15 Comments
User's avatar
Matt Cyr's avatar

Some great ones here. Well done. Some others that had me locked in:

Rounders, Mike McD v Teddy KGB (final hand)

Unforgiven, Will Munny v Little Bill

Karate Kid, crane kick v Johnny

Hoosiers, state final huddle and Jimmy hits the winning shot

Rudy, final play

Expand full comment
Sam Robinson's avatar

OoOoO. I like the Rounders and Hoosiers picks!

Expand full comment
Daybound's avatar

Adding another Tom Cruise scene: The alleyway ambush in The Last Samurai. Perfectly marks the shedding of his previous Western life and full entrée into his new path forward with stunning clarity.

Expand full comment
Sam Robinson's avatar

Oh love this one!

Expand full comment
Daybound's avatar

Starting a fight with zero swords and ending with two seems prime 'locked in'.

Expand full comment
Sam Robinson's avatar

Do you have a link to a good clip of it?

Expand full comment
Peter Bromka's avatar

Holy moly, there goes my afternoon!

Expand full comment
CansaFis Foote's avatar

…would the boogie nights drug deal work in here?…or pesci clown scene from goodfellas?…

Expand full comment
Sam Robinson's avatar

Omg. CansaFis. Those are so so good. “Funny how? Do I amuse you?”

Expand full comment
CansaFis Foote's avatar

…so i saw boogie nights at the eden prarie center…a minnesota mall where funny enough mallrats was shot at (a story for another time)…there were about seven of us there…and during this scene i turned back to a woman holding a crying baby…it seemed odd maybe inappropriate…then the movie ended with marky mark’s fake hogg and the baby crying again and the woman getting up and leaving with her toddler also in tow…i am no prude…but that all seems like the wrong audience for such a thing…made me feel equally as tense and odd as the film…

Expand full comment
RJ's avatar

I’m not sure it meets your definition, but the climax of Wargames is outstanding cinema. A bunch of characters on a single set largely just watching the scene play out on the Crystal Palace’s screens, but electrified by a terrific score and spectacular editing.

Expand full comment
RJ's avatar

I’m sure the clip is out there, but best to watch the whole movie and allow the filmmakers to earn their climax.

Expand full comment
Sam Robinson's avatar

I’m going to out myself that Wargames is a gap in my CV. That sounds great and worthy of inclusion! Do you have a link to a clip? Will watch!

Expand full comment
Marty (KC) Kanter-Cronin's avatar

say what you want about Tom Cruise, almost every movie he makes has one (The last two Mission Impossible movies are exceptions, those are just awful, overwrought explosions and attempts to create those moments, and they fail. they are exhausting). Edit: On JK Simmons, he is just brilliant. If he is in a movie, I am seeing it for him alone. The Accountant, Burn after reading. How is it he can play the government bureaucrat so well?

Expand full comment