So in honor of James, I'm going to do my favorite tree moments in films. Probably not all his favorites, but whatever. And you'd be surprised... how difficult it was to come up with this list. So here we go...
Top 5 Favorite Tree Moments
5. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
The Whomping Willow is the primary tree of note in the Harry Potter films. It gets its most important moment in Prisoner of Azkaban (though the movie doesn't make note of why it was put there to begin with). However, I like the mystery and action of the scene near the beginning of Chamber of Secrets better. Ron squealing and breaking his wand. The branches crashing through the poor Ford Anglia. And just general chaos and disarray. Check out the scene below:
4. Clerks 2
OK, I'll give... this one is kind of a cheat. But I didn't want to put the Ents from Lord of the Rings. Instead, I felt like putting one of my many favorite scenes from Clerks 2, which is about the aforementioned trilogy. And to top off this conversation about Lord of the Rings, Randal gives a great line: "Even the fucking trees walk in those movies." Check the scene below:
3. Pan's Labyrinth
This is probably the only movie James might agree with. I'm talking, of course, of the scene where Ofelia climbs inside the dying tree in her new dress to face the giant toad. The whole movie is beautiful in more ways than one. And the three tasks are definitely the most memorable parts. So there's really no question why this one would end up on the list. Unfortunately, I couldn't find video footage of it... sorry.
2. The Evil Dead
A tree rapes a woman. Let me repeat that. A tree. Rapes. A woman. What more can I say? I couldn't find the original footage for the scene, but here's a very poor quality version where somebody added their own music for comic affect:
1. The Happening
No, not the whole movie. Sure, it's about killer trees and/or wind. But there's one particular part of this movie that I love. I loved the scene in theater, and it's the scene that has always stuck with me since. This scene makes me wonder if M. Night was just screwing with all our heads and meant it to be some kind of bizarre dark comedy the whole time. The scene, of course, is Mark Wahlberg talking to the plastic tree:
I am honored. It's not every day you get a top 5 list dedicated to something you are passionate about.
ReplyDeleteWait, that sounded really wrong...
Anyway, I'm with you on Pan's Labyrinth, great Tree moment and Harry Potter 3 is a great pick as well. I'll give you Clerks 2 because I love The Lord of the Rings, although I might just put The Two Towers in there given how it culminates in trees attacking.
Also, that's my favorite moment of The Happening. Soo bad and soo funny.
Technically it's Harry Potter 2 :P .
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm glad you liked it!
Very creative list Nick! Here are some I must add:
ReplyDelete1. The Ice Storm-You've listened to this week's episode of the podcast, so you've heard me talk about it, but the shots of the frozen bare tree branches create such a beautiful atmosphere for this film. Very effective.
2. The Princess Bride-"Now where is that knot?" As a child, I had a lot trouble understanding how that huge chamber could be inside such a tiny tree.
3. The Fountain-I know you don't care for the film, but seeing the Tree of Life in all its glory gets me every time.
4. Sleepy Hollow-The tree the Headless Horseman rides out of that has all the heads buried in the roots is the most memorable thing about that weird ass movie.
5. The Ring-That tree at the cabin that Rachel sees everywhere creeps me out. Why are trees so damn scary sometimes?
6. 300-The tree the soldiers come upon with all the dead bodies hanging off of it is beautifully done, plus pretty twisted.
That's all I got for now.
Wow, gotta say I like Rachel's list better. Sorry Nick. I think The Ice Story is an awesome choice.
ReplyDelete:(
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jess. I wasn't trying to one-up Nick. I was just trying to see if I could make a tree list too, since he said it was difficult to do.
ReplyDeleteJeez, Rachel, way to make Nick feel awful. ;)
ReplyDeleteBut wow, both great lists, and Rachel already mentioned all of the ones I was going to mention. 300 and Sleepy Hollow, especially.
Awesome call with The Happening. I was LOLing at that - how could anyone not?
What a nice honor for James. :D
My favorite part of the "Happening" scene is when he goes "I'm still doing it."
ReplyDeleteThe Fountain! of course The Fountain!
ReplyDeleteDon't get me wrong... the tree in The Fountain is gorgeous... but I hate that movie. It's just so... dull. And this is "favorite" tree moments, not "best" tree moments.
ReplyDelete