Thursday, May 18, 2006

I am serious, and don't call me Shirley

Where have all the quotable movies gone?

This is the question the Hubby and I asked ourselves the other night. There we were racking our brains to think of any quotable-worthy movies after 1994. Why 1994? you ask. Its really just an arbitrary number that I kinda threw out there. Although, it was the year that I graduated from college. In other words, the year I had to start thinking of becoming an adult and stop wasting my time on watching "Sixteen Candles" on VHS over and over again. So, I guess, in a way I equate that period in time with casting off the frivolities of youth and exchanging it with the need to conform to society's pressure to buckle down and become serious. Yeah, like that might happen.

But back to our exciting evening thinking of movie quotes. We thought and we thought but we could not come up with a movie after 1994 that we could recollect more than one line from that we would use in mixed company. In my mind a quotable movie is one that has at least 3 sentences, phrases, chunks of dialogue, or one-liners that you can be used in everyday life to sum up the feelings of everyone involved in a certain situation. The next criteria that goes hand in hand with the first is this, the person whose company you are using it in must know to what movie you are referring to. In other words, they must be well known movies.

To help me explain it better I will reference a movie (why not?). In You've Got Mail Tom Hanks tells Meg Ryan that all of life's questions can be answered by quotes from The Godfather.

"What should I pack for my summer vacation?

Leave the gun, take the cannoli."

There you go. The Godfather is easily recognizable and the quotes from those movies (the first two, the third didn't happen) are used often and regularly - mainly by men - to sum up life's everyday occurrences. In much the same way that Tom Hanks' character feels that The Godfather is the sum of all wisdom, I feel that I can sum up most of life's events with movies that I love and watch often. For instance:

Someone strikes me dumb with something they've said:

"Inconceivable!" - The Princess Bride, 1987

On a lazy Sunday morning (remember those?) my husband turns to me and asks what I want to do that day:

"The question isn't 'what are we going to do', the question is what aren't we going to do." - Ferris Bueller's Day Off, 1986

When I'm watching a baseball game and the pitcher throws a wild pitch:

"Juuust a bit outside" - Major League, 1989

When my dogs piss me off:

"You are evil and you must be destroyed." - Steel Magnolias, 1989

Get the picture? I quote from Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, The Princess Bride (often and regularly), Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Caddyshack, The Silence of the Lambs...

(Okay, quick aside. Everytime I'm putting lotion on Chicky Baby's skin after her bath the Hubby and I can't help but say "It puts the lotion on its skin or it gets the hose again." And we giggle. Is that sick or what?)

..., Blazing Saddles, Animal House, This is Spinal Tap. I could go on. Maybe its the era in which I grew up, but I can't think of too many movies after the mid 90's that can be referenced as successfully then the ones that I just mentioned. So I'll leave it up to you. Do you have a favorite quote from a movie that was released after 1994? If you're like me and you can't think of one either then share your favorite quote from any movie.

"Quid pro quo. Yes or No?"



44 comments:

Sandra said...

You had me at "don't call me shirley" :)

I drive my husband nuts with the frequency which I quote Princess Bride. The only thing we quote around here these days are lines from The Incredibles (my son's fav movie 'cause there is rarely an adult flick in our DVD ... sigh) . And the best I've got from that is : "Leave saving the world to the men? I don't think so. I don't think so"

Mamacita Tina said...

Aw, come on, how about Office Space (1999)?
"I did nothing. I did absolutely nothing, and it was everything I thought it could be."

"You see Bob, it's not that I'm lazy, it's that I just don't care."

"...and I said no salt, NO salt on the margarita..."

Kristin said...

We quote ALL of the Chevy Chase "Vacation" movies (well, except "Las Vegas")...

Totally with you on the whole 80s teen movies as well!

Anonymous said...

Oh my god, we say that too (the lotion quote). We are sick, sick people.

Best In Show:

- We could not talk or talk forever and still find things to not talk about.

Meet the Parents:

- I will bring you down to Chinatown.

Office Space:

- I might be showing her my O-face. You know: Oh. Oh.

- Ahh, I'm going to have to go ahead and ask you to come in on Sunday, too...

- We need to talk about your TPS reports.

Those are my post-1994 faves.

Anonymous said...

Barely making the cut-off:
"You had me at Hello"
"Show me the money!"
Jerry Maguire (1996)

"Houston, we have a problem" Apollo 13 (1995)

"Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get"
Forrest Gump (1994)

Anonymous said...

Oh yeah, one more:
"I see dead people"
Sixth Sense (1999)

Anonymous said...

I will have to come back. Too many quotes to think of :)

Oh OH! Austin Powers, "I don't bite....hard."

That one is used often!

Chicky Chicky Baby said...

Wow. How could I have forgotten Office Space and Austin Powers? My bad. I will now hand in my Pop Culture Club secret decoder ring.

Lisa said...

I'm SO HAPPY you don't say, "I'll be back!" (Said by Ahhhnold.)

Cristina said...

I can't think of a quote right now cuz I'm a bit brain dead, but I'd just like to say that Ferris Bueler's Day Off is one of my fav movies of all time. They just don't make movies like they did in the 80s. I'm with you there.

Anonymous said...

I'm impressed that you can remember quotes from movies. I can't even remember what I had for lunch!

Beth said...

I love PRINCESS BRIDE!!!! I honestly cannot tell you how many times I've seen that movie. We used to watch it ALL the time when I was in church youth group (way back in the day).

My sister is the all time movie quoter. That girl can think of a quote from any movie. It's kinda' creepy. She loves quoting "Super Troopers." http://longos3.blogspot.com

Stacy said...

Hubby is awesome with movie quotes so I'm not the person for this but what about Austin Powers? When did that come out? Shagadelic baby!

Anonymous said...

So there were many movies, post 1994, that we could pull a quote or two from. "I see dead people" is a classic one. Can anyone pull another one from the Sixth Sense? I dare you.
But where did all of the movies full of quotes go?
I can quote dozens from Top Gun, The Holy Grail, The Princess Bride, every ‘80s John Hughes movie, every ‘80s John Cusack movie, Caddyshack, Bull Durham, Animal House and the list goes on. There was just something special going on then and everyone jumped on board and enjoyed the ride … still do.
See, it’s not that you can’t pull a quote out of a post 1994 movie, but modern movies just aren’t “cult like” any more (Office Space excluded … that one rocked the kazba and I can’t believe that we missed it) What happened? Is it us or is Hollywood just that uncreative these days?

Antique Mommy said...

"We don't need no stinkin' badges!" I don't remember what movie that is from and we routinely replace 'badges' with whatever suits our situation. Obviously it's been too long since I've been to the movies!

Blog Antagonist said...

Wow. It was hard. Really hard. But I've got one. Office Space. It has too many to count.

Ebaums's World has an Office Space Soundboard. Check it out.

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/officespace.html

We must be roughly the same age, or at least from the same decade, because all of those movies you mentioned are on my list of faves.

Blog Antagonist said...

Doy. Should have read the other quotes first. I got nothin.

carrie said...

Samantha and Jake Ryan are sitting across from eachother on his parents' glass dining room table, birthday candles are lit on cake and he says "Make a wish" she says "It already came true"! Oh, I too, love the 80's!

There have got to be a few good gems from 13 Going on 30, but I can't remember . . .

The Domesticator said...

I'm with anonymous with the Jerry Maguire and Forrest Gump quotes. But I am a huge Austin Powers fan. My husband and I are always saying weird quotes from those movies like :
"Maybeh" *With little pinky pointed towards mouth*
Or "Preparation H is good...on the whole"...hahaha. Or "Get in my belly" or "Corn! I didn't eat any corn!" Well, maybe we are the only ones doing this, but it makes us laugh like two little kids.

Unknown said...

I also love Jerry McGuire "you had me at hello." I'm also a really big fan of When Harry Met Sally "I'll have what she's having." Classic.

Marcie said...

This post is so much fun. I loved reading everyone's comments too. I can't think of any post 94' movies but my favorite quotable movie of all time is Raising Arizona. It has sooo many. "I’ll be takin’ these huggies and uh…whatever cash you got" and "Mighty fine cereal flakes, Mrs. McDonough" to just quote a couple.

Heather Bea said...

Say Anything - I love John Cusack.

"I gave her my heart ... she gave me a pen"

Pre-1994 as well.

Anonymous said...

... and speaking of Austin Powers ... I can't believe we missed Mike Myers other great film "So I Married an Axe Murderer"

“You've turned into a right sexy wee bastard”
“My name is John Johnson but everyone here calls me Vicki”
“Would ya look at the size of that kid's head! It's the size of a planetoid and it has it's own weather system! Looks like an orange on a toothpick!"
"I'm not kidding, that boy's head is like Sputnik; spherical but quite pointy at parts!"
“We've got a piper doon, I repeat, the piper is DOON!”
“I'm smitten. I'm in deep smit.”
“FRU-EETS of the DEV-EEL.”

That one makes it into the Pantheon of quotable movies.

Anonymous said...

Raising Arizona - good one, Marcie.
(sobbing) "But I loooove...him....Hiiii..."

Swingers. "you're so money." "all the beautiful babies." "the two-day rule." etc.

Office Space. ditto what everyone else said.

The Austin Powers trilogy. again with the ditto.

Fight Club. "The first rule of fight club is..."

O, Brother, Where Art Thou. "Damn, we're in a tight spot." "She r-u-n o-f-f-t."

The Royal Tenebaums. "He got dee cancer." "Anybody wanna grab some burgers and hit the cemetery?" "That's the last time I let you stab me, ya hear me?" "wildcat - wild...cat... I gotta go." "I'm going to kill myself tomorrow."

any Christopher Guest mockumentary. "He's teaching me to ignore my instincts." "We both love soup." "I hate you, and I hate your ass-face." "I'm gonna go home, and I'm gonna bite. my. pillow." "Mmmm-medicine man no touch 'dances with stumpy'."

My theory regarding the whole movie-quote-memorization deal is that we had a. lot. more. time. to sit around and watch films on an endless rotation back in the day (ahem, pre-kids); who has a minute to spare for that shit now (unless we're talking kid-centric films, in which case, you *know* you've got a quote or two to spare from those)? Hence the non-memorization.

p.s. favorite movie quotes for today - "Moooon River -- you using the whole fist, Doc?" "Don't drive angry. Never drive angry."

p.s.s. sorry I took up so much real estate with my comment - I didn't think I had this much to say on this topic. geez.

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry. I'm sick. I have a problem.

Ron Burgundy, Anchorman. "Take me to pleasuretown, daddy."

The forty-year-old virgin. "For the last time, I don't want your big box of porn."

Wet, Hot American Summer. "When I was at camp, my favorite activity was arts and crafts. Or, as we called it: arts and farts and crafts." "You listen here Mr. Kickass..Mr. Rubberburner. You wipe that hot-shot smile off your face or I'll shoot it off."

please, please someone stop me.

Table4Five said...

Mr. Chicky is spot-on about So I Married An Axe Murderer!

My husband is a huge Austin Powers fan too, and he likes "Are those fricken' sharks with fricken' laser beams attached to their fricken' heads?"

Me and the boys LOVE LOVE LOVE to quote "Emperors New Groove"-"Beware the groove. Grooooove."

"A Llama? He's supposed to be dead! Yeah, weird."

"Why would I kidnap a llama?" "I have no idea. You're the criminal mastermind, not me."

"Hey, I've been turned into a cow. Can I go home?"
"You're excused. Anybody else?"
"No, no. We're good."

I love the scene in "When Harry Met Sally" near the beginning when they stop to eat and she orders the chef salad with the dressing on the side and the pie heated with the ice cream on the side but only strawberry otherwise just whipped cream but only if it's real otherwise nothing. HA!

Kimi said...

Okay, someone posted the, "We don't need to stinkin' badges." comment...that's from Troop Beverly Hills, and it's patches. Great Flick.
I love SuperTroopers:
"Enhance...Enhance...Enchance"
"Who wants a mustache ride?"
"You boys like Me-he-co?"
"I don't want a large Farva, I wanna liter of Cola"
I could go on and on with that one.
Most Mike Myers movies..."Allow myself to introduce....myself."
"Harriet...sweet Harriet"
Old school:
"You're my boy Blue!"
"We're going streakin..."
"It's so good, it tastes so good when it hits ur lips"
"You know, you can't tell on me. It's the guy code."
There are more, I'm sure. But you are right, the old ones are the best. We love Fletch, Spies like us, Christmas Vacation, Princess bride, John Cusak movies(another great newer one from him, Grosse Point Blanke, just can't think of the quotes right now). I LOVE MOVIES!

Kimi said...

Oh, Ron Burgandy...Will Ferrel:
"Go back to whore island."
"Ron Burgandy, you have bad hair"
"Go F#$k yourself, San Diego"
That one is a quote gold mine!

Beth said...

I totally forgot about "So I Married an Axe Murderer." "Woman. Woah-Man!" "HEED! DOWN! NOW!"

"Monty Python: Search for the Holy Grail" is a good one. "It's merely a flesh wound." "We are the knights of Neeh." "Bring out your dead!" Awesome movie for those times when you are feeling completely weird.

Yeah, I miss having the time to sit and memorize movie lines.

Chicky Chicky Baby said...

Okay, I have to step in here a minute...

"We don't need no badges" was from The Treasure of the Sierra Madre which was a Humphrey Bogart film. However, its been frequently quoted in other films since then, my favorite being Blazing Saddles.

I didn't mention So I Married An Axe Murderer because it still falls under the mid-90's cut-off and there are so many quotes that we use that it deserves its own post. Maybe one day...

Another movie that I'm glad lildb pointed out was Swingers. I shouldn't have forgotten that one. Bad Mrs. Chicky, bad, bad, bad.

As for Grosse Point Blank (one of my all time faves and another one that deserves its own post)...

"This is me breathing."

Marcie said...

I forgot Napoleon Dynamite. Not a classic like Raising Arizona, but my kids love it and even I can't resist an occasional "Go fix yourself a dang Quesa-dilla".

Ruth Dynamite said...

Who has time for movies???

But yes. Napoleon Dynamite for sure.

"Can you hand me my chapstick? My lips hurt real bad."

"Idiot!"

Ah - clearly it left an impression.

Anonymous said...

aughh! this movie quote thing, it is today's sweet, sweet crack for me.

Napoleon Dynamite (Oh, Marcie! You -- !! Crack-distributor!):

"Idiots!"

"Gosh!"

"A liger. It's pretty much my favorite animal. It's like a lion and a tiger mixed... bred for its skills in magic."

"Tina, you fat lard, come get some DINNER!... Tina, eat. Food. Eat the FOOD!"

oh, god. I'm so sorry. I really can't stop. Mrs. Chicky, I'll try to restrain myself after this.

Mom on the Run said...

Sometimes I say: Faaavaaa Beans, thhth, ththt' and I do say 'quid pro quo, yes or no' too!!
I also say:
"Jake, Jake, Jaaaake!" when whathisname is under the coffee table in 16 Candles after the party, HILAROUS!

Mom101 said...

"Fuck Merlot." -Sideways

And Elizabeth--I LOVE you for quoting Wet Hot American summer!

Kimi said...

What about That Thing you Do?
"Guys, Chad fell down.."
"Prrresidential Flashcards"
"You gotta be quick! You gotta be quick with me, I'm from Erie, P A" (which is one of my faves since my hubby is from Erie)
"I am Sportacus"
I love that movie.

Anonymous said...

A couple of my faves from Sixteen Candles:

"She's totally serious, asswipe!"

and

"Geek: Can I ask you a question?

Samantha: Yes, you're a total fag"

mo-wo said...

Not only do I love movie quotes.. I do a kangaroo impersonation when I find like minds who love movie quotes... This post slay me!

I jumped up an down for like half an hour when I found out Metrodad like Say Anything. Well of course you would!

I smiled like a fool when I found out Crouton Boy loved Running Scared just like me.

Now this! Well why don't you give me a nice paper cut and pour lemon juice all over it, we're closed!

All I'll add to that is p-man and I are not getting bogged down in teaching Miss Fancy to count to 10 -- we are right, damn proud of ourselves that we think we have managed to teacher her the concept of 'goes to eleven'

We even thought about naming a first born son Luke Warmwater.

And, if you ever did Richard E. Grant movies, Withnail and I or HOw to get ahead in Advertising do not get me started.

MrsFortune said...

Actually, they never say that line completely in "Treasure of the Sierra Madre." The badges thing.

Movie quotes?

"Missy's the pooh. So take a whiff."

"I believe you have my stapler?" It's appropriate for any situation.

Also from Office Space: "It was a fine name, until that no-talent ass-clown started winning grammies." (Said by Michael Bolton).

Bobita said...

Each of the movies that you mentioned...high quoters for me, too!

At baseball games I like to say, "Hey batta, batta....SAWWWINNNGGGG BATTA!" Ferris Bueller. And I STILL say...IN FRONT OF MY CLASSES..."anyone, anyone?" and hardly anyone ever gets it!!

But one of my all-time favorites?
"Don't be dead, dude!" And "69, dude!" Both are from Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure.

I'm sick...I admit it!

Velma said...

It is truly frightening how much of my interaction with my husband is in the form of quotations, both t.v. and movies.

Bull Durham, Princess Bride, Real Genius, anything Monty Python, some Saturday Night Live, anything with John Cusack.

"You put your WEEEED in it," from SNL has been big around here, lately, due to all the garden work we've been doing, and "Oh yeah, Kent? What about that time I found you naked with that bowl of jello?" "It was hot and I was HUNGRY!" from Real Genius also came up this weekend.

Anonymous said...

What about the movie Better off dead...." look , somebody threw awaya perfectly good white boy"

Unknown said...

Anchorman: Bark twice if you're in Milwaukee

(to dog):youre so wise you're like a miniature Buddha covered in hair(I admit I use that one)

Brian on Anchorman:60 percent of the time it works everytime(my fave to say at work)

So I Married An Axe Murderer: Heed moove.That boys got a big melon(i have used the one when the dog blocks my tv screen)

Anonymous said...

um, hello people. Sorry to intrude. I stumbled upon your blog looking for the exact quote from PB (would you be serious. I mean it. Did he say peanut?) I guess I belong with you people. And by the way, y'all ain't crazy... it's the rest of the world that is. :-/?
A few of my notables.
1. Stupid is as stupid does. Forest
2. Did you say that booth was soundproof? Steve Martin in the Pink Panther.
3. Cole, Virgil Cole... Well he wasn't alone and he did come back.... I was with him. Flight of the Intruder
4. Got a package people! Ace Ventura.
5. I am looking for a dare to be great situation. John Cusack in Say Anything.

Have a great day & God Bless y'all
Chris N.