AFI's 100 Best Movie Quotes: "What hump?"

A definite no.

It sounds like a politician's quote to me...something that maybe sounds good in the moment, but when you get home and start thinking about it, it doesn't make any sense.

 

Next: "Oh, Frank, my lips are hot! Kiss my hot lips!" Maj. Margaret Houlihan in "M.A.S.H" (1970)

Uptight nurse has encounter with red-state major. Said encounter is taped and broadcast throughout a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital camp by the other officers, who despise them both. Ha. Ha.

Not inconic, and the film hasn't worn well.

So no.

 

This one's tough, because I never remember the quote, but that's how Margaret got her nickname, so I'm going with maybe.

 

I hated this movie.

 

Next nomination:

"Why don't you get out of that wet coat, and into a dry martini?"

Robert Benchley in "The Major and the Minor" (1942)

It's a good line, but iconic? No.

 

Next nomination:

"We didn't land at Plymouth Rock---Plymouth Rock landed on us!"

Well, that's one way of putting it. Great line, but not generally iconic.

 

I've known the line forever, but had no idea where it was from.

 

That was Denzel Washington as Malcolm X. I often quote this line when I pretend to feel oppressed. Good line from a good movie.

 

Next nomination:


"You ask me if I have a God complex. Let me tell you something: I am God." Dr. Jed Hill (Alec Baldwin) in "Malice" (1992)

Haven't seen this one.

 

This is a very good movie. As Roger Ebert said, it is one of the few movies to feature a serial killer/rapist subplot purely for atmosphere. Lots of red herrings and the cast is very good.

Baldwin is wonderful, Kidman is neurotic to the core and Pullman gives another one of those likeable performances that make you wonder why he isn't a bigger star.

To the line . . . well, it works in the movie certainly . . . but not particularly well out of context. I say no.

 

Next nomination: "You're good, you're very good" Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) in "The Maltese Falcon" (1939)

Bogart says lines like this wonderfully.

Maybe.

 

I don't know, Bogart is so good in this movie, he actually makes lines sing. So it's hard to know if the lines are any good or not.

I prefer the big "I won't be a sap for you" speech, but this works.

 

Next nomination: "The stuff that dreams are made of."

The last line in the movie was (according to John Huston) was ad-libbed by Bogart. It was a response to the question: "What is it?" [ie. the Falcon]

 

It is an ad lib by the coolest actor to ever walk the face of the earth. It is a reference to the finest playwright to ever walk the face of the earth.

That means yes, baby.

We are such stuff as dreams are made on and our little lives are rounded with a sleep . . .

 

Shakespeare?

 

Yeah, The Tempest.

 

Yes, definitely.

 

Next nomination:

"This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." The newspaper editor in "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" (1962)

I think I know what they're trying to say here, but if you pay close attention, they didn't say it right...

 

When you print the legend, legend becomes fact.

 

Then shouldn't it be something like...in a choice between legend and fact, print the legend? What is that 'legend becomes fact' thing?

 

Yeah, I think this quote came up in the previous thread, the one with Stephen King's picks or something.

I said then what I still say: this is hopelessly confusing and expresses a simple thought in a pointlessly complex way.

The idea, I think, is that legend becomes fact when you print it. So when faced with choosing between legend and fact, print the legend and it will become fact.

So, yeah, this is kind of wacky and I think it doesn't belong on any top 100 lists.

 

Next nomination: "I think people should mate for life, like pigeons or Catholics." "Manhattan" (1979)

Mildly funny line, unless you are a pigeon or a Catholic. Iconic quote? No.

 

Agreed

 

Funny. Not 100 best.

 

Next nomination: "Is it safe?" Dr. Christian Szell in "Marathon Man" (1976)

Rule: if it depends on context, then no.

No.