Really, it’s obvious that I’m watching the wrong movies. Or it’s proof that, even after deciding to do a movie meme, that my mind goes blank. All I know is that after publishing this post, I thought of better movies that I could have used. Although, I must admit that I avoided some (Philadelphia Story, Waiting for Guffman, Princess Bride) that others had used.

Oh well. Life does actually go on. And I had a lot of fun trying to think of quotes.

Movie # 1: Casablanca. Donn and I love this movie, which has the right combination of snide comments and perfect one-liners and yet has romance, not to mention being beautifully lit and photographed.

I couldn’t find a clip with the line I quoted, so here’s another scene:

Movie # 2: Better Off Dead. This is an 80s high-school movie, one of John Cusack’s first, about a young man who’s very depressed after his girlfriend dumps him for…you guessed it…someone “better-looking, more popular, drives a better car.” I thought it had a more universal humor, but when I showed it to some young people who were only one or two when it came out, and they not only didn’t laugh but looked at me like I was really, really old, I realized that perhaps it is a bit dated. Fortunately, my kids think it’s funny.

For me, this movie has so much history, so many memories of watching it with Paul and Heather and others back in the day, that it’s just really really funny.

This is kind of a long clip, but the line I quoted is about in the middle, around the 4 minute mark.

Movie #3: The Producers. We’ve only watched this movie once, but this scene stuck in our heads, especially Will Ferrell spitting out, “Filthy British Lies!”

Movie #4: School of Rock. Part of what made this so funny is that we all know people like Jack Black’s character, only possibly not quite as manic. This line has passed into our family’s lexicon: “You’re not hardcore unless you live hardcore.” Words to live by. We also like asking, if something is forbidden, “What about verbal abuse?”

Movie #5: Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Well, I rather screwed up on this one. Because this movie is so popular, I tried to find a obscure quote to make it challenging, so I went with the silly subtitles during the opening credits. You know, the ones about the moose (A moose once bit my sister) that segue into Ralph the Wonder Llama? But I ended up actually quoted a line from a Flying Circus sketch (The llama is a quadruped), which is why I should have checked with Donn, I guess. This also means that several people actually got it right. Oh well. Here’s a clip of the Insulting French.

Movie #6: Buckaroo Banzai. This cheesy sci-fi flick is lots of fun. I hadn’t seen it in years until recently, but I always remembered the line, “No matter where you go, there you are.” Very apropos for a nomadic family like ours.

Movie #7: The Manchurian Candidate. This movie’s been remade but I’ve only seen the original, which is well worth watching. This quote was obscure, I admit (although Mad got it right off). But I love the political and psychological suspense of it. Angela Lansbury is really scary in this movie–if you’ve only ever seen her in her bumbling “Murder She Wrote” role, you will enjoy seeing what a good actress she can be.

Movie #8: I had to put a Woody Allen movie in here. I love Curse of the Jade Scorpion because it has what made Woody Allen so funny–lots of really funny one-liners and insults. Helen Hunt finds Woody Allen rummaging through her desk and he tells her, “You’re a really suspicious person. I doubt an Amish person would be so suspicious.” Or something like that.

Movie #9: This one I put in for Donn. He’s the only person I know who would actually admit to watching an Elvis movie. But this one’s better than most (at least I guess; I refuse to watch most)–Elvis imagines himself as an actual surfer, only with a little tummy on him. The music is awful, the “plot” is corny and sexist and not what one might call subtle, but it’s still kinda fun, offering a glimpse of Hawaii in the 60s. Plus, it’s got some funny bits–including Angela Lansbury as a mindless, politically incorrect Southern-belle housewife. (Sample line: Tourists aren’t people!) I really am not a huge fan, but I like her in these two roles.

Movie #10: Stephanie actually got this one, almost. It’s not Destra, Florida, but Vernon, Florida. It is an eminently quotable movie. It’s a real documentary–Errol Morris went to a small town in Florida in the early 80s and just filmed people talking. It’s the funniest thing.

It was actually really hard to pick just one line. Here’s the one I ended up choosing, where 3 old men are discussing a friend’s suicide and arguing about how he did it.

But I’m also including the turkey hunter, who is priceless. This dude is REALLY into turkey-huntin’! Here he is, describing how he killed each bird.

We also love the lady who was told of the problem of desertification, but who didn’t quite understand it. She proudly shows off her jar of “growing sand.” Donn and I sent friends a Mauritanian box full of sand, telling them it was growing sand and had only a few grains when we sent it. You really should watch this movie.

Thanks to all who played!