As always, remember that this is a list of personal favorites, not what I consider to the objective best. Also, not every ending scene on here will be the exact end of the movie, but they take place toward the end and help bring the story and character arcs to a proper conclusion. Given the nature of this list, there will naturally be MAJOR spoilers, so read further at your own risk.
And so, without further ado, here are my Top Ten Favorite Movie Endings.
And coming in at number one...
"A Very Gracious Thing" - They Died With Their Boots On (1941)
This has been a long time coming, and if you've read my output over the last couple of years, especially the anniversary reviews, you've seen how close I've come to calling it quits before. Hell, I wrote this blog years ago, with the intent that it be the last one, and it was simply a matter of waiting for the right timing to post it. Twitter's impending demise as we know it was the big catalyst - no way am I paying eight bucks a month just so my tweets don't get buried, with no guarantee I'll actually reach more people than I am now. But even beyond that, nine years is a long time to be doing something, especially if you don't feel like you're getting anything out of it. And honestly, that's how I've been feeling about the INCspotlight for a while. It's been "just one more thing to do" instead of an outlet for celebrating the works that inspired my own, or a way to help works I've enjoyed find new fans.
I don't regret having kept it going this long, and there's a long list of movies, TV shows, comics, games, and books I hoped to get around to. I was even tempted to keep it going one more year, but with the social media landscape being what it is, I don't think it's the best use of my time. I say that without bitterness or condemnation - just an acknowledgement of shifting priorities and new obstacles to building an audience for the INCspotlight. And it's not like I'm quitting writing altogether - The Sherwood Gambit is still to come (eventually) and I have other novels (as well as a couple of non-fiction works) in the pipeline. Finding time to write them is enough of a challenge these days, and putting that energy into those instead of this blog just makes a lot more sense. And also, I'm kinda looking forward to being able to just sit back and watch or read stuff without thinking about whether - or how - I'm going to review it.
To those of you who have stuck it out all this time, and have supported the INCspotlight in various ways, I am, and always will be, grateful and thankful.
And so, in regards to my blogging days...I bid you all a very fond farewell.