People often ask me as a connoisseur of all things media-related what my favorite movies are, and further, what my favorite scenes are.  I also had a delightful discussion about a week ago with a new friend who's an astute lover of film in the truest sense, and he opened my eyes to some things.  Borrowing a catch phrase from an old sketch on the BBC's Benny Hill Show, I'll concede the following:

I've seen an awful lot of movies, and a lot of awful movies. 

I've found gems in films that otherwise tanked, and I've sat through movies that were perfect overall but contained little real substance in individual shot scenes.  So that being said, here are what I feel are the best scenes for my generation (keep in mind that I was born in 1974).

q       The suicide in "Dead Poet's Society" – equal parts chilling and dramatic, the intensity, soundtrack and abstract shooting make this really good…and really hard to watch over again, after you learn what happens to Neil's character.

q       The cocaine deal in "Boogie Nights" – it's so weird and there's so much going on that it’s brilliant.  The mounting tension, Night Ranger playing in the background and those damn exploding firecrackers make this a winner.

q       After-the-crash in "Cool Runnings" – many may argue why this is on the list, but hey man, there's nothing like national pride and overcoming insurmountable odds and doubters.  Shock the world!  And island boys taking on the world?  Shit, that's the story of my life.

q       Hugh Jackman's programming triumph in "Swordfish" – I'm unsure if the Aussie Jackman really is into computers and/or software development, but he pretty much captured the essence of what it feels like to really jam on a project, alcohol in tow, and crank something really cool out.  The mood swings he goes through, the triumph, and inebriation are something with which we can all empathize.

q       Bruce Lee vs. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in "Game of Death" – classic Lee – they just don't make films like this anymore.  Unlike his many successors, Bruce didn't use the model of having long, drawn-out fights where he hit a guy 90 times before knocking him out – one kick and its lights out, baby.  Many people surprisingly don't realize that the final fights in this movie were the impetus for the plot for the original 16-bit Nintendo game title "Kung Fu".

q       The trial in "A Few Good Men" – written originally for the stage, it's brilliant.  I shit you not, I can recite the entire scene verbatim at a moment's notice.  Call me up and ask me to.

q       The dinner scene in "The Birdcage" – I'm assuming there were at least a thousand takes done to get this scene right, because I don't know how Robin Williams, Gene Hackman, Nathan Lane and Calista Flockhart pulled off all their hilarious lines with straight faces (pun most assuredly intended).

q       The stockholder's meeting in "Wall Street" – "Greed is Good" - need I say more?  I saw this in '87 when it came out and at that moment knew my calling…I knew I'd be going to business school.  Michael Douglas' finest hour, and some of the best dialogue ever.  I constantly referenced "I am not a destroyer of companies – I am a liberator of them!" in graduate school papers.

q       Neo meets The Architect in "The Matrix – Revolutions" – I'm not sure who the actor that played the seminal role of the Architect is, but the dude deserves an Oscar nod just for being able to remember the very complex, convoluted lines.  The Web is chock-full of people psychoanalyzing exactly what was meant, but it was a classic scene.  I tried for months trying to find a graphic of the Architect to use as my PC's wallpaper, but no dice.

For more on what I think of the best computer-oriented movies of all time are, check out an article I did for work on the topic a couple of years ago: http://www.kuam.com/news/3190.aspx