The actor: Ralph Fiennes The character: Laurence Laurentz The film: Hail, Caesar! The quote: “Would that it were so simple.” I tried to look up Ralph Fiennes’s ancestry, but after about two minutes my eyes started crossing and I gave up. Basically, the dude is descended from nobility going back several hundred years, and his… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #94
The actor: Tom Hanks The character: Chesley Sullenberger The film: Sully The quote: “Birds.” In The Graduate, Walter Brooke goes up to Dustin Hoffman at a party and gives him a little advice about what field to get into. “Plastics,” he says. It’s ranked forty-second on AFI’s list, one spot above “We’ll always have Paris.”… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #95
The actor: Willem Dafoe The character: Thomas Wake The film: The Lighthouse The quote: “Hark! Hark, Triton! Hark!” My primary critique of The Lighthouse after seeing it was that it was nowhere near weird enough. For all of its beautiful photography and its isolated setting and arch performances, the second half of the film dissolves… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #96
The actor: Jennifer Lawrence The character: Rosalyn Rosenfeld The film: American Hustle The quote: “‘Don’t put metal in the science oven, Rosalyn.’” My favorite part of any David O. Russell movie is when they reference the game where the Eagles beat the Cowboys 44-6 to make the playoffs. It has nothing to do with Silver… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #97
The actor: Vin Diesel The character: Groot The film: Guardians of the Galaxy The quote: “I am Groot.” Thanks to this acrostic, I now have “how does groot smell” in my search history. The night is dark and full of terrors. This is not my favorite line from Guardians of the Galaxy. I doubt very… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #98
The actor: Jeff Bridges The character: Rooster Cogburn The film: True Grit The quote: “If they wanted a decent funeral, they should have got themselves killed in summer.” Mattie Ross asks the local sheriff his opinion as to who the best marshal is. The sheriff thinks about it aloud, because there are certainly several ways… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #99
The actor: Peter McRobbie The character: George Pendleton The film: Lincoln The line: “How dare you!” One of the most shattering grammatical moments of my life came when I was watching some ancient episode of QI on YouTube, and Stephen Fry said to the panel, “Believe it or don’t.” Of course that’s what it ought… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #100
One of the projects which I have wanted to tackle for a very long time now is a “Better than AFI’s 100 Quotes.” Unfortunately, I am one person, and simply trying to compile that many potential quotes at this point would require the lifespan of a Galapagos tortoise and not a dude with a day… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: Intro and Index
Seeing Things Secondhand 