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What was the last really quotable movie?


Quintus

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A little discussion I had with Drax earlier in the week about Jurassic Park (we disagreed about the merits of its photography) was curious to me in another respect; that regardless of what I think about that movie's visual ID, it's still every bit the classic and for a lot of people an unforgettable movie. Which made me think about some of the reasons for that, and the dialogue very much being one of them.

 

The script and characterisation were, I recall, quite roundly criticised back when it first released, but that (nor the flat cinematography) didn't stop Jurassic Park from becoming one of those hallowed status movies where movie buffs, even those who don't care for it, know most of its lines. Its dialogue, over time, became geeky pop culture. It's a movie which came long before memes but still slots its own ones comfortably between even the most trendy new additions found online. Few movies manage it, let alone older ones.

 

So what came after JP? What was the last really quotable movie? The prequel trilogy? LotR? Surely not. Those were so long ago...

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I don't see how JP is anywhere near as quotable as Sneakers and The Big Lebowski. Those are my big international two. There's an Austrian movie called Muttertag (mother's day) that's so full of classic one liners that nearly everybody here is quoting it regularly, sometimes without even noticing. There are probably some people now who quote it regularly without actually having seen it.

 

Must be something about the 90s?

 

Sneakers - 1992

(Jurassic Park - 1993)

Muttertag - 1993

The Big Lebowski - 1998

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4 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

There's an Austrian movie called Muttertag (mother's day) that's so full of classic one liners that nearly everybody here is quoting it regularly

 

Ah, I know it and its memes well 🤔

 

 

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3 minutes ago, Quintus said:

Can someone help me out with some Sneakers quotes, I'm afraid I don't know any.

 

 

It's all about who has the information!

 

The government stole my home.

Talk to him.

 

What happened?

I went out for pizza...then I went to Canada.

 

Too many secrets.

 

Cattle mutilations are up.

Stop it.

 

Its a living.

Not much of one.

 

See you around...Mr. Bryce ;)

 

 

 

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Mr. Anderson.

 

There is no spoon. 

 

Free your mind. 

 

Guns lots of guns. 

 

I know Kong Fu. 

 

Welcome to the real world. 

 

Goodbye, Mr. Anderson. 

 

You've been living in the dream world, Neo. 

 

You take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. 

 

The Matrix is a system Neo. That system is our enemy. 

 

If you are not one of us, you are one of them. 

 

Dodge this. 

 

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Good one!

 

Still almost twenty years ago. FFS.

 

Why aren't the Marvel movies jam packed with great lines? It's because nobody remembers a fucking word uttered in them, it's all just throwaway banter and references to other, superior material.

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1 hour ago, Quintus said:

I remember "why so serious?" Was there more?

 

Lemme put a smile on that face. 

 

I'm pretty sure the closing quote about "not the blank we need, but the blank we deserve" became a meme. 

 

But that's it. I don't remember anything quotable from its terrible sequel, just Tom Hardy's indecipherable mumbling. 

 

 

I think the most quotable video entertainment from the last ten years is I Am Iron Man and various lines from Breaking Bad. I haven't watched any movies enough to make them quotable like Men in Black, Lebowski, and TLOTR. 

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37 minutes ago, Glóin the Dark said:

In Bruges (2008)

 

That's a good one!

 

Ken: Harry, let's face it. And I'm not being funny. I mean no disrespect, but you're a cunt. You're a cunt now, and you've always been a cunt. And the only thing that's going to change is that you're going to be an even bigger cunt. Maybe have some more cunt kids.

 

Harry: [furious] Leave my kids fucking out of it! What have they done? You fucking retract that bit about my cunt fucking kids!

 

Ken: I retract that bit about your cunt fucking kids.

 

Harry: Insult my fucking kids? That's going overboard, mate!

 

 

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28 minutes ago, Margo Channing said:

This problem of modern films losing their quotability can be blamed on the lack of talent in screenwriters these days. A good script with memorable dialogue is like catchy music.

 

I wonder if rather than quality per se, it might pertain more to your pet topic ASMR Titanic erectile dysfunction realism and relatability, Jerry. I saw the two live-action Street Fighter movies over the past couple of weeks, and I was very struck by their difference in tone. Both are bad movies, no question, but the 90s one had so much outlandish confidence and swagger, it wasn't afraid to use lines (and sets, costumes, performances, music, etc.) that were very colorful and bold. I could lob out at least ten quotes from that movie immediately, which are indelibly linked to the barnstorming performances of dudes like Raul Julia and Jean Claude Van Damme (something Stefan refers to above this post). 

 

But the newer one from the late 00s? Everything is so toned down, and muted. "Loud and proud" is a dirty phrase: most of the lines are bad, but there's no zest, it's just inoffensively lame. Delivered by actors with no zeal or commitment, it's all very down to earth, as if they were afraid to be too broad and "theatrical". I could maybe give you one or two quotes, and I would have to concentrate.

 

A very specific example, yes, but I hope I made my point clearly enough for you to understand and respond.

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19 minutes ago, Nick Parker said:

 

I wonder if rather than quality per se, it might pertain more to your pet topic ASMR Titanic erectile dysfunction realism and relatability, Jerry. I saw the two live-action Street Fighter movies over the past couple of weeks, and I was very struck by their difference in tone. Both are bad movies, no question, but the 90s one had so much outlandish confidence and swagger, it wasn't afraid to use lines (and sets, costumes, performances, music, etc.) that were very colorful and bold. I could lob out at least ten quotes from that movie immediately, which are indelibly linked to the barnstorming performances of dudes like Raul Julia and Jean Claude Van Damme (something Stefan refers to above this post). 

 

But the newer one from the late 00s? Everything is so toned down, and muted. "Loud and proud" is a dirty phrase: most of the lines are bad, but there's no zest, it's just inoffensively lame. Delivered by actors with no zeal or commitment, it's all very down to earth, as if they were afraid to be too broad and "theatrical". I could maybe give you one or two quotes, and I would have to concentrate.

 

A very specific example, yes, but I hope I made my point clearly enough for you to understand and respond.

 

Good point! And I do believe they're directly related. If a film is "realistic", then it will follow the general observation that in real life, people don't have a witty or memorable quip queued up for the right moment. That's a rare experience, and people just don't do it under stressful circumstances. It just makes movie characters who manage that seem even more god-like - and thus, significantly less relatable. Then again, we have Titanic, a film based on a real historical event, yet the whole movie is a goldmine of quotes!

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Pompous prick.

 

Mr. Anderson, welcome back. We missed you. D'you like what I've done with the place?

 

 

You played a dangerous game.

Change always is.

 

It doesn't have everything the body needs.

 

It's like wiping your arse with silk, I love it.

 

 

6 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

I am the walrus!

 

No, silly :lol:

It's "Come on. Stop trying to hit me, and hit me!"

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Just now, Stefancos said:

Surprised Lee is asking about quotes. He never quotes movies in conversation.

 

I think he finds the rest of us entertaining when we do it. It's a guilty pleasure for him.

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I don't much care for them, but the kids quote the Avengers movies like the "I don't feel so good" line that everyone went crazy about.

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