The actor: Brad Bird The character: Edna Mode The film: The Incredibles The line: “No capes!” On April 23, 1957, the SNL and sitcom veteran Jan Hooks was born, but we know that death is as much a part of life as birth. On that same day, the superhero Stratogale was killed when she was… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #25
The actor: Heath Ledger The character: the Joker The film: The Dark Knight The line: “You wanna know how I got these scars?” Do you ever sit around and think about how the blockbuster world was so in thrall to the Joker that Skyfall remade The Dark Knight with James Bond playing Batman? Every time… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #26
The actor: Jesse Eisenberg The character: Mark Zuckerberg The film: The Social Network The line: “If you guys were the inventors of Facebook, you’d have invented Facebook.” When I started working on this list, my guess was that The Social Network would lead the league in quotes. It’s really a great screenplay, from structure to… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #27
The actor: Tommy Wiseau The character: Johnny The film: The Room The line: “You’re tearing me apart, Lisa!” Most of our favorite lines from The Room aren’t great lines. Like, the scene with “Hi, doggy” is memorable, but it’s because it’s like they were trying to get the words in like a boxer trying to… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #28
The actor: Chris Hemsworth The character: Thor The film: Thor: Ragnarok The line: “We know each other! He’s a friend from work!” This is an incredible line. Chris Hemsworth delivers it with so much joy; it’s probably the closest Thor gets to the himbo secretary he plays in Ghostbusters. The “friend from work” framing is… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #29
The actor: Viola Davis The character: Mrs. Miller The film: Doubt The line: “It’s just until June.” Clearly I think there are better individual lines from 21st Century American movies. I went back and looked at my list to doublecheck myself, though, and I can say there’s not a single one that took my breath… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #30
The actor: J.K. Simmons The character: Fletcher The film: Whiplash The line: “Not quite my tempo.” I started writing on this blog back in 2013, at a time when I was shooting for one hundred posts in ten different categories. Times have changed. After writing two posts in 2014, in 2015 I started getting into… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #31
The actor: Jessica Chastain The character: Mrs. O’Brien The film: The Tree of Life The line: “The nuns taught us there are two ways through life: the way of Nature and the way of Grace.” For as much as people want to struggle over The Tree of Life, what it means, what’s the deal with… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #32
The actor: Lois Smith The character: Hineman The film: Minority Report The line: “The Precogs are never wrong. But occasionally, they do disagree.” I don’t have a lot of patience for Spielberg’s movies set in the future. Spielberg in the past means Indiana Jones (mostly for better) Schindler’s List, Empire of the Sun, 1941, Munich,… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #33
The actor: Matthew McConaughey The character: Dallas The film: Magic Mike The line: “Fact is, the law says you cannot touch. But I think I see a lotta lawbreakers up in this house tonight.” A couple posts back I was talking about actors whose careers have been defined by a single line. Someone I neglected… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #34
