"WOW!" Moments, 2004 edition

The Phantom of the Opera - when the chandelier was lifted and everything transformed to the opera house years before and the music swelled. Nice moment.

Eternal Sunshine - Different wow moment for me with this one, which I've mentioned in other threads specifically about the movie. During the scene where Elijah Wood comes over to Kate Winslet's apartment, and she decides she wants to go to the frozen lake again, he gives her the necklace she wanted, and she says something like, "thanks, guys never get me jewelry I like." When she's putting it away, just as they're about to leave, she gives him a look, which lasts a second or two at most, leaving no doubt whatsoever that she knows what's going on with him knowing about her past, just for that one moment--and then it goes away. It's so brief that I'll bet a lot of (maybe most) people who've seen the movie haven't noticed it, but it blew me away in the theater.

Spiderman 2 - While I enjoyed this movie, it didn't knock me out like it did for a lot of other people. But the best part of it for me was (maybe not that necessary, but I'll spoilerize it anyway):

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

Now THAT was a "wow" moment.

Just want to mention that, by its very nature...this thread may be full of spoilers. Should we tag all moments? I'm not going to post until we're sure...

I guess it'd be best to spoilerize, when in doubt. Eternal Sunshine's tough enough just to describe, much less spoil, so I don't think Chuck or I have ruined anything.

Another suggestion: if everyone follows the format that Chuck used, maybe that'll be good enough for people to skip titles without being spoiled, without making tags necessary. I.e.:

Title - Moment

The crowd has spoken. My post has been adjusted accordingly!

The Bourne Supremacy: The goodbye kiss

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: Pretty, pretty, pretty

Fair enough!...

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind -

The looped final moment of Carrey and Winslet running on the snowy beach. As if the director were saying that they will continue this loop of erasing/breaking up and renewing their relationship. Always falling in love...never advancing.

Sideways -

When Miles' ex tells him she is pregnant. The heartbreak on his face is shattering.

Of course, the "pinot conversation" between he and Madsen. What a great close up on her.

Aviator -

The discussion, through a door, between a gone Howard Hughes and a compassionate Kate Hepburn. Two of the year's finest performances in a killer moment.

Incredibles -

The first glimpse of the evil HQ with the pseudo-Barry music blaring.

The kid running across the water...wheeeeee!

Kill Bill Vol 2 -

Elle vs. Bea. AWESOME!!!!

Man on Fire

"What're you gonna do?" "Kill 'em all" cue badass music!

The goodbye at the bridge. "You love me, don't you Creasy?"

Finding Neverland -

Opening night...the kids first reactions in the audience.

Bringing the play to the ailing Kate at home..."This is Neverland."

Million Dollar Baby -

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

The Passion -

I'm not a fan of this film. But, Chuck nailed the moment of the film. "See mother, I make all things new." From the moment he falls, to the flashback, to her running to him, to this moment. WOW. Had half of the film come halfway close to meeting the power of this moment, I would have liked it as much as all the raves. More.

Dawn of the Dead -

Opening sequence quickly descending into chaos, punctuated by Johnny Cash singin' "The Man Comes Around". I was IN.

The Woodsman -

The bench 'discussion'. If you've seen it, you know what I'm talkin' about...

Spider-man 2

I better spoilerize to be safe:
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

Hero
I'll second the visuals in Hero. A stunning film.

I'm sure I'll think of more later.

I'm with the two guys who mention the Spidey 2 scene. Absolutely beautiful - and wholly unexpected - way to end a superhero flick...

Many of mine have already been mentioned.
That one in particular I was going to bring up. The single finest acting moment this year.

I also agree with:

• The ending shot of Spider-Man 2
• Dash running over the water in The Incredibles
• The opening to Phantom Of The Opera
• The Finding Neverland scenes mentioned
• Every Eternal Sunshine scene mentioned
• Every Hero scene mentioned - hell, the whole damn thing was a work of art

Here's some new ones:

The Aviator - the plane crash. Absolutely spectacular.

Harry Potter & The Prisoner Of Azkaban - Harry's ride on the Hippogriff. Finally, under Cuaron, this series takes flight!

Finding Neverland - The final scene on the bench.

Kill Bill Vol. 2 - Bill's last walk. One... two... three... four... five.

The Polar Express - in IMAX 3D, 99 minutes of pure unadulterated WOW!!

Damn, now I want to see every one of these movies again!!

Before Sunset - The scene in the car, particulary when Julie Delpy goes to put her hand on Ethan's head but pulls away.

Good call on the Harry Potter moment!

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - "Meet me in Montauk..."

Kill Bill Vol 2 - The final confrontation between the Bride and Bill was riveting, even with very little blood or action. David Carradine's performance was phenominal.

Fahrenheit 9/11 - The horrific sounds of the airplanes crashing into the World Trade Center against a black screen made for a very emotionally powerful scene.

My WOW! moments of 2004:

Spiderman 2: Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

Collateral: Just about any shot of L.A.

ESOTSM: Clem and Joel on the ice.

Before Sunset: Celine reaches to touch Jesse's head and then pulls her hand back.

Kill Bill Volume 2: Beatrix vs Ellie and Beatrix vs. Bill.

The Incredibles: Dash running over the water and Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

Sideways: Miles and Maya's conversation on the back porch and the golf scene with Miles and Jack.

Hero: Hero's visuals.

Dodgeball: The training scenes. "If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball!"

More later.....

Here's mine

SPideman-2
Spidey catching people thrown by Octopus in the air and safely putting them in a web.

Eternal Sunshine
The whole kids scene.

Garden State
The litte funny moments including every scene where Natalie Portman is pulling her ear.


Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

Hero
The amazing first fight

The House of the Flying Dagger
Every scene with an arrow in it!

Kill Bill Vol 2
The training sequence with Peing (whatever his name is)

A mixture of scenes and performances for me.

Miracle:
1. The performances in this movie especially from some of those guys that played the hockey players.
2. That scene after a loss to I think Norway where coach Brooks wears the team out by making them repeat that exercise and it goes on and on for like 8 minutes on screen.

Dodgeball: If you can dodge a wrench you can dodge a ball...and also the part where they're running through traffic.

Spider-Man 2:

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

Friday Night Lights: Having never read the book, the ending kind of caught me by surprise, and also Tim McGraw's performance as the crazy dad.

The Incredibles: just practically the whole movie was a wow moment for me. But the Dash running across the water is probably what stands out most...aside from Jason Lee's awesomeness as syndrome.

Shrek 2: Wow, the forced trailers on this DVD are really starting to piss me off...

Great thread BTW

Saw
Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

Spider-Man 2 - the subway scene

Fahrenheit 9/11 - Lila Lipscomb at the White House

Miracle - in addition to the previously mentioned scene, Herb cutting the player from the team, and driving home listening to President Carter's "malaise" speech

the final moments of Open Water

The Terminal - the set design

Also in COLLATERAL, more of a scene, but in the Korean club, when Vincent fires several consecutive rounds as he rolls and rises from the ground.

The beautiful endings in BEFORE SUNSET--Jesse's final two words--and in SIDEWAYS--the final door knocking.

many more to think of as I finally complete that top 10 list

Troy - Achilles and Hector duel.

Collateral - The brief shot of the fox/wolf on the freeway. Also, when Foxx throws Cruise's briefcase out on the overhead freeway.

The Incredibles - So many moments, one more on Elastigirl..where she stretches out to shield her kids on the monorail or something like that.

Collateral...

"Yo homeys..."

Block... double tap... double tap... goodnight kiss...


awesome

Before tonight, Farenheit 911 - 9/11

But after tonight, by far The Aviator - The Crash. The most amazing minute I have had in the theater this year.

--
H

I'll just copy half of Quentin's since I agree (we seem to agree about 80% of the time at least)


Aviator -
Well, his choice was pretty good, but that LA crash was truly a WOW moment. So effectively real, powerful and visually impressive.

Incredibles -
I have to go with the "whole damn thing" view here.

Kill Bill Vol 2 -
Elle vs. Bea. AWESOME!!!! I agree But that moment of her digging out of the grave is pretty great too.


Man on Fire
"What're you gonna do?" "Kill 'em all" cue badass music! I'm glad I'm not the only one. Some people hated the film but I thought it was pretty artful and interestingly intense, especially during the middle section.

Finding Neverland -
Opening night...the kids first reactions in the audience.

Bringing the play to the ailing Kate at home..."This is Neverland." yep, one of several tearing up moments for me

Dawn of the Dead -
Opening sequence quickly descending into chaos, punctuated by Johnny Cash singin' "The Man Comes Around". I was IN.
Yeah, I'd call this my most WOW moment of the year Just thinking about it revs me up again. This and the Richard Cheese cover of Down with the Sickness scene made the film brilliant IMO.

Eternal Sunshine -
There were so many great effects scenes of memories being altered and everyone of them captured my imagination completely.

Before Sunset -
Yeah, great final words. Great car moment.

I Heart Huckabees -
When they have dinner with the family.

Closer -
The strip club scene, and no not just for Portman's hotness (but it doesn't hurt). The dialog of that scene is so powerful and the power play back and forth between them is intense.

Dogville -
Kidman's final decision and the discussion between her and Caan leading up to it.

The Incredibles - the resolution of the scene where Elastigirl is stuck between multiple doors

- La Meglio Gioventù: The breakdown of Adriana Carati when she left her son's apartment.

- Hero: Visuals.

- I, Claudius (I know, 1976, sorry): The close-up (a freeze, I presume) of Augustus lying dead in his bed while his wife Livia keeps on bitching for minutes.



------------
Alex Cremers

That's the scene, right there. Perfect illustration of the "when your back's against the wall, lean on what you know" theme. Very inspiring. Perfect music.

Seth...

I love it!! I know we often agree, but DotD is not one I would have normally guessed. Ton 'o fun.

Good call on the dinner from Huckabee's. That was dang funny.

I want to add:

Anchorman -

The jazz flute scene. This was more of a "Huh?? Are you kidding me?" moment. But, I laughed out loud. This scene and the "rumble" encapsulate the oddness of this film for me.