The 17 Best Movie Moments Of The Year

The brilliance and hilarity of "Birdman" comes from its ability to find humor in the darkest depths of the human psyche and also the most embarrassing bad-luck scenarios. When Riggan (Michael Keaton) gets locked out of the theater wearing nothing but a robe and underwear, you can’t help but panic and ask, What the hell you would do. But he goes for it -- strips down and marches through Times Square in tighty whities, re-enters the theater and performs the hell out of his final scene. And why? Because he’s Birdman (caw)! -- Erin Whitney

It's the speech that launched a dozen think-pieces when Gillian Flynn’s megahit was first published in 2012. Amy Dunne’s blistering takedown of what she calls the "cool girl" trope -- the wife or girlfriend who goes out of her way to relish her partner’s macho proclivities -- was one of the first things "Gone Girl" fans wanted to see when the movie was announced. Our prayers were answered. Amy (Rosamund Pike) recites an abbreviated version via voice-over as she speeds down the freeway. It's our first indication that Amy is still alive after going missing, and she brings a certain acerbic zeal to the movie as she cruises past the very women who appear to match her descriptions, munching on junk food and chucking the pens with which she fabricated the diary that frames Nick (Ben Affleck) as her murderer. It's a moment of equal parts self-reflection ("I was game") and creeping madness ("He doesn’t get to fucking win"), and yet again it proffered a dozenorso think-pieces. -- Matthew Jacobs

Imagine leaving your family to go to space, getting stuck on a planet for an hour or two longer than you hoped, then arriving back to your ship realizing 20 years have passed. Now you have to watch two decades of video messages from your family as they grew up without you, had kids and became adults. If you weren't sobbing as hard as Matthew McConaughey during this scene -- regardless of whether you’re fond of "Interstellar" or not -- then we're not quite sure what to say. (You shed at least one tear, right?) -- EW

The most meaningful film quote of 2014 may be as simple as: "I just thought there would be more." Patricia Arquette utters these words near the end of Richard Linklater's sprawling coming-of-age tale, as the college-bound boy (Ellar Coltrane) packs his bags to leave home. Anyone who's gone numb with nostalgia at the idea of reaching another of life's milestones will be sucker-punched by Arquette's heartbreak. The rawness of the tear-stained monologue is enough to rip open the wistfulness that wounds even the least sentimental parts of ourselves. -- MJ

One of the most haunting and unsettling films of the year, Jonathan Glazer's “Under the Skin” has remained underrated despite heaps of praise. Take the first scene, where we find out where Scarlett Johansson's alien seductress takes roadside stragglers. Slowly removing her clothes, she begins her walk of enchantment as screeching strings, reminiscent of a classic horror score, send chills through your spine. The hypnotic scene teases its blatant sensuality to concoct a bubbling terror that stays with you long after the movie's over. (You can watch the full scene on YouTube.) -- EW

If Damien Chazelle's "Whiplash" is an augmenting adrenaline rush, then the film's musical finale is the exploding catharsis of all the (literal) blood, sweat and tears that came prior. As drummer Andrew (Miles Teller) dedicates himself to achieving perfection under the abuse of his music instructor, he finally gets his moment of redemption in a pounding drum solo that will make you forget to breathe. The scene is musically, psychologically and emotionally riveting up until the last moment when the drumming stops for a close-up shot that serves up the most bittersweet final punch. -- EW

The civil rights movement reached new heights of savagery on March 7, 1965, when 600 peaceful protesters marching across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama were greeted by an army of officers with billy clubs and tear gas in hand. As depicted in Ava DuVernay's film about Martin Luther King Jr.'s efforts to galvanize support for the 1965 Voting Rights Act, the gray skies looming overhead curdles the blood spilled as a result of every piece of stalled legislation (and every patronizing politician’s disregard). Beautifully filmed but hauntingly disconcerting, the scene -- like the entirety of "Selma" -- is a harrowing take on a true American horror story. -- MJ

It’s difficult to describe (and understand) the perplexing shenanigans that make up Paul Thomas Anderson's detective mystery "Inherent Vice." Yet, this particular scene pretty much sums up the film's zany vibe. Joaquin Phoenix's dopey private investigator enters a mysterious headquarters to find Dr. Rudy Blatnoyd (Martin Short), a purple suit-wearing coke-addicted dentist. Things quickly escalate from a confused meeting to Rudy running around with his pants down snorting lines off a desk. It's blissful insanity at its finest. -- EW

The best thing about Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne's characters as they attempt to have sexy time in front of their baby in "Neighbors" is how proud they seem. Finally, these new parents can let loose and feel young again! Instead, little Stella is wide-awake, cooing at the sight of mom and dad straddling each other in the throes of forced passion. Way to wreck a couple's sex drive -- and way to make a movie theater explore with laughter. -- MJ

Great car chases fall on the spectrum of swift intensity and unrealistic insanity (à la "Fast & Furious"), but "Nightcrawler" raises the stakes higher by adding one crazed sociopath to the mix. When Jake Gyllenhaal's seedy Lou Bloom gets a camera in his hand, no moral, legal or ethical limitations will hinder him from capturing the grittiest crimes. Hence a high-speed chase through the streets of Los Angeles that accelerates to such a bonkers degree that you'll undoubtedly be shouting expletives. (You can watch the full scene on YouTube.) -- EW

Hell hath no fury like Uma Thurman scorned -- and it only took eight minutes of Lars von Trier's two-part prurient spectacle to prove it. Playing Mrs. H, who barges in as her husband moves in with his mistress, Thurman goes from frazzled to inquisitive to hysterical, all while her character's three young children stand by in confusion. But what Thurman does goes beyond elements of revenge or despair: As Mrs. H comes to understand the absurdity of her husband's decision, Thurman imbues a superiority that borders on comedic. It's an electrifying wake-up call to the odd slog that is "Nymphomaniac." -- MJ