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
The actor: Wyatt Russell The character: Willoughby The film: Everybody Wants Some!! The line: “Well, boys: here for a good time, not a long time, right?” I guess Willoughby listened to Trooper, right? It used to be that many of our great film directors in this country were real macho sportsman types, and not just… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #38
The actor: Cliff Robertson The character: Ben Parker, alias “Uncle Ben” The film: Spider-Man The line: “Remember, with great power comes great responsibility.” Uncle Ben? More like Uncle Luke 12:48! “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded, and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #39
The actor: Daniel Malik The character: Black Phillip The film: The Witch The line: “Wouldst thou like to live deliciously?” One of the foundational principles of this blog is that the elevated horror craze of the mid-2010s was deleterious to the way people approach genre films, and that just as importantly, most of the movies… Read More Top 100 American Movie Quotes of the 21st Century: #40
Seeing Things Secondhand 