can see the realization in Congo’s eyes. By going through a simulation of the tortures he carried out, he realizes for the first time what his victims went through and begins to physically gag. In one scene, this documentary captures a man’s conscience suddenly coming to view, and the change is too much for Congo to take. It’s one of the oddest and most real things I’ve ever seen on film. Is it a fitting comeuppance for this murderer? No. But it in a film consisting of bizarre depictions of the taking of life, it is fitting that it ends with a bizarre depiction of humanity in and of itself, as we see a killer physical respond to the full weight of his crimes.

8: Please Mr. Kennedy (Inside Llewyn Davis)
While it failed to score an Original Song nomination, one of the best musical moments in film this year was the song Please Mr. Kennedy from Inside Llewyn Davis. Not only is it the most lighthearted moment in the film, but it serves as the first of many well-utilized surprises. Penniless folksinger Llewyn Davis is clearly holding onto some sort of moral high ground, and it is generally accepted that he’s a “serious musician,” while it is implied that the more successful musicians like Jim (played, fittingly, by Justin Timberlake) are sell-outs and, somehow, less-than. When Llewyn helps Jim on a recording for this song, his disgust for it is palatable, and as an audience we are initially inclined to agree with him when we hear strange noises from another musician involved. But once we actually hear the song, it’s ridiculously catchy, and although it’s an original song, it feels like an old-school hit, a la The Kinks or The Who. The premise of the film, to me, is that the world is changing while Llewyn is stuck in a rut—his behavior has put him in this never-ending cycle. “Please Mr. Kennedy,” is a great song, but it’s also the film’s clearest indication of these changing times and provides an important piece of perspective as the film goes forward.

7: George Clooney returns (Gravity)
There are many great scenes in Gravity, and most would point to the incredible long-shot at the very beginning of the film. But as technically impressive as the opening shot is, I don’t think it’s the best scene in the film. After all, it takes place before anything has even happened. My favorite scene is when, after seemingly being shat upon repeatedly by some karmic douchebag deity, astronaut Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) simply gives up and decides to die peacefully rather than continue an escape attempt. She’s about to drift off when, miraculously, her fellow astronaut George Clooney (who plays a character named Matt Kowalski but who, let’s face it, is really just George Clooney) arrives to talk her through how to rescue herself and encourage her to not give up. The scene feels like a deus ex machina—Clooney’s character was implied to have died a long time ago, and his arrival is as preposterous as it is well-timed. He even opens the door of the ship before Sandra Bullock had her spacesuit on! Surely that would have killed her! Of course, this scene is not real-- it is hallucinated by Stone who is then inspired to save herself. What I love about it is that it’s a moment of fantasy in a science fiction film which is heavy on the science. And it allows director Alfonso Cuaron to play with our perceptions of reality and disorient us just a bit. It’s a nice oasis which fits perfectly in this ultimate disaster flick.

6: The kidnapper is revealed (Prisoners) THIS POST IN PARTICULAR HAS SUPER DUPER HUGE SPOILERS
I loved Prisoners. And while not many agree with me, and its early release meant all of its Oscar buzz fizzled and it was left with a single nomination for cinematography, it is actually my favorite film of the year. It’s an intricate film which wears multiple hats—at times being an emotional family drama, at times being a detective story, at times being a thriller, and at times being a pure horror film. And I love the ending. Some have called it predictable, but to me, not one person could have figured out every single piece of the puzzle, even if they got the general notion of what was happening. Some picked up on one bit, some picked up on another. Together, a collective audience would figure it out, but I don’t know anyone who knew what every single clue meant. And as cliché as it may be, you really don’t expect the monster in the film to be the sweet old lady. Played chillingly by Melissa Leo who I think should have had Oscar consideration for her work, everything suddenly falls into place, as we realize the true danger that our anti-hero played by Hugh Jackman is really in. The same qualities we once saw as charming in Leo’s Holly Jones now become menacing, and we’re left replaying all of her previous scenes in our heads. One of the more satisfying reveals in a cinematic mystery story that I’ve seen in a long time.

5: The race at Nurburgring (Rush)
Ron Howard's underrated racing film which received critical acclaim,  ultimately fell off the map and failed to receive a single Oscar nomination-- not even for actor Daniel Bruhl, who had been nominated for most other major awards for his work (bafflingly, in the supporting actor category even though he's one of the two stars). The most tense scene is a race on a track called Nurburgring. Already known as a treacherous track, top racer Niki Lauda (Bruhl) tries to get the racing commission to call off the race, as it had been heavily raining and the track was unsafe. At the goading of his rival James Hunt (an equally strong Chris Hemsworth) the race goes forth, and even those of us who don’t know anything about racing (the film is based on a true story) know something terrible is going to happen. And it does. The film is full of exciting races and close finishes, but this is the most tense of all. Every time a corner is turned, you expect something awful. My heart didn’t beat faster with nerves for any other scene this year.

4: Catherine Dickens gives her husband’s mistress a necklace (The Invisible Woman)
I didn’t really care for this empty biographical period piece about Charles Dickens (Ralph Fiennes) and his affair with a young actress named Nelly Ternan (Felicity Jones). While I disliked most of the film, it did feature one of the best performances of the year. Not the unbearably bland Jones, and not the hammy Fiennes, but the wonderful understated work of character actress Joanna Scanlan as Dickens’ wife Catherine. Catherine is very out of place in Dickens’ life, not craving the spotlight or the lifestyle that her husband seems to require in order to thrive. Scanlan’s portrayal of Catherine is as a wallflower who fades into the background. And in this film, such restraint is mesmerizing—your eyes are drawn to her as she sadly watches events unfold. She is not portrayed as stupid, merely plain and tired, and so it is a shock when she arrives at Nelly’s birthday party carrying a necklace, which she explains is a necklace from her husband. She speaks to Nelly candidly, but it is not a confrontation. In her speech, Scanlan shows a bit of warning, a bit of resentment, a bit of sadness, a bit of embarrassment, a lot of strength, and a lot of tired acceptance. It’s a fascinating scene—and the last one Scanlan is in—and it makes one wish the whole film could have been at that level. I’d watch a whole movie following Catherine Dickens, and this scene alone feels like a standalone short film which deserved a better film to showcase it. One of the best scene of the year, hidden in one of the most disappointing films of the year.

3: Victor Tellegio (American Hustle)
This colorful, exciting, smart, and stylized con film features a ton of incredible performances-- enough to get Bradley Cooper an Oscar nomination just for being a part of the cast. But one of the best is the cameo by Robert DeNiro, whose involvement in the film was mostly kept under wraps. DeNiro, who last collaborated with director David O. Russell in Silver Linings Playbook in a very against-type role (for which he received an Oscar nomination) plays Victor Tellegio, a gangster akin to the roles he was known for playing back when he collaborated with Scorsese. His presence alone is powerful and intimidating—which the role needs, and he instantly adds an element of danger to the carefully knit operation being carried out by our main characters. Even as he agrees with the others at the table, you feel on edge knowing that something is about to go terribly, terribly wrong. Our fears are proven correct when he begins speaking in fluent Arabic, threatening to blow the cover of the crew’s faux-sheik (who is Hispanic). It’s a dangerous and surprising scene which encapsulates the high-stakes which make this movie work so well. Also, DeNiro’s work is one of the best-utilized cameos of the year.

2: Home videos of Michael (Philomena)
Philomena is one of the true surprises of the year, and I'm so thrilled it received a somewhat-unexpected Oscar nomination. Based on a true story of a woman trying to find her long lost son Michael, the film seems like a charming human interest story, but takes a dramatic turn about halfway through the film when the identity of Philomena’s son is revealed. I warned about spoilers at the beginning of this, but I want to make sure you know that the next sentence is a massive spoiler: her son is dead. The case seems closed, and it feels like all the film has left to do is find some point of resolution, so Philomena Lee visits her sons lover, who shows her home videos of Michael. As the home videos play, it seems like another sweet moment like the ones we’ve seen throughout the film, until reporter Martin Sixsmith (a commendable Steve Coogan) sees that one of the videos takes place at the Irish nunhouse in which Michael was born. Which was the first place that he and Philomena visited when trying to find Michael. Where they said that they had no information about him. And where, the partner tells them, Michael is in fact buried. In one scene, the film goes from being an above-average human interest story into being a tale of deception and cruelty, of conspiracy and lies. It goes from a charming tale of an old Irish woman and a stuck-up reporter to an outright thriller and story of justice. Everything changes and, at least when I saw it, the whole audience gasped at the revelation.

1: The captain relaxes (Captain Phillips)
As I watched Captain Phillips, I thought it was a good film. The gritty realism that earned Paul Greengrass a very well-deserved Oscar nomination in United 93 has a similar affect here and makes us feel as if we’re on the boat with the titular Captain Phillips, who has been taken hostage by Somalian pirates. As strong and as present as the direction is, this film lives and dies by its performances, both from Barkhad Abdi who gives an unrelenting yet surprisingly human portrayal of pirate Abduwali Muse, to Tom Hanks as the ever-reliable heroic Phillips, who maintains a level head and a professional calm throughout all of the movie’s dire circumstances. He’s a hero through and through and it’s a great story. “Good film,” I thought, as the movie reached its end. But then, in the very last scene, something happened. Tom Hanks broke down. Having been rescued, realizing he’s safe from harm, Phillips can, for the first time, stop putting on a show. He weeps, he becomes more than just the ever-ready man-in-charge we’ve come to respect. He becomes a human. In Hanks’ eyes, you can see him reliving the event, unable to believe that it’s really over and that he survived. In that moment, Captain Phillips goes from being a good film to being a great film. It’s the scene that makes Tom Hanks Oscar snub so shocking and unfair, and while Captain Phillips is not even one of my favorite films of the year (which just goes to show once again how many great films there were) I think it contains the single best scene of 2013.

 

Thoughts? What are your favorite scenes of the year?  Share in the comments!