Top 5: Darren Aronofsky Movie Moments

Writer/director Darren Aronofsky is a master of haunting movies you never need or want to see again. After breaking out in 1998 with his black & white psychological thriller Pi, Aronofsky has covered the uplifting topics of drug abuse (Requiem for A Dream), death (The Fountain), obsolencence (The Wrestler) and slowly losing your mind (Black Swan). The only outlier in his work is 2014's which despite being an unconventional take on the material is still Aronofsky's most mainstream work to date. But not it seems like he's eager to creep us out again with mother! psychological horror film with Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem. In preparation we're picking the director's five best movie moments.

#5 The Finale from The Fountain

The Fountain is certainly a flawed film, with is multi-narrative structure either being difficult to follow or so heavy-handed it's hard to take seriously. But it achieves some special in its final moments as our space-traveler (Hugh Jackman) finally accepts his and his late wife's eventual fate in a rush of poetic and gorgeous imagery.

#4 Prep and Post Work from The Wrestler

While this film features a beautiful tragedy for its finale, the film does an amazing job as humanizing the larger than life performers of professional wrestling as Randy "The Ram" Robinson (Mickey Rouke) prepares and recovers from his matches. Beforehand he goes over his routine, hides blades in his costume, tends his arms pads. And after he ices every inch of his body and looks for drugs to help him maintain muscle or recover. This humanity is key to the film's story and perfectly captures Randy's commitment to his craft, even when he's at rock bottom.

#3 Clubbing from Black Swan

It was almost impossible to pick a single scene from this movie, be it Nina's amazing final performance as the Black Swan or the first time we see Nina's reflect in the mirror turn. Still nothing summarizes the Nina's conflict between repression and passion  than her night of clubbing with her rival Lily. Despite plenty of animosity on Nina's part, she finally gives in to Lily's requests and joins her co-hort for a night of drinking, drugs, and intense hanky panky.

While the sequence is noteworthy for its sexual intensity, something Nina has been repressing for the entire film, it still mixes the combination of warped reality and Nina's dual nature perfectly.

And the rug-pull reveal that it was all in Nina's mind towards the film's end? Devastating.

#2 The Monologue from Requiem for a Dream

If you need any proof about why Ellen Burstyn was nominated for an Oscar for this performance, look no further than this gut-punch of a monologue. In it, the dillusional and drug-addled Sara tells her son her simple but unobtainable life goal. While the rest of the is full of depraved extremes and grotesque horrors, this is its most tragic moment.

#1 Creation from Noah

While Noah deliberately varies from scripture in favor of spectacle and psychological drama, the film picks a perfect hybrid as Noah tells the Genesis version of creation. Beginning with the big bang and moving to the planet's formation and the evolution that eventually led to humankind, eons of change are displayed goregeous in a perfect mixture of scientific theory and scripture as metaphor.