By Petr Navovy | Social Media | January 4, 2023 |
By Petr Navovy | Social Media | January 4, 2023 |
Blake Howard’s incredible podcast, One Heat Minute—in which he dedicates an episode each to analysing one minute of Michael Mann’s Heat—is, aside from the Always Sunny boys, the only podcast I’ve ever been able to listen to. An early episode of One Heat Minute covers Robert De Niro’s entrance at the start of the film. For twenty or so minutes Blake and his guest track the minute in which we meet Neil McCauley, the character melting out of the pre-dawn light of an otherwordly LA in the film’s opening credits, accompanied by Elliot Goldenthal’s emotive soundtrack, and transitioning into the sequence in which he floats through the hospital from which he is going to steal the ambulance that he and his crew will use to pull off the armored car/bearer bonds heist later in the movie. It’s one my favorite film openings of all time—fitting, I suppose, for what is my favourite film of all time (alongside the Before Trilogy, of course)—and the depth to which Blake and his guest go in analysing the perfect way McCauley’s opening moments are pitched in order to communicate so much about him and the cool and efficient professionalism which defines him above all else is a joy to listen to.
It was also the first answer that immediately popped to my head in response to this Twitter prompt:
What is the best character introduction you've ever seen in a movie? pic.twitter.com/GIfplcWyGZ
— Taste of Cinema (@davidcinema) December 28, 2022
There’s not many things in this world better than a good character intro, as Twitter’s other examples in response show:
"I'm sorry. Did somebody say my name?"
— Ray Soto (@RaySotoTech) December 28, 2022
Max Fischer, Rushmore pic.twitter.com/U6nm3Wtolo
— Vince Guerrieri (@vinceguerrieri) December 29, 2022
The Fata morgana in the scene in the film Lawrence of Arabia at the well is one of the most beautiful moments in a film I have seen. Like looking into the heart of the film itself: a mirage the silence and the endless desert. What a matchless entrance by actor Omar Sharif. pic.twitter.com/JymJBBBLIP
— CineSouf (@CineSouf) December 28, 2022
No doubt this one.https://t.co/mJv4qGc5Py
— Mikael Lemberg (@Lemberg) December 29, 2022
Miranda Priestly, The Devil Wears Prada pic.twitter.com/SRZd8Gv4Tc
— Chris Spargo (@chrisonchris) December 28, 2022
Adding because this thread is becoming a real sausage fest and no one has mentioned this iconic moment in cinema history
— Chris Spargo (@chrisonchris) December 29, 2022
Ramona, Hustlers pic.twitter.com/1Fzkd7NaID
Get up, Trinity.
— Emily Andras (@emtothea) December 31, 2022
It’s not just that she’s badass. It’s that’s she’s still terrified.https://t.co/a29begRsWu
— Dan Beucke (@DanBeucke) December 28, 2022
V. In V for vendetta. pic.twitter.com/DKL2OBqx6v
— Big Daddy C (@kollinswitha_K) December 29, 2022
There’s a debate?! pic.twitter.com/UWXU5wHHMG
— Jimmy Slonina (@jimmyslo) December 29, 2022
— . (@BearCov) December 30, 2022
— BogartEstate (@HumphreyBogart) December 28, 2022
There's only one. Talked about for the whole film but only in it for 5 minutes.
— Daniel Stewart 🇺🇦 (@dnstewart67) December 31, 2022
Harry Lime. https://t.co/dwCe3VHyef
— Damian Christopher (@maniac_mandrake) December 28, 2022
— wehrenberg whisper 🎥 (@alphie314) December 28, 2022
— Dane Norton (@nothinlikeadane) December 28, 2022
Grace Kelly, 'Rear Window'https://t.co/Jth82U40Xo
— Hongo Subterráneo (@hongomarvelita) December 29, 2022
The original 1977 version of course pic.twitter.com/HGR5B3ZLhI
— G_Sweeney (@GlennSweeney7) December 28, 2022
M (1931). It is the definitive serial killer film. Monumental performance by Peter Lorre. Fritz Lang is a giant. pic.twitter.com/ItfKpCT2YJ
— Angelo Pires (@AngeloCPires) December 28, 2022
Danny McBride in This Is the End, without any hesitationhttps://t.co/f1luQxYSKX
— Rob P (@TyrannoRob) December 31, 2022
My thumb was getting sore from hitting the like button. So many good replies here.
— LittleAsselstine (@CraigAsselstine) December 28, 2022
I’ll add, Martin Sheens Apocalypse Now intro. pic.twitter.com/3nmkPkZcYY
— FeiPo 🇺🇸 (@FeiPo6) December 30, 2022
the way the opening scene of Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962) introduces the titular character by having a card reading that goes into the formative experiences in her past, her present anxieties, and her doomed future in a way that establishes all you need to know for her and the film. pic.twitter.com/lYedm81u14
— andrei tarkussy 💋 (@autumnstigmata) December 28, 2022
the driverpic.twitter.com/Uk5cATbSgi
— icha🦄 (@brionitallis) December 28, 2022
Vesper Lynd
— Mauricio RMC (@EnrealidadNoUso) December 28, 2022
Casino Royale (2006) pic.twitter.com/X0UZtiZKwB
— Mitchell Hammond 🗿 (@BipedalBastard) December 30, 2022
The barrage of character introductions that is the opening scene of shaun of the dead pic.twitter.com/aDRNFlQXvL
— The SFM Guy, Tom Eye (@The_SFM_Guy) December 29, 2022
— movie.channel (@moviechannelll) December 28, 2022
Henry Hill. pic.twitter.com/CDHNzerfGq
— Huzaifa. (@MHuzaifaNizam) December 29, 2022
— movie.channel (@moviechannelll) December 28, 2022
Anton Chigurh pic.twitter.com/P2ekio6sxV
— Ed-Alex Bureau (@EdAlexBureau) December 28, 2022
Don Logan in Sexy Beast.
— It's in the trees! It's coming! (@DarkandWondrous) December 28, 2022
It starts the night before, when we see how sick with dread all our main characters are at the prospect of seeing him. Then Ben Kingsley's uptight march through the airport kicks off a legendary performance.
— Adam Goldstein (@AdamGolNCFE) December 28, 2022
Sir Anthony Hopkins as Dr. Hannibal Lecter in "The Silence of the lambs".(Director: Jonathan Demme) pic.twitter.com/oF6ZIy0r7s
— Bored_Kratos (@Bored_Kratos) December 29, 2022
I've always loved this one. pic.twitter.com/bt4y39TGZh
— Jason Cornwell (@JasonCornwell12) December 28, 2022
One of my top three pic.twitter.com/wPMENyOY0p
— Joe (@Joe22415262) December 28, 2022
Balrog of Moria pic.twitter.com/Bi9xp4svB0
— An Alex Werewolf in London Watson (@floweringsnows) December 28, 2022
Jackie Brown definitely deserves to be on this list. Her long intro walking through the airport says so much about her. pic.twitter.com/xI0jngsO08
— Rebecca Winter (@SkyCatch_Her) December 28, 2022
Choose life pic.twitter.com/ONkQW5Nv7V
— pcelsus (@pcelsus0) December 28, 2022
The rather low key appearance of Tim Curry pic.twitter.com/1Aa9MTbXhQ
— Heather Hughes (@HughesyE07) December 28, 2022
— there will be typos (@_indigo_pink) December 28, 2022
Johnny Boy / Mean Streets (1973) pic.twitter.com/iFkYwRgl1Q
— George Griffith (@BigLeeMarvinFan) December 28, 2022
— Marcelino Champo (@marcechampo) December 28, 2022
Vito Corleone in "The Godfather". We get his character just from the opening scene and his dialogue. pic.twitter.com/NDuexbPWwf
— Dää Monisch (@cmonig) December 29, 2022
Lost highway. pic.twitter.com/0TmVCWOOk8
— Danny Schuit (@Dannyschuit) December 28, 2022
Max Von Sydow as Joubert- Three Days of the Condor. pic.twitter.com/IpNi1BiAaq
— Philip Birdsall (@philbirdsall65) December 28, 2022
In BLACK ORPHEUS, Eurydice getting spit out then swept up, literally at one point on a trolley, in the middle of Carnival is one of my favorite character intros. pic.twitter.com/oBBLb44daw
— Tommye Blount (He/Him) (@tommyeblount) December 28, 2022
Gong Li | Raise The Red Lantern pic.twitter.com/49jngDB9Ss
— Ο ΔικηγόÏος Του Διαβόλου (@LikeAShortFilm) December 28, 2022
Le samurai
— Christine Müller (@christine701111) December 29, 2022
Alain Delon pic.twitter.com/ucfL2DWEKw
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) pic.twitter.com/XpSaoQvH3P
— Harvey Isitt (@HarveyHulk) December 28, 2022
Matty Walker in "Body Heat" (1981), which is also Kathleen Turner's film debut pic.twitter.com/9milGeRle1
— EJMkamp (@EJMkamp) December 28, 2022
I agree with this tweethttps://t.co/FuApdOd27v
— MtDew Blahaj Blast (@QueerCeleste) December 29, 2022
Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now (1979) pic.twitter.com/WzDejOzz7E
— gustavo (@ghdls_) December 28, 2022
Karen Allen, no question. pic.twitter.com/pKRC1CLbS7
— .. (@PierreLaPointe_) December 28, 2022
Harmonica - Once Upon A Time In The Westhttps://t.co/EGJHhqV4SV pic.twitter.com/QmHxFeUvNy
— Nathan Francis (@NathanFrancis__) December 28, 2022