"Would it be alright if I show the children the whoring bed?"- MY FAVOURITE SCENES OF 2014

          As I wrote yesterday, 2014 was an great film year and there are many, many scenes that have stood out in both good and bad movies. I tried limiting this list to 10 scenes and I failed. I have a good feeling I have forgotten at least a scene or two but I am pretty happy with what I have here. I noticed that I have shown preference to more humorous stuff this time. Not sure why. It is what it is.

Note: There are spoilers in this list for people who haven't seen Gone Girl, Whiplash and Guardians of the Galaxy.

Honourable mentions: The penis catalogue in Nymphomaniac, vol.1, "Bismil" in Haider and Noni singing "Blackbird" in Beyond the Lights. It's difficult to pinpoint singular scenes from Birdman because of the format of that movie. Still, special shout-out to the scenes between Emma Stone and Edward Norton on the roof and Riggan's fight with the critic.

15.

"I'll Have to Dance with Cassie" in God Help the Girl

God Help the Girl was an odd little musical and it reaches its highest point with this little dance number. It is absolutely delightful and the song is addictive and it just puts me in a good mood every time I watch it or even think about it.

14.

The Dinner scene in Nightcrawler

Speaking of things that put me in a good mood when I think about it, this scene has stayed with me wayyyy more than any of the more disturbing/cooler scenes in this totally disturbing and cool movie. I seriously just think of how odd and creepy and funny it is at random moments and laugh to myself. Both Russo and Gyllenhaal are excellent here.

13.

Greta and Dan listen to music all night in Begin Again

Awww this scene is so adorable. It makes me think of one of my most favourite quotes from one of my most favourite movies- "You are literally like my musical soulmate."

12.

The H.A.L.O. jump in Godzilla

This scene is here not only because of its stunning visuals but also because of its completely unnerving sound. There's a sense of apocalyptic dread that the scene presents so well.

11.

The Dance-off in Guardians of the Galaxy

There are better action pieces in the film but I still cannot believe that they had the balls to do this in its main climactic scene. The music in the film is a major aspect of why everyone loves it so much and here it is put front-and-centre in the most insanely awesome way.

10.

Jenko finds out about Captain Dickson's daughter in 22 Jump Street

Yes, the ending is far more clever but I seriously think I out-laughed a completely filled cinema hall in this scene. It's just too fucking funny! His dancing notwithstanding, this is the moment Channing Tatum totally won me over.

9.

The Elevator fight in Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Even though Cap is my favourite Marvel superhero because of his inherent goodness, a scene like this proves that he is also a total badass. I loved the action sequences in the film and this one was definitely the best. My favourite moment from it: Cap gives everyone a choice to get out before he basically beats them up to a pulp. What a gentleman.

8.

The School in Snowpiercer

This scene captures the sort of tonal change that Korean movies usually seem to have- it is absurd, satirical, terrifying and thrilling. Allison Pill's cameo here is my second most favourite of the year. 

7.

Lip-syncing to Starship in The Skeleton Twins

There are a precious few things in the world better than Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig full-on dramatically lip-syncing and dancing to Starship's "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". It is as beautiful as it sounds and I can watch this scene on repeat.

6.

The Car fight in The Raid 2

The Raid 2 is one fantastic action sequence after another but this one takes the cake. I don't know how they choreographed and then filmed this scene. There are fights going on within cars, outside cars and between cars, all simultaneously. If they make any more sequels, I'd love to see them try and top this scene.

5.

The High School Battle in The Guest

I am taking the whole part that takes place in the school into account (because I can). It looks gorgeous and I love how bloody it is. The final showdown between our villain and heroine nearly made my heart stop, and this also has my favourite use of soundtrack among last year's films. 

4.

Mrs H. in Nymphomaniac, Part 1

I know I laughed the most in 22 Jump Street but this is still the funniest scene of last year. It's Lars von Trier's sick humour at its best. Just so awkward and weird and Uma Thurman friggin kills it every second (my absolute favourite cameo of 2014). The whoring bed, the traumatized children, the fact that this woman makes tea for her husband who's just left her, the girl he has left her for AND the other beau of this girl, and the screaming- so good!!

3.

The Creation scene in Noah

As much as I enjoyed Noah, I have nearly forgotten it except for this scene. Of course there is a Biblical source to the whole movie which this scene very clearly shows, but this movie is also about death and violence and the scene portrays that incredibly well too. It is breathtaking to look at as well.

2.

Amy kills Desi in Gone Girl

I was so sure no scene would beat this when I had watched it for the first time. One did but that doesn't make this scene any less brilliant. It is Hitchcockian and brings to mind not only something like Psycho but also Hitch's quote about why blondes make the best victims (ha!), "They're like virgin snow that shows up the bloody footprints." Rosamund Pike is at her cool blonde best here and poor Neil Patrick Harris really gives it his all (no pun intended). It is shocking, scary, stunning and unforgettable.

1.

The Final Performance in Whiplash

If this scene was a whole film by itself, it would have been my favourite film not just of 2014 but probably this entire decade. Yeah, yeah, I do know it won't work without what comes before it but god, I have never been that shaken like on a molecular level by any scene like this before and probably never will. The music, the cinematography, the editing, the way the dynamic shifts between our protagonist and antagonist within the tiny moments of this scene- just everything is goddamn out of this world! This scene makes me feel like I can like punch a hole through the wall or the moon or something. It is a marvel of a scene and it has changed the way I think about movies and what movies can do. I was and still am completely blown away by it.

        Tomorrow, I am going to post my Heroes and Villains lists. You can check out my Favourite Shots of 2014 list here.

What are some of your favourite scenes of 2014?

"We're about to crash into the sun." "Yeah, but it's gonna look really cool."- MY FAVOURITE SHOTS OF 2014

           If I wanted to follow tradition, there should have been 14 shots in this list, just how there were 13 shots last year and 12 the year before that. However, 2014 was an extraordinarily good year for films and for being a film fan and I just cannot choose between the following. So here are all of the shots!

Note: The shots are in alphabetical order except the last one which is my favourite shot of 2014.

And my favourite shot of 2014-

As breathtaking as all the shots above are, my heart nearly burst out of my chest when this one happened. For those who have watched the film, they know exactly what I'm talking about. Watching Mommy was like watching something dynamic, almost living and this shot was the one where what I was seeing matched what I was feeling. One could argue that it works better in motion but no other singular moment in film last year or maybe ever has made me go "Oh fuck" like this shot. It is unbelievably beautiful.

           And with that, my "Best of 2014" lists are go! Watch out for my Favourite Scenes tomorrow. 

What was your favourite shot of 2014?

This is a Poster-Appreciation Life- 2014 edition

          This was a great year for movies AND posters. I have pointed out some bad/boring posters in the past but I'm not going to do that this time because there are soooooooooo many good ones. I've tried to categorize them the best I could. Also, I have chosen posters from 2014 movies only so no The Hateful Eight yet, y'all.

Enjoy :)

Teasers Gotta Tease- Many of the teaser posters this year were vastly superior to the official ones. Why can't people just go with these?

Godzilla

The hint to what made the film so unique was always there in the teaser posters. And the one in the middle that came after Comic-Con is awesome as hell.

Gone Girl

Let's be honest, all the Gone Girl posters more or less sucked. Remember those weird "BELIEVE" ones? However, these teaser posters were very clever and fun.

X-Men: Days of Future Past

I just love how smart the concept of these are. There's a Wolverine one too but these are better.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 1

The Panem propaganda posters was an excellent piece of marketing by the promoters. And the creepy whitewashed one is the right kind of disturbing.

Coloursssssssssss.

It almost looks like a kids drawing but then we see not just the kiss in the foreground but all the nudity and a blowjob in the background. I love it.

It's just so wistful. The other posters of the movie are almost as good.

It's a pity that the film got such bad reviews because this poster seems to say so much. I love the colour palette.

Not only is this striking to look at, it's also perhaps the most mysterious poster of the year.

The colours, you guys. This film was uber cool and the posters show that.

Guardians: Teaser + Official + Fanmade

The tagline in the teaser kind of won the round but I still love how epic the official poster looks.

I couldn't make this list without mentioning these fanmade posters which are some of the best I have seen all year round.

Fanmade fare: Speaking of fanmade, I have to include these gorgeous Korean posters for Mommy.

I love that they chose to make one one with that shirt in it. It stood out so much in the movie.

Birdman Cometh:

 The promotional work of Birdman has been topnotch, especially the fantastic city posters. I would love to own these.

Oscar Bait: No matter how we feel about them, one can't deny that at least the posters are good.

Both of these *kinda* follow the same structure with putting the lead in focus and then giving us an idea of what the plot of the film revolves around.

This one is definitely my favourite poster from the Oscar baits. It's sort of doing the same thing too but god, it's lovely.

Jake and the Crawlers:

Heyyyy I just noticed how the spider is a crawler too. Connection!!! Anyways, I love both of these posters. They're both unique and memorable and differently unsettling in their own ways. What a year, Jake!

The New Horror:

I think both these posters are going to be iconic. Both of them follow a similar idea and it works soooo well.

Other goodies:

The attention to detail is amazing.

It's sexy, it's cool, it's Eva Green. What's not to love?

There is a quite violence in the poster which hints at the film's story. I really like that.

The Eisenberg one is more sinister and is totally apt for the movie and Wasikowska's goes with her character or at least how she is seen. Doppelgangers are creepy.

Ordinarily, the writing would annoy the crap out of me but in the case of this particular movie, it almost feels like it's part of the its rhythm. Therefore, it works perfectly.

Where did these even come from?

When I was going through other best poster lists, I came across these. I'd never seen them before but I do think all of them are great. Especially the bottom two.

Best of the year:

I genuinely believe that character posters will never, ever, ever, ever, ever get better than these. Ever. These are the fucking be-all and end-all when it comes to character posters. They are HILARIOUS (Udo Kier, everybody) and they kind of remind me of the opening scene of Marie Antoinette in the way that von Trier knows what we think the film will be about and he's just rubbing it in our faces. The dude has a twisted sense of humour and I do enjoy it most of the times, especially in this case. 

I also loved the other teaser posters from the movie. Again, only von Trier can make that whip into a heart-shaped poster :P

3.

It looks so cool. The shade of pink, the "V", the contrasts. Stunning.

I also love these posters. The "Last Supper" parody makes me laugh every time I see it.

2.

The first one was *so* close to being my number 1. I had like a minor aneurysm the first time I saw it. It gives me so much joy. The second one is so cute and unique too.

1.

If I could, I would have an entire wall covered with this poster. It's mesmerising and dreamy and just soooooooo beautiful! It breaks your heart with its beauty. I mean, it's the stars and Scarlett. How could anything beat it? It got under my skin for sure.

I also love this poster from the movie.

And that is it. What were your favourite posters from this year?