26. "...because it's judgment that defeats us."



This is an amazing monologue by Marlon Brando. Apocalypse Now's production troubles have been pretty well documented, and the fact that Brando showed up on set massively overweight, never having learned his lines, etc, is also well known. But it seems to have added to the film's quality; Coppola's decision to shroud Brando's girth in layers of shadow only added to the film's atmosphere, and Brando improvised most of his lines, including almost all of this monologue. It is a great exhibit as to why he is one of the greatest actors of all time.

Watch here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDK9MDklzFo

25. "...the stuff that dreams are made of."



Nobody was better at showing regret on screen than Humphrey Bogart. And this end line is a killer, in which Sam Spade has turned over to the law the woman he loves. It obvious he doesn't want to, but his moral compass tells him he has to. And Bogie nails the right tone for the scene. Nobody could have delivered the line better, and it could be argued that Bogart never topped this, except...

24. "We'll always have Paris."



Yes, we all know the end scene in Casablanca. But watch it again and you'll agree that it's some of Bogart's best acting, and some of the best writing in movie history. And if you don't think so, watch it again.

The Maltese Falcon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8_hGlwau3A

Casablanca: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa-dGYjSq5k

23. "I used to be the world's greatest particle physicist. Now I'm just the world's greatest cocksucker."



This really doesn't need any explaining. The fact that it is delivered by a 600-pound man is what makes it funny. Lloyd Kaufman delivers another winner.

22. You believe in Jesus? Well, you're gonna meet him."



Death Wish 2 pretty much marked the point where the series stopped being any kind of serious commentary on society, and just turned Charles Bronson into a total hardcore badass. It also turned Bronson into the most unlikely of action heroes, slinging guns and spitting one liners. This was a good one.

Watch here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eowuu9rVjZw

21. "Cookies? Who told you you could eat my cookies?"



More quotable Schwarzenegger, from one of his crappiest movies. But even in his worst roles, Arnold managed to spit out a few really good one-liners. This one always gave me a laugh, probably because of Arnold's accent. But it's not his best quote, or even the film with the most quotable Schwarzenegger. I'm saving that one for later.

20. "I know."



I've picked a lot of lines that are a bit obscure, or kind of goofy. But this is one that everyone should know. If I had to pick one Star Wars film as the best, it would probably be Empire; it's the most emotionally complex, the most philosophical, the darkest of the three Star Wars films, and it's got plenty of adventure as well.

I'm sure we all know that Harrison Ford improvised this line. However, I'm not sure how widely known it is that the only reason why Han ended up in carbonite (and we got this line) is because Ford originally was hesitant to sign up for another Star Wars film. I mention this because it is yet another example of how Star Wars was never planned from the beginning, as George Lucas insists, and it wasn't even planned from the time the original film became successful. Frankly, I think everything Lucas says about Star Wars should be considered suspect.

Anyway, The Empire Strikes Back is what it is, and it stands as a landmark sci-fi film. I'll never forget the first time I saw it; I had been mostly exposed to popcorn cinema, and Empire was a whole different animal. The feelings of hope and loss, desperation, despair, and that final shot, as Luke and Leia stare into an unknown abyss, are things that impacted me in a powerful way at the age of six. They still do, and that's a testament to how great this film is.

19. "I was a better man with you as a woman than I ever was with a woman as a man."



This line is all about the delivery. It represents some of Dustin Hoffman's best and most vulnerable acting; at the beginning of Tootsie, his character is an arrogant shit, and by the time we get to this part, all of that has been removed. Hoffman is a great actor, and he shines in this role. It's a shame that he seems to have put his talent on the back burner for now.

18. All right, but apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?



This may be the only time I get remotely political with this list, but I love this quote. Simply put, I've gotten plenty tired of the constant bitching about the government over the past four years, and I've grown tired of most folks' armchair criticism, especially considering that most people don't have the first clue about anything relating to how the country is run.

So this is what I think of whenever I overhear talk radio, Fox News, or just hear people at work bitching about the government, black people, Mexicans, and so on. Because at the end of the day, what has the government ever done for us?

17. "Tell Mike it was just business."



The baptism of vengeance that ends The Godfather is one of the most memorable things ever filmed. But while the film is incredibly successful during its moments of explosive violence, it is just as memorable in its quiet moments. This scene near the film's end with Abe Vigoda is a perfect example of this.

What makes this scene work so well is how understated it is. Once Tessio's betrayal is revealed, there is no swelling of music. There are no tears. Vigoda plays the scene perfectly; Tessio resigns himself to his fate. It's the price of doing business. A lesser film would have overplayed this scene, overdramatized it. But The Godfather is not a lesser film.

16. "You kids with your loud music and your Dan Fogelberg..."



Is this not the best "you damn kids" rant ever? Seriously, I've watched this about 100 times in the past two weeks and it cracks me up every time. I just hope that when I'm as old as Ernest Borgnine, I can be as funny and goofy as he was.

Watch here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdUvpgqoe4E&list=FL_nkvxlespV93WbgP4N7xqg&index=1&feature=plpp_video

15. "Nobody's perfect."



We all know this one. This is the perfect example of what I call a "build line.". Everything in this film builds to this closing line. I love Some Like It Hot; it's one of the best examples of screwball comedy in cinema history, with one ludicrous scene piled on top of another. I think little explanation is needed here; if you know the film, you know why this line works so well.

14. "Some motherfucker's always trying to ice skate up a hill."



I'm not going to comment much on the quality of Blade. It's an okay movie, but nothing special to me. I also haven't seen it talked about much around here, which may be indicative of attitudes toward it (I think that out of all of us, Vexer is the only one who has expressed a real love for the movie). But man, what a line! And what makes this even better is that this wasn't in the script. Wesley Snipes used this in everyday conversation. That's cool, and so it belongs here.

Watch here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXhKzY0BKwY

Yeah I love Blade and I feel it dosen't get enough credit, everyone says X-Men resurrected comic-book adaptions, but the success of Blade was what convinced studio execs to finally greenlight an X-Men film in the first place, if it wasn't for Blade, I don't think we would've had the Dark Knight trilogy.

13. "I'm smart, and I want respect!"



I've always said that I think The Godfather Part II is a slightly lesser film than the first installment, primarily due to its cross-cutting narrative structure. I always thought both stories were great, but the jumping back and forth between them hurt the film slightly.

Regardless, Part II has many great scenes, and terrific performances all around. None, however, shine brighter than John Cazale, and this scene may be the greatest of his short career. Cazale is devastating in this scene; everything he does is perfect. He finally stands up to Michael, but his body language is that of a man who knows he is dead. Fredo was always a pained character, and Cazale so effectively conveys that pain in such a short scene. He was not recognized for any awards for this role, an artistic injustice if there ever was one.

12. "And that, I think, was the handle - that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of old and evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn't need that. Our energy would simply prevail. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look west, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark - that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back."




Right about now, we're coming into what are my truly favorite movie quotes. And I begin with this. Regardless of what you may think about Fear and Loathing, this quote is dynamic. I can think of nothing better that sums up the 1960s, and especially the feeling that we came so close to becoming the Great Society the United States could have been...but we failed.

Yes, these are the words of Hunter S. Thompson. But the way they are delivered in the film matters. There's a weariness in the delivery, and it turns great prose into a great quote.

I couldn't find another reference to this quote while I was looking for it in the context of the movie. If this quote isn't catalogued in Google, what else is Google not telling us? No matter. Great quote, the best of the ones that are decidedly unpoetic.

11. "Honey? Sugarbuns? This machine just called me an asshole!"



Pretty simple. Stephen King says this line, and then AC/DC starts playing over the opening credit sequence. Can you think of a better opening to a movie?

WHO MADE WHO?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jvqPvDUEW8

Sure can! Pulp Fiction and, I don't know, dozens and dozens of other cold openings. Raising Arizona has a great opening although it doesn't have a machine calling Stephen King an asshole.

Yeah seriously. I think the line is silly and fun, but pretty much every movie ever has a better opening