Category Archives: Friday Favorites

Friday Favorites: Favorite Song – Muppet Treasure Island

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Welcome to “Friday Favorites” which highlight some of my favorite movie-related things.

The Muppets were an important part of my youth, as was Jim Henson’s work in general.  Sesame Street taught me to learn and to love learning.  Fraggle Rock taught me about how to relate to the people around me in love and harmony.  But the Muppets were maybe the most important, because they taught me to be different, and to love that I’m different.  So it makes sense that the Muppets would be the ones to make my theme song:

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Friday Favorites: Favorite Scene – Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

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Welcome to “Friday Favorites” which highlight some of my favorite movie-related things.

In this week’s “Trailer Tuesday” for Star Trek Into Darkness I talked about how, as a Trekkie, I’m not a fan of 2009’s Star Trek.  In particular I hated its depiction of Kirk’s Kobayashi Maru test, so today I thought I’d highlight my favorite scene from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, where a middle-aged Kirk describes his solution to the test.

Wrath of Khan opens with Lt Saavik (Kirstie Alley) commanding the Enterprise when it receives a distress call from the Neutral Zone from the stranded freighter, Kobayashi Maru.  Saavik violates the Neutral Zone to rescue the ship, but the Enterprise is attacked and defeated by Klingon Battle Cruisers and Admiral Kirk emerges to tell Saavik she is dead.  He explains that the test is designed to be unwinnable in order to study how potential captains face death and a no-win scenario.

She repeatedly asks Kirk how he handled the test when he was in Starfleet, and each time he evades the question.  Eventually Kirk, McCoy, Saavik, Chekhov, Kirk’s son and his former lover are all trapped in an experimental cave deep within a moon, the Enterprise having abandoned them on Kirk’s orders.  Saavik asks Kirk again about his test, and here is his reply: Continue reading →

Friday Favorites: Favorite Location – Dogma

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Welcome to “Friday Favorites” which highlight some of my favorite movie-related things.  It could be a favorite character or casting choice, a favorite song or score, a favorite scene, line of dialogue, shot or simply a moment.  Anything is possible (costumes, sets, etc) and I’d love to hear your suggestions.  Note: Just because something appears here does not make it my absolute #1 favorite thing in that category, but it is simply “one of my favorites”.

Dogma is an interesting movie.  In fact, it’s a movie that feels like several different movies that don’t belong together wrapped into one.  One part tells the story of two familiar stoners who get caught up with the forces of heaven and hell, and is filled with sex and poop jokes of the lowest common denominator.  Another part is the ensemble comedy about a band of holy misfits trying to prevent the end of the world.  And the third part, the part that keeps me coming back to the film after 14 years, is an interesting drama about faith in the modern world, featuring two angels who were kicked out of heaven for showing mercy towards humanity, and their quest to get back to the place they belong without regard for the consequences.

My favorite scene in the film comes as these angels, Bartleby and Loki (Ben Affleck and Matt Damon), have encountered a setback.  They’ve been challenged by a heavenly host of misfits, including the 13th Apostle, the voice of God, the last descendent of Jesus’s family and the two stoners.  Take a look below and then read on for my thoughts (and turn your sound up to get the full effect):

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Friday Favorites: Favorite Moment – Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

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Welcome to “Friday Favorites” which highlight some of my favorite movie-related things.  It could be a favorite character or casting choice, a favorite song or score, a favorite scene, line of dialogue, shot or simply a moment.  Anything is possible (costumes, sets, etc) and I’d love to hear your suggestions.  Note: Just because something appears here does not make it my absolute #1 favorite thing in that category, but it is simply “one of my favorites”.

I talk about “movie moments” a lot.  My definition of a moment is pretty amorphous, but it’s generally anything in a movie that makes a sharp impact.  It can sometimes stretch to an entire scene, and sometimes is as quick as a blink.  It can be a line of dialogue or a particular look, a bit of action, a single shot or something longer.  It’s almost impossible for me to define what I consider a moment without using the word “moment”.  It’s what makes your heart skip a beat, or that brings tears to your eyes or a sob to your throat, it brings you to your feet, makes you hide your face, causes you to burst into applause or just to laugh with abandon.  Movies are a string of moments, and everything between is providing context and connection between them.  They often occur at great moments of change, either to character or story, or as the culmination of a plot.  In a way, they’re tiny (in duration) climaxes to one section of story.  Some movies only have one moment and spend the entire film building to it, others have many; some are like a tsunami, others are barely a ripple.  Moments are the moments that stand out, that we remember, that are burned into our minds.

I have a personal connection to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Continue reading →

Friday Favorites: Favorite Character Intro – Pirates of the Caribbean

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Welcome to “Friday Favorites” which highlight some of my favorite movie-related things.  It could be a favorite character or casting choice, a favorite song or score, a favorite scene, line of dialogue, shot or simply a moment.  Anything is possible (costumes, sets, etc) and I’d love to hear your suggestions.  Note: Just because something appears here does not make it my absolute #1 favorite thing in that category, but it is simply “one of my favorites”.

Few movies spend enough effort on character introductions, in my opinion.  Just like in real life, the first impression of a character can have a lasting impact, sometimes setting the standards so high that the rest of the film is a disappointment and other times ruining a perfectly good character from the beginning.  The best character intros are the ones that play with expectations, and engage the audience by making the character both memorable and something of a mystery.

There are a few character intros in film history that stand out above the rest, and one of those near the top is the introduction of Captain Jack Sparrow. Continue reading →

Friday Favorites: Favorite Speech – Lincoln

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Welcome to “Friday Favorites” which highlight some of my favorite movie-related things.  It could be a favorite character or casting choice, a favorite song or score, a favorite scene, line of dialogue, shot or simply a moment.  Anything is possible (costumes, sets, etc) and I’d love to hear your suggestions.  Note: Just because something appears here does not make it my absolute #1 favorite thing in that category, but it is simply “one of my favorites”.

There are few things I love more than a good movie speech.  My first memory of intentionally memorizing dialogue from a movie came when Independence Day was released on VHS and I watched Bill Pullman’s speech before the final battle over and over, writing it down and reading along, trying to get both the words and delivery as exact as I could.  A great movie speech can be anywhere from a couple sentences to pages of dialogue, and can be delivered to huge crowds or as a monologue in solitude.  Speeches have been the basis of entire movies (The King’s Speech being the most obvious example).

Lincoln is full of speeches, as you would imagine a movie about politicians to be. Continue reading →

Friday Favorites: Favorite Idea – Star Trek: First Contact

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Welcome to “Friday Favorites” which highlight some of my favorite movie-related things.  It could be a favorite character or casting choice, a favorite song or score, a favorite scene, line of dialogue, shot or simply a moment.  Anything is possible (costumes, sets, etc) and I’d love to hear your suggestions.  Note: Just because something appears here does not make it my absolute #1 favorite thing in that category, but it is simply “one of my favorites”.

Today is an important milestone in Star Trek lore; it is exactly 50 years before First Contact, the day on which humans will meet aliens for the first time.  So in honor of today’s significance (and inspired by my recent trip to one of the film’s locations), this Friday Favorite comes from Star Trek: First Contact, the film that shows us how those events will transpire, according to the Star Trek canon. Continue reading →

Friday Favorites: Favorite Shot – High Noon

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Hello, and welcome to my new weekly feature.  I’m calling it “Friday Favorites” and it will highlight some of my favorite movie-related things.  It could be a favorite character or casting choice, a favorite song or score, a favorite scene, line of dialogue, shot or simply a moment.  Anything is possible (costumes, sets, etc) and I’d love to hear your suggestions.  Note: Just because something appears here does not make it my absolute #1 favorite thing in that category, but it is simply “one of my favorites”.

1952’s High Noon, is widely considered one of the best of all Westerns. Continue reading →