I watched Mad Max: Fury Road yesterday. Holy shit was that a great movie. The visuals were spectacular, with scenes so breathtaking there were moments where I had to snap my mouth shut for fear of something crawling inside it. But the movie was far more than flash, with some truly poignant moments adding real humanity to the insanity (Rictus Erectus shouting his brother’s eulogy being my favorite). I need to see it again, but I’m thinking the movie just bulldozed its way onto my top 10 list.

I’ve been writing today (alright, a lot more thinking about writing than actual writing) and started thinking on some of the most stirring moments I’ve come across in fantasy fiction, books and movies. To name but a few:

– Logen Ninefingers fight against Fenris the Feared in the circle, in Joe Abercrombie’s brilliant First Law trilogy.

– The last charge of King Arthur and his knights to the sound of Carmina Burana in John Boorman’s classic Excalibur movie.

– Akka turning his back on Kellhus at the conclusion of R. Scott Bakker’s cerebral epic Prince of Nothing series.

– Gandalf’s showdown with the Lord of the Nazgul, cut brilliantly short by the horns of Rohan in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.

– The orgy scene from John Milius’ Conan the Barbarian film. Conan overturning the cauldron of “stew” was great stuff.

There are many I’ve not mentioned, but I *really* should be working on Book Two rather than blogging. Feel free to add to the list in the Comments section.