I put this up in a news post a few months ago before we started the “Classic Scenes” column, and thought it definitely needed to shine on its own. I consider Sling Blade the best acted film I’ve ever seen. The performances are perfect all around, from the immortal Billy Bob Thornton, to the great John Ritter, to the emergence of Lucas Black, to the epitome of villainy, depicted by Dwight Yoakam. Yoakam’s Doyle Hargraves is one of the most underrated antagonists in cinema history and I feel he easily should have been toward the top of AFI’s 100 Heroes and Villains list, as opposed to not on it at all.
I find the following scene to be hilarious. I once recorded it on audiotape and drove around listening to it, like it was a comedy album. Quick set-up: Doyle invites his friends over to his girlfriend Linda’s house for a jam session. Like any fledgling band, they sit around the house afterward and discuss why they haven’t made it big. Classic.
The criminally underseen Running Scared will almost assuredly make its way into a future “Films U Missed” column, but for now I just wanted to share this classic scene from the 2006 film with you. Perhaps it was all the talk about Patrick Wilson and pedophiles in my Hard Candy “Films U Missed” that brought this scene back to mind, and after watching it again, I won’t soon forget it.
Quick set-up: Oleg (Cameron Bright) ran away from home after shooting his abusive father with a gun used in a mob murder. He only wounded his father, and after fleeing his grasp from an ice cream parlor, he takes refuge in the back of a parked SUV. A yuppie suburban couple owns the vehicle and finds him hiding with their two children. They decide to bring him home with them to keep him safe. What follows is one of the most horrifying scenes I’ve ever witnessed. Everybody I encountered the next day had to know about this scene and how incredible it was. Let us know what you think. Enjoy.
A slow day means it’s time for another edition of our Classic Scenes. Those of you that know me, know it’s no secret that Boyz N The Hood is one of my favorite films of all time. I could pick out any number of scenes from the film and have it in a slot for our “classic scenes.” Now this piece below is admittedly a little crass in terms of it’s preachiness. Director John Singletary has a tendency to do that sometimes. The art of subtlety wasn’t his forte’ early on (that’s not necessarily saying that it is a forte’ of his now). Nevertheless, this scene where Ice Cube’s Doughboy is playing the card game “spades” with the homies Monster, Chris, and Dooky is a true classic. As Cube deals the cards out, the quartet discuss the issues surrounding sex and HIV with a brilliant “cheerio” reference to boot. Believe it or not, I can see other scenes from this movie showing up in the column in future years, but for now, settle for this funny take on AIDS in the ‘hood. Good stuff. As always, share your thoughts on this with us, I would love to debate the film in any way! Peace.
Hey all,
Wanted to welcome you to a new column we are doing here at The Film Nest, called Classic Scenes. Now I bet you can’t guess what this column is about. Okay, I’ll give you three seconds. One, Two…oh, it’s that obvious? Since we are a film site and we are film lovers, we wanted to pass along some of our favorite scenes to you. Just another idea in the progression of the site. So we invite you to tune in for some video and thoughts on one of our “classic scenes”. By the way, some of these may be NSFW (Not Safe For Work for the tech impaired), as is our premiere scene below.
This is not risky per se, perhaps being a little obvious for a classic scene, but it’s one of the more enjoyable one on ones in recent years. The piece below is taken from the Quentin Tarantino penned film, True Romance, directed by Tony Scott. While the film stars Christian Slater as Clarence, this particular scene involves Dennis Hopper, who plays Clarence’s father and Christopher Walken, as a gangster who is tracking Clarence in the film. You have probably seen this scene a number of times, but if not, prepare to be enlightened, and if you have, it’s always worth another look – right?
The main premise of the clip here is that Walken is trying to find the whereabouts of Clarence, and Hopper stays the protective Dad by not revealing the desired information. What takes place is a true classic give and take piece, some might suggest the oft-used “a master class on acting.” Whatever the case, it’s funny, exciting and poignant. I might offer that neither of these guys have ever been better and they share the scenery together truly relishing the moment. Share your thoughts on the clip in the comments section, we’d love to hear what you think.
