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Shots that make you go "Goddamn!" - Page 3

post #101 of 158
8/13/10 at 12:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Litmus Configuration View Post
Not to damper anyone's enthusiasm but I think some folks (certainly not all) are straying from the original mission statement of this thread: SHOTS that make you go "Goddamn!" Not SCENES or SEQUENCES, etc.
Agreed.
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post #102 of 158
8/13/10 at 12:39am
Yeah, the link I posted is kind of just a mean pun.
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post #103 of 158
8/13/10 at 4:43pm
Probably mentioned this in another thread, but the shot of the Falcon flying under and over the cloudbank and spinning back to the camera in ESB all with John Williams music swirling around it. Fantastic.
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post #104 of 158
8/13/10 at 6:26pm
Every time this thread pops back up I seem to think of another shot from an overlooked or under-appreciated Hong Kong movie. I suppose it's just how my brain is wired.

Anyway, the long opening shot of Pang Ho-cheung's EXODUS (2007) is a blast of what initially would seem like total madness but by the end of the film makes perfect sense and is not actually crazy at all. Or rather, it makes perfect sense in the context of a film whose primary order of business is to blow the lid off the dark conspiracy of why women really go to the bathroom in groups whenever possible.

It'd be spoilery to describe it in too much detail, since I want people to see this damn film, and the impact is diluted if you know too much about the opening. However I suppose it is safe to say it's an unbroken shot that begins with an extreme closeup of Queen Elizabeth II and ends on what may or may not be a homage to a memorable moment in 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY's Dawn Of Man sequence.
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post #105 of 158
8/14/10 at 2:36am
I think the wow shots for me were in Jurassic Park when I saw it for the first time. That one scene with the brontosaurus standing on its hind legs and dropping down was pretty freaking amazing back in '93 (and not so bad even today)
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post #106 of 158
8/14/10 at 11:26am
The Holy Mountain- guy on his knees, street fills with smoke behind him

It's Not Me, I Swear!- 1. Leon running through the shanty-town. 2. His jump. 3. The entire movie.

The Wackness- Overhead crane shot of Luke lying on a couch on the roof of a building. It's a quick one but it's my favorite one of the movie.
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post #107 of 158
8/14/10 at 12:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mike_tyson View Post
The Holy Mountain- guy on his knees, street fills with smoke behind him
Also, the guy ascending the tower. It's fucking way up high. Where do they build towers like that?
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post #108 of 158
8/14/10 at 12:27pm
From one of the only TV shows fit to be in this thread:

Breaking Bad -

Jesse shoots heroine and starts floating towards the sky.

The final shot of the season opener with the truck exploding behind the brothers.

A couple from the Rian Johnson directed episode including the tied-off camera to Jesse's scrub, the fly POV and Walt falling off the banister.
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post #109 of 158
8/14/10 at 12:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Evi View Post
From one of the only TV shows fit to be in this thread:

Breaking Bad -

Jesse shoots heroine and starts floating towards the sky.

The final shot of the season opener with the truck exploding behind the brothers.

A couple from the Rian Johnson directed episode including the tied-off camera to Jesse's scrub, the fly POV and Walt falling off the banister.
One more - Gus' sunset meet-up with the Twins.
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post #110 of 158
8/14/10 at 1:54pm

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post #111 of 158
8/19/10 at 3:12pm
My conscious mind hates me for getting a hard-on from a number of shots that were supervised by Tony Scott or Michael Bay. For example THE shot from Armageddon. You know what I mean: Sunset. Choppers. Michael Clarke Duncan. Horse.
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post #112 of 158
8/19/10 at 3:34pm
There's this one shot in To Live and Die in LA, where William Petersen is going to the strip club, and the camera pans around the corner of it that always kind of blew my mind in ways I can't really explain.
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post #113 of 158
8/19/10 at 4:34pm
Gonna steer clear of FX shots with my choices:

The epic pullback from the chopping block in Gilliam's The Adventures of Baron Munchausen.

The final derailing in Frankenheimer's The Train, with a wheel coming to rest just inches above the ground-level camera.

Seconding Grace Kelly in Rear Window. Greatest color closeup ever. Greatest black-and-white closeup is Marlene Dietrich smoking in the dark in Shanghai Express.

Fly Away Home. A real ultralight aircraft takes off, immediately followed by the real flock of geese that really have imprinted with it.
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post #114 of 158
8/19/10 at 4:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Virtanen View Post
My conscious mind hates me for getting a hard-on from a number of shots that were supervised by Tony Scott or Michael Bay. For example THE shot from Armageddon. You know what I mean: Sunset. Choppers. Michael Clarke Duncan. Horse.
Owen Wilson was on the horse being chased by choppers.

Michael Clarke Duncan was on the chopper being chased by coppers.

But still, agreed on the pure Bayisms.
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post #115 of 158
8/19/10 at 5:05pm
There's a lot of really cool shots in Requiem for a Dream, but the time-lapse dolly shot of Ellen cleaning her apartment like a madwoman takes the cake.
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post #116 of 158
8/20/10 at 2:08am
The Mask of Zorro. That shot from the end of the opening sequence where Zorro rears up on his horse against the sunset. As a lifetime Zorro nerd, that punched me in the chest. The movie could do no wrong after that moment.
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post #117 of 158
8/20/10 at 2:33am

Y Tu Mama Tambien



And this tracking shot


And the way there's so much activity happening in the background in this shot:
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post #118 of 158
8/20/10 at 3:08am
Did Michael Mann and Dante Spinotti ever have a better grasp of shooting so beautifully that you could hang frames on your wall than they did with Last Of The Mohicans?







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post #119 of 158
8/20/10 at 3:26am
someone mentioned Brazil before

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post #120 of 158
8/20/10 at 10:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kingfan View Post
Too many too count in There Will Be Blood but there is something about the silohuete shot of Plainview and his "brother" sitting on the beach that always gets me. Then Plainview gets up leaving his brother in the shadows. Simply but effective shot.
For me it's the shot directly after this, where Daniel wades into the water and lets the gigantic waves buffet him. The music just kind of...lingers... eerie.
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post #121 of 158
8/20/10 at 3:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcnooj82 View Post
Owen Wilson was on the horse being chased by choppers.

Michael Clarke Duncan was on the chopper being chased by coppers.

But still, agreed on the pure Bayisms.
How on earth could I get those mixed? I have to mention the shot in the trailer for Scott's Unstoppable where there's a horse on a railroad track. Absolutely rivals Armageddon in the "beautiful shots of horses threatened by large vehicles" -category.
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post #122 of 158
8/20/10 at 3:20pm
I'm a sucker for Bay, and for me his magnum-opus of jizz worthy shots is Transformers during the climatic battle when Ironhide flips off the ground in slow motion with the camera sweeping over that hot chick screaming.

here it is in horrible quality.









goddamn
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post #123 of 158
8/20/10 at 3:49pm
Shot's cool and all, but that rack is the real thing that makes you go "Goddamn!"
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post #124 of 158
8/20/10 at 5:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Disciple_72 View Post
Just rewatched The Warriors for the first time in a long time.

It's the simplest shot, but Swan throwing that Punk into the mens room stall... camera in darkness, the body going through the door lets the light in, Punk lands in the toilet, Michael Beck visible in the background evidently satisfied at having just fucked this guy up... so very badass.
I would also like to nominate the shot of the chick from the Lizzies gang getting the wooden chair broken over her face, in slow motion!
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post #125 of 158
8/21/10 at 4:18am
"Show's over motherfuckers."

Damn.
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post #126 of 158
8/21/10 at 4:52am
Denzel walking away from the police chief, mayor, or whoeverthefuckhewas in Man on Fire under the bridge.
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post #127 of 158
8/21/10 at 5:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg Clark View Post
Shot's cool and all, but that rack is the real thing that makes you go "Goddamn!"
I imagine she's an adult Bubbles from The Powerpuff Girls
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post #128 of 158
8/21/10 at 5:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Teitr Styrr View Post
"Show's over motherfuckers."

Damn.
Just that shot, or the whole sequence? My favorite shot is the super slo-mo jump, with the strobe revealing the action one second at a time. The music plays a big part.
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post #129 of 158
8/21/10 at 5:52am
The whole thing for me really. Music, the strobe, and especially the very last shot she makes.

But I was tryng to keep with the spirit of the thread with "Show's over Motherfuckers."

ETA: Bah, not the very last shot, because she shoots the strobe. The shot right before that. It's timed with the strobe where you can see her put a bullitt in the brainpan of the last thug. That could actually be my favorite "shot".

The declaration is still very high on the list though.

ETA2: Geeze, now that I'm thinging on it a bit more, the shot of her putting out her father is pretty powerful too.

I guess I just love that sequence.
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post #130 of 158
8/21/10 at 7:04pm
Having just re-watched Kick-Ass last night, the best part about the bullet to the last thug's head is that there are two strobe flashes between the gunshot and the bullet coming out of his head.
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post #131 of 158
8/22/10 at 9:39am
An interesting counterpoint about whether or not a shot making you go, "goddamn" is actually a good thing, specifically relating to the car chase in "Children of Men":

http://www.avclub.com/articles/children-of-men,35640/

Personal favorites for me are top down shots of characters walking through various rooms, the movie admitting that it's shot on a set. Tarantino's got a couple; the Bride in the House of Blue Leaves and Shoshonna at the "Nation's Pride" premier. Spielberg's also got a couple, there's a great one in "Minority Report" and another (iirc, it's been a long time since I've seen it) in "The Terminal."

I watched "Back to the Future" last night and there's a simple shot that I absolutely love. Marty's vanishing from existence due to some ginger asshole cutting in on George. George gets his nerve back, shoves the guy to the ground and kisses Lorraine as "Earth Angel" reaches it's crescendo. Now comes my shot: Marty stands up and the camera stands up with him, along with the appropriate accompanying guitar chord. It's super-simple and about one second long but it makes me chuckle every time, I think it's the goofy look on Fox's face that really sells it.
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post #132 of 158
8/24/10 at 5:58pm
I had to include Crank in here eventually, but I think the "goddamn" was either the beginning, when he runs down to the car in the garage, it sets up how the rest of the film is going to feel, but I just like the camera following him as he runs over some dudes car to get into his own. So grungy but awesome.

Or the last scene in the movie.
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post #133 of 158
8/25/10 at 10:20pm


La Belle et la Bete Cocteau, 1946

This moment, when Beauty enters the Beast's castle for the first time and we see torches light themselves and arms lift them from the wall to light her way, was a great shot. It showed that we'd passed from the real world into a fairy tale. Just a great and atmospheric shot that conveyed a bunch of info with no words.

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post #134 of 158
8/25/10 at 10:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kush View Post
I'm a sucker for Bay, and for me his magnum-opus of jizz worthy shots is Transformers during the climatic battle when Ironhide flips off the ground in slow motion with the camera sweeping over that hot chick screaming.

here it is in horrible quality.









goddamn
See, for me, the problem there is that no matter how well rendered that image is, I can't make heads or tails of that robot design. It's just a big hunk of whirling metal things, and IMHO it makes the action kind of incomprehensible
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post #135 of 158
8/25/10 at 10:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by teledork View Post
This. It's been over 15 years since I last saw La Belle et la Bete & that shot is the only thing I can remember from it.
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post #136 of 158
8/25/10 at 11:02pm
- The single one-take shot in Boogie Nights which follows William H. Macy seeing his wife screwing another guy, slowly making his way out to his car, grabbing something, slowly returning to the bedroom doorway, and blowing his brains out. The screen just cutting to the words "The '80s" afterwards only adds to the wow factor.

- Keeping up the William H. Macy theme, there's that one shot in Fargo where at first you have no clue what the hell you're looking at. Then you see a tiny WHM enter the screen and you realize it's a birds-eye view of a parking lot in the middle of a Minnesota winter. Really captures the solitude of WHM as his hair-brained scheme spirals out of control.

- In Halloween, there's two money shots: 1) When the girl is on the phone in the kitchen and walks across it. Were it not for a musical flourish, you might miss Michael looking in through the window. A few seconds later, she crosses back across the room and...he's gone. DOUCHECHILLS. 2) Toward the end, Laurie's at the top of the stairs resting thinking it's all over. But we can slowly see Myers' reflection forming as he ascends the staircase. DOUCHECHILLS X2.

(It's been a while since I've seen these movies, so all apologies if I've pulled an Andy Pettite and am misremembering them.)
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post #137 of 158
8/26/10 at 1:02pm
Camera follows Van Damme's foot into a bootleg "Pumma" sneaker in KNOCK OFF:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkn87APEs48#t=3m7s
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post #138 of 158
9/1/10 at 11:58pm
Kind of amazed this one slipped through, since it's the only part of the movie (aside from Daniel Day Lewis) that everybody seems to agree is fantastic:



Not the screencap I'd like, but it's what I've got. The harbor shot from Gangs of New York that starts with the Irish immigrants arriving in America, being greeted and politicked as soon as their feet hit the docks, and then tracking over to show other freshly arrived immigrants enlisting in the Union army and boarding another ship while coffins are being offloaded. I love the whole thing, but if the movie had that elegance for it's entire running time it'd be an unquestionable masterpiece.
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post #139 of 158
9/2/10 at 12:11am
The sumptuous The Night Of The Hunter is full of them...







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post #140 of 158
9/2/10 at 12:19am
From Nicholas and Alexandra:



The way the camera quietly observes with the Romanovs sitting there haggard and exhausted as if posed for some bizarro-world family portrait, is absolutely wrenching. The film cuts between that shot and a close up of the clock on the wall as the second hand ticks away and you wonder how many more revolutions it has left till before the bolsheviks enter the room

Gripping film making from a movie that I was surprised and impressed by
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post #141 of 158
9/2/10 at 12:41am


After the first time I saw RAN, I had several stills burned into my brain. The most prominent of which is the old guy stewing while his castle is being destroyed.
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post #142 of 158
9/2/10 at 12:45am
This shot from SILENT LIGHT is amazing.
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post #143 of 158
9/2/10 at 9:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by KConan View Post


After the first time I saw RAN, I had several stills burned into my brain. The most prominent of which is the old guy stewing while his castle is being destroyed.
Totally agree.
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post #144 of 158
9/2/10 at 9:55am
I know it's a terrible blasphemy, but this is my favourite version of this shot:

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post #145 of 158
9/2/10 at 10:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by The_Bodhisattva View Post
I watched "Back to the Future" last night and there's a simple shot that I absolutely love. Marty's vanishing from existence due to some ginger asshole cutting in on George. George gets his nerve back, shoves the guy to the ground and kisses Lorraine as "Earth Angel" reaches it's crescendo. Now comes my shot: Marty stands up and the camera stands up with him, along with the appropriate accompanying guitar chord. It's super-simple and about one second long but it makes me chuckle every time, I think it's the goofy look on Fox's face that really sells it.
True.
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post #146 of 158
9/12/10 at 9:14pm
I was watching Hunger and there was a scene with Fassbender and Liam Cunningham where they sit and talk in this meeting room, it's a static shot of just two men but it's the longest talking scene I've ever seen, Fassbender and Cunningham keep you riveted as the conversation flows from pleasantries to the real point. When the film actually makes a cut it's like a spell has been broken.
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post #147 of 158
9/12/10 at 9:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by NathanW View Post
I was watching Hunger and there was a scene with Fassbender and Liam Cunningham where they sit and talk in this meeting room, it's a static shot of just two men but it's the longest talking scene I've ever seen, Fassbender and Cunningham keep you riveted as the conversation flows from pleasantries to the real point. When the film actually makes a cut it's like a spell has been broken.
It's also such a shock to the system because you've barely had a single line of dialogue through the first half of the movie up to that point and then you get this incredible scene between the two of them.

I agree tho, it's utterly fucking electric. Two very, very good actors going at it without a single cut for almost twenty minutes.
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post #148 of 158
9/12/10 at 9:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Rain Dog View Post
It's also such a shock to the system because you've barely had a single line of dialogue through the first half of the movie up to that point and then you get this incredible scene between the two of them.

I agree tho, it's utterly fucking electric. Two very, very good actors going at it without a single cut for almost twenty minutes.
There's also virtually no dialogue after that scene, either. It's like a verbal oasis in the middle of that harrowing film.
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post #149 of 158
9/12/10 at 9:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ratty View Post
There's also virtually no dialogue after that scene, either. It's like a verbal oasis in the middle of that harrowing film.
For some reason one of the shots in the film that had the strongest effect on me was watching the guard slowly clean up the entire prison corridor full of piss one broom stroke at a time in one long single shot. It just struck me how terribly trapped everyone was - prisoner, guard, catholic, protestant - in that hellish situation.

Such a brilliant film.
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post #150 of 158
9/13/10 at 1:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by The_Bodhisattva View Post
An interesting counterpoint about whether or not a shot making you go, "goddamn" is actually a good thing, specifically relating to the car chase in "Children of Men":

http://www.avclub.com/articles/children-of-men,35640/

Personal favorites for me are top down shots of characters walking through various rooms, the movie admitting that it's shot on a set. Tarantino's got a couple; the Bride in the House of Blue Leaves and Shoshonna at the "Nation's Pride" premier. Spielberg's also got a couple, there's a great one in "Minority Report" and another (iirc, it's been a long time since I've seen it) in "The Terminal."
Heh. That Children of Men article got a bunch of panties in a twist when it was published. I think it makes a good point badly.

As for shots that admit they're shot on a set, you've picked out some doozies but my favourite is from The Life Aquatic. As an old sea dog myself the Belafonte is one of my favourite movie vessels of all time (maybe second only to the Millenium Falcon) and the scene which introduces her by moving from room to room to deck is pure delight to me.

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