Over the weekend, The Independent had a rambling little article about the best and worst movie lines of all time. Which, of course, got me thinking about my own personal favorites. Growing up, my sisters and I watched 1972’s hilarious What’s Up, Doc? (with Barbra Streisand and Ryan O’Neal) dozens of times, and I can still guarantee a laugh by calling them up and declaring, "I adore anyone who adores anyone who adores Emerson. Your turn." Ditto for, "Who is that dangerously unbalanced woman?," or any reference to Vocal Reverberation Under Spinal Pressure. "You know, VRUSP?" "Oh yes! I think I read a monograph on that!"
I’m also partial to Alan Alda’s "If it bends, it’s funny" bit from Crimes and Misdemeanors, and of course, all the creepy lines from Silence of the Lambs you can giddily take out of context over cocktails with a group of friends. "Don’t you hurt my dog!" "Don’t you make me hurt your dog!" "Or you won’t know what pain is!"
Oh boy, I could go on amusing myself all day here, but really, why do all the heavy lifting when I know you guys are full of dialogue, too? So what are you waiting for, PopWatchers… have at it by sharing your all-time favorite movie lines in the comments section below.
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“Many Shubs and Zuuls knew what it was to be roasted in the depths of the Sloar that day, I can tell you.”
Louis (Ghostbusters)
What an absurd line, and one that makes me laugh every single time I think of it.
I grew up watching “What’s Up Doc,” and never really understood how funny it was until I got to college.
I am Hugh
You are me?
No, I am Hugh
Stop saying that…make him stop saying that!
I am partial to anything from the early nineties. I can call up any number of people I have been friends with since that time and say “Welcome to Debbie country” and they will immediately think of Singles. I also can think of innumberable lines from Dazed and Confused or Reality Bites that bring up hilarious sometimes drunken memories.
L-l-l-love this post Michael!
Working Girl: 1988
“In order to be taken serious, you need serious hair”.
“Just because I dance around my room in my underwear, doesn’t make me Madonna”.
“I’m not stake, you just can’t order me”!
and the best one…..”I have a head for business but a bod for sin”! (gay man’s manchra).
My fam’s personal favorites:
“Everyone I’ve told about the breif is dead” – Pelican Breif
“Big mistake, big” – Pretty Woman
“Do I like jello?” – While You Were Sleeping
“You wanted to tussle, lets tussle” – Out of Sight
“It’s a trap!”
- Return of the Jedi
Probably the top quote among our gang. Always handy for a laugh (especially when you mimic Admiral Akbar’s voice).
“What? What will come out no more?!”
“It’s all in the reflexes.”
“Shut up Mr Burton! You were not brought upon this world to get it!”
- Big Trouble in Little China
Heck, this movie’s choc full of good quotes.
I could go on (Tremors, Top Gun, Caddyshack, Stripes, blah blah), but then I won’t get a thing done at work.
I really can’t pin down an all-time favorite. Most of my favorite movies are odd choices which no one else likes – so here goes:
” In Southeast Asia we call this type of thing…. bad karma.” – The ‘Burbs
Pretty much any line from The ‘Burbs is my favorite movie quote. Including: “I’ve never seen that. I’ve never seen anyone drive their garbage down to the curb and then bang the hell out of with a stick” and “It came with the frame.” Someone needs to help me out here because I can’t be the only freak whose favorite movie is The ‘Burbs!
I love the Powerglove. It’s so bad.
Luca Brazi thanking the Godfather for inviting him to his daughter’s wedding, on the day of his daughter’s wedding. Can’t quote it exactly as I know we’ve bastardized it.
“Strange things are afoot at the Circle K” Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.
“I want my two dollars.” Better Off Dead
Johnny Mnemonic: “It’s Jesus time!”
The Cutting Edge: “We’re doing the Pompchenko!”
Sneakers: “It’s your mother!”
The Day After Tomorrow: “I’m using by body heat to keep you warm.”
“Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepre to die.”
Pure genius.
“I used the same f**king soap you did and when I finished the towel didn’t look like no g*damn maxie pad!”
Your life’s going down the toliet!
Old man, you give those dogs another piece of my food, I’ll kick you till your dead.
Both from Moonstruck.
You know, for kids. — Hudsucker Proxy
You speak the truth my faithful Indian — Radio Days
Close your eyes and think of Christmas — Dragnet
There are so many greats to choose from, but the one that I probably quote most often(that’s the only way I can think to make a choice) is from Mel Brook’s classic Blazing Saddles:
Hedly: “Qualifications?”
Sh-tkicker: “Rape, murder, arson, and rape.”
Hedly: “You said ‘rape’ twice.”
Sh-tkicker: “I like rape.”
It’s funny because it’s so horribly offensive, like that entire movie. If you don’t both cringe and laugh, there’s something wrong with you(it’s worse if you laugh and don’t cringe, by the way).
I adore anyone who adores “What’s Up, Doc?”! What a wonderful movie! Barbra, Ryan, and Madeline Khan were never better.
“Back off, man, I’m a scientist”–Ghostbusters
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this”–every single Star Wars movie ever made
“Arthur” is a goldmine:
“My doctor has advised me I must drink ten of these an hour.”-Arthur
“If you and your undershirt would take two paces back, I could enter this dwelling.”-Hobson
“I wish I had a dime for every dime I have.”-Arthur
“MY HUSBAND HAS A GUN!”-Perry’s wife
“For all I know, he fired it off while you were yelling.”-Arthur
These are just the ones I can remember off the top of my head…
You aren’t the only one. We LOVE The ‘Burbs:
*I’m gonna kill everyone. Satan is good. Satan is my pal. (chanted more than said)
also:
Real Genius:
“Lazlo, buddy! Want to see a demonstration of gravity?”
“Moles and trolls, Moles and trolls. Work, work, work, work work. We slave away for weeks and all they want to do is study. I’m disgusted. I’m sorry, but it’s not like me. I’m depressed!!”
“And we were going to make you king of the winter carnival!”
Why are you even reading an article by someone who thinks that Tony Curtis’s suitor says “Nobody’s perfect” instead of Jack Lemmon’s? That person obviously doesn’t know anything about movies.
Pesci’s lines in Casino are cool, but every line Samuel L says in Pulp Fiction sounds to me like poetry.
Pesci:”Charlie M? Charlie M? You make me pop your F*cking eye out for that lousy piece of sh*t!”
And from Pulp Fiction, Jules’ Dialogue with Brett:
Jules: “Oh, your finished. Well allow me to retort. What does Marsallis Wallace look like?
Brett: What?
Jules: Where are you from?
Brett: What?
Jules: What ain’t no country I’ve ever heard of. Do they speak English in What? What does Marsallis Wallace Look like?
Brett:He’s Big”
Jules: Go on
Brett: He’s Black
Jules: Does he Look like a b*tch?
Brett: What?
Jules Shoots Brett.
Jules: say what again. Say what again I triple dog dare ya motherf*cker say what again! DOes Marsellis Wallace Look like a b*tch?
Brett: no
Jules: then why you tryin’ to F*ck him like one Brett?
I could go on forever. Samuel L for President!
“You’re gonna need a bigger boat….” from Jaws
“I got red, I got green, I got yellow, I’m out of purple, but I do have one gold circle coin left, the condom of champion the one and only. Nothing is gettin’ through this sucker! Whadd’ya say, hu?”
Yeah, I could go on quoting every single line from Pretty Woman all day long. And I usually do.
From Broadcast News. That movie had several good lines but my favorite has to be from:
Holly Hunter, replyiing to her boss, who has just told her…that it must be nice to alway know that she is the smartest person in the room, that she is alway right and that everyone else is wrong.”
She said, “No, it’s awful.”
My favorite is from Better Off Dead:
…and if something gets in your way — turn.
“That’s why it’s called a crush, if it didn’t hurt, it would be called something else.”
Father to Samantha-Sixteen Candles
The two that I find my friends using in group settings a lot are:
“Orange whip? Orange whip? Three orange whips!” – Blues Brothers
“If someone asks you if you are a god, you say YES!” – Ghostbusters
“Flames! Flames! On the side of my face…” – Clue
I am also forever partial to:
“Because its dull, you twit, it’ll hurt more.” – Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
“Drink your juice, Shelby” from Steel Magnolias. Yea, there are many more famous lines from that movie, but that’s my favorite to repeat.
There are SO many…
Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion
‘You’re a pasty old hag on her deathbed!’
‘Do you have a businesswomens’ special?’
‘I’m the Mary, you’re the Rhoda.’
“Names is for tombstones, baby”
Mr Big to a then rookie James Bond (Roger Moore) when he tried to utter the famous Bond salutation in Live and Let Die.