Sequences in films which were strictly speaking surplus to requirements

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This occurred to me Sunday lunchtime when I was watching the reissued Radio On (Chris Petit, 1979) at the Other Cinema in London's busy Regent Street. It's one of the most remarkable (and un-British) of British films (grey upon grey: is it 1959 or 1999?) - makes Bristol seem like Belsen, Weston-super-Mare like an unwanted afterlife ("Why do people come to live by the sea?" "As a last resort") and has what could be the greatest use of music ever in a British film; certainly sent me hurtling back to Kraftwerk's Radio-Activity.

BUT that bloody cameo by Sting! In the caravan! Where he thinks he's Eddie Cochran and he's trying out for a part in That'll Be The Day! And he turns to camera with his sodding guitar and starts strumming and singing "Three Steps To Heaven"! It is NOT NECESSARY!!!! (well it might have been necessary to help raise the money for the film to have A Soon-To-Be-Bankable-Name in it, but even so...)

So let's extend the question to incorporate scenes, or people, in films which are (a) not strictly necessary; (b) impede your appreciation of the film considerably; (c) just interrupt the bloody film and drag it down!

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 12 October 2004 09:58 (twenty-one years ago)

correction: London's even busier Rupert Street.

― Marcello Carlin, Tuesday, 12 October 2004 09:59 (twenty-one years ago)

The car washing scene in Cool Hand Luke (curtailed in Sunday's matinee TV showing).

― Alba (Alba), Tuesday, 12 October 2004 10:00 (twenty-one years ago)

Top Gun-The vollyball scene

― lukey (Lukey G), Tuesday, 12 October 2004 10:05 (twenty-one years ago)

Debbie does Dallas to thread.

― Markelby (Mark C), Tuesday, 12 October 2004 10:30 (twenty-one years ago)

the bit in Mission: Impossible where the narrative ceased so Tom Cruise could perform sleight-of-hand tricks with a computer disk while the other actors stood around and watched, unimpressed.

― Gear! (Gear!), Tuesday, 12 October 2004 10:52 (twenty-one years ago)

But every Tom Cruise movie has a scene like that, where Tom Cruise finds some new way of just delighting in being himself. So strictly speaking I would call that kind of scene the only requirement of a Tom Cruise movie.

Just about all scenes where someone picks up a guitar and sings, actually, would answer this thread.

― You've Got to Pick Up Every Stitch (tracerhand), Tuesday, 12 October 2004 15:39 (twenty-one years ago)

You mean like Christina Ricci soft-shoe tapping on the bowling alley floor in Buffalo 66?

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Tuesday, 12 October 2004 15:52 (twenty-one years ago)

That might have been a case where the film was surplus to the scene.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 12 October 2004 15:56 (twenty-one years ago)

Ha! I knew there was a reason why I was hesitating to hit the submit button.

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Tuesday, 12 October 2004 16:25 (twenty-one years ago)

pretty much ALL of _Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back_

also, most Val Kilmer flicks have a scene showing him flipping around a coin/pen on his fingers...

― Sir Kingfish Beavis D'Azzmonch (Kingfish), Tuesday, 12 October 2004 16:29 (twenty-one years ago)

the unicorn scene in Bladerunner 8)

― koogs (koogs), Tuesday, 12 October 2004 16:31 (twenty-one years ago)

The breast-feeding scene in I Heart Huckabees

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Tuesday, 12 October 2004 16:42 (twenty-one years ago)

The Ladykillers in the coen bros' filmography

― andrew m. (andrewmorgan), Tuesday, 12 October 2004 17:48 (twenty-one years ago)

All that Silver Surfer bizniz that Tarantino threw into "Crimson Tide."

― William Crump (Rock Hardy), Tuesday, 12 October 2004 18:49 (twenty-one years ago)

The Bowling Alley song and dance in Buffalo 66.

The shot in Boogie Nights where the old pedophile producer guy gets out of the limo at the party and the camera zooms in on his gut and replays him getting out three times in a row, complete with groan. (short but really irritates me).

― Hurting (Hurting), Wednesday, 13 October 2004 01:47 (twenty-one years ago)

In the a) category, the scene in Fargo where Marge meets up with that old school friend who pretends he has a dead wife. It's a great scene, and it works themeatically, but the film would make sense without it.

― Wooden (Wooden), Wednesday, 13 October 2004 01:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Happiness

― You've Got to Pick Up Every Stitch (tracerhand), Wednesday, 13 October 2004 02:12 (twenty-one years ago)

right, so twice already we've picked the best scene in the movie

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Wednesday, 13 October 2004 02:29 (twenty-one years ago)

A musical song-and-dance number in any otherwise non-musical film.

― Hurting (Hurting), Wednesday, 13 October 2004 02:38 (twenty-one years ago)

wooden took mine.

― Smokin' funk by the boxes (kenan), Wednesday, 13 October 2004 02:39 (twenty-one years ago)

This is how I've always seen it. Marge is in town to check on the car dealer and the Native American guy. Since she's in town, she decides to go ahead and meet up with this old friend. After the awkward lunch, she finds out that her perception has been skewed and too rosy, hearing from another friend that her lunch partner lied about the dead wife, was living with his parents, and had tried this before.

Being a little jaded and mistrusting, she goes back to the dealership to confront Jerry. Jerry takes off, and she (and the rest of the police) realize that they have their confirmed suspect.

Why else would Marge go back to the dealership? A lesser movie would've had her lying in bed with flashbacks of Jerry dulling his pencil lead or something with her sitting up going "A-ha!" Instead, we get this very real reason why someone would just all of a sudden decide that a sketchy situation was worth taking a second look.

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Wednesday, 13 October 2004 04:19 (twenty-one years ago)

All the supposedly hilarious bits in "There's something about Mary"

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 13 October 2004 06:08 (twenty-one years ago)

What I call the "lyrical interlude" scene. 1) The bike riding scene in Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid - Newman and the woman ride to "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" and 2) the scene of the silhouetted heroine in Play Misty For Me, where Roberta Flack's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" is playing as she wanders around the Monterrey hills. Maybe we can blame music videos on these.

― nickn (nickn), Wednesday, 13 October 2004 19:37 (twenty-one years ago)

Most "montage"s, especially in the 80s. It always feels like -- "Argh! I had all these other ideas I wanted to put in but the producer made me cut it short!"

― Hurting (Hurting), Wednesday, 13 October 2004 21:16 (twenty-one years ago)

five years pass...

marcello is totally wrong

sting owns hard in 'radio on' and it is a mad significant scene

― long time listener, first time balla (history mayne), Monday, 24 May 2010 12:55 (fifteen years ago)

I really like it too - v post-punk.

― xyzzzz__, Monday, 24 May 2010 19:10 (fifteen years ago)

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