Best Cinematic Moment, 2011

1. The Tree of Life – creation [193.5/16]

2. Melancholia – Overture (“Prelude and Love-Death”) [191.5 points/18 votes]
3. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol – climbing the Burj Khalifa [109/11]
4. Drive – love and death in the elevator [101/9]
5. Drive – opening heist and getaway [95.5/10]
6. The Adventures of Tintin – single-shot falcon chase [87/8]
7. Margaret – bus accident and aftermath [85/7]
8. House of Pleasures – “Nights in White Satin” dance [77/7]
9. Take Shelter – in the shelter/opening the door [68/5]
10. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – final sequence set to “La Mer” [67/6] {special mention for the final shot}

11. The Trip – Caine vs. Caine [64.5/8]
12. Martha Marcy May Marlene – Patrick sings “Marcy’s Song” [52/6]
13. 13 Assassins – “Total Massacre” [50/5]
14. Tuesday, After Christmas – the confession [49/5]
15. Melancholia – the End [49/4]
16. Le Quattro Volte – Easter processional and accident [48/5]
17. Hugo – Histoire(s) du Méliès [47/5]
18. Moneyball – wheeling and dealing for Ricardo Rincon [44/5]
19. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives – the ghost who came to dinner [43.5/4]
20. Midnight in Paris – Gil’s first night out (meeting Fitzgeralds & Hemingway) [36/3]
The Tree of Life – childhood, set to “Moldau” [36/3]
22. Drive – no more pain for Shannon [35/4]
23. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives – the princess and the catfish [32/4]
24. Rise of the Planet of the Apes – Caesar says no! [32/3]
25. Meek’s Cutoff – “ghost riders in the sky” dissolve [30/3]
26. Take Shelter – social hall breakdown [28/3]
27. Rise of the Planet of the Apes – Golden Gate Bridge battle and ape sacrifices [25/2]
The Tree of Life – the afterlife [25/2]
29. Terri – Mr. Fitzgerald talks about caring [24/3]
30. Contagion – Flashing back to Day 1 [23/3]
31. Super 8 – an actress emerges [23/2]
32. Take Shelter – final scene [23/2]
33. Bridesmaids – airplane freakout [22/3]
34. Hugo – the automaton draws [22/2]
Of Gods and Men – the last supper, set to “Swan Lake” [22/2]
36. Le Quattro Volte – the Fourth Time: “we become smoke” [21.5/2]
37. Tucker and Dale vs. Evil – wood chipper gag and aftermath [21/3]
38. War Horse – Joey’s ride into No Man’s Land [21/2]
39. Super 8 – Zombie Elle Fanning [20.5/2]
40. I Saw the Devil – a bloody cab ride [20/3]
41. Bridesmaids – dueling toasts [20/2]
Meek’s Cutoff – ending [20/2]
43. Drive – pawn shop robbery [19/2]
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo – opening titles [19/2]
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo – “Sail Away” in the killer’s lair [19/2]
46. Hugo – private screening of “A Trip to the Moon” [18/2]
The Interrupters – meeting “Flamo” [18/2]
Senna – Lap 6 as seen from the on-board camera [18/2]
Shame – subway seduction [18/2]
50. 13 Assassins – concluding duel [17/2]
Cold Weather – a snatch and grab job [17/2]
52. Bill Cunningham New York – the Catholic question [16/2]
The Muppets – “Man or Muppet” [16/2]
Shame – “New York, New York” [16/2]
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives – first appearance of the ape-thing [16/2]
56. Certified Copy – Binoche looks in the mirror, breaks the fourth wall [15/2]
Certified Copy – Jean-Claude Carriere [15/2]
Certified Copy – everything changes in the coffee shop [15/2]
Margaret – King Lear classroom discussion [15/2]
60. Rubber – Element of No Reason (prologue) [14/2]
Unknown – Frank Langella and Bruno Ganz face off [14/2]
62. Bill Cunningham New York – “if you don’t take their money, they can’t tell you what to do.” [14/1]
Captain America: The First Avenger – final scene [14/1]
Corman’s World – Jack Nicholson choking up [14/1]
The Guard – Everett meets Doyle [14/1]
In the Family – the deposition [14/1]
In the Family – freeze-frame reunion [14/1]
A Separation – crying on father’s shoulder in the bathtub [14/1]
Take Shelter – Samantha plans for the future [14/1]
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Peter retrieves the duty log from the Circus [14/1]
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Mark Strong and Colin Firth’s eyes meet at the Christmas party [14/1]
72. Fright Night – escape from Jerry’s house [13/2]
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 – the tracks of Snape’s tears [13/2]
74. Bellflower – opening montage [13/1]
Bill Cunningham New York – “are you trying to ask if I’m gay?” [13/1]
Crazy, Stupid, Love. – a sex-free night together [13/1]
The Descendants – confronting his wife’s lover [13/1]
Margaret – losing her virginity [13/1]
Page One: Inside the New York Times – firing the Vice Magazine staff [13/1]
Putty Hill – tattoo artist at work [13/1]
Shame – Brandon’s date [13/1]
Sleepless Nights Stories – to Marie Menken [13/1]
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – bee in the Citroen [13/1]
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – botched opening assassination [13/1]
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Santa Lenin sings as Smiley makes a discovery [13/1]
To Die Like a Man – up on “Calvary” with Baby Dee [13/1]
War Horse – Colin and Peter free Joey [13/1]
89. Certified Copy – in the honeymoon suite/Miller looks in the mirror [12/2]
The Muppets – “Life’s a Happy Song” [12/2]
91. The Artist – Peppy embraces herself in George’s jacket [12/1]
Captain America: The First Avenger – Hayley Atwell tests the shield [12/1]
Drive – Albert Brooks’ first murder [12/1]
Evangelion 2.22 – the dummy system [12/1]
Friends With Benefits – “vaginas made of burlap” [12/1]
Leap Year – watching the neighbors [12/1]
Love Exposure – peek-a-panty montage (“feel the loneliness!”) [12/1]
Rubber – mannequin decoy [12/1]
Young Adult – Charlotte says Mavis was right all along [12/1]

The following scenes received one vote apiece:

3-D Sex and Zen – introducing the Elder of Bliss
50/50 – destroying the painting
Another Earth – first radio contact
The Artist – invention of sound nightmare
The Artist – transition to sound (ending)
Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest – Chris Lighty: “gimme the fuckin’ album, man!”
Bellflower – Mad Max reborn
Bellflower – the car has a whiskey dispenser
The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 – Angela Davis on violence
Bridesmaids – food poisoning and fallout
Bridesmaids – Megan talks sense into Annie on the couch
Bridesmaids – moving violations
Captain America: The First Avenger – “Star Spangled Man”
Carnage – The cell phone! It’s alive! (and preceding shot)
Carnage – vomiting on the art book
Certified Copy – statue discussion in the square
Conan the Barbarian – a Cimmerian’s thirst for blood
Crazy, Stupid, Love. – “one night stand”
A Dangerous Method – Jung and Spielerin’s psychoanalytic session
A Dangerous Method – Keira gets paddled
A Dangerous Method – Sabina confesses
The Debt – gynecological exam
The Descendants – scattering the ashes
Drive – Bernie’s death scene
Drive – hammer time
Drive – “My hands are a little dirty.” “So are mine.”
Drive Angry – coital gunfight
Fast Five – dragging the safe
Fast Five – driving off a cliff
Film Socialisme – Patti Smith plays on deck
Final Destination 5 – airplane explosion / full circle
The Future – t-shirt dance
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo – left out in the cold (final scene)
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo – revenge on the rapist pig
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo – the sound of the sliding glass doors at Martin’s house
Go Go Tales – lottery ticket reveal
The Guard – literary debate in the car
The Guard – shootout
Hanna – container park pursuit
Hanna – interrogation and escape
Hanna – single-take train station fight
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 – fire in the Room of Requirement
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 – “Harry Potter… is dead!”
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 – Hermione impersonates Bellatrix
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 – sprint through the castle under siege
Heartbeats – “Marie! Marie!” in the woods
Heartbeats – slow-motion party arrival to “Jump Around”
House of Pleasures – flash forward ending
Hugo – Méliès explains the automaton
Hugo – opening Papa Georges’ cupboard
Hugo – peering into the lives of others
I Saw the Devil – fight in the cannibal’s mansion
Incendies – Nawal’s realization in the pool
The Interrupters – barbershop atonement
Ip Man 2 – Donnie Yen gets a cleaver
J. Edgar – Hoover and Tolson fight and kiss after the race
Jane Eyre – Jane and Rochester reunite (ending)
Last Night – husband notices wife’s shoes
Legend of the Fist – Donnie Yen busting German skulls
Like Crazy – escalator time lapse bit
Like Crazy – final scene/shower montage
The Lincoln Lawyer – opening titles
Love Exposure – 1 Cor 13 recited on the beach
Margaret – Jeannie Berlin tells off Anna Paquin
Margaret – opera tears
Margaret – operatic singing conversation with mom
Martha Marcy May Marlene – ending
Martha Marcy May Marlene – party breakdown
Meek’s Cutoff – wagons in the valley
Melancholia – nude moon bathing
Melancholia – the limo can’t pass
Midnight in Paris – back to the Moulin Rouge
Midnight in Paris – Hemingway’s “fear of death” monologue
Midnight in Paris – “the detective has gone missing”
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol – parking garage fight
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol – sandstorm chase
Moneyball – Billy Beane meets with John Henry
Moneyball – Billy mimes grabbing for the brass ring
Moneyball – final close-up
My Week With Marilyn – surprise visit to Eton
Nostalgia for the Light – bones in the desert
Paranormal Activity 3 – dining room ghost
Paranormal Activity 3 – kitchen crash
Paranormal Activity 3 – oscillating fan cam
Paranormal Activity 3 – worst night of a babysitter’s life
Pariah – Alike’s rooftop conversation with father
Poetry – blood red flowers
Polytechnique – long shots of fraternity safe haven and cafeteria
Rango – “Ride of the Valkyries” chase in the canyon
Rango – the Spirit of the West
A Separation – final scene (we both go down together)
A Separation – “I have doubts”
Shame – almost-sex scene with coworker
Shame – watching cartoons
The Skin I Live In – Vera’s first escape attempt
The Sleeping Beauty – the scream
Super 8 – screening the zombie movie
Super 8 – train wreck = “production value!”
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Smiley remembers his meeting with Karla
To Die Like a Man – jungle serenade
To Die Like a Man – song sung with the screen goes B/W
Tomboy – Michael tries out his new “disguise” while swimming
Tower Heist – safecracking flirtation
The Trip – Steve’s eulogy for Rob
Troll Hunter – “Muslim is OK, right?”
Troll Hunter – nocturnal encounters with monsters on bridge
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1 – werewolf falls in love with baby
A Useful Life – final lecture
War Horse – Benedict Cumberbatch’s death
War Horse – first battle
War Horse – lap dissolve from stitching to boy working in field
War Horse – regiment escape with Joey and execution
Warrior – brother vs. brother
Weekend – Russell and Glen say farewell
Win Win – talking tattoos and Bon Jovi
The Woman – day of the woman
X-Men: First Class – Wolverine turns down X-Men membership
Young Adult – Sandra’s rant