The Oracle of Film Returns!
Yes, I am back and back for good. I thought I would start my comeback tour with the Question of the Month, because you guys have given me some amazing response and I don’t think you should have to wait another second to see everyone else’s. The question was what is your favourite movie quote of all time, and despite there being millions of the buggers to choose from, you delivered amazingly well. I am sorry it just took me so long to contain this much awesome and translate it into the mere words of mortals.
Note: I don’t think I missed someone, but I had to go through my email archives to collate them. It is possible that I accidentally overlooked one of you, so please don’t be offended if your response didn’t make it up here. I have had the busiest couple of weeks with this laptop disaster. But without further ado, let’s begin the madness.
ORACLE OF FILM – THE DARK KNIGHT RISES
“Not everything, not yet!”
The Dark Knight trilogy is packed with some truly phenomenal quotes. Goyer’s script and the acting from the cast is so terrific that several of the lines in the movie are instantly committed to the memory bank. However, the stand-out quote for me is the immortal lines whispered by Batman, as Catwoman tells him that he has done enough for the people of Gotham. It instantly cements the running theme throughout the whole film, the whole trilogy. Batman isn’t expecting to live through this final fight and this quote lays all of those insecurities on the table. It is a breath-taking moment and is one of the reasons the Dark Knight movies should always go down as a classic.
WHAT ABOUT THE TWINKIE: THE GHOSTBUSTERS
OK, this is a really difficult feature for me, in that I have so many favourite lines from so many of my favourite films. Predator, Die Hard, Shaun of The Dead, Aliens and Ghostbusters to name but a few, seriously how am I meant to pick one line from that list?
Well, with great power comes great responsibility, apparently. So which film do I choose from? The alpha male gung-ho attitude of Predator, Die Hard or Aliens, or the more light-hearted comedic timing of Simon Pegg or Bill Murray? Really, this is all Lukeâs fault for only allowing us to pick one line, but itâs his feature and he makes the rules, and will likely not allow me to take part again after that last sentence.
Now Iâm done rambling Iâll get to the point of us all being here, and my favourite line has to come from Ghostbusters. It is after all, my favourite film of all time and features some truly memorable lines, but my favourite line comes from someone you may not expect; Winston Zeddemore.
His line, when the Ghostbusters are pleading with the Mayor of New York, is sharp and just as witty and memorable as anything else in the film: âIâve only been with the company for a couple of weeks. But I gotta tell you, these … these things are real. Since I joined these men, I have seen shit that’ll turn you white.â
While that may be everyoneâs preferred line, itâs definitely mine and really sticks out in one of the most memorable scenes throughout the entire film. Itâs great to see Ernie Hudsonâs Winston get a line like that, especially in a scene that is clearly being ad-libbed by the three more comedic talents of the group, and always raises a smile every time I watch Ghostbusters.
SIDEKICK REVIEWS – ALIENS
“Get away from her, you bitch!”
Snarly. Bad-ass. Awesome! Like a mother bear protecting her cub, Ripley comes out of the door decked out in a ultra-cool power loader exo-suit. Good plan, because slinking around in her skivvies like in the first movie is not going to cut it this time.
Sigourney Weaver delivers this line with a primal ferocity. I also get a good kick out of this line; I look forward to this part every time I come across this movie on TV. There are so many great quotable one-liners by action heroes, this time it’s from a tough as nails heroine. As a result of the events in Alien, Ripley never got the chance to spend her life with her biological daughter, making her connection with little Newt all that more personal. After destroying the Alien Queen’s eggs/children, their showdown is really a battle between two really pissed off mothers.
DIGITAL SHORTBREAD – ETERNAL SUNSHINE ON THE SPOTLESS MIND
“Meet me… in Montauk.”
Its the kind of line you can just feel like a chill down your spine, like the uninvited wind of change — in this case a relationship that has just passed and the gray, monotonous melancholy that tends to fill the void. This line towards the end of the cerebral experience of Eternal Sunshine P-E-R-F-E-C-T-L-Y (yes, that is ‘perfectly’ with a capital p, e, r, f, e, c, t, l, y) captures the delicate emotional state in the bittersweet goodbye phase. As Joel and Clementine are erasing memories of each other they find that they want to keep remembering each other, though it is kind of impossible. The timing of Clementine whispering this quiet little line into Joel’s ear in some kind of dreamstate is pure brilliance and effects an extraordinarily deep emotional connection to these characters. Meet me in Montauk, sure. But meet me in heaven when it comes to finding good quotes to lift straight from Charlie Kaufman’s script, for there are many others as well.
CINEMA PARROT DISCO – PUMP UP THE VOLUME
“Take cover, Arizona!”
Okay – picking one favorite movie quote is pretty much impossible. So I’m going to go with a fairly obscure one instead of one of the many I quote all the time from things like The Princess Bride, Star Wars, Wayne’s World, Aliens (“Get away from her, you bitch!”), Heathers, all the John Hughes films, etc. I’m going with a dirty one from Pump Up The Volume. I find that I often use this quote for various things (not the way it’s used in the movie!). Such as: You open some pop and it explodes everywhere so I’m like “Take cover, Arizona!”. And not enough people have seen the movie anyway so I can get away with randomly saying it for various “holy crap!” moments. So there you go – I choose Christian Slater’s Hard Harry quote “Take cover, Arizona!” from Pump Up The Volume.
SILVER SCREEN SERENADE – THE PRINCESS BRIDE
“Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”
Original of me, no? This is probably what roughly 7.4 million people would claim as their favorite movie quote, but dammit I just can’t help myself! The Princess Bride is one of my all-time favorite movies because it has EVERYTHING. Action, humor, romance, magic, young Cary Elwes…God, he was dreamy, wasn’t he?…Sigh…What? Oh, sorry. Drifted for a minute. But seriously, this is a great quote. Obsessed with avenging the murder of his beloved father, Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin) has been rehearsing the lines all his life, and when he finally confronts the murderer, he says them so many ways! With determination, wearily, furiously…it’s just spectacular. In my opinion, watching Inigo face his longtime foe and chant these words is the best part of the film.
MOVIES & MUSIC CAFE – LOST BOYS
I’ve racked my brain long and hard for my fave movie quote and seeing as I can never think of any, I’m gonna go for my default one which is the grandad at the end of the Lost Boys when he says “one thing about living in Santa Carla I never could stomach, all the damn vampires”. Love that line!
MARKED MOVIES – BLADERUNNER
“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time… like tears in rain… Time to die.”
This quote from Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) in Blade Runner perfectly sums up his mortality and desire for life. It’s a wonderful quote that’s entirely in keeping with the films philosophical themes…
TERRY MALLOY’S PIGEON COOP – ON THE WATERFRONT
“You don’t understand. I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let’s face it. It was you, Charley.”
This is one of the scenes that makes the film one of my favourites. Here Terry Malloy (where my site name comes from in case you didn’t know) is being held at gunpoint by his brother Charlie. Instead of panicking, Terry just looks hurt and disappointed, and the whole thing is heartbreaking. Terry realises what he could have been had Charlie not asked him to throw a boxing match and that his big brother should have been there to protect him. Both Marlon Brando (Terry) and Rod Steiger (Charlie) are just wonderful here. It’s clear that Charlie doesn’t want to threaten his brother, and the calmness and gentleness Terry displays is just masterful. A defining career moment for Brando and one of the greatest scenes/quotes in cinema.
SPORADIC CHRONICLES OF A BEGINNER BLOGGER – INCEPTION
“You mustn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling.”
I had to think about this one. There are infinitely more quotable pieces out there in the movie world, but to choose something with substance led me to this quote by Eames: “You mustn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling.” in Inception. This one resonates with me immensely for multiple reasons. A minor one for me is that is was delivered flawlessly and full of humour, but was a very loaded thing to say. Another huge reason for me is never to limit yourself, always to try harder, push further, strive for more. I know this makes me sound like one of those happy-clappy self-help loopy-loops, but this isn’t about that. Sometimes you impose limitations upon yourself and forget that you can defy them. Things that you have placed in your path, things that you use as an excuse. Never be afraid to think outside the box and embrace the world and the experiences as they are, to have fun with them and to learn from everything you come across. That is important.
TIM THE FILM GUY – DR STRANGELOVE
“Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here! This is the War Room!”
I couldn’t pick a serious film for best quote because I couldn’t pick just one so am going with this gem from one my all time favourite films. You can’t beat the satirical wit of the statement and sums up a lot about the film.
MOVIE ROB – GRAND CANYON
âThat’s part of your problem: you haven’t seen enough movies. All of life’s riddles are answered in the movies.â
I have always been a movie âfreakâ and everyone I know has always known this fact. When I saw this movie in 1991, this quote became etched in my mind because it so much personifies my personality. In â92 when I graduated High school, it was my yearbook quote.
THE IPC – NIGHT OF THE CREEPS
“Thrill me!”
Luke – what kind of question is this??? You’re asking a bunch of movie lovers to isolate ONE quote??? That’s like asking me to name my favorite poop session. HOW COULD THIS BE POSSIBLE?????? I mean every day for the last fifteen years I come home at 4 and grab my book or an iP – wait… where the fuck was that going???? GROSSS!!!!! SICK!! SICK!!! BAD ERIC!!! BAD!!!!
An artist’s rendering of the IPC
*looks in mirror*
*screams IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT!!!!! IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT!!!!”
WOAH. What the fuck just happened here??? If I had to finger (what???) just one quote that I’ve loved and used over the years, I wish it could be from NIGHT OF THE CREEPS: “The good news is: your dates are here. The bad news is: they’re dead.” But I’ve never really had the occasion to use that where it would work and I wouldn’t get the police called on me so, how about, also from NIGHT OF THE CREEPS: “Well don’t go out there!!!!!” But that also sounds a little creepy and cop-inducing so how about some NotC (NIGHT OF THE CREEPS): (referring to a missing suspended animation body) “What’d he do?? Have a DATE???”
But that also doesn’t really fit in and wouldn’t sound 1000% fucking weird if I went up to someone at the local gas station who was looking for his or her’s keys in their jacket pocket and I would be all “What did they do?? HAVE A DATE????” HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! SHIT!!!!!!!
*probably not
So let’s go with this – from NotC: “Thrill me.” Always in Deadpan, always with eyes like you don’t give a fuck, it’s perfect for anything!
Coworker: Eric!! Do you have a second?? Something’s really gone wrong and there’s a huge outage in Alabama!!!!
Me: Thrill me.
Phone rings: BLEEEEP BLEEEPITY BLEEPY LOUD BULLSHIT WHO CALLS A LANDLINE ANY MORE
Me (picking up): Thrill me.
Text from a guy you’ve been friends with for 30 fucking years but he’s a real douche lately: UR POST WAS LOL TODAY WUT R U DOING 2NITE
Me: THRILL ME YOU FILTHY ANUS
It’s universal!! What else do you need??
“Thrill me!”
Boss at work: I need you to join this conference call ASAP.
You: Thrill me.
Spouse: Why haven’t you changed that cat litter??? It’s been THREE WEEKS!!!!
You: Thrill me.
Eric / THE IPC: HI EVERYBODY!! WANT TO DO ANOTHER SHITFEST????!!! HEART HEART HEART YOU!!!
You: Thrill me.
Me, on my laptop: TYPETY TYPETY TYPETY
My laptop: YOU SUCK. Ever heard of commas? Thank god for backspace.
Me: What is this?? HER????
My laptop: Thrill me.
SEE???
THRILL ME