Great subtle moments in movies
 

Inspired by Rushmore's thread, except kind of the opposite. What's a terrific moment that you don't think most people are aware of?

The Big Lebowski has about 100, but my favorite is when Jackie Treehorn is talking to the Dude - Treehorn says, "People forget that the brain is the biggest erogenous zone.", and the Dude says - "on you, maybe." Perhaps I'm an idiot, but the implication to me was always that the Dude's [censored] was about the size of his head, which is a pretty hilarious joke.

Anyway, list better ones than that.

Re: Great subtle moments in movies
 

In Commando when John Matrix learns that Bennett isn't dead. This one is pretty hard to top.

Re: Great subtle moments in movies
 

Enough of these threads already?

Re: Great subtle moments in movies
 

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Enough of these threads already?

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yeah, i kinda figured that - oh well.

thanks for railbirding OOT, luckyjimm!

Re: Great subtle moments in movies
 

when ving rhames gets assraped in pulp fiction.

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when harry potter comes face to face with voldemort

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vince vaughn singing along with youre my lady in old school

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My hunch is that over 90% of the subtle movie-moments suggested in this thread will, in fact, be some of the least subtle moments from said movie.

Re: Great subtle moments in movies
 

Sideways has a ton of these. Some of Giamatti's facial expressions are priceless in this movie. The first few that come to mind are when they are sitting at bar, and his buddy lies about his book being published. The other is the pep talk outside the restaraunt.

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Asking OOT for subtle is like asking a grease fire for tips on staying cool.

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I think that Peter Sarsgaard has a pretty good knack for emoting a lot just with his eyes. If you watch Shattered Glass, he's really good at revealing a lot about his character through very subtle facial expressions.

Also, the 13-minute, uninterrupted Monica Bellucci rape scene in Irreversible.

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"I'm a star I'm a star I'm a star. I'm a big bright shining star"

*cut to penis aaannnnnnnnnd cut!*

Re: Great subtle moments in movies
 

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"I'm a star I'm a star I'm a star. I'm a big bright shining star"

*cut to penis aaannnnnnnnnd cut!*

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why are you doing this to me [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Re: Great subtle moments in movies
 

I'm not sure if this is actually subtle, but in The Godfather when Michael realizes his hand does not shake.

Re: Great subtle moments in movies
 

[ QUOTE ]
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"I'm a star I'm a star I'm a star. I'm a big bright shining star"

*cut to penis aaannnnnnnnnd cut!*

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why are you doing this to me [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

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In that one quick flash of a penis we got a commentary on the entire porn industry as well being able to reflect on ourselves, our reason for existing, and how that affects the decisions we make in our day-to-day lives. It's a commentary on the social power structure. It's a commentary on the breakdown of the family due to women's lib.

Most people just thought it was a 13" prosthetic [censored]. I expected more from you Tri [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

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I might have been very slow the first time I watched it (was only 15), but in Apocalypse Now when Willard comes out of the temple from killing Kurtz and has the decision of setting himself up as the new Kurtz, but declines.

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Oh and the helicopter attack obv.

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In "Chinatown" there are multiple instances that hint at the end scene. For instance, Faye Dunnaway touches her eye after they are shot at outside the nursing home. Later while talking to Jack, she leans forward and hits her head on the car horn.

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"Adaptation" is full of them. One of my favorites is when the two brothers are on the set of Being John Malkovich and Donald asks Charlie if he has any ideas on cool ways to kill people for his script. Charlie throws out a Professor who's cuts off little chunks from his victims' bodies until they die, called "the deconstructionist".

Donald likes the idea and they both have this exchange of looks that's great on it's own level, but amazing when you think about the timing required since Nic Cage plays both roles. Donald looks at Charlie, then looks forward right when Charlie looks at him in a sort of disbelief that he is actually related to him. The expression and timing make the scene really damned funny.

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In Clerks during the scene where Veronica confesses to sucking 39 dicks, a person comes up to the register, and buys vaseline and rubber gloves

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In Jaws when Brody shoots the compressed tank, thus exploding Teh Jaws.

Also, the scene at the end of The Departed where the rat is on the balcony.

Friday the 13th part VI, when Jason gets electrocuted and is reborn.

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In 'Addams Family Values' the 'evil' woman says to Uncle Fester:

'You must be a real lady-killer' and Gomez pipes up: 'UNCONVICTED!'

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that scene in the penetrator 2. with the sex

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I'll contribute for you Triumph...

One of my favorite subtle moments was in Pulp Fiction. When The Wolf (Harvey Keitel's character) takes the sip of coffee and then smiles and nods at Jimmy (Tarantino), I laugh every time.

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I'll contribute for you Triumph...

One of my favorite subtle moments was in Pulp Fiction. When The Wolf (Harvey Keitel's character) takes the sip of coffee and then smiles and nods at Jimmy (Tarantino), I laugh every time.

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great example

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Christmas Vacation, when Clark and Eddie are drinking eggnog.... Cousin Eddie has on a white sweater, and a dickie underneath. (You can see thru the sweater, so the short square of the dickie showing thru is subtle, but hilarious)

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".. What the [censored] are you doing still driving a cab?"

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Now that I think of it, American Psycho is FILLED with subtle yet hilarious lines. I can't think of any off the top of my head, but it's one of those movies that's filled with lines that are funnier and funnier the more times you watch it.

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Now that I think of it, American Psycho is FILLED with subtle yet hilarious lines. I can't think of any off the top of my head, but it's one of those movies that's filled with lines that are funnier and funnier the more times you watch it.

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Patrick Bateman is my role model

Re: Great subtle moments in movies
 

Dno if its soo subtle but I love this bit in Shaun of the Dead. Zombie girl attacks Shaun and Ed takes a photo. Shaun pushes her onto the pole and she gets impaled, then pulls herself up. Ed starts winding the camera on to take the next shot. Classic.

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Sideways has a ton of these. Some of Giamatti's facial expressions are priceless in this movie. The first few that come to mind are when they are sitting at bar, and his buddy lies about his book being published. The other is the pep talk outside the restaraunt.

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"If anybody orders merlot, Im leaving. Im not drinking [censored] merlot!!!" Great movie.

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I love "About Schmidt", precisely for all the subtleties.

One off the top of my head: Jack drives to Colorado for his daughter's wedding (after being unable to convince his daughter not to marry this loser). He's going to stay at the groom's mother's house. In fact, he'll be sleeping in the groom's old bedroom, which his mom has kept to look like it did the day he left it (the Aerosmith and Van Halen posters, etc).

Jack looks at all the awards and trophies on display in the room, and almost all of them are branded "Participant" or "Fifth Runner-Up". A real achiever, this kid.

Honorable mention to "Easy Money", where Rodney has a joint hidden in the bathroom, in the Roach Motel.

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This one was so subtle, nobody I know caught the irony:

Tony Soprano's last words to Dr Melfi, when he calls her "immoral".

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Not a movie but just about every single scene in the English Office has some great subtle humour. David's facial expressions especially are great.

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Yeah, asking OOT for subtlety ...well, anyway.

Stanley Kubrick had the most masterful, yet subtle, camera shot or cutaway I've ever seen in his horror classic, The Shining.

Prior to this camera shot, Wendy interrupts Jack:

Jack: Wendy, let me explain something to you. Whenever you come in here and interrupt me you’re breaking my concentration. (He takes out the sheet from the typewriter and begins tearing it up.) And it will then take me time to get back to where I was! Do you understand?

Wendy: Yeah.

Jack: Fine. Now we’re gonna make a new rule. Whenever I’m in here and you hear me typing . . . (tap tap taptaptap) or whether you don’t hear me typing or whatever the [censored] you hear me doing in here, when I am in here that means that I am working, that means don’t come in. Now do you think you can handle that?

Wendy: Yeah.

Jack: Fine. Why don’t you start right now and get the [censored] outta here?

Wendy: Okay.

Shelley Duvall, Wendy the wife, later goes back into Jack's workroom to see what he's been working on. She walks up to the desk and see what's in the typewriter ---

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
all work and no play makes jack a dull boy
all work and no play makes jack a dull boy
all work and no play makes jack a dull boy
all work and no play makes jack a dull boy
all work and no play makes jack a dull boy
repeated hundreds of times.

She realizes this is very very bad, and carries a baseball bat for protection as Jack discovers her final invasion of his workspace.

Of course, Jack was watching her during this scene.

Now, any other director or movie hack would have cut to Jack standing right behind her, reaching out for her shoulder, making the audience jump and scream. After all, it is a horror film.

But not Kubrick.

He slowly pans the camera 180 degrees, and we see Jack, standing a safe distance away, staring at Wendy head-on, as she discovers Jack has gone completely batshi-insane, but is completely calm as he observes her transgression.

Not only a terrifically subtle moment, but even more scary given what we now know about Jack's character.



Not subtle: Here's Johnny!

Re: Great subtle moments in movies
 

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This one was so subtle, nobody I know caught the irony:

Tony Soprano's last words to Dr Melfi, when he calls her "immoral".

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I loved that line and posted about it in the Soprano's thread.

This one comes to mind from the first Rocky movie. It's the end of the fight and there is total mayhem in the ring and Adrian fights her way into the ring but someone knocks her hat off. The dialogue went like this:

Rocky: Adrian?
Adrian: Rocky!
Rocky: Adrian! Hey, where's your hat?

Subtle reminder of how simple this guy was.

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In Dazed and Confused when the pothead kid, Slater, yells over to the football coach in his truck "Hey, Coach Conrad...Remember me? Second period? Gym class?" And then the coach looks at him and rolls eyes in disgust.

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Peter Weir used to be the king of this, and it was great when he was stylistically still fun. He used to have characters wordlessly have their eyes meet and have a whole lot exchanged when that happened, often some kinda magical love-ish thing or maybe something deeper than that. Worked well in Witness, but then didn't make any notably gripping appearances in his future movies. People may recall the scene in Witness where Harrison Ford meets the eyes of the chick at the long table out amongst the Amish, and it's clear something powerful has happened between them that is different than before, yet it's quick enough that there's still room for both of them to doubt or deny.

Re: Great subtle moments in movies
 

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I love "About Schmidt", precisely for all the subtleties.

One off the top of my head: Jack drives to Colorado for his daughter's wedding (after being unable to convince his daughter not to marry this loser). He's going to stay at the groom's mother's house. In fact, he'll be sleeping in the groom's old bedroom, which his mom has kept to look like it did the day he left it (the Aerosmith and Van Halen posters, etc).

Jack looks at all the awards and trophies on display in the room, and almost all of them are branded "Participant" or "Fifth Runner-Up". A real achiever, this kid.

Honorable mention to "Easy Money", where Rodney has a joint hidden in the bathroom, in the Roach Motel.

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"Dear Ndugu..."

About Schmidt is a movie rife with, and in fact all about, subtlety. Taken on the usual measures of a film, plot, characters, etc., its not a very good movie. But the entire movie takes place on a level not shown on screen and we only get subtle hints though Jack Nocholson's performance about the internal life of a shallow and pathetic man. I liked it very much.

Also, I thought there was much more subtlety in the book American Psycho than the movie, and many of the simple moments were made overt in the film, but enough was carried over that the movie has dozens of sublime subtle moments. One that was added to the film (that was not in the book) was when Bateman was shooting at the police officers and their cars blow up, he give a quick glance at his gun before running off. Its not followed up on, but the expression is priceless, a sort of "did this do that moment.

Fight Club is another brilliant movie that works on many levels. Unlike About Schmidt the plot, characters, and action are enough to make a good film in their own right. But if I were to sit down and watch it again I could probably pull out a dozen moments that should go on a list of the greatest 100 subtle moments in movies.

Sorry I'm talking about movies packed with subtlety and not subtle moments, but that's all I can pick out off the top of my head.

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I'm not sure if this is actually subtle, but in The Godfather when Michael realizes his hand does not shake.

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Agreed. That is one of my favorite scenes - not sure if its subtle or not, but I think a lot of people may not notice that the first time they watch it.