# Great moments in otherwise mediocre movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 18, 2009, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-otherwise-mediocre-movies/514252 "2009-10-18T22:12:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-otherwise-mediocre-movies/514252/1 "2009-10-18T22:12:50Z")
What are some of your favorite moments in films that you don’t otherwise care much about. I thought “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” was pretty dumb (I didn’t believe there was such a thing as too many dick jokes and porn puns until I saw this). But one moment that did crack me up was when Seth Rogen was filming his porn scene with Elizabeth Banks and says, “I’m going to fuck you with my pecker,” and then she says that sounds too dirty, so he says “I’m going to fuck you with my penis.”" “Duets” was a mediocre film that nevertheless had a lot of great little moments in it, or least more than you would expect from a movie about karaoke. If I happen to see it’s on TV, I’ll make a mental note to tune back in at the end to see Andre Braugher sing “Freebird.” That always chokes me up a little. ---
**Author:** ![Annie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-otherwise-mediocre-movies/514252/2 "2009-10-19T01:37:10Z")
[Why wait for tv?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81TZhHWM7yc) ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-otherwise-mediocre-movies/514252/3 "2009-10-19T01:51:57Z")
There are only two good things about _The Thomas Crown Affair_ remake, but they’re both very very good things: Rene Russo nudity and the [magnificent Nina Simone climax](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhxTQ7rK_HU). ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-otherwise-mediocre-movies/514252/4 "2009-10-19T02:01:36Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > … and the [magnificent Nina Simone climax](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhxTQ7rK_HU). Hey look, Frankie Faison! Wirespotting never gets old. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-otherwise-mediocre-movies/514252/5 "2009-10-19T02:09:48Z")
The fight in The Patriot. Yeah, that one. (Okay, the fort in the swamp was sort of cool, but wouldn’t have risen the film above mediocrity by itself.) ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-otherwise-mediocre-movies/514252/6 "2009-10-19T02:55:17Z")
[DC Cab](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085387/) wasn’t good for much, but it was good for a scene in which the cabbies have, with some trepidation, agreed to form their own cab company. As the decision is reached, Gary Busey jumps up on the hood of a cab and says to the assembly (in grave earnest): "I just want to get one thing straight: I don’t work on January 8… …'cause that’s Elvis’s birthday." (At which point Busey commences Elvis-style gyrations and the other cabbies burst into laughter.) I use that line in every job interview. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-otherwise-mediocre-movies/514252/7 "2009-10-19T03:12:57Z")
Seeing as it’s Halloween time, here’s the well-known [night nurse](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH8ynu0jRvY) scene from the otherwise godawful “Exorcist III.” Warning: No graphic bloodletting, but it’s one of the most intense horror movie moments ever. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-otherwise-mediocre-movies/514252/8 "2009-10-19T06:14:17Z")
The Phantom Menace was much worse than mediocre but the big light-sabre battle was terrific; perhaps the best in the entire series. ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-otherwise-mediocre-movies/514252/9 "2009-10-19T07:37:09Z")
Continuing with the horror movie theme: [The elevator scene](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuSO-_XiToI) in _The Eye_ (the original Chinese version). The rest of the movie is nothing special, but that scene is probably the scariest thing I’ve ever seen in a horror film. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-otherwise-mediocre-movies/514252/10 "2009-10-19T07:51:34Z")
There’s a scene in _Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure_ where they have to get into the police station. Ted (or it may have been Bill) says something like “hey, remind me later to go back in time and hide my dad’s keys under this rock.” Then they lift the rock, and the keys are right there. That elevates the whole movie for me, at least a little. That one clever idea convinced me the rest of the movie’s stupidity was strongly tongue in cheek. ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-otherwise-mediocre-movies/514252/11 "2009-10-19T07:53:09Z")
> [@The New and Improved Superman](#): > > Seeing as it’s Halloween time, here’s the well-known [night nurse](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH8ynu0jRvY) scene from the otherwise godawful “Exorcist III.” Warning: No graphic bloodletting, but it’s one of the most intense horror movie moments ever. This is probably one of the more effective jump scares I’ve ever seen. It’s one that genuinely frightened me, rather than made me annoyed that the filmmakers would resort to such cheap tricks. Actually, the spiderwalk scene in the original Exorcist wasn’t too bad, either. Only part of the movie I found even remotely scary, actually. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Piranha\_Brothers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@The\_Piranha\_Brothers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Piranha_Brothers)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-otherwise-mediocre-movies/514252/12 "2009-10-19T09:10:35Z")
The first part of the Pit of Death scene in Meet the Spartans. ---
**Author:** ![BKReporter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@BKReporter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BKReporter)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-otherwise-mediocre-movies/514252/13 "2009-10-19T13:15:56Z")
I didn’t really care much for the first Mission: Impossible. But I thought the Chunnel/helicopter chase scene at the end, as contrived as it may have been, was awesome. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-otherwise-mediocre-movies/514252/14 "2009-10-19T13:27:02Z")
As I stated in another thread - the Coffee Time dance number in “Yolanda and the Thief” - not only is it Fred Astaire, but the song is intoxicatingly…jazzy. I’m not a fan of slapstick and I sit through National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation with a vague sense I’d rather be doing something else. But Chevy Chase’s frustrated speech near the end is a marvel! ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-otherwise-mediocre-movies/514252/15 "2009-10-19T14:09:35Z")
I found _French Kiss_ to be yet another in Meg Ryan’s ongoing serious of brainless romantic comedies, except for the scene in which Kevin Kline’s character has her smell the flowers and herbs native to his family’s vineyard, then taste the wine. It was as if that scene alone had been lifted from a vastly superior script that had never gotten the green light on its own. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-otherwise-mediocre-movies/514252/16 "2009-10-19T14:42:11Z")
> [@The\_Piranha\_Brothers](#): > > The first part of the Pit of Death scene in Meet the Spartans. I thought the film’s redeeming moment was the end musical number. In fact, the group I was watching it with all agreed that if that had been how the film was done, it would have been pretty worthwhile to watch. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-otherwise-mediocre-movies/514252/17 "2009-10-19T14:53:07Z")
Whenever “So I Married an Axe Murderer” is on I tune in for the scene where Mike Myers plays his own father. Him dancing around and singing to the Bay City Rollers “Saturday Night” just cracks me up every time. The rest of the move, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-otherwise-mediocre-movies/514252/18 "2009-10-19T16:01:31Z")
I believe that _The Invisible Agent_ was intended to be a screwball comedy. Unfortunately, it is extremely unfunny. However, Peter Lorre makes a very scary villain, and his final scene is awesome. In the climactic fight between Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris in _Return of the Dragon_, there is a moment when the fight pauses, and the two men exchange glances. Neither actor says a word, but you know exactly what both characters are thinking. The third _X-Men_ movie mostly sucked, but there was one great sequence in which Kitty Pryde used her brain to defeat the Juggernaut’s brawn. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-otherwise-mediocre-movies/514252/19 "2009-10-19T16:43:37Z")
> [@Annie](#): > > [Why wait for tv?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81TZhHWM7yc) Wow, didn’t know he could sing. Was Huey Lewis looking sad because of that? And did I see Paul Giamatti in the crowd? ---
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-otherwise-mediocre-movies/514252/20 "2009-10-19T18:22:55Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > Wow, didn’t know he could sing. Was Huey Lewis looking sad because of that? And did I see Paul Giamatti in the crowd? [Yes](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0kpA9gNB4Q), you did indeed. (Everyone who performed in that movie did their own singing, BTW) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-otherwise-mediocre-movies/514252.md?page=2)