The REEL Addict 

… And we’re off! So begins the week long (well, four day week anyway) theREELaddict Summer Lovin’ Event. Needless to say with today’s list there are minor spoilers abound.

You can expect the Worst Moments to appear this afternoon.

As always, feel free to post your praises, complaints, and own lists below.

“The Magic Trick,” THE DARK KNIGHT
Never will I look at a pencil in quite the same way again. The already famous pencil trick was so impressive not only because of the shock and murderous coolness of the moment, but it was also an effective and brutal introduction to the Joker and the way he was always just one step ahead, waiting prone with an act of violence. It’s a moment that elicited first stunned silence, then laugher and thunderous applause. Myself included, though after a while I thought “I’m applauding murder,” but hey, that’s showbiz.

“The Dance,” WALL-E
Though I’m partially inclined to call all of WALL-E a best moment, or to draw upon any number of other scenes from the film, I think it was WALL-E and EVE’s adorable dance in the film that was not only one of the most lovely moments of the year, but also one of the most romantic displays of love I’ve seen in a long time. Yes, even though they are only robots.

“Drunken Singing,” HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY
HELLBOY II may have been an all around great film, but the greatest thing it gave us was Hellboy and Abe Sapien drowning their romantic sorrow in booze and subsequently launching full-scale into a drunken recitation of Barry Manilow’s “I Can’t Smile Without You.”

“Marian Ravenwood Returns,” INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
Say what you will about the movie, or even about what was done with her character subsequent to her reintroduction, but the moment Marian Ravenwood stepped back onto the screen after a twenty-seven year absence (recalling some of her lines from RAIDERS no less), I had a massive grin on my face. Surprisingly, it was a bigger grin than Indy got.

“Hulk Smash!,” THE INCREDIBLE HULK
The marketing department of THE INCREDIBLE HULK went to no end to convince us this Hulk film would have action, action, action. Sure enough it delivered in an incredibly action filled, exciting, minute-long final battle between The Hulk and The Abomination culminating in the fan rich moment of The Hulk putting out a fire with the force of his clap, and then breaking open the earth while screaming the now famous character line from the comic.

“Enter Nick Fury,” IRON MAN
Perhaps it seems a bit odd (and even unfair) to pick a throwaway moment of sorts from IRON MAN as opposed to one that actually was really part of the film, but this summer there were few moments that elicited such geekish glee from me than seeing Samuel L. Jackson finally embody the version of Nick Fury I’d been reading in comics for a long time. Teasing an AVENGERS film was pretty okay too.

“Tai Lung Escapes” KUNG-FU PANDA
One of the bigger surprises of the summer was not only that KUNG-FU PANDA was good, but that it actually featured some pretty fun, impressive martial arts action. One of the cooler sequences was Tai Lung’s improbable, and therefore highly entertaining and thrilling escape from his prison.

“Jet Li vs. Jackie Chan,” THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM
The rest of the film was certainly a letdown, but the moment Jackie Chan stepped into the temple to confront Jet Li, my arm lit up with goosebumps anticipating seeing the two martial arts legends square off against each other. Sure, part of me wishes this had happened back in the 90s when the two men were more in their prime, but that’s just nitpicking. Seeing Chan and Li square off was still undoubtedly one of the best moments of the summer, and in my martial art viewing career.

“Bush and the X-Files,” THE X-FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE
If you’ve been following any of my coverage of Oliver Stone’s W, you’ll know I have little tolerance for the lazy comedy of poking fun at George W. Bush. But even I must concede that playing the “X-Files” theme while Mulder and Scully look at a picture of the current American president was pretty darn cute and funny.