The movies of January to June 2019 has just about left us. Half the year gone, and where are we now? Been a good year? A poor one? Great? In our annual Halftime Report, we start off with the scenes of 2019 so far. Was it those dance moves? Plenty of popular dancing it seems. Or that one with the pop star? Those scenes with scissors, vinyl, that hammer, or those dolls?
An incredible line-up of 30 memorable scenes from 2019 at halftime behold you. A bunch of eager film writers stepped forward and offered some of their favorite scenes and moments from the first half of the year. Take a look, and feel free to leave your own bests in the comments at the bottom. Performances and Movies lists to follow – as well as our 2019 Halftime Report podcast.
Funeral – Thunder Road
An uneasy man dressed in police uniform trying to get something as simple as a music player to work sets the scene for an astonishing, moving, uncomfortable journey. One about a grieving man on the verge of a nervous breakdown. His address to the attendees of his mother’s send-off gives us a strong whiff of what’s to come, but it is only the start of watching this fragile man desperately try to keep it together. His speech digresses, he’s uncoordinated and emotionally wrecked.
You clench up while watching, you truly feel for this soul. Do we hug him, or avert our eyes? And then when it seems the song he had planned, Bruce Springsteen’s “Thunder Road”, can’t be played, he takes upon himself to try explaining the lyrics while moving to imaginary music. Jim Cummings, who wrote and directed based on his own short film, is incredible in every nuance of this man’s despair. His portrayal of a man muddling his spoken thoughts, sporadically weeping uncontrollably, and briefly pulling it together (or so he thinks), is heartbreaking. — Robin @Filmotomy
Pool – Booksmart
By the time Booksmart shows Kaitlyn Dever’s Amy swimming in a backyard pool, everything is looking up for the increasingly less repressed genius. Since this is set near the end of Act Two, that should set off red flags, yet Amy’s joy in this swim and the joy of the past hour pushes all those warnings aside. In fact, it evokes memories of Eighth Grade instead, in how Amy’s swim looks like the happy flipside of that nerve-wracking scene of an awkward young girl in a pool party. And yet when it’s over, we and Amy suddenly realize this is actually even worse.
Then four minutes, one take, one heart wrenching performance by Dever and one devastating snowball of a confrontation later, we realize its actually 10 times worse. So much so that we probably need a new MPAA warning for emotionally crushing pool sequences in films about young girls. — Robert @Robertdoc1984
Bob Dylan and Joan Baez – Rolling Thunder Review
Martin Scorsese’s Bob Dylan documentary Rolling Thunder Review isn’t perfect as it doesn’t quite know what it wants to be. However, the film has some very fascinating elements, particularly in the more candid moments. The one scene I found strangely compelling is contained in archival footage involving Dylan and Joan Baez. They are casually having a conversation as two people who have known each other for years, and at one point were also in love. Through the small conversation, we sense regret, and a loss for something that might have been.
Dylan and Baez were the king and queen of folk music in the 60s, and their careers aligned together almost intimately in those early days. The scene is quietly heartbreaking, but tender and real. It may be the most authentic scene I’ve seen all year concerning real people. During a modern day interview, Dylan speaks of Baez, poetically saying “Joan was so courageous, self-disciplined. When I first met her it was if she came down to Earth from a meteorite and she’s never changed it always seems like she’s always come down from a meteorite.” What a love story theirs would make. — Jeremy @jeremytwocities
Thor and Frigga – Avengers: Endgame
Without a doubt, the treatment of Thor’s character in Avengers: Endgame is the most controversial detail in a movie stuffed with divisive plot choices. I came to terms with the fact that the treatment isn’t perfect after my second viewing, but one moment with Thor brought a gigantic smile to my face. While his “I knew it” moment also speaks mountains about his personality, Thor seeing his mother again is one of the most powerful scenes in this explosive film.
This is where Thor’s lowest point finally begins to turn around. He was a god that fell from grace after his arrogance led to a cataclysmic failure. He fell into depression, not feeling worthy of the immense power he possesses, but Frigga assures Thor that failure doesn’t define him, and he should be who he is.
An already great scene is capped off by an amazing moment. Thor reaching out for Mjolnir and it coming to him is par for the course in the MCU. But this time, there’s something different. Thor feels reinvigorated, and his expression of nearing tears of joy mimicked exactly how I felt on second viewing. A wonderful moment from a wonderful film. — Jennings @jentalksmovies
Ending – How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
2019 is peppered with so many bittersweet finales of extremely popular characters and series that the conclusion to the How to Train Your Dragon films has gotten lost in the shuffle. This is a story that proclaims “once there were dragons” and dares us to remember a time full of wonder; a tale about two outcasts coming together, experiencing life’s highs and lows while battling the true villain of the series: time.
This is most prevalent in The Hidden World as Hiccup and Toothless’ lives begin to take them in different directions, growing older, and slowly embracing their destinies as leaders. However, as the music hits its crescendo in closing moments, we realize that we never completely lose the things we feel like we have lost, despite how life changes come upon us. A truly beautiful and fitting ending to a fantastic trilogy. And yes: I absolutely believe in dragons. — Chris @ChrisLejarzar
Breaking Free – Captain Marvel
The tried and tested cinematic moment of the hero or heroine revealing themselves in such comic book adventures still resonates with us. Seemingly captured, Danvers (Brie Larson) has to summon the self-provocation to outwit her enemies. And also wrestle with her subconscious while listening to Nirvana – pretty cool.
Discovering she had the ability all along to control her own strength, Captain Marvel emerges to thwart those baddies. Nothing like childhood memories to remind us who we truly are. The triumphant music by Pinar Toprak really elevates the senses – in fact “I’m All Fired Up” is the high point of a very accomplished score. And, of course, and when Captain Marvel glows through the door, I had shivers. We’ve seen the gif a thousand times, and its still awesome. — Robin @Filmotomy
Honky Cat – Rocketman
It’s rare that a biopic really effectively captures the spirit of its subject, and that’s exactly what we get in Rocketman — no more so than during the Honky Cat sequence. Elton John famously has a penchant for excess, and what better way to celebrate that than with a delightfully over-the-top ode to opulence?
Elton and his lover John Reid drink and shop their way through the musical number as he learns to embrace an extravagant lifestyle that perfectly reflects his own theatrical tastes. Also, not for nothing, but I would happily bankroll an entire series of duets between Taron Egerton and Richard Madden — the cheeky creativity of this number is an undeniable highlight. — Audrey @audonamission
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The Fight Scene – Ash Is Purest White
Even though Jia Zhangke’s latest – a beautifully textured portrait of China’s recent social and economic changes seen through the eyes of Qiao (Zhao Tao) – is partially set in the criminal underworld, Ash Is Purest White never contents itself with just being a gangster movie. However, at the end of act one, it thrillingly teases what a gangster movie made by Jia could look like.
As Qiao and her mobster boyfriend Bin (Liao Fan) are ambushed by a rival gang on the neon-drenched streets of Datong, Jia stages a miniature masterpiece – a bloody brawl reminiscent of John Wick, during which waves of assailants beat Bin into a bloody pulp, presented in viscerally pared-down fashion. All the while, Qiao patiently watches the spectacle from her car seat – thinking about leaving Bin to his fate in order to inherit his throne? – before grabbing a gun, ending the fight in a breathtakingly restrained show of cold-bloodedness, and setting the film’s actual plot in motion. — Alan @AlanMattli
Once Upon a Time – Us
Before Us even emerges from the underground, we are primed to fear the Tethered. Before then, we have already been sufficiently worked up and emotionally shattered by Lupita Nyong’o as she fears the return of her doppelganger. Yet when it finally comes, it doesn’t just bring terror to our hearts. Nyong’o further cements herself as the performer of January-June 2019 with her clearly creepy “Red” voice.
But beyond the otherworldly vocal patterns, the actual words she speaks in her opening “fairy tale” tells a horrifying story of brutality, a life forced upon her without any shred of consent, and escalating cruelties dealt to her for no other reason than that she was a “shadow” of her other self. And all the while, like with the rest of the movie, Jordan Peele ensures that this is somehow even more horrific the second time you hear it – as if it wasn’t already. — Robert @Robertdoc1984
Sneaking Home – Shazam!
Avengers: Endgame is my favorite movie of the year (so far), but I wanted to talk about a scene in another superhero movie that didn’t get enough love: Shazam!
The scene in question happens toward the beginning of the film, after Billy transforms into Shazam after saying the wizard’s name. He goes back to his foster home and upon seeing Freddy, goofy panic ensues. As he and Freddy sneak upstairs so as not to wake the parents, Billy forgets he’s a grown man and says goodnight, leading the mom and dad to think there’s an intruder in the house.
From there, the duo sneak into adorable little Darla’s room, and as he’s explaining how he suddenly turned into an adult, he says “Shazam,” and a giant lightning bolt strikes into the house, changing him back to a teenager and spooking the parents in the process. It was definitely a stand out moment moment to me because it was so unexpected, making it that much more hilarious. — Jessenika @jesssenika
Jewelry Box – Leaving Neverland
James Safechuck provides one of two main testimonies in Dan Reed’s extensive and exhausting documentary, Leaving Neverland. In the film, Safechuck and renowned choreographer Wade Robson detail the graphic sexual abuse they endured from Michael Jackson when they were children. Late in the film’s first half, Safechuck discusses a vivid memory that has played a pivotal role in the depression and pain that he’s felt afterward: Jackson crafted a mock wedding ceremony between himself and the very young boy. He even presents the ring that Jackson gave him on that day, now stowed away in a jewelry box, his hands shaking violently as he recalls the ring’s significance.
In this moment, the documentary’s purpose becomes clear: Nobody can truly comprehend the lasting mental and emotional repercussions of sexual abuse, and even if the facts of what Jackson did remain questionable, the crippling effect that he had on these boys is not. — Michael @MykeMurfee
Tripping – Climax
Climax’s most impressive achievement isn’t the stunning 10-minute dance sequence shot in one continuous take, it’s that Gaspar Noé manages to accurately depict a bad acid trip. The story focuses on a dance troupe’s party-turned-nightmare after they’re unwittingly dosed with LSD, and Noé smartly avoids cheap visual effects to build immersion, focusing instead on expressive performance.
Sofia Boutella is especially spectacular, perfectly conveying the violently shifting waves of emotion that come along with a heavily-altered state. Even those without experience with psychedelics can feel the overwhelming anguish, fear, and occasional ecstasy she grapples with. Her visceral reactions are palpable as we watch the sensations of touching skin, metal, clothing, etc. wash over her, eventually culminating in a scene where she goes from hysterically crying to passionately making out in a matter of seconds. Somehow Noé’s most restrained work to date, Climax perfectly captures the horror of managing a bad trip. — Kern @kernetcetera
Bus – The Perfection
After hooking up at their music school’s recruitment drive in Shanghai, former cello prodigy Charlotte (Get Out’s Allison Williams) and Lizzie (Logan Browning) nurse their hangovers and decide to go backpacking on a bus into the Chinese countryside. But as Lizzie necks ibuprofen and struggles to cope with escalating nausea and headaches it might be that something far more serious is wrong.
Make no mistake: Richard Shepard’s Netflix horror film is deeply problematic, with the last act’s handling of gender and abuse sharply dividing genre fans. However, despite this, the bus scene – which bisects the narrative like a blade – is a masterclass in claustrophobic intensity. Playing out in almost real time it’s uncomfortably long and digs into common experiences (feeling sick; trapped on public transport; unable to speak the language) before diving into full-throated body horror. It’s just a shame the rest of the film fails to hit such heights. — Tim @fatscoleman
That Changes Things – Void
The brilliantly engaging Finnish film by Aleksi Salmenperä, teeters on the edge of comedy and drama throughout. Life is serious business, sure, but there has to be laughs too. Here, like any good bittersweet portrayal of reality, both the pain and the humor come from the flaws of regular people. Here played exceptionally well by Laura Birn and Tommi Korpela.
Their relationship with themselves and the weight of their respective art fields, forms much of the film’s forward drive. That success and failure come and go both in matters of love and artistic endevours. Never predictable, a scene late on knocks you off your feet, just when you think you’ve figured these people out. It’s something you will likely never see occur on the grounds of a film studio anywhere else I would think. And that bond will never be the same. — Robin @Filmotomy
The Truth – Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile
There’s an uneasy mellowness throughout Joe Berlinger’s Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. In the film, we watch Ted Bundy (Zac Efron) live a mostly normal life, spending time as a family man with his girlfriend Liz (Lily Collins), who never fully realizes how trapped she is by the monster under her own roof, even after they’ve separated.
But in the film’s final scene, days before Bundy’s execution, Liz visits him in prison, finally demanding answers. Ted has maintained his innocence to this point, until Liz makes her play: she shows him a picture of a headless body, the first time we see what Bundy has actually done in the entire film, and asks what happened to her head. The scene then cuts between Bundy assaulting the woman in the photo and Bundy spelling the word “HACKSAW” on the glass separating him and Liz. In an instant, Berlinger knocks down the facade and Liz knows the truth. In an otherwise uneven film, this scene masterfully contrasts dread and tension with a palpable sense of freedom as Liz exits the prison, conscience cleared. In this film, as in life, the truth has power. — Jeff @jeffzoldy
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Lorde’s “Supercut” – Someone Great
In Someone Great, music journalist Jenny (Gina Rodriguez) has just broken things off with her longtime boyfriend after she accepts a job offer in San Francisco. Completely shattered, Jenny tries to put her hurt aside and enjoy one final night in NYC with her best friends. Director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson does an excellent job at not only representing realistic female friendships, but also at illustrating the misery, longing, and anger felt after a breakup in this age of social media. One way she does this is with her pitch-perfect soundtrack.
Early in the film, Jenny, drunk and waiting for the subway, looks back on her relationship while scrolling through her phone. As Lorde’s “Supercut” plays, the scene turns into a social media montage of Jenny’s whole relationship. We see everything from the first cute Instagram photos to the final, heart-wrenching “I love you” that punctuated the breakup. This scene paired with Lorde’s relatable lyrics—“In my head I do everything right/When you call I forgive and not fight/Because ours are the moments I play in the dark”—completely captures the pain of looking back on a relationship, especially one so fervently documented, and thinking: how did this happen? — Emalie @esoderback
Fuckbox – High Life
Claire Denis’s first English language film is a violent slice of claustrophobic sci-fi set on a spaceship, where Juliette Binoche’s ‘shaman of sperm’, Doctor Dibs, subjects prisoners – including Robert Pattinson’s Monte – to experiments in artificial insemination. No one in High Life has actual sex, instead they achieve gratification in an enclosed chamber, nicknamed ‘The Fuckbox’, which looks like Sleeper’s Orgasmatron reimagined by HR Giger.
The scene in which Binoche makes use of the box’s, erm, devices is little short of jaw-dropping – part sex act, part satanic ritual, part mechanical bull ride. It’s carnal and erotic, sure, but also queasy and thoroughly disturbing. No more so than when Dibs’s bodily fluids ooze out of the box into a drain when she’s done. We’ve seen films where masturbation is amusing (American Pie), voyeuristic (The Doom Generation), and even uplifting (Pleasantville), but in High Life, it’s just plain scary. — Andrew @andywinter1
The Title – Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Chinese filmmaker, Bi Gan, dazzled the few audiences that saw his very first feature, Kaili Blues. His follow-up, then, was hugely anticipated. Long Day’s Journey Into Night premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last year. And truth be told, there are so many vivid moments here, you are spoiled for choice. I’m not even going to select the hour-long single take in 3D.
It’s a progressive, hypnotic film, and one I was quite content being swept up by. And then the title appears on the screen. I was so bedazzled by this motion picture, immersed in its fluid beauty, part of me actually thought that was the end of the film. Just for a second or so. And somewhere in the common sense of my psyche, I accepted that. It hardly registered that the film was just past the hour mark. Genius. — Robin @Filmotomy
Aretha Franklin’s Appearance – Amazing Grace
The moment that strikes me the most in Amazing Grace is the first time we see Aretha Franklin come on screen. It’s hard to believe it has been less than a year since we lost Franklin, who possessed the strongest voice in all of music. Filmed in 1972, but not seeing the light of day until earlier this year, Amazing Grace puts the Queen of Soul in her element, returning to her roots of gospel music, and recording a live album at the New Temple Missionary Church in Los Angeles for a two night occasion.
Accompanied by Southern California Community Choir, along with Reverend James Cleveland who acts as singer/master of ceremonies, the film celebrates Franklin’s voice as a gift from God. When we first see her, she’s wearing a silk white kaftan, and the youthful face of an Angel. As she opens her mouth to sing, it’s powerful enough to tear down the walls of heaven. What a legend we lost, but what a film for her legacy. — Jeremy @jeremytwocities
The Songwriter – Under the Silver Lake
David Robert Mitchell’s Under the Silver Lake is a confusing amalgamation of riddles, the most enigmatic and uncomfortable of which is the Songwriter scene. An elderly pianist has composed every pop song in existence, revealing to Sam (Andrew Garfield), the film’s code-finder, that culture is entirely fabricated.
There’s no point in trying to extract one meaning from this scene, many keyboard warriors have tried, but it gets to me. An existential dread seeps through, a realisation that most of culture is artificial to some degree – recycled, rebought, and repackaged for profit. Is it worth being creative, knowing that the result will be ‘the shell of other men’s ambitions’?
The Songwriter is like a symbol of the mainstream, and he has a fitting finish: decapitated by Kurt Cobain’s guitar. After Mitchell’s success with the horror film It Follows, Under the Silver Lake is like that guitar: crushing the mainstream with violent and rebellious pleasure. — Euan @euanfranklin
Captain America Holds Mjolnir – Avengers: Endgame
When it comes to audience reactions to moments in film, none this year will top Captain America holding Mjolnir in Avengers: Endgame. A moment which was hinted at back in 2015 in Avengers: Age of Ultron, this has been a moment that we hoped to see, yet did not expect. In the midst of all the glorious action between Thor, Iron Man and Captain America against Thanos, this was the peak of the battle.
What makes this moment so special to me is the meaning behind the moment. For Captain America to even be able to hold Mjolnir, he has to be worthy. To see my favourite comic-book character go through an eight-year journey like this and to be deemed as worthy is a fitting end to his character arc, and it is a moment that many people were hoping to see, but were not anticipating until it happened. — Amy @film_thought
Waltzing Matilda – Deadwood
More than a decade after the sudden cancellation of HBO’s Deadwood, creator David Milch returns with a beautiful two hour conclusion that catches up with all of the series’ major characters. Instead of taking the opportunity to answer or name check all of the loose ends that followed the Season 3 finale, Milch leaps ahead in real time to focus on just how much has changed and how much hasn’t.
The meat of the this functions much like an extended episode of the series, but the last thirty or so minutes dig into the series’ emotional bedrock as certain characters finally face their fears and accept the passing of time, evolving into the final versions that Milch never got to depict on TV. As the Australian ballad, “Waltzing Matilda,” plays over the film’s final few moments, Deadwood finally gets the ending that it always deserved. — Michael @MykeMurfee
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Nothing to Prove – Captain Marvel
“I have nothing to prove to you!”: This is a line from one of the most crucial moments in Captain Marvel, and one of my favourite movie moments to ever exist. Here’s why: The primary conflict throughout Captain Marvel is Carol being unaware of the extent of her powers. As she uncovers the truth about her identity, her past and about the Kree-Skrull war, everything she had believed in for quite some time, is suddenly uprooted. When it feels like all is lost, she decides to fight back, fight for what’s right.
Now, she is faced with Yon Rogg, a man she once thought of as a mentor, a friend, and he challenges her, says something like: Prove to me you can defeat me without your powers.” We expect this scene to turn into a hand-to-hand combat sequence, mirroring the one at the beginning of the film, instead she refuses, citing the line mentioned above. It’s a crucial character moment, because in just 7 words, we realize that Carol is finally free, free from the inhibitions of her past, from all the lies she was fed and from the need to impress anyone or prove anything, and also, she is a total badass.
It is also freeing to witness as an audience, that instead of succumbing to the expected notion of: A hero should be willing to prove his worth, the takeaway here is that your worth is in no way defined by your willingness to prove it, which is a positive and highly valuable message. Ultimately despite some of its flaws, its in moments like this, Captain Marvel becomes an extremely important film. — Pallavi @thegalwhorants
Suicides – Happy Death Day 2U
It’s montage time. The comedy slash slasher film sequel, written and directed by Christopher Landon, soon sees Jessica Rothe’s Tree Gelbman transported back to that darn dimension. Where, of course, she has to wake up and live a different version of the same darn day over and over again. To escape her loop, Tree acquires the help sci-fi geeks to determine the correct algorithm. The experiment ensues, with Tree committing suicide multiple times in the name of science.
The laughs come thick and fast. Tree electrocuting herself, wakes up with wacky hair; drinking bleach, waking up needing water like never before. And Paramore’s song “Hard Times” is timely used with “When I hit the ground” as Tree jumps from a plane in a bikini, and splatters on the ground in front of Carter and his new girlfriend. And the shot were we follow her fall from the bell tower and into the bed again is reflective of waking up from a very bad dream. Yeah, I bet. — Robin @Filmotomy
Keanu Reeves – Always Be My Maybe
“Do you have any dishes that play with the concept of time?”
As one of the greatest film moments from 2019, Always Be My Maybe’s Keanu Reeves brief appearance could have gone wrong in so many ways. It didn’t.
Reeves’ appearance in Always Be My Maybe wasn’t a surprise (though it worked that way in the film’s first trailer). And sure, his slow motion stroll into that insane high-end restaurant set to Awolnation’s “Sail” is the perfect jaw-dropping moment of the summer.
But it’s the dinner scene between Keanu, Sasha, Marcus, and Jenny that really speaks to the film’s larger themes of celebrity and home. Reeves’ heightened version of himself speaks to the more ridiculous aspects of celebrity while also showcasing just how far from “home” Sasha finds herself. Plus, the whole thing is timed perfectly to capitalize on the film community’s surge of love for Keanu Reeves. Not to mention, it spawned this. — Katey @kateypretzel
The Ending – Serenity
Amidst one of the worst films of the year comes an all-time ending that is so crazy that you just can’t believe you are watching. Without giving away this doozy of an ending, Serenity takes a pretty interesting thriller in the first half of the film and shapes it into a cult, B film by giving the zaniest ending in recent memory. And while the ending is nuts, it does have somewhat of a touching moment of embrace at the very end but you don’t know whether to get a little choked up over it or laugh at.
Dumbfounding in the best way, Serenity’s ending shows that even in this year’s worst films, they can offer something fascinating to talk about and leaves the audience thinking long after the credits roll, wondering if any of it makes sense. If you have two hours, and a new drinking game you want to try out, this film is going to be your jam for a long time. — Ryan @ryanmcquade77
Saying Goodbye to Childhood – Toy Story 4
The ending of Toy Story 4 was like my childhood saying it’s final goodbye (even after 3’s amazing ending). The end showcases Woody making an ultimate choice between going back with his friends and be with Bonnie or live his new life as a “lost toy” with Bo. But ends up choosing to stay with Bo, and saying goodbye to his closest friends (especially with Buzz).
This fully realized not only on the film’s themes of purpose and learning from your past to embrace your future, but also gives us a symbol of saying goodbye to a group of characters that millions of people like myself grew up with since our childhoods, and telling us it’s time to grow up with making the choices we make that will impact the rest of our lives. And as Woody and Buzz said their goodbyes, we are saying goodbye to them too. — Haydn @Haydn_E99
Pas De Deux – Us
Jordan Peele’s horror masterpiece – yes, masterpiece – Us will be most immediately remembered for its climactic dance-fight between Lupita Nyong’o’s Adelaide and her Tethered counterpart, Red. The sequence is accompanied by Michael Abels’ arrangement of “I Got 5 On It”, complete with sinister pizzicato strings, which provides the perfect backdrop to some of the finest visual storytelling I’ve seen in a long while.
By this point in the film, we have finally been allowed a glance behind the curtain, and given an understanding of the relationship between Adelaide and her homicidal doppelgänger. This beautifully choreographed, brutally violent final encounter signals an almighty shift in the story’s balance, juxtaposed with flashbacks to a fateful ballet recital in the characters’ youth. It’s a stroke of genius, and no other film this year has come close to matching this scene in its quality of acting, editing or direction. Lupita Nyong’o and Jordan Peele, take a bow. — Simon @Depressedmovie
The Barbie Dolls – Booksmart
The set up is quite simple: Amy and Molly are at a party, and they’ve just realized that they unknowingly consumed a powerful drug. They move into a secluded room and wait for the drugs to wear off. Generally, the payoff for this setup would involve the characters zoning out, or possibly having intense emotional reactions, or just lying on the floor. Booksmart however changes the norm. Within a few seconds of entering the room, Molly and Amy turn into Barbie Dolls (they’re hallucinating).
This shift in the scene is brilliant, because of three reasons, one is that it’s a reflection of the out-of-body experience the characters are having, second is because of the shift, the scene gets to dabble in physical comedy which traditionally wouldn’t be possible, there’s fighting, climbing and even stripping, and finally, the scene uses Barbie Dolls as a medium to comment on unrealistic beauty standards for women. Throughout the scene, Molly and Amy comment on how unreal and impractical their design is and how confusing and harmful this can be. Essentially this scene uses a conventional setup and then subverts expectations, to create comedy gold, while also managing to say something meaningful, and therein lies its brilliance. — Pallavi @thegalwhorants
Old Records – Fast Color
There is a scene in Fast Color that stands out to me, not because of any display of superhuman powers, or indeed those vivid shards of color. No, in keeping with the film’s impressive down-to-Earth tone, I’m talking about a scene about vinyl records. Often the quieter, magical moments in cinema. When Ruth (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) decides to hand over some records to her daughter, she touches on the stories abehind the albums. That Lauryn Hill defied criticism of her pregnancy when she recorded her brilliant debut album in 1998. That everyone is a Nina Simone fan, no matter what. And then that X-Ray Spex lead singer, Poly Styrene, pioneered one of the great punk albums after seeing Sex Pistols live.
I suspect one or both of Julia Hart and Jordan Horowitz were huge fans, perhaps even taking this scene straight from their own lives and plonking it into their screenplay. Those reasons we love music can help generate some of the character we may have left behind to others. Fast Color succeeds in depth of character for this scene alone. And the movie’s candid handling of the themes are perfectly fitting to close out with Germfree Adolescents by X-Ray Spex in the closing titles. — Robin @Filmotomy
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