Powerful Words 2
I can’t claim that this installment of the exercise came after quiet contemplation under a steaming shower head. No, this frantic scribbling ensued after a commercial during 60 Minutes (don’t even start…). It was for a special, airing Tuesday, June 21st and called “AFI 100 Years ~ Movie Quotes” and we were off to the races.
When making their selections, jurors were asked to consider
Cultural impact: Movie quotes that viewers use in their own lives and situations, thus circulating through popular culture and becoming part of the national lexicon.
Legacy: Movie quotes that viewers use to evoke the memory of a treasured film, thus ensuring and enlivening its historical legacy.
After winnowing their ‘gimmes’ from our short list, we were left with the following for starters:
1) “Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.” ~ Casablanca
2) “Snakes! Why’d it hafta be snakes?” ~ Raiders of the Lost Ark
3) “Shaken, not stirred.” ~ Any James Bond
4) “I’ll be back.” ~ The Terminator
5) “You had me at hello.” ~ Jerry McGuire
6) “I made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.” ~ The Godfather
7) “What we have here is a failure to communicate.” ~ Cool Hand Luke
8) “Rosebud.” ~ Citizen Kane
9) “I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.” ~ The Wizard of Oz
10) “Houston, we have a problem.” ~ Apollo 13
11) “We’re gonna need a bigger boat.” ~ Jaws
12) “Go ahead. Make my day.” ~ Sudden Impact
13) “You’ve got to ask yourself one question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya punk?” ~ Dirty Harry
14) “They mostly come out at night…mostly.” ~ Aliens
15) “Who ARE these guys?” ~ Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid
16) “Toga! Toga! Toga!” ~ Animal House
17) “Life is like a box of chocolate.”
“Stupid is as stupid does.” ~ Forrest Gump
18) “I love the smell of napalm in the morning.” ~ Apocalypse Now
19) “Well Pilgrim…” ~ The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
20) “Sometimes, dead is better” ~ Pet Cemetary
21) “I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.” ~ Silence of the Lambs
22) “There’s no crying in baseball!” ~ A League of Their Own
23) “I feel the need, the need for speed!” ~ Top Gun
24) “Smokin’!” ~ The Mask
25) “I’m the king of the world!” ~ Titanic
26) “It’s alive!” ~ Frankenstein
27) “I am Dracula” ~ well, duh
28) “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” ~ Love Story
29) “You talkin’ to me?” ~ Taxi Driver
30) “You’ll put your eye out!” ~ A Christmas Story
I’m sure Major Dad will be lobbing more at me, as soon as he finishes his cocktail. Even if they don’t make the Top 100, it’s great, great fun, isn’t it?
Littrachure | tree hugging sister | 
June 12, 2005 9:14 pm
Subscribe
Wow. Unlike most movie lists, I’ve actually seen most of those. And I’ve knew every single quote (even if I wouldn’t have been able to name each movie).
The only one that throws me a little is “You had me at hello”…I could swear it was used long before Jerry Maguire. Any chance they stole it?
BTW, Sudden Impact was filmed in Santa Cruz while we were living there. They crashed a car through a department store window about half a block from where my wife was working at the time.
That’s entirely possible. I was wondering if you’d been close to the action when I was double checking the quotes with movies. (Not that our memories are going or anything, but Harry Callahan had quite a few ‘quotable’ moments.) Now you have to add ones you remember!
My favorite, also from “Sudden Impact”:
“We can’t just let you walk out of here”
“Who’s ‘we’?”
“Mr. Smith, Mr. Wesson, and me”
Damn. Surprised I didn’t think of it before…Probably more great quotes from this movie than from any other.
Beg to differ.
Large Man with Dead Body: Who’s that then?
The Dead Collector: I dunno, must be a king.
Large Man with Dead Body: Why?
The Dead Collector: He hasn’t got shit all over him.
Can’t beat that.
Funny, I grant you, but for simply great quotes?
“For Major Lawrence, mercy is a passion. For me, it is simply good manners. I leave it to you do decide which motive is the more reliable”
“Auda will not come to Aqaba… Not for money. Not for Faisal. Not to drive out Turks. He will come because it is… his pleasure.”
“Thy mother mated with a scorpion.”
“Your father was a hamster and your mother smelt of elderberries”
“Game over, man… Game over!”
You will eternally endear yourself to Major Dad quoting anything Alien/s/3. Good Fly!
Please, Sis. I love Monty Python, but c’mon. For sheer genius of dialog?
Sheer genius, yes. On dialogue I will concede you the putt.
“Fight! Fight!“
Tree Hugging Sister and I have this long-running feud of damned near four hours about which movie spawned the most great quotes. Bless her sweet pointy little head, the dear girl insists on quoting Monty Python and the Holy Grail….
(One man’s Lawrence is another man’s Lancelot…)
Ken likes his lance a lot, I hear.
So does his wife.
Surely you joust?
Lawrence did, rumor has it…