The shot of Jeffrey Wigand (Russell Crowe) leaving the office in The Insider.
Anything from Wes Anderson. He’s the king.
I especially loved the opening scene in Darjeeling Limited, when Owen Wilson, Adrian Brody, and Jason Schwartzman are chasing after and boarding the train. Absolutely beautiful.
BONNIE & CLYDE of course. And A CLOCKWORK ORANGE. But there is something bigger … let me ponder for a minute …
most likely in Raging Bull during fight scenes…
Kurosawa and Sam Peckinpah both maybe overused it.
There was that moment in Vertoff’s Man with a Movie Camera where the action slowed, then stopped, then slowly started again, that was kind of amazing.
the credit sequence from “reservoir dogs”. i still get a chill up my spine when i see that slow motion and hear that music. a perfect marriage.
The slow motion scenes in “In the Mood for Love.” Goddamn, those are beautiful.
Foma’s death in “Andrei Rublev.” Probably the best death scene I have ever seen.
Hard Boiled all of the slow motion sequences, also In the Mood For Love with the smoke moving towards the light (I think it’s slow motion, I could be wrong)
The funeral procession in Entr’acte.
I read that without the slow motion, Watchmen will actually be roughly 17 minutes long.
if….
Raging Bull
Reservoir Dogs
the beginning of hoop dreams when william gates goes to dunk the ball and you realize in that instance that it is perhaps the only goal in his life and you just hope against hope that he keeps on reaching it.
I completely agree with if…., Man with the Movie Camera, In the Mood for Love, and the notion that there is definitly something bigger that I’m leaving out. With that said I’m completely in love with Lynne Ramsay’s film “Ratcatcher,” and in the film I believe that she beautifully uses slow motion, specifically at the beginning, subtly throughout the film, and at the end.
Edouard: I love ‘Ratcatcher’! Nobody ever seems to talk about it, but it is a fantastic film. I haven’t seen any of Lynne Ramsay’s other films. Do any of them live up to ‘Ratcatcher’? Any, in particular, that you would recommend?
Ulrich – maybe Nick Nolte at the airport in New York Stories.
Gordon, I was hoping someone would mention New York Stories’ Life Lessons, one of my favorite uses of slow motion. Seeing Rosanna stepping out of the blackness, the iris opening wider and wider, walking in slow motion, you get it. You just get it.
Fuck, Life Lessons, maybe the best thing Scorsese has ever done, 40 minutes of perfection.
Another great slow motion scene featuring an Arquette is in Lost Highway, where PATRICIA is walking in slow motion from one car to another, while exchanging looks with baltazar getty, and lou reed’s this magic moment playing on the soundtrack.
Shelley: I know!!! I am currently OBSESSED with Ratcatcher, I just got the criterion in the mail and it had been a while since I had watched it, so I watched it twice back to back on friday night, needless to say I had a VERY enjoyable night! As far as other Ramsay stuff, I’m only aware of her shorts, Ratcatcher, and Movern Callar (2002) which I haven’t seen yet, but have heard VERY good things about, and just recently ordered and am hoping I can get my hands on ASAP… I’ll let you know when I get it!… And if you don’t have the criterion of Ratcatcher get it and absorb the shorts that are included as extras, I REALLY enjoyed them, and watching them in chronological order leading up to watching Ratcatcher gave me an interesting insight into the progression of Ramsay as a filmaker! fun stuff.
Ulrich: I agree about the use of slow motion in Lost Highway! nice!
those In the Mood for Love moments and a couple from Casino
Wes Anderson’s use of sow motion in all of his films.
Raging Bull
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward John Ford (Not sure if there in slow motion but when I play this movie back in my head the scene where Jesse James gets shot is always in slow motion)
Obviously I have to put down anything by Wes Andersen and Sam Peckinpah. Then I also have to mention the hilarious slow motion fighting scenes in The Pink Pather-movies with Peter Sellers. When Clouseau and man-servant Cato go at it it´s pure comedic mayhem.
Edouard: I just checked out the dvd on the Criterion website, and it looks really nice. Unfortunately, cash is low at the moment, and tickets to the Met movie theater broadcasts take precedence. It really is a shame that ‘Ratcatcher’ isn’t better known. I only ended up seeing it because I wanted to see a few Scottish films before going to Scotland last summer, and vaguely remembered seeing it on the Criterion website.
I will definitely have to check out Ramsay’s shorts. I’m pretty excited about seeing ‘Movern Callar’ now, especially since Samantha Morton is in it (she is becoming a favorite of mine). Luckily, Netflix offers it as one of their instant movies; I know what I will be watching this weekend!
Chungking Express – Tony Leung drinking coffee in slo mo while Faye Wong watches him, simply breathtaking!
Seven Samurai in the scene when we are introduced to Kambei. He kills the kidnapper off screen and we see him die in the most copied slo-mo shot of all time. Of course the scene wouldn’t be the same without Mifune’s brilliant reaction as well!
Best uses of slow motion:
La Belle et la Bete
Zero de Conduite
Lola
The Wild Bunch
Wong Kar-Wai uses slow motion very effectively a lot.
Scorsese in Mean Streets and Raging Bull
The Wild Bunch, of course
John Woo in A Better Tomorrow and Hard Boiled
if we counting “bullet time” as slo mo, then The Matrix
The Wild Bunch
“Kurosawa and Sam Peckinpah both maybe overused it.”
Kurosawa used it maybe three times in Seven Samurai. What the hell are you talking about?
Hana-Bi (Fireworks) by Takeshi Kitano
Ulrich Jarløv.dk
Name your favorite slow motion scene.