These are videos that show what I love about movies. Most are montages, some are short clips from various movies, I’ll explain what they are before each one. If it’s a clip from a movie, I don’t necessarily recommend watching it unless you’ve seen the movie because it won’t make sense out of context, however I’ll never put something spolierish on here. Thank you to whoever made the videos, because I didn’t. I’m just linking them to my site.

9 Degrees of David Fincher

David Fincher is my favorite director, not just working today, he’s my favorite director of all time. I don’t care that he doesn’t write his own material. He chooses fantastic things to direct, with the exception of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Even Babe Ruth didn’t bat 1.000. A great director leaves images burned into your brain forever, this montage shows that perfectly. In every movie he’s directed, there are moments that you can remember and know exactly what they look like.

Se7en Bar Scene

Continuing with David Fincher, this is a scene from one my favorite movies directed by him, Se7en. It’s a crime thriller, that’s gory, suspenseful and has an epic ending. However, two of my favorite scenes are just dialogue scenes both starring Morgan Freeman. He is the cop that is retiring when this case is over, if they can ever find this psycho serial killer. Brad Pitt stars as the rookie cop that is working with Freeman’s character for the first time and he is young and naive about the world. In this scene, it is so well written by Andrew Kevin Walker and acted by Freeman and Pitt that a simple dialogue scene in a bar seems so real. I watch this clip online all the time and wonder “Wow, I wish more movies could be this good.”

Se7en Diner Scene

The next scene from Se7en could be a little bit spoilerish, so it’s time to go watch this movie now!

Gwenyth Paltrow plays Brad Pitt’s wife and she finds out that she’s pregnant and doesn’t have anyone else to tell except Morgan Freeman’s character because they just moved to the city and they don’t know anyone else. She asks for his advice and this is what he tells her. It makes my eyes a little misty every time. Again, great writing, directing, acting which makes this one of my favorite movies ever. I don’t even need the “What’s in the box!” scene.

[the films of] Christopher Nolan

Christopher Nolan is another film maker that I admire because, along with his writing partner/brother Jonathan they make idea movies disguised as blockbusters. As a director, he is someone who finds it very important to do things “in camera” as he calls it. Meaning practical effects, not CGI, “If we can flip Joseph Gordan-Levitt around in a hallway and fight people for real, let’s do it because it will look better in the film.” Here is a montage of his movies.

Paul Thomas Anderson – The Works

P.T. Anderson is another guy that writes and directs his own material and for that I give him credit. He’s only made five feature films, but they’ve all been unique and they are all shot in a way that no other film maker shoots. I love his use of long takes, like his opening to Boogie Nights when we meet all the main characters by tracking through the dance club in one continuous shot. That is just something that you don’t see from anyone else. He tells interesting and challenging stories, There Will Be Blood is one of the best movies of the last decade but I’ll admit that was mainly because of Daniel Day-Lewis‘ performance.