In celebration of the centennial of cinema, Roger Ebert compiled a list titled "100 Great Movie Moments," collecting instances — across decades and genres — when movies shine for reasons deeper than plot or fame. Rather than ranking full films, Ebert zeroed in on single, unforgettable instants: a breath, a gesture, a reaction, a visual flourish — snapshots that sear themselves into memory. The list spans the silent era and modern times; from the silent humor of Buster Keaton, to the emotional weight of a World War II documentary shot, to the cinematic poetry of foreign art-films. For Ebert, these moments weren't just "iconic scenes" — they revealed what cinema at its best is capable of: to compress emotion, atmosphere, history, and human truth into a single frame or single beat. That's why the list remains a treatise on what makes film essential — and why it remains a go-to reading for anyone passionate about the power of movies.
