Favorite Movie Moments: 2016

/film has 27 of them. I add a few. How about you?

I don’t know about you, but what I remember most about movies are moments, particularly the ones where I’m made to feel something strongly. That’s make sense, right? A specific look on a character’s face. The emotional meaning of what’s transpiring in the present. We, as a viewer, find ourselves connecting to the moment in a vicarious, yet visceral way, and that memory becomes seared into our consciousness and even subconscious, only to emerge at some random time in our life experience.

I was reminded of this as I read this /film article: 27 Movie Moments We Loved in 2016. Among the ones they feature:

There are some other excellent movie moments in the article. Here are a few I’d like to add to the mix.

If you haven’t seen Captain Fantastic (written and directed by Matt Ross), I recommend it. I watched it on airplane back from L.A. while reading the script. It’s… well.. fantastic. This moment at a funeral works on so many levels: Funny, sad, awkward, and filled with tension about where the scene will go:

Another indie gem is The Invitation (written by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi). It is a drama, turned thriller, turned horror movie, and one of its most notable features is how it plays like a slow burn, incrementally ratcheting up the tension with strange and suspicious moments like this:

Finally, my two favorite movies of the year are Arrival (screenplay by Eric Heiserrer, based on a short story by Ted Chiang) and La La Land (written and directed by Damien Chazelle). The /film article mentions the revelation scenes I will remember most from Arrival and it also discusses the ending of La La Land, but for me, there is one precise moment in that sequence I will never forget. I can’t find a photo of it online, but it’s when Sebastian comes to the end of the tune he’s been playing when Mia surprisingly shows up at his club. His finger hangs over the keyboard, one last note to finish the song.

Over an extended silence, he either chooses not to play the note… or can’t bring himself to play it, as if to suggest that by finishing the song, it would bring completion to the Sebastian-Mia storyline. It’s an incredibly poignant moment and I loved that it was what he does NOT play which is being communicated with a meaning we will never know, but can only guess at.

Whatever 2016 brought in the way of turmoil and tragedy, there are some wonderful movies — and movie moments — to cherish and recall as inspiration in what I hope will be a much better 2017.

What movie moments from 2016 stuck with you? Click on RESPONSE and share your thoughts.

For the rest of the /film article, go here.