Tuesday, August 19, 2008

List--Movies in Which the First Shots are the Best Shots in the Whole Movie

1. Touch of Evil--An impressively long take that shows a time bomb being placed in the trunk of a car, follows the main characters down a street as the car weaves among a crowd, and ends with the bomb exploding off-screen.

2. The Man Who Wasn't There--A static black-and-white shot of a barber's pole. The spiral creates an optical illusion of an endless pole. The rest of the film isn't so hot, so this bravura shot outclasses anything that follows.

3. A Clockwork Orange--The shot opens on a close-up of Malcolm McDowell. The camera slowly zooms out to show the *futuristic* Korova Milk Bar. An electronic version of Purcell's "Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary" plays.

1 comment:

KKHEM said...

I guess the director is just trying to get you reeled in, and can't sustain the excitement. Or, the creater of the Title Sequence is more talented than the Directer.