The actor: Heath Ledger The character: Ennis Del Mar The film: Brokeback Mountain The line: “If you can’t fix it, Jack, you gotta stand it.” “Who knows if we shall ever see them again?” Morrel said, wiping away a tear. “My dearest,” said Valentine, “has the count not just told us that all human wisdom… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #1
The actor: Michael Stuhlbarg The character: Larry Gopnik The film: A Serious Man The line: “Sy Ableman?” At some time in his life, each man is going to have to answer some important questions which will go on to define who he is for decades to come. Am I leaving a mark on the world… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #2
The actor: Michael B. Jordan The character: Killmonger The film: Black Panther The line: “Is this your king?” Google “best mcu villains” and you’ll get the usual suspects (Collider, Empire, Nerdist, Mashable, etc.) listing the usual suspects. The top three on these sort of lists are nearly invariable. Thanos gets one of those spots because… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #3
The actor: LaKeith Stanfield The character: Andre King The film: Get Out The line: “Get out! Get out!” I’m old enough to remember when you could find a YouTube video that was so marvelously researched and cut together, like this one…as opposed to YouTube now, where if it has research it may as well get… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #4
The actor: Amy Adams The character: Peggy Dodd The film: The Master The line: “This is something you do for a billion years or not at all.” It’s interesting how much more potent “a billion years” is than “forever.” In practical terms, it’s basically the same thing. I’ll put it this way. If I had… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #5
The actor: Javier Bardem The character: Anton Chigurh The film: No Country for Old Men The line: “If the rule you followed brought you to this, of what use was the rule?” You’re counting right. Three quotes from No Country for Old Men, which makes it, by this measure, the “most quotable” American movie of… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #6
The actor: Trevante Adams The character: Black The film: Moonlight The line: “You’re the only man that’s ever touched me. You’re the only one. I haven’t really touched anyone since.” By now we’ve gotten to the most romantic (#17) and most erotic (#14) lines of the 21st Century. This, as I alluded to a while… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #7
The actor: Julia Roberts The character: Erin Brockovich The film: Erin Brockovich The line: “They’re called ‘boobs,’ Ed.” If you go down to about #19 or so on this list (“What’s the most you ever lost on a coin toss?”), every line from there on up is one I considered putting in the top spot… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #8
The actor: Nicolas Cage The character: Ben Gates The film: National Treasure The line: “I’m going to steal the Declaration of Independence.” Future generations of Americans will want to understand (hopefully, let’s not get ahead of ourselves) why they are governed politically and socially by so many conspiracy theorists. The one-word answer is “boredom.” It’s… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #9
The actor: Matthew Macfadyen The character: Wilcock The film: The Assistant The line: “You’re not his type.” I don’t like to think about movies this way because it’s such a relative term, but The Assistant is underseen. It’s hard to say that with a straight face, because right now it has 80,000 logs on Letterboxd.… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #10
Seeing Things Secondhand 