Lara's Top Ten Movie Moments

First off--a rousing HAPPY 60th BIRTHDAY to my dad, Rich! Woo Hoo! Hope today is a great one!

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Well, I have all your equipment in my locker. You should probably come get it ‘cause I can't fit my Numchucks in there anymore.”—Napoleon, from Napoleon Dynamite

I recently read an article on what one person felt was the “Ten Greatest Movie Moments of All Time.” I love movies. I'm actually a huge movie buff (as evidenced by my substantial DVD collection--much to the chagrin of my hubby.) I know lots of useless movie trivia, and heck, I even reviewed movies for my high school and college newspapers.

Unfortunately, I didn't really agree with the "Top Ten Choices" of this particular journalist.
(Well, for starters the writer was a guy, and his all-time favorite movie moment was slightly disappointing, as when Arnold/The Terminator melts into the molten metal at the end of Terminator Two just never did much for me.)

So, in similar fashion, I’ve decided to count down MY top ten Movie Moments. Just for fun, and because I can. *wink*
Starting with number ten. *Warning* If you’re a guy, you might want to quit reading here because I’m a hopeless romantic and a lot of these moments are “slightly” romantic and a little "up there" on the Cheese Factor Scale. So here goes:

#10: The Hunt for Red October: In the end, when the Americans board the Russian submarine, and Captain Ramius (Sean Connery) announces their intention to defect, (which finally justifies all the red tape and hell Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin) has gone through to prove that they ARE indeed, defecting.) I always get chills. It never fails.

#9: Sixteen Candles: Every young (and not-so-young) girl’s heart skips a beat at the end of this hilarious high-school satire, when all the cars take off and there is Jake Ryan (the epitome of THE high school hunk), waiting across the street from the church to meet Samantha. And when he tentatively waves at her, and she looks over her shoulder, because she can’t believe he’s finally there, in the flesh--it kinda makes you want to stand up and cheer.

#8: Casablanca: At the end, when Rick, (Humphrey Bogart) who loves Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) so much, lets her go flying off into the sunset with her political-activist husband, despite his own tormented feelings of love for her. What kills me is he’s been wanting to leave Africa for like, FOREVER, and he lets her go, and sends her husband in his place! Waaahhhhh! Powerful, and very moving.

#7: Major League: The last scene, when Rick (Charlie Sheen) Vaugh pitches in s-l-o-w motion (as everyone does in baseball movies it seems) and the Indians win the pennant when Willie Mayes Hayes (Wesley Snipes) slides into home and is safe--literally by the hair of his nose. The elation I felt the first time I saw that scene took me by surprise. It was a well-done ending to a relative disaster of a movie. (What can I say? I like Baseball movies.)

#6: Silence of the Lambs: Like most people who hadn’t read the book, I watched this one with my mouth hanging open in stupefied horror most of the entire movie. The genius of this film is not in the disgusting parts (which were ample) but in the parts they didn’t show, and left to your imagination. But the part that had me white-knuckled and on the edge of my seat ready to run screaming through my whole house: The part in Buffalo Bill’s basement, when the lights get shut off and Clarice (Jodi Foster) is stuck, groping about in the dark, nearly hyperventilating from terror, as Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine) calmly advances towards her in the dark with night-vision goggles, stretching his hand out to touch her hair…
Heeeeeheeeeheeeyaaayaaaaahhhhhhhh. Not for the faint of heart, decidedly.

#5: Pretty in Pink: Most 30-something women will know exactly what I’m talking about when I merely say: The kiss between Andie and Blane in front of the BMW. “Nuff Said.

#4: Pride and Prejudice: A film with so many great moments, but I have to say, when Elizabeth Bennet (Jennifer Ehle) turned a corner on the grounds at Pemberly and almost walked smack-dab into a dripping-wet Mr. Darcy (Colin Firth), I literally felt my pulse go up. Literally.

#3: Somewhere in Time. Most people would agree with me, that it’s hard to single out a “single best” moment from this movie, which is so chock-full of “A-HA!” moments and tear-jerking moments that one leaves the viewing exhausted from the emotional roller coaster ride, not to mention needing to drink liberal amounts of Gatorade from all the water lost by bawling his/her eyes out.
My personal favorite moment: When Richard (Christopher Reeve) first sees the painting of Elise McKenna (Jane Seymour) in the Hall of History in the Grand Hotel, and he slowly advances towards it while the Orchestration goes on maximum decibal overdrive in the background. (Yes, I’m actually getting goosebumps just by typing about it.) *whew*

#2: Field of Dreams: I don’t know why this affects me so much, but in the end when Ray (Kevin Costner) has a game of “catch” with his dead father (Dwier Brown) I bawl like a baby. Seriously. Like a stinkin’ baby.

#1: A Room With A View: (Okay, all the men who have stuck around to read to this point can feel free to slink away in disgust now, because this movie moment has been my favorite since my sophomore year in high school, hands down.)
It’s the moment when the ever-perfect Edwardian-era gentleman George Emerson (Julian Sands, *sigh*) crosses a crimson-poppy-stained barley field in rural Florence, Italy, to plant a VERY passionate kiss on fellow tourist Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham Carter). I think my VHS copy of this movie was literally worn out at that scene, from all the stopping, rewinding, stopping, rewinding, etc..

Honorable Mentions:

Napoleon Dynamite: The Dance Scene: where Napoleon dances in front of the whole school, to get votes for Pedro.

Ever After: When the Baroness Rodmilla (a.k.a evil stepmother Angelica Houston) gets her comeuppance in front of the newly-minted princess Danielle, and the whole royal French court.

Rocky: (Okay, I loathe boxing movies but when Rocky knocked out Apollo, I almost peed my pants with excitement—along with everyone else.)

Alien: When the Alien came out of Kane’s chest, I nearly went into cardiac arrest. It was so new and terrifying and unheard of, for a science fiction movie made in 1979. (Clearly I didn’t watch it until I was older). They didn’t make them like that, back then. Whew!

So that’s it. That’s Lara's Top Ten. Granted, there are so many great movies with great moments I’ve seen, but these are the ones that immediately came to mind.

And now, I 've got the "movie bug"--time to pop some microwave popcorn and raid my DVD collection.
Happy Watching, Y’all, and have a safe and fun holiday weekend! Cheers!