"Its second rising displayed a more elaborately prepared scene than the last..." ~ Jane Eyre

New York is getting the leftovers from Ernesto this Labor Day Weekend. Now of course I am normally a big fan of leftovers, but not in this case. It is cold, it is wet, it is windy, and it is a total thrust into Fall weather that I am just not ready for.

Still, one of the nice aspects to this kind of weather is that it makes for good movie nights. I normally don't have the time to be a moviegoer (I think the last movie I saw was The Constant Gardener this past Spring?), but luckily I have all the good movie channels on cable here at my apartment.

Tonight, I decided to compose my top ten favorite movie scenes from the *Classics*, complete with typed commentary that is of buttery fingers from popcorn, which really is the best part of any movie. Well, that and the Junior Mints.

1. Stairway to Heaven ~ Lets face it ladies, when Rhett takes Scar-O up the stairs in Gone With the Wind, you are thinking what I am thinking: she is one lucky southern belle who gets to fiddle dee dee with him. I know its not p.c., but hell, its just a scene I am never ever going to forget. By that time I, too, have had just about enough of Ashley Wilkes. He is such a schmuck. Deep down, I always wished that Mellie and Rhett would get together. That would have made for a much better ending than one more Scarlettism.

2. Riding Dirty ~ No one rides dirtier than Messala in Ben Hur. Those spikey wheels on his chariot are so wrong given that he and Judah were once BFF. I love it when Judah wins the race and Messala gets ran over by what could be the entire Kentucky Derby. Poetic justice? Indeed.

3. No Rain ~ I find it refreshing when Gene Kelly gets rid of little goody two-shoes Debbie Reynolds long enough to enter a dream sequence with the amazing dancer, Cyd Charisse, in Singin' in the Rain. I love her green flapper costume, I love the choreography as she holds his hat on her toe and he is on his knees in front of her, and I love the music as they slink together back and forth. Oh, I also love the fact that Miss Charisse is NOT a size four. Or six.

4. I Get Knocked Down ~ No matter how many martinis Nick and Nora Charles consume, the gin-laden olives they eat do not seem to interfere with their excellent detective work in The Thin Man. -"Reporter: Well, Can't you tell us anything about the case? Nick: Yes, its putting me way behind in my drinking. "-

5. Mambo #5 ~ When I was taking ballet classes as a teenager and dancing in the musicals at my high school, I memorized the choreography Anita did in the dance at the gym in West Side Story. It is really damn hard to do without a Bernardo, hence it didnt look quite as amazing as Rita Moreno did as she is doing the mambo in her awesomely sassy purple dress. Actually, my version looked pretty bad. Anyway, each time I hear that music to which the dance-off begins too, my heart begins to race and my feet want to be dancing in high heeled purple shoes to match Bernardo's purple shirt and tie. The Sharks totally won that competition despite Riff's backflips...

6. Rock Lobster ~ Though I have killed many a lobster since last summer when J. Sarah and I did our lobster bake out in the Hamptons, I chickened out on the actual dumping of the two lobsters into the boiling water. J. Sarah took one for the team; I pulled an Annie from Annie Hall. The scene in the Hamptons is a classic, along with one of my favorite lines from a Woody Allen movie: -"Annie, there's a big lobster behind the refrigerator. I can't get it out. Maybe if I put a little dish of butter sauce here with a nutcracker, it will run out the other side."-

7. We Will Rock You ~ Errol Flynn's screen persona rocked my world when I was a little girl and it still does to this day. The Adventures of Robin Hood is definitely one of my Flynn favorites. I absolutely gush over any love scene between he and Miss Olivia as Marion, but my favorite scene is when Robin first appears in the movie, carrying the deer on his back and then brazenly goes to sit down. He puts his feet on the table, grabs a big turkey leg, and establishes that he is, indeed, the man. Prince John should have just given up right there and then.

8. Unbreak My Heart ~ Holly has the right idea to go get breakfast at Tiffany's when she gets the "mean reds." Breakfast at Tiffany's is a favorite story of mine because there is a happy ending despite characters who are jaded, in pain, and a bit lost. Is it a cop out if I say I love every scene? Not just because its Audrey, but because each scene takes place in my beloved New York City? I can't listen to Mancini's "Moon River" without getting all weepy; even when it was featured on Sex and the City, I completely lost it each time I heard it, my huckleberry friends.

9. Teach Your Children Well ~ Though nothing can truly capture the brilliance of Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, the film adaptation is one I do like. Gregory Peck embodies the spirit of Atticus, and one of my favorite scenes in both the novel and the film is when Atticus shoots the rabid dog. It is in that moment that Scout sees her father in a different light. As children, we have such a limited view of our parents, and a sign of getting older is seeing their wondrous complexities as human beings. Of course I also love the scene where Scout is dressed as a big ham bone for the school play and Scout comments that the walk home with Jem is the longest journey they would ever take together.

10. Behind These Hazel Eyes ~ It was always surprising to me to see sweet "awww golly gee" George Bailey become the neurotic commitmentphobe Jefferies in Rear Window who lets Grace Kelly go at the beginning of the film. Therefore, I am glad when he re-breaks both his legs at the end of the film before marrying Grace (aka Lisa). I guess the fall brought him to his senses. Anyway, I love every scene with Miss Grace, even as she becomes a burgler, especially because of the dazzling A-line skirts she wears in that film.