Great subtle moments in movies

[ifckladyluck]

Patrick Bateman: Do you know what Ed Gein said about women?
David Van Patten: The maitre 'd at Canal Bar?
Patrick Bateman: No, serial killer, Wisconsin, the '50s.
Craig McDermott: So what did he say?
Patrick Bateman: "When I see a pretty girl walking down the street, I think two things. One part wants me to take her out, talk to her, be real nice and sweet and treat her right."
David Van Patten: And what did the other part think?
Patrick Bateman: "What her head would look like on a stick...”
[laughs]


Patrick Bateman: He was into that whole Yale thing.
Donald Kimball: Yale thing?
Patrick Bateman: Yeah, Yale thing.
Donald Kimball: What whole Yale thing?
Patrick Bateman: Well, he was probably a closet homosexual who did a lot of cocaine. That whole Yale thing.


Evelyn Williams: Where are you going?
Patrick Bateman: I am just leaving.
Evelyn Williams: But where?
Patrick Bateman: I have to return some videotapes.


Courtney Rawlinson: Listen Patrick, can we talk?
Patrick Bateman: You look... marvelous. There's nothing to say.


Patrick Bateman: I don't think we should see each other.
Evelyn Williams: But your friends are my friends and my friends are your friends. I don't think it would work. You have a little something...
Patrick Bateman: I know that your friends are my friends and, uh... I thought about that. You can have'em.


Patrick Bateman: Paul Allen has mistaken me for this [censored] Marcus Halberstram. It seems logical because Marcus also works at P&P and in fact does the same exact thing I do and he also has a penchant for Valentino suits and Oliver Peoples glasses. Marcus and I even go to the same barber, although I have a slightly better haircut.


Patrick Bateman: [voice-over] There is a moment of sheer panic when I realize that Paul's apartment overlooks the park... and is obviously more expensive than mine.


Craig McDermott: If they have a great personality and they're not great looking... then who [censored] cares?
Patrick Bateman: Well, let's just say hypotetically ok? What if they have a great personality?
[pause, all laugh]
Patrick Bateman: I know, I know.
[all in unison]
Patrick Bateman, Craig McDermott, David Van Patten: There are no girls with good personalities.
David Van Patten: A good personality consists of a chick with a little hard body, who will satisfy all sexual demands without being too slutty about things, and who essentially will keep her dumb [censored] mouth shut.
Craig McDermott: The only girls with good personalities who are smart or maybe funny or halfway intelligent or talented, though god knows what the [censored] that means, are ugly chicks.
David Van Patten: Absolutely.
Craig McDermott: And this is because they have to make up for how [censored] unnattractive they are.


Patrick Bateman: [voiceover] As we arrive at Espace I'm on the verge of tears as I'm certain we won't get a decent table. But we do; relief washes over me in an awesome wave.



Patrick Bateman: Do you like Huey Lewis and the news?
Paul Allen: They're OK.
Patrick Bateman: Their early work was a little too new wave for my tastes, but when Sports came out in '83, I think they really came into their own, commercial and artistically. The whole album has a clear, crisp sound, and a new sheen of consummate professionalism that really gives the songs a big boost. He's been compared to Elvis Costello, but I think Huey has a far much more bitter, cynical sense of humour.
Paul Allen: Hey Halberstram.
Patrick Bateman: Yes, Allen?
Paul Allen: Why are their copies of the style section all over the place, d-do you have a dog? A little chow or something?
Patrick Bateman: No, Allen.
Paul Allen: Is that a rain coat?
Patrick Bateman: Yes it is! In '87, Huey released this, Fore, their most accomplished album. I think their undisputed masterpiece is "Hip to be Square", a song so catchy, most people probably don't listen to the lyrics. But they should, because it's not just about the pleasures of conformity, and the importance of trends, it's also a personal statement about the band itself.
[raises axe above head]
Patrick Bateman: Hey Paul!
[he bashes Allen in the head with the axe, and blood splatters over him]
Patrick Bateman: TRY GETTING A RESERVATION AT DORSIA NOW YOU [censored] STUPID BASTARD! YOU, [censored] BASTARD!

[killsadie]

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Enough of these threads already?

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officially banned.

[Zeestein]

There's a ton of awesome (not really at that subtle) understated visual scenes in Pi. One that I remember years after seeing the movie is this closeup of milk being poured into coffee, and seeing a pattern emerge when the milk hits the black liquid, and then just as quickly vanish and become part of a new dilated coffee. Sick awesome metaphor for the protaganists' search for an equation to the stock market.

Then he went and did mothaf'ing stuff like Requiem which is subtle like a sledgehammer, and The Fountain WTF, so amazingly disappointing

[chesspain]

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He pretends to be cool and calm about it all until he turns away from the bench for a minute to grab a glass of water. His hand shakes as he drinks it. Pretty funny if you notice it.

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I actually found that one piece of direction to be so over the top that it was a distraction from an otherwise brilliant scene.

However, in keeping with AFGM, my favorite subtle moment is when Keefer Sutherland is nearly at the end of his cross-examination, and after a brief, heated exchange develops between Cruise and Bacon, the camera cuts back to Keefer on the stand, staring off into space, now oblivious to Bacon's redirect--and ostensibly churning inside about the obvious lies to which he has just testified.

[Yads]

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Only one I can remember is the implied erectile disfunction thing. Though he did like to call people '[censored]' or '[censored]' a lot.

Other things I remember:

- The guy who sells him his place assuming he's gay
- When his girl moves in he only makes out with her when he knows they'll be interrupted
- his huge discomfort at the porno theater (like queasy).

I saw it for the third time and was pretty happy about it. It's like Damon and Scorcese got together and were like "we're not gonna say it, but he's gay."

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Also when he says to Donnegy that he's getting married and Donnegy replies something along the lines of "It's good to get married. Let's people know you're not gay."

[Austiger]

The scene in Werckmeister Harmonies where the protagonist (Jonas?) is making his soup is sublimely beautiful, mostly because of the photography. That movie is full of great subtle moments, but probably too slow for most people.


Here's a scene from the film that is not so subtle, but incredibly profound. It's all filmed in one shot, like most of the scenes in the movie. Unfortunately, the beginning of the scene is cut off where you see the rioters walking in lockstep toward the hospital, but the heart of the scene and the film is when they pull back the curtain and leave in shame. This is an art film, so if that's not your thing don't bother, but if you do make sure you have the sound up. The music makes the scene.

Scene

[Hollywade]

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the Dude says - "on you, maybe."

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It must be subtle, because I've seen it 10+ times and never even heard that line.

[Hollywade]

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Donny only doesn't bowl a strike right before he dies

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Yes.

[Hollywade]

A lot of Stranger than Fiction seemed subtle to me. I can't think of a great example at the moment. Really good movie though. It's very different from anything Will Ferrell has ever done.

[RustedCorpse]

In Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind there are a ton of scene's very early on where Kirstin Dunst and the Doctor (forgot actor) have some intimate background moments. At one point he places his hand on her should and she just stares at it with this longing. It's hilarous.

In Donnie Dark, there is a halloween scene and someone dressed as Regan is jumping on a trampoline, ala Hunter S.

Edit: In Barton fink there are so many references to hell. In the elevator they mention the number six three times. Plus whenever Goodman/Satan is around is the only time the room sweats and peels.
In Stay (which anyone enjoying subtle, trippy movies should watch) there are TONS of background nuances. People are reused in every crowd scene. Hamlet quotes abound, and the Hamlet play scene is a pretty powerfully subtle statement.

Rules of Attraction: When Sean answer's Paul's phone call and says "Patrick?" I busted up. (His older brother is Patrick Bateman)

Also in Lebowski, The Dude never actually bowls.