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
The actor: Al Pacino The character: Jimmy Hoffa The film: The Irishman The line: “I heard you paint houses.” People bitched and moaned about how long The Irishman is when it came out. (Wednesday, on the other hand, is more than two hours longer than The Irishman, only has one joke, and no one got… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #35
The actor: Keanu Reeves The character: John Wick The film: John Wick The line: “But now, yeah, I’m thinking I’m back.” One of the things I’ve learned from screwing around Film Twitter as long as I have is that people will try to reclaim any action movie with a pulse. With that said, here’s what… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #36
The actor: Leonardo DiCaprio The character: Howard Hughes The film: The Aviator The line: “The way of the future.” I know what you’re thinking. The one I’m pointing to is the last one, not one of the few dozen that he rattles off in the couple minutes of screentime just before, not even one of… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #37
Seeing Things Secondhand 