Finally, a post!
I think I owe it to anyone’s who’s come here even by mistake. I know it. I promised blogging and I’ve been procrastinating. I made an attempt in my last post on one topic that actually comes really easy to me- good lines (or corny?) and I came a cropper. Its time I made amends. The guilt is over powering.
So I start again with something that comes easy to me. Good lines. But these lines are really good because they’re not mine. Here’s a selection of some of the best lines I’ve come across in some of my favorite movies. I’m trying to make this list a selection of some under rated lines because I think history has bestowed enough glory on “ Of all the gin joints…” but not enough on “ I hope they don’t hang you, precious, by that sweet neck....” (Bogart, Maltese Falcon, 1941).
The make-you-fall-in-love line: I had to, had to begin with the best line any man has ever spoken to any woman, in any language in motion picture:
“You make me wanna be a better man”, Jack Nicholson at his charmingly flirty evil best over a dinner table to Helen Hunt. (As Good as It Gets, 1997)
The devilish-like-hell line: “Detective, Detective… Dee…ttecc…tiivvee.” the drawl of Kevin Spacey with blood on his hands in the lobby of a police station to Brad Pitt. (Se7en,1995)
The cool-as-a-cucumber line: “ When you ought to shoot, shoot, don’t talk”, Eli Wallach in a foamy bathtub with his right index finger on the trigger that has just laid the one armed man to rest. (The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, 1966)
The hurtful-husband’s-death-knell line: The line stuns you because of the dialogue preceding it. Here’s how it goes:
Larry: Do you enjoy sucking him off?
Anna: Yes!
Larry: You like his cock?
Anna: I love it!
Larry: You like him coming in your face?
Anna: Yes!
Larry: What does it taste like?
Anna: It tastes like you but sweeter!
Larry: That's the spirit. Thank you. Thank you for your honesty. Now fuck off and die, you fucked up slag.
Clive Owen and Julia Roberts take off on one another in one of the most hurting onscreen moments .The build up and the intensity of this last line has to be seen to be believed. (Closer, 2004)
The you-couldn’t-wait-to-listen line: “Andy crawled to freedom through five-hundred yards of shit smelling foulness I can't even imagine, or maybe I just don't want too..." . Morgan Freeman. Seriously, who else? ( Shawshank Redemption, 1994).
The I-wanna-say-this-someday line:
“As far back as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to be a gangster…”, Ray Liotta in his performance of a lifetime as a rags to guns Henry Hill. ( Goodfellas, 1995)
The least-cheesy-Bond-movie line : I’m not too much of a Bond fan but I gotta say Daniel Craig was superb. Some of his lines with his ladylove were as flirtatious as any in the history of Hollywood. My favorite of the lot:
Vesper Lynd: If the only thing left of you was your smile and your little finger, you'd still be more of a man than anyone I've ever known.
James Bond: That's because you know what I can do with my little finger... (Casino Royale, 2007)
The stand-up-and-applaud line : There are a few movies when you watching them, you end up rooting for the actor, the ones you feel like jumping on your bed and cheering for the guy who’s fighting a lot of odds. Al Pacino was fighting a lot of odds and I was jumping like crazy when he said:
“Attica! Attica! Remember Attica?” (Dog Day Afternoon, 1975)
The Godfather line: So at this time into this post I’m thinking how can I not mention Godfather. I don’t want those heard-over-again-and-again-lines which is also practically impossible when it comes to Godfather so I’ll go for a line that is probably an underdog in the trilogy. To my mind, it’s one of the best I-love-you-but-I’ll-kill you lines on cinema.
Michael: I know it was you Fredo. You broke my heart. You broke my heart. (Godfather II, 1975)
And finally a dialogue between Natalie Portman and Jude Law from Closer, the mother of all or any movie with relationships as a theme:
Dan: At six, we stand round the computer and read the next day's page, make final changes, put in a few euphemisms to amuse ourselves...
Alice: Such as?
Dan: "He was a convivial fellow" - meaning he was an alcoholic. "He valued his privacy" - Gay. "He enjoyed his privacy" - Raging queen.
Alice: What would my euphemism be?
Dan: She was... disarming.
Alice: That's not a euphemism.
Dan: Yes, it is.
Now, I haven’t ever complimented a lady with the word “disarming.” I wish I did…
Or maybe I must!
So I start again with something that comes easy to me. Good lines. But these lines are really good because they’re not mine. Here’s a selection of some of the best lines I’ve come across in some of my favorite movies. I’m trying to make this list a selection of some under rated lines because I think history has bestowed enough glory on “ Of all the gin joints…” but not enough on “ I hope they don’t hang you, precious, by that sweet neck....” (Bogart, Maltese Falcon, 1941).
The make-you-fall-in-love line: I had to, had to begin with the best line any man has ever spoken to any woman, in any language in motion picture:
“You make me wanna be a better man”, Jack Nicholson at his charmingly flirty evil best over a dinner table to Helen Hunt. (As Good as It Gets, 1997)
The devilish-like-hell line: “Detective, Detective… Dee…ttecc…tiivvee.” the drawl of Kevin Spacey with blood on his hands in the lobby of a police station to Brad Pitt. (Se7en,1995)
The cool-as-a-cucumber line: “ When you ought to shoot, shoot, don’t talk”, Eli Wallach in a foamy bathtub with his right index finger on the trigger that has just laid the one armed man to rest. (The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, 1966)
The hurtful-husband’s-death-knell line: The line stuns you because of the dialogue preceding it. Here’s how it goes:
Larry: Do you enjoy sucking him off?
Anna: Yes!
Larry: You like his cock?
Anna: I love it!
Larry: You like him coming in your face?
Anna: Yes!
Larry: What does it taste like?
Anna: It tastes like you but sweeter!
Larry: That's the spirit. Thank you. Thank you for your honesty. Now fuck off and die, you fucked up slag.
Clive Owen and Julia Roberts take off on one another in one of the most hurting onscreen moments .The build up and the intensity of this last line has to be seen to be believed. (Closer, 2004)
The you-couldn’t-wait-to-listen line: “Andy crawled to freedom through five-hundred yards of shit smelling foulness I can't even imagine, or maybe I just don't want too..." . Morgan Freeman. Seriously, who else? ( Shawshank Redemption, 1994).
The I-wanna-say-this-someday line:
“As far back as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to be a gangster…”, Ray Liotta in his performance of a lifetime as a rags to guns Henry Hill. ( Goodfellas, 1995)
The least-cheesy-Bond-movie line : I’m not too much of a Bond fan but I gotta say Daniel Craig was superb. Some of his lines with his ladylove were as flirtatious as any in the history of Hollywood. My favorite of the lot:
Vesper Lynd: If the only thing left of you was your smile and your little finger, you'd still be more of a man than anyone I've ever known.
James Bond: That's because you know what I can do with my little finger... (Casino Royale, 2007)
The stand-up-and-applaud line : There are a few movies when you watching them, you end up rooting for the actor, the ones you feel like jumping on your bed and cheering for the guy who’s fighting a lot of odds. Al Pacino was fighting a lot of odds and I was jumping like crazy when he said:
“Attica! Attica! Remember Attica?” (Dog Day Afternoon, 1975)
The Godfather line: So at this time into this post I’m thinking how can I not mention Godfather. I don’t want those heard-over-again-and-again-lines which is also practically impossible when it comes to Godfather so I’ll go for a line that is probably an underdog in the trilogy. To my mind, it’s one of the best I-love-you-but-I’ll-kill you lines on cinema.
Michael: I know it was you Fredo. You broke my heart. You broke my heart. (Godfather II, 1975)
And finally a dialogue between Natalie Portman and Jude Law from Closer, the mother of all or any movie with relationships as a theme:
Dan: At six, we stand round the computer and read the next day's page, make final changes, put in a few euphemisms to amuse ourselves...
Alice: Such as?
Dan: "He was a convivial fellow" - meaning he was an alcoholic. "He valued his privacy" - Gay. "He enjoyed his privacy" - Raging queen.
Alice: What would my euphemism be?
Dan: She was... disarming.
Alice: That's not a euphemism.
Dan: Yes, it is.
Now, I haven’t ever complimented a lady with the word “disarming.” I wish I did…
Or maybe I must!
