I love movies, and I like to think of myself as somewhat of a movie connoisseur. I own hundreds of them, and my collection is growing all the time. One of my favorite things to do is pop in one of my favorite movies after a long day and snuggle up to watch it. Some movies I’ve seen so many times that I could quote nearly the entire thing from memory, but that doesn’t take away from my enjoyment of them. I’ve compiled a group of the most memorable movie quotes from several of my favorite films. I hope they bring back some good memories of these movies that you’ve seen, or encourage you to check out some of the ones you haven’t.
“Hey it’s Daddy, put Mommy on the phone. Yeah hey lookit, I ain’t never coming home no more…take it easy.”~Bugsy Calhoun, “Harlem Nights”
In this part of the film, Vera sends one of her “girls” to “turn out” or distract Bugsy Calhoun so that Quick and Sugar Ray’s group can rob him. The girl Vera sends is called “Sunshine” because “her pussy is so good that if you throw it up in the air, it would turn into sunshine”. She seduces Bugsy and in this quote he is calling home to tell his wife that he’s leaving her. To me this quote stands out because it shows how easily someone can make a mistake that will change their life forever. Bugsy decided to leave his wife and child for a woman that he barely knew, and he ended up getting arrested and thrown in jail because of it.
“You can’t die…you just gotta make it…if you don’t make it…I’ll kill you…you hear me bitch? You die and I’ll kill ya”~Ike Turner, “What’s Love Got To Do With It”
In this part of the film, an over worked, abused, and exhausted Tina Turner (also known as Anna Mae Bullock) attempts to commit suicide by overdosing on prescription pills. This quote takes place in the ambulance ride to the hospital as Tina’s husband and abuser Ike Turner talks to her seemingly unconscious body. To me this quote shows just how possessive and crazy Ike Turner’s character in the movie really is. He is not concerned with his wife’s wellbeing at all, and the irony of his over the top statement is almost comical.
“Eat the cake Anna Mae!”-Ike Turner, “What’s love got to do with it”
In possibly one of the most memorable scenes of the movie, Ike Turner along with his wife Tina and the rest of their band stop in at a local diner to get something to eat. Tina get recognized by two children who ask for her autograph, and Ike’s jealousy is apparent. At this point in the movie, Tina’s career is taking off without Ike because of a music single she recently released. Ike tells a waitress that he wants a whole cake delivered to the table and when he holds up a bite to Tina and tries to get her to eat it, she refuses. He gets angry and tries to force the cake in her mouth while shouting the infamous movie quote and ends up getting the cake all over her face. To me, this shows Ike’s desperate attempts to hold on to Tina who could do much better without him. It also shows his intense jealousy that she is becoming a star, but he is being left behind yet again.
“Oh Ron, there are literally THOUSANDS of other men that I should be with instead of you…but I’m about 72% that I love you!”~Veronica Corningstone, “Anchorman”
This movie quote comes at the end of the film, after Ron Burgundy and Veronica Corningstone have been through many trials and tribulations. One of these was the fact that Veronica wanted to be a news anchor, and when she got the chance, she ended up being better at it than Ron. I like this movie quote because of the irony of Veronica trying to tell Ron how she feels about him, but at the same time insulting him by saying there are “thousands” of other men that she should be with instead of him. My favorite part of this is the fact that she uses the odd “72%” to show how sure she is that she loves him.
“60 percent of the time, it works every time”~Brian Fantana, “Anchorman”
In this part of the movie, Veronica Corningstone has just been added to the news station, and each of the 4 male news anchors takes turns trying to get her attention in their own way. Ron Burgundy sits in Brian Fantana’s office as he unveils his cologne collection and asks him which fragrance he’s going to use on her. Brian says that he has a “special” one for her called “Sex Panther, by Odeon” and it has “real bits of panther” in it. As Brian splashes on large amounts of the cologne, he utters this confusing, but funny quote. Ron comments on the smell by saying “it stings the nostrils” and “that smells like pure gasoline”. As Brian walks out on the news floor towards Veronica, several of the staff make comments about how bad the smell is. It’s so bad in fact, that it sets off the fire alarm and Brian literally has to be taken outside and hosed off. I like this movie quote because of its cleverness and the fact that if you really think about it, it doesn’t make much sense.
“Until you do right by me, all you think about gonna crumble”~ Celie Johnson, “The Color Purple”
After being abused and mistreated by “Mister” for the majority of her life, Celie stands up for herself at the end of the movie with this quote. She puts this “curse” on him and then leaves him. It is not known whether she really had “powers” or not, but for the rest of the movie, things go from bad to worse for “Mister” and we see his life and farm fall apart after Celie leaves him. Things seem like they are going to turn around for him at the end of the movie when he decides to “do right” by Celie and help bring her long lost sister back from Africa with Celie’s two children. I this movie quote because it shows that no matter how frail or weak you may think a person is that they might have more strength than you know.
“I like to picture Jesus wearing a tuxedo t-shirt, because it says ‘I want to be formal, but I’m here to party'”~Cal Naughton Jr. ,Talladega nights
Cal says this quote at the dinner table with Ricky Bobby and his family, after Ricky is questioned by his wife about always praying to “baby Jesus”. Ricky responds by saying that he likes “Christmas Jesus” the best and when someone else says grace they can pray to whatever Jesus they want. Cal also comes up with other ways that he likes to “picture Jesus” but this is by far my favorite because of the mental image it conveys.
Ricky Bobby: I hope you have sons. Beautiful, handsome boys. Articulate, educated, and athletic. And I hope they have their legs taken from them, so you can know what this pain is like.
Lucius Washington: [enraged] Don’t you put that evil on me, Ricky Bobby! Don’t you put that on us!”~”Talledega nights”
In this part of the movie, Ricky Bobby is in the hospital after his terrible car crash that takes him out of professional racing. His best friend and team mate Cal, along with his pit crew manager Lucius come to visit him in the hospital where they talk to his doctor. As they watch Ricky play basketball in a wheelchair with other wheelchair bound patients, they fear the worst and ask if he will ever walk again. The doctor responds that his legs are fine and that his paralysis is purely mental. He also says that Ricky just found that wheelchair in a hallway and started using it. This is my favorite quote from this movie because while his friends are trying to convince him that there’s nothing wrong, Ricky thinks that they are just trying to be mean to him, and says this quote to be mean back. Lucius’ reaction is hilarious and gives a little drama, as well as comedy to the scene.
“Brooke: What are these? (holds up a bag with 3 lemons)
Gary: You asked for lemons. What my baby wants my baby gets.
Brooke:There are 3 lemons. I asked for 12. Baby wanted 12.”~”The Breakup”
In this scene, Brooke is getting ready for a dinner party at the condo that she shares with her boyfriend Gary. When he comes home, she tries to get him to help her or to at least take a shower and get ready before everyone gets there but her refuses and says he just wants to unwind and play video games. She goes back into the kitchen while he’s playing video games and sees the lemons and asks him about them. This starts a fight because she said she was making a 12 lemon centerpiece for the table and he argues that it shouldn’t matter since the lemons weren’t even going to be used for the food. They continue to argue and he says that if he knew it was going to be such a big deal he would have bought enough lemons so that each person could have had their own bag of lemons. The company arrives and Gary leaves Brooke to “jump in the shower”. I this movie quote because it shows how a simple disagreement can escalate into something big. Because of this argument and the one following the dinner, Gary and Brooke decide to break up and they spend the majority of the movie trying to “one up” each other.
“I am sick. I am sick, sick, sick of your shit. And when I’m not sick, I’m tired. I’m sick and tired. Now get the car, you old slut.”~Ruby, “Monster in law”
In this part of the movie, Ruby the personal assistant to Viola Fields, the famous and overbearing mother of Dr. Kevin Fields tells Viola how she really feels. Viola spends the majority of the movie trying to break up the engagement between her son and his girlfriend Charlie, because she doesn’t like her. After dealing with Viola’s antics throughout the movie, Ruby utters this quote, which shows that she is at the end of her leash, while at the same time shows that Ruby isn’t scared of Viola like everyone else is. I this movie quote because I have felt the same way Ruby does on many occasions, and I understand how dealing with certain people can be a drain.
Although all of these movies may not win academy awards, or be proclaimed “cinematic masterpieces”, they each have their own charms. Each one is different and plays on a different genre, whether it’s comedy, drama, romantic comedy, etc. they are all worth popping into the DVD player on a rainy day when there’s nothing else to do, even if you’ve seen them hundreds of times before. Who knows, when you watch it this time, you may hear a new memorable quote that you haven’t before.
