What Films Do You Quote Like "Scripture"?

[Worf]

I was driving with a friend the other day and during the course of our conversation I began quoting lines from John Ford's "The Quiet Man" with my best Irish accent in full display. My friend sat in complete silence as I reeled off line after line.... When I realized I was babbling on I ground to an embarrassed halt. An awkward silence followed... She stared at me and asked matter of factly...

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

I realized in that instance that "normal" people don't quote film dialogue at the drop of a hat, nor do they do it in character. I can't even remember what set me off. Knowing the denizens of this misbegotten forum, I figure I'm not alone... Here's the movies I quote most, in no particular order...

"The Quiet Man" - "And I'll be taking no drinks from you either you little squint!"

"The Thing From Another World" - "Do you want me to open the door again?" 'NO!"

"The God Father" - "In my territory we'll keep it among the coloreds. They're animals anyway... let them lose their souls."

"They Were Expendable" - "I been working for this 40 years. They'll have to fight to get me."

What films do you quote more than you'd like to admit?

Worf

 

[hatsRme]

I was driving with a friend the other day and during the course of our conversation I began quoting lines from John Ford's "The Quiet Man" with my best Irish accent in full display. My friend sat in complete silence as I reeled off line after line.... When I realized I was babbling on I ground to an embarrassed halt. An awkward silence followed... She stared at me and asked matter of factly...

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

I realized in that instance that "normal" people don't quote film dialogue at the drop of a hat, nor do they do it in character. I can't even remember what set me off. Knowing the denizens of this misbegotten forum, I figure I'm not alone... Here's the movies I quote most, in no particular order...

"The Quiet Man" - "And I'll be taking no drinks from you either you little squint!"

"The Thing From Another World" - "Do you want me to open the door again?" 'NO!"

"The God Father" - "In my territory we'll keep it among the coloreds. They're animals anyway... let them lose their souls."

"The Were Expendable" - "I been working for this 40 years. They'll have to fight to get me."

What films do you quote more than you'd like to admit?

Worf

Lonesome Dove and Casablanca immediately come to mind.

Your question made me think of a close friend who answers almost every question with a song lyric. You gotta know when to hold ‘em...

 

[HoosierDaddy]

What the hell is wrong with you?

 

[abone]

The Searchers...Ethan Edwards...."that'll be the day"

 

[MisterCairo]

First entry:

Withnail & I - "Change down man, find your neutral space. You got a rush. It will pass, be seated".

-Any time someone gets overheated, overly excited or otherwise uncontrollable.

 

[Haversack]

The Palm Beach Story - "Cold are the hands of time that creep along relentlessly, destroying slowly but without pity that which yesterday was young. Alone our memories resist this disintegration and grow more lovely with the passing years." Heh! That's hard to say with false teeth."

And of course, Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I've been off-book since the 1980s

 

[belfastboy]

The Palm Beach Story - "Cold are the hands of time that creep along relentlessly, destroying slowly but without pity that which yesterday was young. Alone our memories resist this disintegration and grow more lovely with the passing years." Heh! That's hard to say with false teeth."

And of course, Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I've been off-book since the 1980s

Back in the mid 1990's I attended a conference in Boston. I stayed in Cambridge and commuted to the site with a few other guys. The driver regaled us by reciting entire scenes form MP & The Holy Grail during our commute, word for word, scene for scene, in character, in accent. By the 3rd day was beyond tiring but it was his car.

 

[Zombie_61]

...I realized in that instance that "normal" people don't quote film dialogue at the drop of a hat, nor do they do it in character...

Yeah, but who wants to be "normal"? It's boring. The family members and friends (who are also movie buffs) and I regularly quote lines from movies we've seen at least enough times to memorize our favorite dialogue. One friend and I joke that if anyone were to ever record one of our conversations, the sheer volume of movie dialogue we use in our regular conversation would convince them we were speaking in some form of code, and that they would drive themselves crazy trying to figure out what we were talking about.

 

[Seb Lucas]

My own experience suggests this is a fairly common thing to do. My friends and I used to quote from Raiders of the Lost Ark, Withnail and I, Monty Python films, Blade Runner, Citizen Kane, Bliss and many others. I've heard lots do this. I suspect the movie chosen says a lot about films you liked when younger. One of my friends and I actually quote lines from 1970's ads we remember too. "You're soaking in it."

 

[Harp]

The mail chopper dropped detachment letter bag off with Mary Poppins inside. Films were all twisted,
incorrectly rolled. I and another guy always ran the projector cause we could figure the film.
I, and our detachment cat mascot, Motherf....r were the only in the knowz about Mary Poppins.
Spread the word around that a hot flick was to be had. Spread like wildfire. Everybody who wasn't
standing guard was there, Motherf....r didn't rat but he wasn't around. Played it safe.
I switched on the projector and as the film numbered down, the place erupted. I didn't make it
to the door, my ass was grass. Laughed my ass off, couldn't help it. It hurt afterward but well
worth it. "A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down." Altered with "helps the ass kicking go down."

 

[Zombie_61]

...I suspect the movie chosen says a lot about films you liked when younger...

I agree. I've known my best friend for approximately 50 years, and we've been quoting specific lines for so long that we no longer remember where they came from.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"O Brother Where Art Thou."

"Damn! We're in a tight spot!"

"I can have it for you in two weeks."

"They ain't even old-timey!"

And many many others.

 

[Zombie_61]

"O Brother Where Art Thou."...

O Brother, Where Art Thou? is a treasure trove of quotable lines. Another favorite for us is The Odd Couple (1968). When the Coen Brothers and Neil Simon were/are on their game, their writing is very quotable and easily adaptable to any number of conversations.

 

[Worf]

What the hell is wrong with you?

That, my Indiana friend, would take too long to figure out and too long to tell.

 

[Worf]

My own experience suggests this is a fairly common thing to do. My friends and I used to quote from Raiders of the Lost Ark, Withnail and I, Monty Python films, Blade Runner, Citizen Kane, Bliss and many others. I've heard lots do this. I suspect the movie chosen says a lot about films you liked when younger. One of my friends and I actually quote lines from 1970's ads we remember too. "You're soaking in it."

I disagree... most folks I talk to about movies can't even remember the title of films they saw LAST NIGHT, much less the plot or any dialog. And certainly nothing from anything that could be considered a classic.

Worf

 

[EngProf]

"Tombstone" is a great source of quotes.
When the Earp's are in their wagons and are about to head out of Tombstone, Powers Boothe/Curly Bill
says, sarcastically, "Well, Bye". "Bye" comes out almost as "Bah"...
I tend to say that when anyone is leaving.
In "Tombstone", Val Kilmer/Doc alone has two or three movies-worth of good quotes.
"Godfather" series: "Make someone an offer they can't refuse." is almost used too much.
"Casablanca": "I'm shocked, shocked that ______ is going on here." (fill in the blank)

In addition to direct or semi-direct quotes there are a lot of movie situations that can be referred to as shorthand for real-world situations. Possibly the most common is "Gaslighting" - confusing someone until they think they are crazy.
Around here one of the middle-managers suddenly quit. One of our regular folks said that he didn't know that ____ was unhappy. As explanation, I used the movie situation from "Saving Private Ryan" in which Tom Hanks/the Captain explains that gripes go upward not downward in rank. He gripes to the Major, not to the troops.
We had no way and no reason to know that _____ was upset and planned to leave, since we were merely the troops, not the next-higher-ranking person. (It's a handy reference/explanation, even though I think that "Saving Private Ryan" is a terrible movie.)

I think my tendency to use movie quotes and situations contributed to the demise of a relationship a long time ago. She was beautiful and brilliant but every time I used a movie quote or reference she would say, rather coldly, "I don't speak "movie"."
After a while it took all the fun out... However, she did effectively point out that "speaking movie" was to some extent a different language.
To emphasize that point, I have no idea who "Withnail" is, and any quotes in that dialect would be lost on me.

 

[Fifty150]

She stared at me and asked matter of factly...

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

Are married to my girlfriend?

 

[Spiney]

My own experience suggests this is a fairly common thing to do. My friends and I used to quote from Raiders of the Lost Ark, Withnail and I, Monty Python films, Blade Runner, Citizen Kane, Bliss and many others. I've heard lots do this. I suspect the movie chosen says a lot about films you liked when younger. One of my friends and I actually quote lines from 1970's ads we remember too. "You're soaking in it."

So happy to see Withnail and I here. Didn’t expect anyone to have heard of it. So quotable.

 

[belfastboy]

"We're on a mission from God!" except I change it to "I'm" as I don't use the royal We.

 

[Seb Lucas]

I disagree... most folks I talk to about movies can't even remember the title of films they saw LAST NIGHT, much less the plot or any dialog. And certainly nothing from anything that could be considered a classic.

Worf

Not really a disagreement. You're just aware of people who don't do it, while I don't know many people who don't.