My Favorite Movie Moments

My middle brother just e-mailed that I "need a list of the greatest cinematic moments like...
1) watching Harrison Ford run at any age;
2) Tom Hanks cry as Wilson floats away from the raft;
3) Anthony Hopkins saying 'screw 'em' in Legends of the Fall;
4) when Cru Jones does freestyle moves with his BMX on the gymnastics equipment in Rad;
5) Brad Pitt getting hit by the bus on Meet Joe Black; I rewatched that about a thousand times - so funny."

The following may not be exactly what my brother had in mind because it's organized around my "movie review guide" to the right. I am basing my list on his Meet Joe Black comment though. Here are some cinematic moments that I have specifically returned to, sometimes watching in slow motion or on pause (for effect or to study, not because they're objectively "the greatest"):

My Favorite Script and Directing Moment - Nothing pumps me up quite like the three tests of courage on Ernest Goes to Camp (1987), either at the beginning or the end. It's a great hook that comes back around.
Cheers for the tension and release of the drive-thru on American Beauty (1999), the quotes challenge on Finding Forrester (2000), and the girl's wallet on Training Day (2001).
Recently, I started crying in movies, so here's to tears for the birth of Kirk on Star Trek (2009), the death of Benjamin Button on The Curious Case... (2008), and the birth/death combo on In America (2003).
When I was a kid, nothing could scare me like neighbors, clergymen, and extended family members, or the chilling surprise revelations about grown-ups on A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), Silver Bullet (1985), and Lady in White (1988).
Later on, I got into crime dramas and their thrilling twist endings, like on Teaching Mrs. Tingle (1999), Bandits (2001), and Matchstick Men (2003), moments where characters came to balance their personal versus professional lives.

My Favorite Sets and Shots Moment - No scene is so visceral to me as the wall-cracking body slam at the climax of Unbreakable (2000). The raw physicality is powerful, the music soars, but mostly, it just comes down to a question of 'how'd they do that?'
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention some classic images like the building wall collapsing on Buster Keaton in Steamboat Bill Jr. (1928), the transition from black-and-white to color on The Wizard of Oz (1939), and the blood from the elevator on The Shining (1980).
I like any claymation, especially King Kong (1933) flapping the T. Rex's jaw, Large Marge on Pee Wee's Big Adventure (1985), and the horses playing piano on the A Town Called Panic (2009).
For faces of death, watch any of the fake suicides on Harold and Maude (1971), the unmasking of Darth Vader on Return of the Jedi (1983), and the first jump scene on The Ring (2002).
For dramatic entrances/exits, see the chest-bursting on Alien (1979), and Neo's welcome to the real world on The Matrix (1999) and Choi Min-sik in the hallway fight on Oldboy (2003).

My Favorite Casting and Acting Moment - I'll be disappointing my brother, but no clip is as tender as The Kid (1926) crying for Charlie Chaplin in the back of the orphange truck. That includes Tom Hanks losing Wilson on Cast Away (2000, which is a close runner-up) and Harrison Ford trying to run in leg cuffs on The Fugitive (1993, which was sad and funny at the same time).
Speaking of tender, the kissing scene that made me realize my own childhood was over was Peter and Wendy's on Hook (1991), the best I've ever seen is the elevator then pool makeout on Romeo + Juliet (1996), and for variety's sake there's the turtleneck cutting on Something's Gotta Give (2003).
On the opposite end of the emotional spectrum, no one does angry like Mel Gibson cutting the sheriff's throat on Braveheart (1995), unless it's Brad Pitt beating a cop nearly to death on Legends of the Fall (1994), or Denzel Washington shedding a single tear on Glory (1989).
If you want to watch characters transform right before your eyes, check out Anne Baxter's incomparable facial expressions on All About Eve (1950), Kim Novak coming out the bathroom on Vertigo (1958) and Adam Sandler with the tire iron on Punch-Drunk Love (2002).
For star appeal, there's Cyd Charisse's green leg on Singin' in the Rain (1952), cold coffee on Gene Wilder on The Producers (1968), and Ben Affleck's hilarious job interview on Good Will Hunting (1997).

My Favorite Effects and Editing Moment - Want to know what my most favorite moments in any movies are? Cutaways and inserts. Both can be found on my most favorite moment on my most favorite movie, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982). Director Steven Spielberg pays homage to director John Ford by cutting away from Elliot freeing the frogs at school to E.T. at home watching The Quiet Man (1952) on TV, their telepathic link causing a re-enactment of the kissing scene between John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara. Hair blows in some impossible wind, the music swells, and then cuts back to close-ups of a frog and the girl turning her heel. Just beautiful.
Needless to say, I love postmodern, pop culture pastiche, like showing clips of The Exorcist (1973) and Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986) on The 'burbs (1989), or scaring the pizza guy using Angels with Filthy Souls (a pretend parody of Angels with Dirty Faces) on Home Alone (1990), or the Louis Kahn lecture and architecture slideshow on Indecent Proposal (1993).
I love opening credits (title sequences) that do more than list names. Take the robot manufacturing set to techno music on Short Circuit (1986), which sets a very different tone from the rest of the movie, or moving like a pinball inside the Batman (1989) logo, which perfectly plots the different direction they wanted to take that character. In recent years, many titles have gone for a retro look and sound, but none as well as those on Kill Bill, Vol. 1 (2003).
An extended close can really accentuate the last moment before the end credits, like the taxi drive on Michael Clayton (2007), turning off the hearing aid on Revolutionary Road (2008), and oh, I almost forgot, the freeze frame on The Pelican Brief (1993)
I'm not big on special effects, but I like the light cycles on Tron (1982), the morphing on Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991), and the skydiving/dragon-hunting on Reign of Fire (2002).

My Favorite Sound and Music Moment - Sometimes in music, silence, or rests, are just as important, if not more important than the notes you hear. Sometimes in movies, sound effects say things better than dialogue ever could. Such is the case with the profanity censorship scene on Kuffs (1991).
For characters listening to other people's music, you can't do better than the Van Halen wake-up call on Back to the Future (1985), the Mozart over the loudspeakers on Shawshank Redemption (1994), and the gangsta rap on Office Space (1999).
For characters performing other people's music, Amadeus (1984) improves on Salieri's after only one listen, Jack Black on High Fidelity (2000) does a surprisingly tasteful "Let's Get It On," and Will Ferrell gets it on after playing "Whole Wide World" on Stranger Than Fiction (2006).
For characters performing their own music, you'll cheer for Eminem's final rap battle on 8 Mile (2002), you'll shed a tear for Julie Delpy's "Waltz for a Night" on Before Sunset (2004), and you'll laugh till you cry for "Dracula's Lament" on Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008).
For characters getting their groove on to music, watch the gray hairs breakdance on Cocoon (1984), "Love Is Strange" on Dirty Dancing (1987), and Corey Feldman doing his best Michael Jackson to Dream a Little Dream (1989).