Favourite snippet (some quirky little thing a character does)
James Caan biting his knuckles when he is angry in The Godfather.
Luke Wilson carrying a bloody mary around throughout The Royal Tenenbaums
There’s something in a film I’ve thought about quite a lot, and just can’t understand. It’s in North By Northwest (a film I love). There’s a scene, very near to the end of the film where, after all the travails of the plot, Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint kiss each other. They are standing up, and as they kiss Cary Grant fondles her head, running his hands all over it. I know I used the work ‘fondle’, but don’t get excited, it’s not like that, it just looks to me a bit eye-catching and bizarre. I wonder whether Grant was directed to do it, or it’s just his way of kissing, or it’s just me.
One that always come to mind is Kambei (Takashi Shimura) scratching his newly bald head in Seven Samurai.
Brad Pitt waving his splayed fingers wildly as he talks in Twelve Monkeys.
Yes, the way Pagoda keeps stabbing Royal Tenebaum in the stomach. Ok, maybe that’s not such a small and subtle thing. Sure do love Pagoda tho.
and just about everything Gena Rowlands does in A Woman Under the Influence, especially that thing, that thing she does, you know what I’m talkin about, that thumb out, tongue out thing.
and Peter Falk too. (dp cover-up)
The way Clint Eastwood shifts his cigarillo from one side of his mouth to the other after the final stand-off in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.
Travis Bickle pouring peach brandy on his cornflakes in Taxi Driver
Paul Newman dropping an egg into his beer after playing pinball in The Verdict.
the way belmondo slips the envelope to anna karina while the aznavour song plays in a woman is a woman.
Brilliant, fun topic, Nallan!
Now I’ll be up all night, because it’s the little things in pictures that I carry with me.
This would be a fun car game during a road trip, don’t you think?
Anyway, taking your haywire cue from ALIEN, I especially like that moment in 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY,
when HAL says, “Just a minute. Just a minute.”
It was years—and dozens of viewings—before it dawned on me that
a computer would not repeat such a phrase unless
an error had occurred. It’s the first clue that things are going awry.
I love how Claude Rains, in NOW,VOYAGER, reclines on the carpet at the party
and eats a hotdog and potato chips. It’s such a human moment.
I like James Dean’s little rope trick in GIANT when the family is trying to buy him off.
Marlon Brando’s brief, almost imperceptible raising of his eyebrows when he
learns about the fate of the Hollywood producer who wakes up next to a horse’s head.
He’s registering a kind of “these things happen; what are you gonna do” response.
Notice how Norman Bates really shreds the candy corn once Arbogast starts drilling him.
Along the same line, notice that Carrol O’Conner in IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT chews his gum
with increasing speed as Sidney Poitier makes correct point after correct point.
I adore how Gene Wilder’s hair in YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN gets
increasingly larger and, um, wilder as the story progresses.
In THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, Hoagy Carmichael prepares the children to
sing the wedding march by striking a single note on the piano,
and when the children chime in with “Here…” he immediately shushes them.
An improvised moment in a William Wyler film? You decide.
Albert Brooks, when told to put on his glasses so he can see the taxi driver that Cybil Shepherd
has noticed, is already wearing his glasses.
Nonetheless, he says, “Just a minute. Okay.”
as though he needed a second to put them on. It’s a wonderful exchange.
During his dance with Vivian Darkbloom in LOLITA, Peter Sellers takes a moment to check his watch.
It’s one of the coolest moves in cinema.
I should stop now.
Chihiro tapping her toes into her shoes in Spirited Away. This counts, right?
The first thing that came to mind was what Soybean said (Gena Rowlands’ thumb thing). She does it in Opening Night as well.
when belmondo goes cuckoo
couldn’t put it in words…. :)
i love the way Belmondo runs his thumb over his lips in Breathless. something fascinates me about it. like he’s trying so hard to be cool, and he’s feeling his own face to make sure its in the right position…maybe i’m way off. fuck it, i think i’ll watch that movie right now and examine it.
In “Modern Romance”, I love the bewildered look and befuddled and small interjections Albert Brooks gives as Bob Einstein (alias Super Dave Obsborne) continually upsells him on everything in the sporting goods store.
Jack Nicholson’s drinking in Easy Rider. Cracks me up every time I see it.
Nit nit nit, fuf fuf fuf!!!
Gary Oldman’s awkward movements in Léon – The Professional.
The way Jean-Pierre Léaud moves his feet when he’s trying to fool his son that the train has started to move. I think that’s from Love on the run but I’m not sure.
Anything Cary Grant does with a cigarette, especially the flip into the lips.
In Field of Dreams when Darth Vader asks the vendor for “a beer and a dog.” That’s the best part of that movie.
In one of the first scenes in An American in Paris, Gene Kelley does his "wake up " routine , but he moves so elegantly and does many things with his feet. Not very subtle , but definitely one of my favorite snippets of all time. Always makes me smile .
I love the way William Holden lights his matches in Stalag 17 by running the match against someone else, especially when he does it against the one guy’s neck. It’s something so simple yet it says so much as to who his character is and how much of a hardass he is.
Marq: I always thought he was running his fingers across his lips because he was trying to be like Humphrey Bogart.
I love how Klaus Kinski walks off-kilter in Aguirre. It just fits the personality so well and looks really creepy.
In each of his films, George Segal eats something… usually in a very peculiar manner. Cheers!
Topol’s dance skills in Fiddler on the Roof.
Woody Allen’s neurotic(ness?) in all his movies.
The way Gaff (Edward James Olmos) does the origami in Bladerunner. A true cyberpunk gesture.
What a fantastic list…I am going to be watching and rewatching a lot of movies now just to see a lot of these “snippets”.
Jack Lemmon adding -wise to words in The Apartment.
nallan
Ok, the topic name is crap, but wasn’t sure what else to call it. I am thinking of those small & subtle details in a film that are usually the creation of a very good actor or director. Although they are generally very quick they can add extra depth to a character or to the plot. I have a couple in mind: