Good finales offer catharsis. The best deny us closure altogether.
I've long been a fan of Mother. I also love the ending to Memories of Murder by the same director. He has a real knack for ending stories.
by Anonymous | reply 1 | Last Monday at 4:48 PM |
"Oh, Jerry, don't let's ask for the moon. We have the stars."
Miss Charlotte Vale (a lesser one)
by Anonymous | reply 2 | Last Monday at 4:49 PM |
[quote] "Good finales offer catharsis. The best deny us closure"
Sub-Wildean epigram. Sounds good, not always accurate.
by Anonymous | reply 3 | Last Monday at 4:54 PM |
I don't see how they didn't include Psycho's "I hope they're watching. They'll see. They'll see and they'll know because she couldn't hurt a fly."
by Anonymous | reply 4 | Last Monday at 5:01 PM |
Oops, I didn't click on the link and just added an ending. I now see it was #21.
by Anonymous | reply 7 | Last Monday at 5:09 PM |
The Village by M. Night Shyamalan. Oh, wait, you said BEST endings
by Anonymous | reply 8 | Last Monday at 5:11 PM |
I enjoyed the last 5 minutes with Agnes Moorehead.
But I don't want to watch it again.
by Anonymous | reply 10 | Last Monday at 5:17 PM |
The 2005 remake of King Kong was bloated in some ways, but its bones are strong. The finale is heartbreaking.
by Anonymous | reply 12 | Last Monday at 5:23 PM |
Where the fuck is Gone With the Wind?
by Anonymous | reply 13 | Last Monday at 6:08 PM |
Frankly, my dear R13, they didn't give a damn.
by Anonymous | reply 14 | Last Monday at 6:39 PM |
AFTER ALL...
by Anonymous | reply 15 | Last Monday at 7:26 PM |
"Rebecca," with the burning of Manderley.
by Anonymous | reply 16 | Last Monday at 7:28 PM |
The Sixth Sense
by Anonymous | reply 17 | Last Monday at 7:38 PM |
The Haunting (1963) with Julie Harris - there's a narration that the house now possessed her or something - don't remember the wording but it was powerful.
(I didn't watch the remake - I'll stick with Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson, Julie, etc., thank you very much)
by Anonymous | reply 18 | Last Monday at 7:52 PM |
In TSOM , the family is fleeing the NAZIS in Salzburg , by crossing the Alps into GERMANY .
by Anonymous | reply 19 | Last Monday at 7:59 PM |
Live By Night
Ben Affleck playing with his son at the beach.
by Anonymous | reply 20 | Last Monday at 8:06 PM |
Thanks, R6. LA Confidential is one of my all time favorites and that it lost the Oscar was a disgrace. Brilliant film at every level. That they were able to come up with that incredible script from the crazy mess of that novel was amazing.
The ending to Jagged Edge became my mantra.
As she is crying over her lost, murderer lover, the grizzled old private eye comforts her with, "Fuck him, he was trash."
by Anonymous | reply 21 | Last Monday at 8:59 PM |
Jack Lemon and Joe E Brown in Some Like It Hot
by Anonymous | reply 22 | Last Monday at 9:02 PM |
The ending of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. I guess you had to have lived through that time to appreciate how magical that ending was. It was like a gift.
by Anonymous | reply 23 | Last Monday at 9:07 PM |
“Inglorious Basterds” and the inferno in the theater.
by Anonymous | reply 24 | Last Monday at 9:24 PM |
Could you explain the "Nobody's perfect" joke from Some Like It Hot and Jack Lemmon's double take, for someone who is not a native English speaker?
by Anonymous | reply 25 | Last Monday at 10:03 PM |
Damn paywall. Anyone have the list?
by Anonymous | reply 26 | Last Monday at 10:12 PM |
R25 It's possibly one of the greatest movie endings because the whole movie, the audience knows that Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis are in drag. Basically the audience is waiting for one of the other characters to realize it and freak out and have a fit. The joke is that all that build up, and it's completely passed over by a nonplussed Joe E. Brown character like it was no big deal at all.
Supposedly that line was just a placeholder until they could come up with something better. But it ended up being one of the most iconic moments in the movie.
by Anonymous | reply 27 | Last Monday at 10:13 PM |
What? No mention of "Your girl is lovely, Hubbell"? This list is anti-Semitic. That is an iconic ending that inspired an iconic scene in my iconic HBO show.
by Anonymous | reply 28 | Last Monday at 10:34 PM |
"Give 'em a good strong finish and they'll forgive you anything."
by Anonymous | reply 29 | Last Monday at 10:36 PM |
Any list without Shawshank Redemption is bullshit.
by Anonymous | reply 30 | Last Monday at 10:37 PM |
Dancer in the Dark
by Anonymous | reply 31 | Last Monday at 10:40 PM |
“Papa, watch me fly!”
by Anonymous | reply 32 | Last Monday at 10:43 PM |
Old Boy. The original. Devestating.
by Anonymous | reply 33 | Last Monday at 10:44 PM |
Wilder's 'Some Like it Hot' has to take the prize. Although the ending of Hitchcock's late entry 'Frenzy' is a personal favorite.
by Anonymous | reply 35 | Last Monday at 10:49 PM |
I've only seen a handful of those movies.
by Anonymous | reply 36 | Last Monday at 10:52 PM |
Rogue One, the best of the modern Star Wars films.
by Anonymous | reply 38 | Last Monday at 11:00 PM |
Tarkovsky's Nostalghia from 1983. One take (!)
by Anonymous | reply 39 | Last Monday at 11:07 PM |
Thelma and louise
by Anonymous | reply 41 | Last Monday at 11:41 PM |
Papillon (1973)
by Anonymous | reply 42 | Last Monday at 11:44 PM |
Yentl was a bad choice. The ending of Funny Girl with Babs singing My Man is arguably more memorable.
by Anonymous | reply 43 | Last Monday at 11:52 PM |
Another vote for Thelma and Louise. And the final scenes in:
Nueve Reinas (Nine Queens)
El secreto de sus ojos (The Secret in their Eyes)
Le conseguenze dell'amore (The Consequences of Love)
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Von Ryan’s Express
Anklaget (Accused)
by Anonymous | reply 45 | Last Tuesday at 12:01 AM |
I can't read the article because it's paywall. What movies are the cartoons depicting on OP's link? I know one of them is Some Like it Hot.
by Anonymous | reply 46 | Last Tuesday at 12:02 AM |
Miss Lindsey as Bette Davis on the final scene of Baby Jane
Miss Lindsey as Mo'Nique, Mariah and Gabourey in a three-for-one bonus in Precious.
by Anonymous | reply 47 | Last Tuesday at 12:13 AM |
SUZANNE SOMERS This is my bad side!
by Anonymous | reply 48 | Last Tuesday at 12:18 AM |
I really think the ending of Bonnie and Clyde.
Iconic and shattering.
by Anonymous | reply 49 | Last Tuesday at 12:45 AM |
Lindsey as Miss Havisham in her bridal dress, pining for McCain or Trump or any man who refused to marry her.
by Anonymous | reply 50 | Last Tuesday at 12:47 AM |
I like the ending to the original Alfie. This clip includes Alfie's (Michael Caine) monologue and Cher's singing of the title song, along with a beautiful montage of the credits.
by Anonymous | reply 51 | Last Tuesday at 1:04 AM |
The two guys in the kitchen at the bottom of three picture are from the ending of “The Big Night.” That never would have crossed my mind, since Sexy young Marc Anthony had exited the scene just prior.
by Anonymous | reply 52 | Last Tuesday at 2:01 AM |
Good shout, I'm amazed they missed the end of Gone With The Wind and The Wizard of Oz.
by Anonymous | reply 53 | Last Tuesday at 8:55 AM |
For a bittersweet ending? Nothing gets me like the final scene from Running on Empty. When the River Phoenix character rushes to put his bike in the back of the family truck? And then Judd Hirsch tells him to get the bike out and leave?
Ugh. It KILLS me every time!
by Anonymous | reply 54 | Last Tuesday at 9:11 AM |
Three Bette Davis movies, with 2 of her immortal closing lines.
by Anonymous | reply 56 | Last Tuesday at 10:21 AM |
R27, you used "nonplussed" incorrectly to mean pretty much the opposite of what it actually means, but other than that, your analysis of the brilliance of the ending of SOME LIKE IT HOT is spot on.
by Anonymous | reply 57 | Last Tuesday at 10:30 AM |
The delightful faux 60's TV show music video that plays during the end credits of Down With Love, with Ewan and Renee and a brief cameo of composer Mark Shaiman on piano. Adorable.
by Anonymous | reply 58 | Last Tuesday at 12:04 PM |
Another vote for Body Heat. Easily top five.
Where in the hell was Sunset Boulevard?!?! Did I just miss it? I wasn't surprised not to see it for the length of the article because it is obviously top five if not number one, but then...nothing. Crazy.
by Anonymous | reply 60 | Last Tuesday at 12:40 PM |
Tootsie (1982)
That final scene is all about forgiveness. And the scene ends with the beautiful song "It Might Be You".
by Anonymous | reply 61 | Last Wednesday at 12:43 AM |
The Usual Suspects should have been on this list.
by Anonymous | reply 62 | Last Wednesday at 4:58 AM |
R60. Because they self-imposed a one director/one film, they used their Billy Wilder slot for Some Like It Hot. I’d argue that SLIH May have the best final punchline, but SB has a memorable last scene.
by Anonymous | reply 63 | Last Wednesday at 6:15 AM |
The Graduate.
by Anonymous | reply 64 | Last Wednesday at 6:44 AM |
I agree about Usual Suspects, although I am sure it is a little low brow for some here. I also thought the ending (credits?) of Wild Things was genius. And the whole movie was such fun. Bill Murray especially.
by Anonymous | reply 65 | Last Wednesday at 7:11 AM |
"Imitation of Life" (1959)
"Shawshank Redemption"
"The Usual Suspects"
by Anonymous | reply 66 | Last Wednesday at 7:29 AM |
Endings are so tough to get right. Really makes you appreciate the great ones. The worst are the ones that just cut to black with no pay off whatsoever.
Carrie has one of the best. Also Friday the 13th even if it's basically the same concept as Carrie.
The original Black Christmas has a great ending, too, that wraps things up but leaves a lot of wrong for ambiguity. Really creeps me out.
by Anonymous | reply 67 | Last Wednesday at 7:32 AM |
The German film "Das Leben Der Andersen" (The Lives Of Others) has one of my favorite endings.
by Anonymous | reply 68 | Last Wednesday at 11:51 AM |
Look! I've stopped the drift!
by Anonymous | reply 69 | Last Wednesday at 12:09 PM |
One Director/One Film - and for Kubrick they chose Eyes Wide Shut? Did they not see A Clockwork Orange?? "I was cured all right"...then Gene Kelly "Singin' in the Rain" as credits start to roll. Fucking brilliant!
Also, R68, I second that!
by Anonymous | reply 70 | Last Thursday at 8:04 PM |
This person puts Mama Mia on the list but omits The Taking of Pelham One Two Three? Absurd.
by Anonymous | reply 71 | Last Thursday at 8:49 PM |