Perhaps the greatest movie quote ever...

[Catch22Dem]

And its relevence today is astounding. From Good Will Hunting:

Why shouldn't I work for the N.S.A.? That's a tough one, but I'll give it a shot.

Say I'm working at N.S.A. Somebody puts a code on my desk, something nobody else can break. So I take a shot at it and maybe I break it. And I'm real happy with myself, 'cause I did my job well. But maybe that code was the location of some rebel army in North Africa or the Middle East. Once they have that location, they bomb the village where the rebels were hiding and fifteen hundred people I never met, never had a problem with get killed.

Now the politicians are sayin', "Send in the Marines to secure the area" 'cause they don't give a shit. It won't be their kid over there, gettin' shot. Just like it wasn't them when their number was called, 'cause they were pullin' a tour in the National Guard. It'll be some guy from Southie takin' shrapnel in the ass. Then he comes home to find that the plant he used to work at got exported to the country he just got back from. And the guy who put the shrapnel in his ass got his old job, 'cause he'll work for fifteen cents a day and no bathroom breaks.

Meanwhile my buddy from Southie realizes the only reason he was over there was so we could install a government that would sell us oil at a good price. And of course the oil companies used the skirmish to scare up domestic oil prices so they could turn a quick buck. A cute little ancillary benefit for them but it ain't helping my buddy at two-fifty a gallon. And naturally they're takin' their sweet time bringin' the oil back, and maybe even took the liberty of hiring an alcoholic skipper who likes to drink martinis and play slalom with the icebergs, and it ain't too long 'til he hits one, spills the oil and kills all the sea life in the North Atlantic.

So my buddy's out of work and he can't afford to drive, so he's got to walk to the job interviews, which sucks 'cause the shrapnel in his ass is givin' him chronic hemorrhoids. And meanwhile he's starvin' 'cause every time he tries to get a bite to eat the only blue plate special they're servin' is North Atlantic scrod with Quaker State.

So what do I think? I'm holdin' out for somethin' better. Why not just shoot my buddy, take his job and give it to his sworn enemy, hike up gas prices, bomb a village, club a baby seal, hit the hash pipe and join the National Guard? I could be elected president.

[flamingyouth]

1. That was sublime - particularly the last paragraph

When I saw that movie, I thought I was going to hyperventilate during that scene! :thumbsup:

[bigwillq]

2. GWH-Classic Movie

And yes that is a classic quote.

[democracyindanger]

3. My vote for runner-up, Iraq category

From "Clerks"

Randal: So they build another Death Star, right?
Dante: Yeah.
Randal: Now the first one they built was completed and fully operational before the Rebels destroyed it.
Dante: Luke blew it up. Give credit where it's due.
Randal:And the second one was still being built when they blew it up.
Dante: Compliments of Lando Calrissian.
Randal: Something just never sat right with me the second time they destroyed it. I could never put my finger on it-something just wasn't right.
Dante: And you figured it out?
Randal: Well, the thing is, the first Death Star was manned by the Imperial army-storm troopers, dignitaries- the only people onboard were Imperials.
Dante: Basically.
Randal: So when they blew it up, no prob. Evil is punished.
Dante: And the second time around...?
Randal: The second time around, it wasn't even finished yet. They were still under construction.
Dante: So?
Randal: A construction job of that magnitude would require a helluva lot more manpower than the Imperial army had to offer. I'll bet there were independent contractors working on that thing: plumbers, aluminum siders, roofers.
Dante: Not just Imperials, is what you're getting at.
Randal: Exactly. In order to get it built quickly and quietly they'd hire anybody who could do the job. Do you think the average storm trooper knows how to install a toilet main? All they know is killing and white uniforms.
Dante: All right, so even if independent contractors are working on the Death Star, why are you uneasy with its destruction?
Randal: All those innocent contractors hired to do a job were killed- casualties of a war they had nothing to do with. (notices Dante's confusion) All right, look-you're a roofer, and some juicy government contract comes your way; you got the wife and kids and the two-story in suburbia-this is a government contract, which means all sorts of benefits. All of a sudden these left-wing militants blast you with lasers and wipe out everyone within a three-mile radius. You didn't ask for that. You have no personal politics. You're just trying to scrape out a living.
(The Blue-Collar Man (Thomas Burke) joins them.)
Blue-Collar Man: Excuse me. I don't mean to interrupt, but what were you talking about?
Randal: The ending of Return of the Jedi.
Dante: My friend is trying to convince me that any contractors working on the uncompleted Death Star were innocent victims when the space station was destroyed by the rebels.
Blue-Collar Man: Well, I'm a contractor myself. I'm a roofer... (digs into pocket and produces business card) Dunn and Reddy Home Improvements. And speaking as a roofer, I can say that a roofer's personal politics come heavily into play when choosing jobs.
Randal: Like when?
Blue-Collar Man: Three months ago I was offered a job up in the hills. A beautiful house with tons of property. It was a simple reshingling job, but I was told that if it was finished within a day, my price would be doubled. Then I realized whose house it was.
Dante: Whose house was it?
Blue-Collar Man: Dominick Bambino's.
Randal: "Babyface" Bambino? The gangster?
Blue-Collar Man: The same. The money was right, but the risk was too big. I knew who he was, and based on that, I passed the job on to a friend of mine.
Dante: Based on personal politics.
Blue-Collar Man: Right. And that week, the Foresci family put a hit on Babyface's house. My friend was shot and killed. He wasn't even finished shingling.
Randal: No way!
Blue-Collar Man: (paying for coffee) I'm alive because I knew there were risks involved taking on that particular client. My friend wasn't so lucky. (pauses to reflect) You know, any contractor willing to work on that Death Star knew the risks. If they were killed, it was their own fault. A roofer listens to this... (taps his heart) not his wallet.

[Catch22Dem]

4. Damn, I forgot all about that one

Very nice!

[Cyrano]

5. Great Quote from GWH

Here's looking at you kid.

And before anyone makes any cracks about age, It's not the years, it's the mileage.

(on edit: this is a reply to original quote.)

[alvis]

6. Raiders of the Lost Ark?

[Cyrano]

9. Right

Raiders of the Lost Ark.

I'm shocked, shocked that no one else got that.

What the hell, I knew I should have left the gun and taken the cannolies(sp?). Okay, I'm not a member of the spelling police, but hey, people like me, we don't need no stinking badges.

[alvis]

16. Woot! n/t

[Imperialism Inc.]

7. And don't forget the reference to Howard Zinn.

A great movie that I still watch from time to time.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119217/trivia
When Will (Matt Damon) and Sean ('Robin Williams' ) meet for the first time in Sean's office, Will recommends that Sean read Howard Zinn's "People's History of the United States". As a boy, Matt Damon was Zinn's neighbor and provided the voice for the CD recording of that book.

[Gildor Inglorion]

8. "He's not a floozy; he can't BE a floozy. YOU'RE a floozy!"

Sandy Dennis to Elizabeth Taylor (re: Richard Burton) in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"

[SheilaT]

10. From the movie Hud:

Melvyn Douglas saying: "Little by little the look of the country changes because of the men we admire."

It's the most prophetic line ever.

[Cyrano]

11. Well, all I have to say to that is

Rosebud.

[justjones]

12. How can you guys remember these things....

Saw both movies and the quotes are incredible, but I don't remember hearing them, although I have no doubt they were spoken.

I guess I should have listened to the dialogue in Good Will Hunting instead of being mesmerized by Matt Damon's beautifully magnificent smile....

Betcha the writers of both screenplays would fit right into DU. In fact, we already know Ben's politics and hasn't he collaborated with the writer of Clerks....

I guess I should pay more attention!

[Cyrano]

13. How do you know those writers aren't on DU

They might be, and then again, it's not only Luca Brazzi that sleeps with the fishes.

[justjones]

14. You're absolutely right.....Matt, is that you?!? (n/t)

[Cyrano]

15. Loki would never answer that question directly

but then, Disney also refused to release "Dogma" the same way they refused to release "Fahrenheit 9/11."

[Cyrano]

17. Just Jones

Go to the video store and rent "Dogma."

Matt and Ben. Deja Vu all over again.

[SheilaT]

18. There are other lines I remember

but the one from Hud is my personal all time favorite.

And the reason it has stayed with me, is that I didn't see the movie when it first came out in 1963, even though I was a teenager then and could have. No, I didn't see it until 20 years later, on TV. When I heard that line, I nearly fell off my couch in amazements. How true, how true.

Even now, another two plus decades later, it's as meaningful as ever.

As for the lengthy quotes posted, all you have to do is remember just enough to do a google search and get the whole thing. Google is the most wonderful aspect of the internet.

[Catch22Dem]

19. Isn't that the truth

Also http://www.imdb.com is one of the greatest sites on the internet. If you haven't been there, check it out. Use the search block in the upper left hand corner and type Hud (for example.) Once you get the proper result and you're looking at the movie, note the menu on the left where you have Trivia, Memorable Quotes, etc...

My apologies if you already knew all of this. Maybe someone else will learn about imdb from reading this post instead. ;) Cheers!

[timtom]

20. Dustin Hoffman

"Mrs. Robinson! Would you like to go to a movie?"

[Supply Side Jesus]

21. THE rant from 25th Hour.

(Montgomery Brogan looks at himself in the mirror)

Fuck me? Fuck You! Fuck you and this whole city and everyone in it.

Fuck the panhandlers grubbing for money and smiling at me behind my back. Fuck the squeegee men dirtying up the clean windshield of my car, Get a fuckin job.

Fuck the Shiks and the Pakistanis bombing down the avenues in decrepit cabs, curry steaming out of their pores, stinkin' up my day. Terrorists in fuckin training --SLOW THE Fuck DOWN!

Fuck the Chelsea Boys with their waxed chests and pumped up biceps, going down on each other in my parks and on my piers, jiggling their dicks on my Channel 35!

Fuck the Korean Grocers with their pyramids of over-priced fruit and their tulips and roses wrapped in plastic, ten years in the country still no speaka English.

Fuck the Russians in Brighton Beach. Mobster thugs sitting in cafes, sipping tea in little glasses, sugar cubes between their teeth. Wheelin' and dealin' and scheming, go back where you fuckin came from.

Fuck the black hatted Hasidim, strolling up and down 47th Street in their dirty gabardine with their dandruff, selling South African Apartheid Diamonds.

Fuck the Wall Street Brokers, self-styled masters of the universe. Michael Douglas, Gordon Gecko wannabe motherfuckers figuring out new ways to rob hard working people blind. Send those Enron assholes to jail for fuckin life! You think Bush and Cheney didn't know about that shit? Give me a fuckin break. Tyco, Inclone, Adelphia, Worldcom.

Fuck the Puerto Ricans, twenty to a car swelling up the welfare, world's worst fuckin' parade in the city. And don't even get me started on the Dumb-inicans, cause they make the Puerto Ricans look good.

Fuck the Benson Hearst Italians with their pomaded hair, their nylon warmup suits, their St. Anthony medallions, swinging their Jason Giambi Louisville Slugger baseball bats, trying to audition for The Sopranos.

Fuck the Upper East Side wives with their Hermes scarves, and their fifty dollar Balducci artichokes. Over-fed faces, getting pulled and lifted and stretched all taut and shiny, You're not foolin' anybody, sweetheart!

Fuck the Uptown Brothers. They never pass the ball, they don't want to play defense, they take 5 steps on every layup to the hoop, and then they wanna turn around and blame everything on the White man. Slavery ended One Hundred and Thirty Seven years ago, move the Fuck on!

Fuck the corrupt cops with their anus violating plungers and their 41-shots, standing behind the Blue Wall of Silence, You betray our trust!

Fuck the priests who put their hands down some innocent child's pants. Fuck the church that protects them while delivering us to evil, and while you're at it, Fuck J.C. He got off easy, a day on the cross, a weekend in Hell, and all the hallelujahs of the leigoned angels for eternity. Try seven years in fuckin' Otisville, J.

Fuck Osama bin Laden, Al Quaeda, and backward-ass, cave dwelling fundamentalist assholes everywhere. On the names of innocent thousands murdered, I pray you spend the rest of eternity with your 72 whores, roasting in a Jet-Fueled fire in hell. You towel-headed Camel Jockeys can kiss my royal Irish ass!

Fuck Jacob Elinsky, whining malcontent. Fuck Francis Xavier Slaughtery, my best friend, judging me while he stares at my girlfriend's ass. Fuck Naturelle Riviera. I gave her my trust and she stabbed me in the back. Sold me up the river. Fucking bitch. Fuck my father with his endless grief, standing behind that bar, sipping on club soda, selling whiskey to firemen and cheering the Bronx Bombers.

Fuck this whole city and everyone in it. From the rowhouses in Astoria to the Penthouses on Park Avenue. From the projects in the Bronx to the lofts in Soho. From the tenaments in Alphabet City to the brownstones in Park-slope to the split-levels on Staten Island. Let an earthquake crumble it. Let the fires rage, let it burn to fuckin ash, and let the waters rise and submerge this whole rat infested place.

No. Fuck you Montgomery Brogan. You had it all and you threw it away. You Dumb Fuck!

[Catch22Dem]

25. Haven't seen it yet, but WOW

I truly think Ed Norton is one of the best actors of my generation. I hope to grow old watching his movies!!!

[Catshrink]

22. "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn!"

In my perverse moments as a teacher, after listening to every lame excuse, I would love to say this...

One of my fellow teachers just says: "Sucks to be you."

[Tom_Foolery]

23. "What we got here is failure to communicate."

Strother Martin in COOL HAND LUKE.

[arwalden]

24. Welease Wodger!

[Supply Side Jesus]

26. A little Fight Club...

"I see in Fight Club, the strongest and smartest men who've ever lived. I see all this potential. And, I see squandering. God damn it! An entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables: slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing car and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man--no purpose or place. We have no great war. No great depression. Our great war's a spiritual war. Our great depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires and movie gods and rock stars . . . but we won't. We're slowly learning that fact and we're very, very pissed off."

Love that one.

[Southsideirish]

27. "Only the winner goes to dinner" True Confessions

[Southsideirish]

28. "When yer right, yer right -------- and yer right!!" Chinatown

[Ernesto]

29. From The Godfather:

Kate: "Don't be naive Micheal, senators and congressmen don't kill people."
Micheal to Kate: "Now look who's being naive."

[bmbmd]

30. Also from the Godfather

"Don Corleone".

[Ernesto]

31. ?