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:
