Dance Off, Bro | Tragic Comedy

Scott Hardie | May 15, 2015
I happened upon a celebration of dance scenes turning up in movies that aren't about dance:

Good list and good memories, but it's undoubtedly missing quite a few. My favorite that initially comes to mind is Guardians of the Galaxy.

What about you?

Erik Bates | May 15, 2015
[hidden by request]

Scott Hardie | June 12, 2015
I suspect that I enjoyed Guardians of the Galaxy so much because I had such very low expectations. Marvel was due for a big flop (perhaps it will be Ant Man?), and the GOTG comic book was horrible when I was a kid, so I didn't expect much from the movie. Pleasant surprises FTW.

2000's Mission to Mars was a mediocre and forgettable ripoff of 2001: A Space Odyssey and other better sci-fi films, but it did have one scene that has stuck with me ever since I saw it: The crew dancing to "Dance the NIght Away" in zero gravity. It's the middle of a long two-year trip, there's a husband and wife aboard, they need a break from the mission, he plays Van Halen over the intercom, she walks through the ship to reach him while the other scientists react to the music, then we see them dancing in weightlessness as the camera glides around Connie Nielsen and Tim Robbins. It's a great scene that makes me wish I was there, and I can't hear that song today without getting a goofy smile from it. (That YouTube clip plays at double speed for some reason, hurting the relaxed mood of the scene, but you get the gist of it. Here's the scene at regular speed but with German dialogue if you prefer.)