Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Scream to Scream, Scene by Scene: SCENE 16 of Scream 2 (0:44:54-0:46:23)

In this project I attempt to review the entire Scream trilogy scene by scene in chronological order. Heavy spoilers and gore throughout!



SCENE 16 of Scream 2
Length: 1min 29secs
Primary Characters: Gale Weathers, Debbie Salt and Dewey Riley
Pop Culture References:
  • None


And so we resume "Scream to Scream, Scene by Scene". I took a bit of a break from this project over the last few weeks as Scream 4 came out because I was, as hard as it may be to believe, a bit Scream-ed out. So much to discuss with the new one that I didn't have the time or the inclination to talk about the old ones in such detail. Never mind though, we're hopefully back on a more regular schedule.

I'm definitely going to try to not involve Scream 4 all that much in the conversation at this point. We'll discuss Scream 4 when we come to it (if we come to it, if you know what I mean), although I am sure the latest instalment will rear its head amongst the conversation every now and then. I just really don't wanna be all "this scene in Scream 2 is what Scream 4 was missing!!" or "this idea what done better in Scream 4 rather than Scream 3!!"

Shall we proceed?


Of course, having said all that, it must be said: Courtney Cox's plastic surgery has gone too far. I love this woman so much and it was sad to actually hear mumblings and verbal grimaces upon her first scene in Scream 4. Yikes. I don't notice it so much when watching Cougar Town on the tele, but plastered on the big screen? 0_0


"I'm not here to write a book Ms Weathers. I'm here to help Sid."


"I wanna help her too! And help myself... of course."

I love that Dewey calls her "Ms Weathers" in that pouty way that he does. As if distancing himself from her in that professional way (rather than calling her Gale on a more personal level) will help convince himself that he's not attracted to her.


I just paused it here while I typed up something and I kinda liked the shot with Mrs Loomis there looking all "phew, Dewey didn't recognise me!" Wouldn't that have been awkward!!


It's these little moments of character interaction that I just love about the Scream movies. While it's obvious they've been scripted to the ends of the Earth, the way the actors play it makes it feel so zippy and spontaneous. Like this moment of Debbie Salt and another reporter discussing Sidney's father. It's minor, but it all helps the films to stand out. It weaves other characters in and out just like in real life where we don't just talk to six or seven same principal people. It's hard to describe, actually.


"I'm not here to do your job, Ms Salt."

Zing! Especially since, ya know, Debbie Salt doesn't really have a job. Of course, judging from the other press seen throughout Scream 2, I find it hilarious because Debbie Salt is the best one of the lot! The others - like that woman in cream for instance - who don't seem to know anything or know what to say.


"What about this ex-cop, Dewey Riley, it's kind of strange he showed up -"

Hah. I love it. Knowing that she is in fact Mrs Loomis and is indeed the killer makes this line so deliciously evil. She's getting braver with Gale and knows how to push her buttons. She's like a cat playing with a mouse, seen again during the upcoming "Randy in the van" sequence.


"Well, it just seems to me that if the killer is repeating what happened in Woodsboro that it's quite possibly the killer could from Woodsboro. That's all.

Oh Debbie Salt! Paving the way for your own reveal - I love it! Still, it does make you wonder why Billy or Stu's family's are never mentioned as suspects. Not even a throwaway line by Gale or one of the other reporters asking if they've been accounted for. I mean, obviously, doing so would have meant "nobody knows where Mrs Loomis is" and there aren't too many older women in Scream 2, but it's interesting nonetheless.


LOOK AT THOSE CLOTHES!

They are outrageously bad, are they not? Silly reporter wearing beige pant suit and beehive hair waving her pen around like she knows what she's doing. You do not! And you just know that lady in the white with her done up in a bun is a total hardnosed Gale Weathers wannabe.

Was this really the fashion back in 1997? I mean, go back to scene 2 and see the pastel gray number that the female reporter wears in that scene. Yikes.

Scream:
Intro, Scene 1 Scene 2, Scene 3, Scene 4, Scene 5, Scene 6, Scene 7, Scene 8, Scene 9, Scene 10, Scene 11, Scene 12, Scene 13, Scene 14, Scene 15, Scene 16, Scene 17, Scene 18, Scene 19, Scene 20, Scene 21, Scene 22, Scene 23, Scene 24, Scene 25, Scene 26, Scene 27, Scene 28, Scene 29, Scene 30, Scene 31 Scene 32, Scene 33, End Credits

Scream 2
Scene 1, Scene 2, Scene 3, Scene 4, Scene 5, Scene 6, Scene 7, Scene 8, Scene 9, Scene 10, Scene 11, Scene 12, Scene 13, Scene 14. Scene 15

1 comment:

Brandon said...

This is so great, and this project is awesome. The little "throwaway" bits you find help shape the contours of each movie and making them more complete somehow.

I don't want to get too off track here, but I want to address the homoeroticism you found to be standing out (not so much in the sequel, except the one cop, but in the original). I'm straight, and I can see what you are kinda saying, but I don't think that Williamson's script really underlines any erotic tension between the guys. We can totally tell that they are "different" but there's not much in or between the lines to say that Billy and Stu were not straight. Raping Sid's mom, flirting with the girls, Stu's satisfaction w/ Tatum. I think they could be called "hetero-queers" -- with queer in the more broader sense of the word. It would seem that (hetero) Wes Craven's direction would be responsible for the intimate staging between the guys, and even if this was intentional, I don't think it plays an integral part in the narrative or it's outcome.

What do you think on this?