Favorite Scene Friday! Breaking Bad: "This is not meth."

The end is nigh, fellow Breaking Bad fans. It’s two days from now, actually. How to process the ending of one of the greatest shows in television history? We've seen so much. We've watched years of murder, meth-making, and money-laundering. We’ve watched Walter White (Bryan Cranston) go from a chemistry teacher to a drug kingpin. And on Sunday, we’ll watch him for the last time.

I’ve actually wanted to share scenes from Breaking Bad before. The show is so cinematic. The pacing, scenes, and character arcs. Now may be my last chance to meaningfully share something. 

In this week's scene, Walt has gone to the lair of a local asshole named Tuco Salamanca. The creep has stolen Walt and Jesse's (Aaron Paul) meth and put the latter in the hospital. Walt has two goals: 1) get paid for the stolen drugs and 2) avenge Jesse (remember when he used to do that?). Tuco makes the one mistake you should NEVER, EEEEEEVER make in regards to Walter White - underestimation. The results are, well, explosive. Have a watch below. 

One of the best aspects of the show over the years has been the villains. Tuco, played by Raymond Cruz, is no exception. The man is intense and shifty. The way he puts his cigarette out on his tongue, while cliche, is definitely effective.

And I can't write about Breaking Bad without discussing Bryan Cranston. He's masterful in this short clip, despite not saying a whole lot. Just look at his face at around 1:55, right after Tuco delivers his "beat the PISS" line (I absolutely love how he says that). Cranston really brings Walter White to life.

Hold it, I'm not done! "We're done when I say we're done!" Here are blooper reels from season two through the first half of season five (I guess there's no blooper reel from season one). It's nice to see the actors involved cracking up so much. Okay, we're done. Have a good weekend and enjoy the final episode of Breaking Bad.

Favorite Scene Friday! GoldenEye: The Dam Dive

I recently threw my back out. And no, I’m not 90. Long story short, I hurt it years ago (in the ancient time known as college) and it acts up every now and then. Anyhoo, this was a pretty bad incident and I was essentially in bed for a week. I had a lot of time to watch movies as lying down seemed to be the only thing I could do. One of the movies I rewatched was GoldenEye.

Wikipedia

GoldenEye is probably my favorite Bond film, even now that Daniel Craig’s excellent trilogy exists. Great Bond in the form of Pierce Brosnan (sadly none of his other 007 films were as good as this one...surfing on a CGI tidal wave, anyone?), great plot, great bad guys, and Izabella Scorupco as a GREAT Bond girl.

IMDb

Right off the bat the movie starts with an amazing stunt. According to IMDb, this scene features the highest bungee jump from a structure in a film, which I totally believe. And how 'bout that scenery? That plane roars into view and as the camera pans up to follow it we're treated to our first glimpse of...the dam. Kind of gorgeous in a way. And truly cinematic.

The whole scene is amazing but it’s also quiet and intense. Who doesn't hold their breath when Brosnan (well, not really Brosnan...actually I'm not sure if he's really in this scene at all...we don't really get a good look at his face) swan dives off that dam? It’s just an incredible way to start a film and text book Bond.



By the by, honorary EH Team member CT (he of the Nerd Lunch Blog and Podcast) along with Aaron Nix from Movie Hodge Podge, recently launched a Bond podcast called the “Pod, James Pod” Podcast. Their first episode is all about GoldenEye (and chewing gum). Give it a listen.

#LAMBWatch: Demolition Man

The second installment of #LAMBWatch had it all - explosions, Rob Schneider, virtual sex, and, of course, Sylvester Stallone! Bubbawheat from Flights, Tights, and Movie Nights (a Demolition Man if there ever was one) was a big participant this time around and, as such, he gets the first ever #LAMBWatch prize - a $20 Amazon gift card! That's right, tune in next time and use the #LAMBWatch hashtag and you could win a prize.

As with any Stallone film, the film got off to a very Stalloney start.

Bungee jumping into a hostage crisis is pretty standard Stallone. #LAMBWatch #DemolitionMan
— Robert (@zerbert) September 7, 2013

Titular line and a giant explosion, nice way to start the movie. #demolitionMan #lambWatch
— Bubbawheat (@Bubbawheat) September 7, 2013

The film might be a little hammy and dated but, if nothing else, Demolition Man has an interesting cast:

that's a scruffy looking Dennis Leary, and a clean looking Rob Schneider. #lambwatch
— Bubbawheat (@Bubbawheat) September 7, 2013

Something I think everyone can appreciate is the very interesting technology in the future:

They have encouragement/pep talk booths in the future? I need one of those. #LAMBWatch #DemolitionMan
— Robert (@zerbert) September 7, 2013

MILF got in on the debate about the Demolition Man's arrest record:

@zerbert Might've gotten them in bunches.  50 in one day for a crime ring or something like that.
— Man, I Love Films (@manilovefilms) September 8, 2013

Thankfully a literal earthquake was avoided. I'm not sure if we've avoided the metaphorical earthquake that is an Arnold Schwarzenegger presidency:

So did we miss 'the' earthquake of 2010? #lambwatch #demolitionman
— Bubbawheat (@Bubbawheat) September 7, 2013

Haha Scwarzenegger presidential library. They were so close. #demolitionMan #lambwatch
— Bubbawheat (@Bubbawheat) September 7, 2013

Viewers beware...the dangers of the film's virtual sex:

He's got virtual blue balls now. #LAMBWatch #DemolitionMan
— Robert (@zerbert) September 7, 2013

This is some wild shit:

I guess we missed the part where this movie predicted Scott Peterson? #LAMBWatch #DemolitionMan
— Robert (@zerbert) September 7, 2013

I kind of thought Stallone's banishment to ice prison was a little harsh and I never really understood why he was punished in the first place. Maybe this was why he was frozen:

@zerbert Demolition Man was charged for not liking Taco Bell.
— Pop Rewind (@PopRewindOnline) September 7, 2013

Thanks again, everyone! The next installment of #LAMBWatch should happen on October 6th at 4:00 EST so tune in then! Until then, Simon says watch:

Music Video Monday! Arcade Fire: "Reflektor"

So this happened:



That's right, new Arcade Fire! The only two words that come to mind are "Nightmare Fuel" (trust me, it's a good thing). Many fans' minds have been blown, so don't expect to hear a whole lot from them, either (Tiff is going to make a full recovery but it was touch-and-go for a while...she won't stop talking about the light and an angel that looked a lot like Win Butler).

That's it, Hatchlings. Watch the video again and dance around and around.

(Our 100th) Favorite Scene Friday! The Big Lebowski

Way back on July 22, 2011 - as part of a new feature called "Favorite Scene Friday" - we shared a clip from Raising Arizona, one of the Coen Brothers' best films. We've shared a lot of scenes since then. Quint's Indianapolis speech from Jaws. The ending of The Usual Suspects. The final fight from The Karate Kid. Mr. Swayze's wildest scene from Dirty Dancing. But it all started with that Coen Brothers clip. So today, for our 100th installment of FSF, we wanted to share some scenes from our favorite Coen film and one of our pure, unifying joys - The Big Lebowski.

Wikipedia

How does one describe The Big Lebowski? "It's more than a film, it's a way of life," would be one way. The flick follows slacker Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski (Jeff Bridges) as he gets more and more entwined with a kidnapping. And it all starts after his rug gets pissed on.

Numerous books have been written about the film and The Dude. Conventions - known as Lebowski Fests - are held every few months for fans of the film (Achievers) to gather together to Dude out. Hell, The Dude himself, Jeff Bridges, named his band The Abiders.

As you would imagine, it's quite difficult to pick just one scene from the flick. So I've picked two.

Our first scene takes place near the beginning of the film when The Dude is returning home from the grocery store. His quiet life takes a drastic turn when two thugs abuse and question him and micturate on his rug. And it's all because they've mistaken him for another far less Dude Lebowski. This scene is gold, from its odd beginning to The Dude stewing on his toilet at the end and all of the comedy in between ("Obviously you're not a golfer."). Give it a watch:



The second scene really captures one of my favorite elements of the film - the trio of The Dude, Walter (John Goodman), and Donny (Steve Buscemi) shootin' the shit at the bowling alley. Oh, and the fact that the scene features Jesus (John Turturro) is great too. I absolutely love the way Bridges, Goodman, and Buscemi interact in this scene and every piece of dialogue is classic. And when it cuts to Jesus and Liam cleaning their bowling balls - hilarious. Dios mio, man!



So that's that. What started as one Coen Brothers clip turned into a feature 100 entries strong. We've been fortunate enough to have some guests drop by to share their favorite scenes and I just wanted to say a big thanks to them. Ruth from "...let's be splendid about this..." shared a great clip from Close Encounters of the Third Kind (which was our first guest post ever!). Alex from And So It Begins... shared the beginning of Adaptation. Pete from I Love That Film visited and brought along the ending of Fight Club. CT from Nerd Lunch shared a few scenes from the Back to the Future franchise and Superman III.  Pax from Cavalcade of Awesome has shared some bits from Young Guns, Young Guns 2 and the Superman franchise. Lindsay and Jess from French Toast Sunday shared scenes from The Social Network and Forgetting Sarah Marshall respectively. Thanks, guys!

Thanks for watching and reading, everyone. Hopefully we can write 100 more for ya. Happy Friday!