The New Scene Canon

In keeping with our commitment to exploring cinema’s newfound place within the culture of convergence and new media, Cinephile would like to inaugurate “The New Scene Canon” — an ongoing project that catalogues the most influential and iconic scenes of the last 30 years. We invite scholars to write 1000—2000 words on scenes they consider deserving of canonization. Writers are welcome to choose from our preliminary list, or propose their own scene. Articles, along with embedded video, will be hosted on cinephile.ca, and a selection will be featured in forthcoming print issues.

Apocalypse Now (1979) – “Charlie don’t surf” • Alien (1979) – “Chestburster” • Manhattan (1979) – “Planetarium” • Raging Bull (1980) – “Jake Coulda Been a Contender” • The Shining (1980) – “Wendy, I’m home” • The Warriors (1980) – “Come out and plaaaaay” • Chariots of Fire (1981) – “Wings on our Heels” • Mommie Dearest (1981) – “NO WIRE HANGERS!!!” • Scanners (1981) – “Head Explosion” • Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) – “Runaway Boulder” • Blade Runner (1982) – “But then again, who does?” • Tootsie (1982) – “My name is Dorothy” • Scarface (1983) – “Say hello to my little friend” • This is Spinal Tap (1984) – “These ones go to 11” • The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984) – “Charlie! They took my thumb!” • The Breakfast Club (1985) – “You just bought yourself another Sunday” • Ran (1985) – “Storming of the Castle” • Tampopo (1985) – “So you’re at a movie too?” • Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) – “Parade” • Blue Velvet (1986) – “Hit me” • The Fly (1986) – “Seth’s Transformation” • Platoon (1986) – “Shiiit you gotta be rich in the first place to think like that” • Full Metal Jacket (1987) – “Vietnam, the Movie” • The Killer (1987) – “Church Shootout” • Raising Arizona (1987) – “Huggies Chase” • Wall Street (1987) – “Greed is good” • Akira (1988) – “Motorcycle Chase“ • The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989) – “Try the cock, it’s a delicacy” • Do The Right Thing (1989) – “Riot in Bed–Stuy” • Say Anything (1989) – “Boombox” • GoodFellas (1990) – “Copacabana Long Take” • Edward Scissorhands (1990) – “Ice Carving” • Silence of the Lambs (1991) – “It puts the lotion on its skin” • The Player (1992) – “I hate all this cut, cut, cut” • Boyz N the Hood (1991) – “Either they don’t know, don’t show, or don’t care about what’s going on in the hood” • Basic Instinct (1992) – “Uncrossing of Legs” • Bad Lieutenant (1992) – “Show me how you suck a guy’s cock” • Unforgiven (1992) – “Will vs. Bill” • Reservoir Dogs (1992) – “Stuck in the Middle With You” • Dazed and Confused (1993) – “Girls stay the saaaaaame age” • Groundhog Day (1993) – “Phil’s morning x 3650” • Pulp Fiction (1994) – “Royale with cheese” • The Shawshank Redemption (1994) – “Prison Escape” • Clerks (1994) – “The Quick Stop” • Se7en (1995) – “What’s in the box?!” • Casino (1995) – “Head in a Vice” • Heat (1995) – “Holy Shit Street Shootout” • Kids (1995) – “Skateboard Beating” • Irma Vep (1996) – “Film Within the Film” • Hard Core Logo (1996) – “Suicide Scene” • Fargo (1996) – “Woodchipper” • Trainspotting (1996) – “Worst Toilet in Scotland” • Chungking Express (1996) – “California Dreamin'” • The Sweet Hereafter (1997) – “Sarah Polley’s Big Reveal” • Good Will Hunting (1997) – “Say I’m working at NSA” • Funny Games (1997) – “Killer Wink” • Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) – “White Rabbit” • The Thin Red Line (1998) – “One man in all this madness” • American History X (1998) – “Curb Scene” • Rushmore (1998) – “Max Montage” • Out of Sight (1998) – “Nonlinear Sex Scene” • The Big Lebowski (1998) – “The Jesus” • Saving Private Ryan (1998) – “Omaha Assault” • Boogie Nights (1999) – “Sister Christian” • The Matrix (1999) – “Morpheus Rescue and Bullet Time” • Magnolia (1999) – “One Is the Loneliest Number” • Fight Club (1999) – “Skyscraper Explosion with Pixies and Penis” • Being John Malkovich (1999) – “Malkovich! Malkovich! Malkovich!” • The Virgin Suicides (1999) – “Asphyxiation Party” • Beau Travail (1999) – “Rhythm of the Night Dance” • Julien Donkey–Boy (1999) – “Black albino straight from Alabama” • Requiem for a Dream (2000) – “Ass to Ass Montage” • Traffic (2000) – “Rescuing Caroline” • Memento (2000) – “Beginning/End” • Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000) – “Bamboo Forest” • Almost Famous (2000) – “Tiny Dancer” • Maelström (2000) – “Good Morning Starshine” • The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) – “She Smiled Sweetly in the Tent” • Mulholland Drive (2001) – “Silencio” • Amelie (2001) – “Serendipity Montage” • Donnie Darko (2001) – “Mad World” • Ghost World (2001) – “Defunct Bus Line” • Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001) – “Running through the snow” • Russian Ark (2002) – “All of It” • Adaptation (2002) – “We open at the beginning of time” • The Hours (2002) – “Come to bed” • Far From Heaven (2002) – “Diner Dance” • Oldboy (2003) – “Can the imaginary training of fifteen years be put to use?” • Goodbye Lenin (2003) – “Mother’s First Outing” • Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) – “House of Tea Leaves” • Talk to Her (2003) – “Silent Movie” • The Barbarian Invasions (2003) – “Chasing the Dragon” • The Saddest Music in the World (2003) – “America vs. Serbia” • Lost in Translation (2003) – “Bob and Charlotte’s Secret Whisper” • The Downfall (2004) – “Hitler Freaks Out” • The Passion of Christ (2004) – “Jesus’ Whipping” • The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) – “The Jaguar Shark” • Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) – “Joel in Little Joel’s Memories” • Grizzly Man (2005) – “Jewel, you must never listen to this” • The Proposition (2005) – “Christmas with a Shotgun” • Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) – “The Pale Man” • Children of Men (2006) – “Ghetto Uprising” • Little Children (2006) – “Pedophile in the Pool” • No Country for Old Men (2007) – “Coin Toss” • There Will Be Blood (2007) – “I Drink Your Milkshake!” • Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters (2007) – “Viewing Etiquette Intro” • The Dark Knight (2008) – “Nurse Joker” • The Wrestler (2008) – “Ram Jam!” • WALL–E (2008) – “Sublime Opening” • Up (2009) – “Sublime Opening”

One Response

  1. Chris
    Chris / 4-13-2011 / ·

    I can see three of my favorite movies of all time: Shining, Pans Labyrinth and the guy in the toilet is an actor from Trainspotting, right?

    Christian R.

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