Filmbrain Presents: Great Moments from Mediocre Films

We all have them. Tiny, often fleeting moments from an otherwise second-rate movie (or even third, fourth or fifth-rate) that just stay with us. A humorous line, a simple gesture, a breathtaking shot, a glance, the way a line of dialog is delivered -- anything, really. Filmbrain thought he would call attention to such moments from time to time as he comes across them. The first in the series comes from 1932's Two Seconds, starring Edward G. Robinson. As the film opens, Robinson is about to be executed in the electric chair. The audience watching is told that it takes two seconds to die -- and within that two seconds comes the flashback that makes up the rest of the film. It's a tale that's been told many times before, especially in the 30's -- nice guy meets, falls in love with, and marries a devouring dame who plays him like a fool. He's too blind in love to notice her oh-so wicked ways, and he ignores the warnings and advice from his best friend. By the time he figures her out it's too late -- he's broke, in debt, and has killed his best friend. Her abuse doesn't stop, and he winds up killing her. Bog-standard stuff. But then comes the moment in question -- and it's probably Edward G's five greatest cinematic minutes. Picture the scene - a darkened courtroom, the judge hands down the sentence. Robinson, looking very small at the foot of the bench. A single spotlight (very theatrical) suddenly shines down on him, and he delivers a five minute monologue in which he pleads his case, explaining that he should have been killed when he was living under her thumb. "Don't you see...you're killing me at the wrong time! If you'd have killed me when I was a rat, I'd have thanked you for it. But you didn't! But now that I've squared everything off, you wanna kill me! But it ain't fair! It ain't fair to let a rat live, and kill a man!" It's the type of performance that very few actors can pull off without slipping into farce or painful over-acting. Robinson exhibits this sort of controlled mania, and it's impossible to watch him deliver this monologue directly into the camera without chills running down your spine. At only 68 minutes, it's an easy movie to get through, and well worth it just to catch those final few minutes. (Occasionally shown on TCM.)

Comments

[Aaron]

OK, mine (and it's damn embarrassing ....)

There's a moment at the very end of Steel Magnolias that actually totally gets me, and while the movie as a whole is fairly meh, years ago I would run across it on cable, and if it was near the end, I would watch.. I don't start crying because being the heartless bastard I am, I tend to cry at very few films. However, the epilogue to the film is a very sweet scene. I don't remember it exactly because it's been a long time since I've seen it, but basically …

After Julia Roberts' character has died, we see her child participating in a big Easter egg hunt. Darryl Hannah's character goes into labor and is taken off to the hospital. Her husband is dressed as the Easter bunny, and as some minor chaos ensues, the only way for him to follow is to hop on the back of Julia's biker brother's motorcycle, in full rabbit regalia. As the bike pulls away to follow the ambulance, the camera pulls up into the sky providing a larger and larger view of the entire town while still following the motorcycle with its bunny rider. There's just something about that final moment and shot that I love, no matter how tear-jerking the remainder of the movie tries to be.

[Chris]

I don't know why, but Mickey Rourke, of all people, managed to make Spun worth my time with his final monologue in a car ride with a nodding off Jason Schwartzman . He managed to give a syrupy story about his cruel mother and some puppies a sense of how damaged he came out as a child. The way he gives a defensive glance at the end to make sure that his car passenger is asleep and no one heard the story sealed it for me.

[Filmbrain]

Never saw Steel Magnolias, but there's nothing at all embarrassing about your confession. Wait until you see some of my other entries. . .

Chris -- I agree with you about Spun -- after being abused with the hyperkinetic mess that is the first 90 minutes or so, that final monologue was a bit of redemption, as well as a reminder of how good Rourke can be.

[Marleigh]

Mine is pretty damn embarrassing:

The end of Strictly Ballroom. I'm a total sucker for a big, rousing dance sequence where everyone reconciles. It's cheesy and completely awful, but it makes my little heart go pitter-patter all the same.

[Aaron]

Marleigh, I totally agree and disagree with you at the same time because I don't think there's anything embarrassing whatsoever with liking any part of Strictly Ballroom. I loved that movie, and that was obviously befor I had any preconceived notions about Baz Luhrmann. (And as a control, now my conceived notion is that I'm a big fan.) I always thought Strictly Ballroom was what a movie like Dirty Dancing would have been had the latter NOT been cheesy and dripping with sap. It's rousing and big and sure everyone reconciles, but it's definitely not completely awful.

For pitter-patter heart AND completely embarrassing, I once again direct you to my Steel Magnolias admission.

[Marleigh]

You're a braver man than I, as I can't even sit through Steel Magnolias. I have this problem with movies that are excessively girl-oriented—Steel Magnolias, Fried Green Tomatoes, Beaches, Mermaids—because I hate being patronized. That, at least, is a partial reason; the rest being that I leak like a faucet with the least provocation. I can't even watch Field of Dreams. I start crying about fifteen minutes in, in anticipation of Costner playing catch with his dad. It's terrible.

Back on the post, there was one scene in From Hell that I really liked, though the movie was mediocre overall. Near the beginning, when the first prostitute is murdered in an alley, the Ripper grabs her and all you see is this gaping black hole and the flash of a knife as he stabs her, the blade turning darker red each time it comes into the light. Not great cinema, by any means, but I was still thinking about that thirty seconds at the end of the movie.

[Sal C.]

My choice doesn't even qualify as a mediocre film - it is the absolutely awful 8mm. There is, however, one scene where Nicolas Cage is questioning the mother of the young woman whose disappeared (and is presumably the snuff film victim) that I thought was very touching and emotionally complex. The woman has seemingly already come to grips with her grief (her daughter has been missing for a long time), and more than anything else, seems desperately lonely for some affection and human contact. Cage’s sense of embarrassment is palpable as he tries to be polite and sympathetic without being too friendly as to give the woman the wrong idea. The differences in social class (the woman is obviously barely getting by) make the scene only more heartbreaking. As much as I’ve tried to forget this terrible movie this one scene stuck with me for a long time afterwards.
Oh, and love the site!
-Sal from Brooklyn (by way of Staten Island)

[cynthia]

i've often thought of making a list like this myself, but for some reason i'm now drawing a blank ...

[HP]

Dude, I got a million of 'em.

1936, "Revolt of the Zombies." Grade Z sequal to "White Zombie." About 10 minutes in, there's this fantastic sequence of dead Cambodians, reanimated, climbing out of the trenches into German machinegun fire during WWI. Which is pretty remarkable in itself just as a situation. Fantastic special effects shot as bloodless bullet holes appear in their naked chests. The rest of the movie is a stinker, but that scene is powerful and weird.

2. The whole "You people make me sick!" sequence in the 60's roughie, "Scum of the Earth." Something Weird includes the first line of this in the opener to all their DVDs, but the entire sequence is amazing: surprisingly well-acted, and the direction--multiple close-ups where you can see the sweat on the pornographer's forehead and watch the spittle fly from his lips. You can feel the prurience.

If this thread takes off (I came here via Linkfilter) I'll post some more.

[Marleigh]

I have to see Revolt of the Zombies now. That sounds amazing!

[Rachel]

Ok, so this might be a tad low-brow for this forum...but I have to say the sequence in which Bobcat Goldthwaite accidentally becomes a smoking Godzilla (and tramples a city!) is the only reason to watch "One Crazy Summer" (an otherwise completely forgettable John Cusack-as-lovable-teenager movie).

[Marleigh]

What about the cheeseburger singing Van Halen in Better Off Dead?

[Filmbrain]

Sal - first off, glad to hear from another Brooklyn soul. Second -- nice choice -- I had forgotten about that scene in 8mm.

[Filmbrain]

Ah - yes! Scum of the Earth -- I bought the DVD just to see that scene in its entirety.

The dialog is priceless -- something along the lines of "You're scum! You're dirty! You're damaged goods, and this is a fire sale!"

Must capture that scene tonight and all the precious dialog. Thanks!

[Filmbrain]

Double dose of Cusack. Never saw One Crazy Summer and can't seem to recall the cheeseburger in Better Off Dead. (Been way too many years.)

[Marleigh]

Meet the burger. BOD is one of those movies like Real Genius—bizarre and funny in ways that only a small segment of the population appreciates. I am a member of that small segment, and could probably ad lib Real Genius in its entirety.

How's that for embarrassing?

[FIlmbrain]

Not at all embarrassing.

Real Genius is one of those films that I watched WAY too many times on video back in the 80's. What was it about that film that attracted me so -- oh wait, I remember...I had a major crush on Michelle Meyrink. (Plus, the film does have its charm.)

Thanks for the burger link -- it all comes rushing back now. . .

[colinr0380]

Wow, I've seen that clip from Scum of the Earth on a UK show called Exploitica! It was a show that took exploitation films and reedited, added speech bubbles and sound effects etc to them to make them funny (or funnier!).

I remember they intercut the vitriol of the speech from Scum of the Earth with footage of a really cute child looking like she was getting a severe talking to from her parents! Her expressions were very funny, especially after some of the more cruel comments from the guy from Scum of the Earth!