20 Great Movie Moments From 2012

Hans’ Final Message

from Seven Psychopaths

One of the main reasons I adore Martin McDonagh’s metatextual comedy is Christopher Walken’s wonderfully touching and funny performance, and in the film’s final minutes, it is Walken who gets the bets moment of the movie (spoilers follow). After Walken’s character, Hans, is mistakenly shot down by police, protagonist Marty (Colin Farrell) finds a handheld tape recorder on his friend’s corpse. The tape contains a suggestion for Marty’s script that Hans recorded before dying. The message – and visual dramatization of it – is amazingly poignant, even as its actual content is completely nonsensical, and gives Marty the perfect ending for his screenplay. In a film built around the strange and dynamic nature of storytelling, this is the defining moment, a scene that is both riotously funny and kind of heartbreaking.

The Dance Competition Finale

from Silver Linings Playbook

I love Silver Linings Playbook for many, many reasons, but I especially adore David O. Russell’s audacity in building the entire story to something as simple and frivolous as an amateur dance competition. This is not a moment that should mean anything in most stories, but because this performance means so much to our characters, and we love the characters so much, watching Pat and Tiffany execute their long-rehearsed dance routine is as riveting and, ultimately, satisfying as any other movie moment of 2012. I first saw Silver Linings Playbook at the closing night of the Starz Denver Film Festival, and in that giant crowd of cinephiles, one could sense the communal energy growing and growing as the dance grew increasingly ambitious (and embarrassing), and a little slice of movie history being made. The long minute of non-stop applause the audience burst into after Pat and Tiffany got their 5 (out of 10) says it better than words ever could.                                                                    

Raoul Silva’s Entrance

from Skyfall 

Casting Javier Bardem as a James Bond villain always seemed like a slam dunk, but it was not until his character, Raoul Silva, actually walked on screen and delivered a creepy, memorable speech that the full potential of Bardem’s casting became apparent. I love the way Sam Mendes shot this scene, all in one long take as Bardem walks from the elevator towards Bond (and the camera), with rows and rows of computer servers creating boundaries on each side of the frame. It is an amazing image, and only make Bardem’s performance all the more haunting. Silva’s story about the “last rat standing” also, of course, sets up the perfect one-liner for Bond later on in the movie – what more could we ask for?

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