The five most shocking modern movie moments.
In this modern era your average moviegoer has just about seen it all, but sometimes movies take us to a place that we least expected. The movie is trucking along quite expectedly and then BAM! comes a scene that will take your breath away. These moments are rare and are shocking sometimes for many different reasons. The following is one movie fan's list of said modern movie moments:
5. Ed Norton's Nazi gives curbside service: In the movie American History X Ed Norton plays Derek, a Neo Nazi who takes his hatred to the extreme. Early in the film, his character chases down a would be burglar- an African American man and forces him to bite down on the concrete curb in front of the property, he then strikes the man on the back of his head with his foot, killing him. Although the actual deadly blow is not seen on camera we get the idea. This whole film is one journey into the ignorance of racism, unfounded hatred and the horrifying downside of prison life (unless you are a violent homosexual Neo-Nazi then you're set!). Norton's character starts off as a foaming at the mouth zealot and after a long time in the joint and after being passed around like a party favor by his fellow Nazi prison mates he has a change of heart. It is important to note that a dyed in the wool Nazi asshole could only embrace a change in philosophy after many unsolicited rape sessions... wow, our prisons really do rehabilitate.
4. Christian Bale chainsaws hooker: In the movie an American Psycho Christian Bale's character Patrick Bateman, a wealthy investment broker, commits many disturbing and gruesome murders, but none as spectacular as when he drops his trusty chainsaw onto a blond call girl from a stairwell above her. Did I mention she's running and naked? Did I mention so is he? He drops the running saw onto her like a kid lining a shot with a water balloon. His performance in this film is absolutely disturbing, he is a total homicidal maniac and really gets off on his killings. After the saw strikes the woman, cutting into her neck and shoulder she of course drops dead, he laughs and taunts her even after she dies proving what a truly terrible date he is. I learned two things from this scene: Ask for more money next time I sell my body and never trust a man who lives in a high rise who owns a chainsaw.
3. Ralph Fiennes eats art: In the underrated film Red Dragon Ralph Fiennes plays a serial killer obsessed with a painting by William Blake. Taking some time off from his hobby of slaughtering entire families (children too) he takes a tour of a museum and sweet talks a female employee into letting him view the original dragon painting in a back room. He then goes berserk and takes out the hapless woman and proceeds to tear up and eat the painting, which is a large water color on paper. He does this without anything to drink, any gravy or side dishes. What you get is one of the most whacked out scenes in moviedom, when "D" eats the painting he imagines that he and the satan inspired painting are now one and his transformation into a creature of pure evil is complete. Just goes to show you, that your high school math teacher was right art is dangerous.
2. Mark Wahlberg shoots Matt Damon in face: Although many of us are hoping for this in real life, this version happens at the end of The Departed. Damon's character, Colin Sullivan, a corrupt Massachusetts state police detective has throughout the film influenced, arranged and committed many murders. When the dust settles at the end of the film, Sullivan has escaped suspicion and evaded justice. Entering his posh apartment one evening the corrupt copper is met by Mark Wahlberg's Det. Sgt. Dignam, a good cop who knows all of Sullivan's sins. Without any discussion Dignam shoots Sullivan in the face and exits the scene with haste, roll credits. This film is possibly the most badass movie ever made, it is a Scorsese film so violence is expected, but the things that occur in this film are truly hard core. A lot of people get offed in this movie and that's fine by me because most of them sported those God awful Boston accents and deserved to die.
1. Hayden Christensen sinks Star Wars: The fever from George Lucas' new Star Wars films was everywhere, I certainly felt it. "New" Star wars films, or you kidding me? I get Star Wars twice in my lifetime? Okay, yeah let's do it! Well, they can't all be diamonds. There are many things as a Star Wars nerd that I could pick on when it comes to Lucas' prequels, the poor writing/dialog, Lucas' tenuous grasp of continuity, the movies being 99.99% CGI, etc. But the only thing that truly sticks with me is Hayden Christensen's performance in The Clone Wars and Revenge Of The Sith, he truly stinks in these films- and I'm talking by Lucas standards. He is wooden and whiney, he is smug and stiff. He says his supposed heartfelt lines in the scenes with him and Padme with all the dramatic impact of a Seinfeld episode. The worst scene of all is after he journeys to Tattooine with Padme to find his mother (and shortly after mom dies), he is naturally upset and throws a tantrum in some sort of garage type building in the presence of Padme. The scene is so bad I laughed out loud, he is supposed to be processing the emotions of his mother's death and the pressures of being a Jedi apprentice but behaves like a child who has been told that he cannot play anymore video games for the day. Truly the most shocking modern movie moment of all.