I’ve been thinking about what it is about movies. What is it about them that make me go to the theater or buy countless DVDs? Why do I spend money I do not necessarily have on them year in and year out?
The answer can be different for other people; story, a certain actor or actress, great special effects. The list goes on and on. For me it is the moments. Those “moments” usually come from the a killer combination of great writing and great acting: when the words on the page are made all the better by the actors reading them.
I recently re-watched my favorite Kevin Smith movie, “Chasing Amy.” The short plot summery is Holden McNeal (Ben Affleck) falls in love with Alyssa Jones (Joey-Lauren Adams). The only problem is, she is a lesbian.
Overall the movie is great and is the best thing Kevin Smith has written/directed. There is one scene, or moment, stand out for me as to the epitome of why I love this movie. Spoiler Alert: they end up hooking up. That’s not the moment though. Sometime into their relationship Holden confronts Alyssa about her sexual past. He is enraged at her because of the things he has heard about her. She tries to explain to him that it was the past and he is her present. What she did before him has nothing to do with him. I would include the video of that scene, but I try to keep these posts "family friendly." So you get this picture instead:
This scene has great performances and great writing. The anger on Holden’s face as she admits to being experimental when she was younger, the rage in Alyssa’s voice as she tells him the past is the past are so real that you feel it. Affleck and Adams deliver so much in what is the most powerful scene in the movie.
Not all moments are from good movies. Take “The Phantom of the Opera” for instance. All in all, not a good movie, but I still have it on DVD. There are plenty of moments that make that movie better than it really is. I love the musical and to be honest and the only reason I bought it, besides getting it in a 4 for $20 deal at Blockbuster, was the opening scene. As those who have seen the play know, there is an auction at the beginning. When the chandelier is on the auction block it rises up and the play begins. In the movie this scene is in black and white. Now, here is the moment I love; as the chandelier rises, everything transitions to color. It is a drastic change, even more extreme than the color change in “The Wizard of Oz.” Dust and cobwebs are blown off the old seats, walls and statures as the chandelier rises from the stage to take its place above the theater and where it will sit until it comes crashing back down complements of the Phantom.
Maybe it is because I know a lot about movies that I also find those moments in the technical aspects of the movies. In “Children of Men” there is a 10-minute continuous shot. I love stuff like that.
What makes a movie watchable? It is those moments where you can be blown away by any aspect of the movie. It can be the writing, the acting, the directing, the computer effects, the camera work; it could even be the lighting. For me great movies are made up of moments. A great movie has moments that move you to the next moment and all the ones after that.
So that is why I watch movies, for those moments. For the moments that make you feel something, moments that elicit a strong reaction; they make you cry, laugh, keep you on the edge of your seat. It is the moments that you want to see again as soon as the credits roll. That is what it is about movies. They capture moments. These moments are why I devote so much of my free time to the watching and writing about movies.
