prepping the next AFI countdown
I admit it: whenever the "100 Best..." movie shows come on, I tune in. I can't help it-- it's almost a compulsion by now. And I cry and raise my fists in the air and shout and make all kinds of fuss at their ultimate decisions-- all amidst reveling in their good pics, especially those that take me by surprise. Via beautiful stuff, the next one is 100 Movies, 100 Catchphrases. The good people at AFI are circulating a list of 400 quotes with good and bad choices for the 100 best. A sampling, with some thoughts:
1. Lots and lots from Casablanca. As well there should be. They've got massive potential for the top spots, especially the top ten: "We'll always have Paris." "Play it, Sam. Play 'As Time Goes By." "Of all the gin joints, in all the world, she walks into mine." "Louis, this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." "Round up the usual suspects." And I can go on, if you like...
2. Equally, several from the Godfather films, the Quote Movie to end all Quote Movies for Guys. "Leave the gun, take the cannoli." "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer." "I made him an offer he couldn't refuse."
3. Spielberg gets a couple nods: "ET Phone Home" from E.T. the Extraterrestrial; "Snakes! Why did it have to be snakes!" from Raiders of the Lost Ark; "You're gonna need a bigger boat" from Jaws; "Life finds a way" from Jurassic Park; "Earn this" from Saving Private Ryan. Which is fine, but Hitchcock films are non-existent on the list, sadly.
4. Far too many action-film one-liners. "I'll be back" and "Hasta la vista, baby" from the Terminator movies; "You have to ask yourself one question: do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?" from one of the Dirty Harry films; "Yo, Adrian!" from Rocky; "I feel the need... the need for speed" from Top Gun; and my favorite, and the only ones I give credence to: "Bond. James Bond" and "I'll have a martini. Shaken, not stirred" from the Bond films. It's unfortunate, but I have a sneaking suspicion that many of these will be on the list, and more highly ranked than they deserve.
5. Several from kiddie classic The Wizard of Oz, which could work in its favor, considering the film made the AFI top ten and the song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" was the #1 movie song: "I'll get you my pretty, and your little dog too." "There's no place like home." "Follow the yellow brick road." "Lions, tigers and bears, oh my!" "Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain."
6. Similarly, there are a few from the Ultimate Women's Weeper, Gone with the Wind: "Fiddle-dee-dee." "Tomorrow is another day." "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn." (Which I think will be number one, or at least in the top 5.)
7. Several I was surprised to see make the list of 400, and I will be genuinely shocked (and ridiculously happy) if they make it into the top 100: Ingrid Bergman's "Because I am mad..." speech from Gaslight; Deborah Kerr's memorable line from Tea and Sympathy, which they ended up using in the pilot episode of Remington Steele: "Years from now, when you speak of this, and you will, please, be kind"; and my favorite, "The pellet with the poison's in the vessel with the pestle; the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true" spoken by the one and only Danny Kaye in The Court Jester.
8. But most are the token phrases that come up all the time in lists such as these: "Nature... is what we are put on earth to rise above" from The African Queen; Garbo's "I vant to be a-lone"; Reagan's dying "...win one for the Gipper"; "Fasten your seatbelts- it's going to be a bumpy night" from All About Eve; "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore" from Network; Olivier's paranoid "Is it safe?" from Marathon Man; "You can't handle the truth!" from A Few Good Men; "I'm having an old friend for dinner" from Silence of the Lambs; James Dean's frustrate "You're tearing me apart!" from Rebel Without a Cause; Brando's "I could have been a contender" speech from On the Waterfront; "If you build it, he will come" from Field of Dreams; Heston's pissy "damn dirty ape speech from Planet of the Apes; "The stuff dreams are made of" from the Maltese Falcon; "I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille" from Sunset Boulevard; "Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown" from Chinatown; "It's alive!" from Frankenstein and "La-di-da" from Annie Hall.
9. But no list would be complete without the modern movie catchphrases that pale in comparison: "My preciooooous" from The Lord of the Rings movies; "One milliiiion dollars" from the Austin Powers movies; "I'll have what she's having" from When Harry Met Sally...; "To infinity and beyond!" from Toy Story; "We're on a mission from God" from The Blues Brothers; the "Life moves pretty fast..." speech from Ferris Bueller's Day Off; "You talkin' to me?" from Taxi Driver; "I gave her my heart and she gave me a pen" from Say Anything...; and the ultimate "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die" from The Princess Bride.
10. Lastly, this one caught my eye: "Elementary, my dear Watson" from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, a phrase that is so integrally connected to the character of Holmes that most people think it comes from Conan Doyle himself and not the movie. Now that is a movie catch-phrase with power.
1. Lots and lots from Casablanca. As well there should be. They've got massive potential for the top spots, especially the top ten: "We'll always have Paris." "Play it, Sam. Play 'As Time Goes By." "Of all the gin joints, in all the world, she walks into mine." "Louis, this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." "Round up the usual suspects." And I can go on, if you like...
2. Equally, several from the Godfather films, the Quote Movie to end all Quote Movies for Guys. "Leave the gun, take the cannoli." "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer." "I made him an offer he couldn't refuse."
3. Spielberg gets a couple nods: "ET Phone Home" from E.T. the Extraterrestrial; "Snakes! Why did it have to be snakes!" from Raiders of the Lost Ark; "You're gonna need a bigger boat" from Jaws; "Life finds a way" from Jurassic Park; "Earn this" from Saving Private Ryan. Which is fine, but Hitchcock films are non-existent on the list, sadly.
4. Far too many action-film one-liners. "I'll be back" and "Hasta la vista, baby" from the Terminator movies; "You have to ask yourself one question: do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?" from one of the Dirty Harry films; "Yo, Adrian!" from Rocky; "I feel the need... the need for speed" from Top Gun; and my favorite, and the only ones I give credence to: "Bond. James Bond" and "I'll have a martini. Shaken, not stirred" from the Bond films. It's unfortunate, but I have a sneaking suspicion that many of these will be on the list, and more highly ranked than they deserve.
5. Several from kiddie classic The Wizard of Oz, which could work in its favor, considering the film made the AFI top ten and the song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" was the #1 movie song: "I'll get you my pretty, and your little dog too." "There's no place like home." "Follow the yellow brick road." "Lions, tigers and bears, oh my!" "Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain."
6. Similarly, there are a few from the Ultimate Women's Weeper, Gone with the Wind: "Fiddle-dee-dee." "Tomorrow is another day." "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn." (Which I think will be number one, or at least in the top 5.)
7. Several I was surprised to see make the list of 400, and I will be genuinely shocked (and ridiculously happy) if they make it into the top 100: Ingrid Bergman's "Because I am mad..." speech from Gaslight; Deborah Kerr's memorable line from Tea and Sympathy, which they ended up using in the pilot episode of Remington Steele: "Years from now, when you speak of this, and you will, please, be kind"; and my favorite, "The pellet with the poison's in the vessel with the pestle; the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true" spoken by the one and only Danny Kaye in The Court Jester.
8. But most are the token phrases that come up all the time in lists such as these: "Nature... is what we are put on earth to rise above" from The African Queen; Garbo's "I vant to be a-lone"; Reagan's dying "...win one for the Gipper"; "Fasten your seatbelts- it's going to be a bumpy night" from All About Eve; "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore" from Network; Olivier's paranoid "Is it safe?" from Marathon Man; "You can't handle the truth!" from A Few Good Men; "I'm having an old friend for dinner" from Silence of the Lambs; James Dean's frustrate "You're tearing me apart!" from Rebel Without a Cause; Brando's "I could have been a contender" speech from On the Waterfront; "If you build it, he will come" from Field of Dreams; Heston's pissy "damn dirty ape speech from Planet of the Apes; "The stuff dreams are made of" from the Maltese Falcon; "I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille" from Sunset Boulevard; "Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown" from Chinatown; "It's alive!" from Frankenstein and "La-di-da" from Annie Hall.
9. But no list would be complete without the modern movie catchphrases that pale in comparison: "My preciooooous" from The Lord of the Rings movies; "One milliiiion dollars" from the Austin Powers movies; "I'll have what she's having" from When Harry Met Sally...; "To infinity and beyond!" from Toy Story; "We're on a mission from God" from The Blues Brothers; the "Life moves pretty fast..." speech from Ferris Bueller's Day Off; "You talkin' to me?" from Taxi Driver; "I gave her my heart and she gave me a pen" from Say Anything...; and the ultimate "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die" from The Princess Bride.
10. Lastly, this one caught my eye: "Elementary, my dear Watson" from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, a phrase that is so integrally connected to the character of Holmes that most people think it comes from Conan Doyle himself and not the movie. Now that is a movie catch-phrase with power.
1 Comments:
I meant to ask you whether you had "Lust Over Pendle" by AJ Hall? It's a HP fanfic with a difference. Think of Draco as a .. Darth Wimsey (as Hall has dubbed him herself): http://www.lop.shoesforindustry.net/index.html
//Tinka
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