Say Hello to My Little Blog

The AFI recently released their top 100 movie quotes of the past 100 years. As many of you well know, there are few things I love better than a good movie quote. If I can find a way to slip an especially appropriate or amusing line from a movie into a conversation (I'm actually quite jealous of the one at the top of Invisible Lizard's page, because I didn't think of it first), you can almost guarantee that I will. This means, of course that I have a few thoughts of my own on the AFI list. Strangely enough, no one asked my opinion before publishing the list; I still can't figure that out.

My rules are similar, though not identical to the AFI rules: The quotes need to be recognizable, not only in context, but out of context as well. The larger the impact on pop culture or the greater the inroads the quote has made into everyday life the higher it should rank. Just because I like a quote doesn't mean that it should be on the list. Obscure quotes, while fun, don't make the list because of the lack of impact on culture.

First let's address the most egregious of inclusions, numbers 98 and 100 respectively. Typically, if a quote is cringe-worthy it shouldn't be on a great quotes list. Sadly both "Nobody puts Baby in a corner" and "I'm king of the world" fit this category. Surely there were 2 other worthy quotes in the group of 400 up for consideration.

There are even some quotes that I love, but have to admit that they don't really belong. For example, a quote should be famous because of the movie, not because of the book that came long before the movie. While Peter Jackson turned Lord of The Rings into a remarkable trilogy and Andy Serkis gave Gollum life I would not have thought possible outside of the imagination of readers, "My precious" was around long before Jackson had even turned Kate Winslet into a murderer. There are even some of us who are just nerdy enough that we have been saying "What does it have in its pocketses?" for years.

Going through the list there were some that I thought simply had to be in the top 10 that weren't. I'm not sure what I would have removed to put them there, but I know they have to be in the top 10. The big example here: Number 17. "Rosebud." Its meaning in the film is one of the worst kept secrets in the history of cinematic final act reveals. It is quoted and referenced by people who have never seen a single frame of the movie. Not to mention that it is (potentially) a fairly offensive reference to the basing of Charles Foster Kane on William Randolph Hearst.

A few other thoughts as I peruse the list:

Casablanca is the film found most often on the list, and for good reason. I must wonder, however, how "I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!" or "I remember every detail. The Germans wore gray; you wore blue." were left off the list.

Number 28. "Play it, Sam. Play "As Time Goes By." and Number 36 "Badges? We ain't got not badges! We don't need no badges! I don't have to show you any stinking' badges!" are both deserving inclusions on the list, but are probably two of the most often misquoted lines in cinema.

Jerry Maguire managed to get two quotes on the list. I'm not sure which is more upsetting seeing "Show me the money!" at number 25 or "You had me at 'Hello'" at number 52. While more people annoyingly quoted (and shouted) "show me the money", I'm leaning toward "you had me at hello", because it makes me think of Renee Zellweger squinting at the camera in every film she's ever been in.

Numbers 66 "Get your stinking paws off me you damned dirty ape" and 77 "Soylent Green is people" really work much better if you read them aloud in full Charlton Heston mode. Otherwise, they lose most of the impact.

Number 61 "Say hello to my little friend": Certainly the right choice from Scarface, but also probably the only quote from the movie that could have made this quasi-family friendly list. Well that or "Hey pelican, pelican. Fly pelican."

Number 40 "Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what your going to get." I have little to say about this quote, other than that it is impossible to even read it without hearing it in the voice Tom Hanks used. About the movie itself, I will say that everytime I see it I like it less.

One more Casablanca quote. Number 32 is, as far as I can tell, the only quote to have inspired the title of a movie in the IMDB top 20. (As an aside, I just noticed that Schindler's List has moved past Casablanca on the all-time ratings list. It's a traveshamockery!)

Number 78 "Open the pod bay doors, HAL." If you are going to have only one quote from 2001, how could this be it over "Just what do you think you are doing, Dave?"

I could keep going for much longer. It's really amazing to look at the list and realize how many of these things you here in everyday life on a fairly frequent basis.

I may have to revisit this subject soon and talk about favorite movie quotes, which is somewhat different than "greatest movie quotes of all time."

What about you? What do you think should have made the list, been higher on the list or been left off the list altogether? (Two suggestions: "I'm Spartacus" "The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist.")

Until later...