by Jacob Jones Hello, all, and welcome back to The Friendly Film Fan! We’re mere days away from revealing our picks for the Top 10 Movies of 2024, but before that, I wanted to shout out some of my favorite scenes and sequences throughout the year. Whether they were watched in the theater or re-watched them at home, the five scenes listed here continued to impress and delight, and occasionally, even got a little scary; in any case, I just couldn’t wait to talk about them with everyone I knew that shared those experiences. To that end, and in case you haven’t read one of these before, the very nature of this list acts as its own SPOILER WARNING, as I’ll be going over these scenes in great detail so as to examine what makes them so remarkable. I also limited these choices to one scene per film, so at the risk of spoiling part of the list, the Harkonnen Spice Harvester sequence from Dune: Part Two will not be making an appearance among the five finalists. We’ve only selected one scene per film, so at the risk of spoiling part of the list, and as much as we would consider it one of the best single movie scenes of 2024, the Spice Harvester attack scene from Dune: Part Two unfortunately will not make an appearance among the Top 5. Also, while there were a great many films released in 2024 that I thoroughly enjoyed, those films are greater successes as the sum of their parts than they are as highlight reels for particular scenes or set-pieces; it’s for this reason that some of the films listed here won’t be found in our Top 10 of the year, and likewise, some of the films that are included in the Top 10 will not include any particular stand-out sequences by which to call attention to themselves. And now, with all of these disclaimers in mind, let’s take a look back at The Friendly Film Fan’s picks for the Top 5 Best Scenes & Movie Moments of 2024! 5. Gas Station Birth – We Live in Time While I wasn’t personally as high on John Crowley’s decades-spanning romance as a lot of people seemed to be, We Live in Time is still a lovely movie that any fan of romance stories should would enjoy watching, regardless of how many tissues they end up going through in the process. With stellar performances from Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh, the film’s stand-out sequence sees Almut (Pugh) and Tobias (Garfield) stuck at a petrol station en route to the hospital as Almut is going into labor with their daughter. Unfortunately for both of them, and for the station employees who appear ready to close for the evening, the labor process is well underway and moving too fast for either Tobias or Almut to go anywhere else. The resulting birth sequence – which takes place in the station’s ladies restroom – is not the best sequence in the film, but one of the best sequences of 2024. Gross, hysterical, stressful, and magical all at the same time as the station attendants assist Tobias in delivering he and Almut’s child, it’s a true highlight of the film watching these two individuals bring a new life into the world they share, and the four people all stuck in the bathroom together feel like their own little family. It’s an inspiring picture of how, even in the most unusual of circumstances, people from all different walks of life can come together and facilitate the happening of a genuine miracle. 4. D.C. Raid – Civil War There was a lot written about Alex Garland’s Civil War when it opened in April of last year to largely positive reviews and some divisive letterboxd takes. Everyone wanted to see whether A24 could pull off supporting a movie of this budget scale, and how Alex Garland would follow-up his even more divisive Men with what would turn out to be his final directing project (at least for now) in an era where the U.S. seems poised to make its title a reality every other minute. What side would Garland take? What does a modern civil war in the United States even look like? What would the film say to audiences who were fearful of the plot in front of them being made manifest? Would the film capture the same nervous energy as its exceptional set of trailers? While the answers to those first questions vary from person to person as the film is more interested in excavating photo-journalistic responsibility amongst dramatically divisive political moments, that final question was met with a resounding “yes,” and in no sequence more so is the energy of the film felt than the arresting raid on Washington D.C. that begins the film’s terrifically intense finale. With gunfire everywhere, helicopters flying through the city streets as bombs topple monuments, and the team inching ever closer to the White House – where it’s rumored the sitting three-term President (Nick Offerman) is shored up – the sequence lasts right up to the minute the President is finally shot dead by the Western Forces military, ending his reign – and the film – on a note of ambiguity the viewer will never shake. It’s this sequence that cements Garland as one of the best filmmakers to ever do it from a craft perspective, and it’s likely to be the one that solidifies the film’s eventual Best Visual Effects nomination at the Oscars (even though it really should be in Best Sound too). 3. War Rig – Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga One has to give massive props to George Miller for not making Furiosa just a re-skin of the incredible Mad Max: Fury Road, but there is at least one 15-minute action sequence reminiscent of the franchise’s previous entry so epic that according to the actors and those involved with the production, it had to be shot over a 78-day period. The sequence in question shows viewers the birth of the iconic War Rig vehicle which Furiosa uses in Fury Road to transport the five wives of Immortan Joe across the desert. In Furiosa’s case, it’s the first time we see Anya Taylor-Joy as the titular character in action, as well as her companion Pretorian Jack, one of the coolest characters George Miller has yet introduced to this world, even if he is essentially a stand-in for Max prior to Fury Road. The scene itself is a mini-epic inside the greater revenge epic of the film, demonstrating Miller’s ability at 79 years old to still craft and execute on the most insane action set pieces one’s ever seen committed to film. It’s so epic, in fact, we had to get the whole thing from a YouTube video split into two parts. You can check it out above (Part One on top). 2. Match Point – Challengers The back-and-forth between this and my number one spot was almost as intense and uncertain as the volley between Art (Mike Faist) and Patrick (Josh O’Connor) as they trade tennis racket blows for victory in the New Rochelle challenger match. At one point during a set, Patrick reveals to Art in the most telling of ways between the two that he and Tashi (Zendaya) slept together during a time when she and Art – her husband – were at a crossroads of conscience. Art becomes furious, but the sequence may not play out exactly as one might expect. Every bit of craft in the film reaches its apex here. The score by Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, the direction from Luca Guadagnino, the editing from Marco Costa. It is, no pun intended, the climax of the sexiest film of the year at its tail end, a release of all the frustration and games played between the two men, a game that Tashi has both orchestrated and participated in since the three met all those years prior. It was in that fateful meeting where Tashi mentioned the film’s ultimate thesis as she and an opponent of hers shared what she called a really beautiful moment together, both understanding the game and each other on a level no one in the crowd could, and it’s in this final match that Art and Patrick finally share that same feeling, at once understanding each other and the game in the fullest sense of each. Even as the number two movie scene on this list, it claims the top spot as the most electrifying ending of the year in movies. 1. Worm Ride – Dune: Part Two Although the Harvester attack sequence will go down as one of the finest sci-fi action sequences ever put to film and is a highlight of the movie in its own right, it’s Dune: Part Two’s masterwork of a centerpiece that sets itself apart from all other set-pieces to be the defining moment in movies of 2024. Having immersed himself in Fremen culture and taken up arms against the Harkonnens who slaughtered his family and attempted to wipe out his bloodline, Paul Atreides must face his final test to become a member of the Fremen clan by riding the great sandworm, what the Fremen call Shai-Hulud. It is the most dangerous task any Fremen can perform, and the way the sequence is shot and edited together, paired with Hans Zimmer’s magnificent score and sound design that likens the sandworm to a space shuttle taking off, practically lifts the viewer of their chair and ascends them to the heavens themselves. Dune: Part Two is a miracle of adaptation, one of the greatest sci-fi movies ever made, and this is the singular jeweled moment inlaid in its 2024 movie moments crown. The fact that moments from both Dune (2021) and Dune: Part Two landed atop my list of the best movie moments of their respective years should be reason enough for the DGA to re-evaluate their choice not to nominate Denis Villeneuve, and a stern warning to the Academy not to make the same mistake. And those were my picks for the Top 5 Best Scenes & Movie Moments of 2024! What scenes did you like best this year? How would you rank these five? Let me know in the comments section below, and thanks for reading! - The Friendly Film Fan Honorable Mentions:
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