GUEST COLUMNIST : Want to chase the blues away? Old movies are a good start
Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2008
In trying to determine what I should write about this week, it occurred to me that a lot of people I know could use a good laugh. So, with the assistance of the Internet Movie Database, what follows is a series of quotes from some of my favorite movies. If you haven't seen a couple of the titles listed below in several years, do yourself a favor this week and watch them all over again. You'll laugh. You'll cry. And maybe you'll thank me later. Enjoy.
Almost Famous Lester Bangs: The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you're uncool.
Airplane Ted Striker: Surely you can't be serious. Rumack: I am serious... and don't call me Shirley.
Anchorman Brian Fantana: I think I was in love once. Ron Burgundy: Really ? What was her name ? Brian Fantana: I don't remember. Ron Burgundy: That's not a good start, but keep going...
Animal House D-Day: War's over, man. Wormer dropped the big one. Bluto: Over ? Did you say "over ?"Nothing is over until we decide it is ! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor ? Hell no ! Otter: Germans ? Boon: Forget it, he's rolling.
Annie Hall Duane: Can I confess something ? I tell you this as an artist, I think you'll understand. Sometimes when I'm driving... on the road at nigh... I see two headlights coming toward me. Fast. I have this sudden impulse to turn the wheel quickly, head-on into the oncoming car. I can anticipate the explosion. The sound of shattering glass. The... flames rising out of the flowing gasoline. Alvy Singer: Right. Well, I have to - I have to go now, Duane, because I, I'm due back on the planet Earth.
The Blues Brothers Elwood: It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses. Jake: Hit it.
Bull Durham Ebby Calvin LaLoosh: A good friend of mine used to say," This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains. "Think about that for a while.
Caddyshack Danny Noonan: I planned to go to law school after I graduated, but it looks like my folks won't have enough money to put me through college. Judge Smails: Well, the world needs ditch diggers, too.
Field of Dreams Dr. Archibald "Moonlight "Graham: Well, you know I... I never got to bat in the major leagues. I would have liked to have had that chance. Just once. To stare down a big league pitcher. To stare him down, and just as he goes into his windup, wink. Make him think you know something he doesn't. That's what I wish for. Chance to squint at a sky so blue that it hurts your eyes just to look at it. To feel the tingling in your arm as you connect with the ball. To run the bases - stretch a double into a triple, and flop face-first into third, wrap your arms around the bag. That's my wish, Ray Kinsella. That's my wish.
Ghostbusters Dr. Ray Stantz: I think we'd better split up. Dr. Egon Spengler: Good idea. Dr. Peter Venkman: Yeah... we can do more damage that way.
Forrest Gump Lieutenant Daniel Taylor: Have you found Jesus yet, Gump ? Forrest Gump: I didn't know I was supposed to be looking for him, sir.
Patton Patton: For over a thousand years, Roman conquerors returning from the wars enjoyed the honor of a triumph - a tumultuous parade. In the procession came trumpeters and musicians and strange animals from the conquered territories, together with carts laden with treasure and captured armaments. The conqueror rode in a triumphal chariot, the dazed prisoners walking in chains before him. Sometimes his children, robed in white, stood with him in the chariot, or rode the trace horses. A slave stood behind the conqueror, holding a golden crown, and whispering in his ear a warning: that all glory is fleeting.
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