Jason Fraley, WTOP film critic
WASHINGTON – Finding great movie lines is like shooting Luca Brasi fish in a barrel. The problem becomes not what you’re going to include, but which great lines are you going to cut?
So, in order to include more great lines, I took the liberty of grouping together famous quotes that come from the same movie (i.e. “Casablanca” could have its own list) and quotes spoken by the same character across several movies (i.e. Dirty Harry).
I judged the quotes on quotability and cultural impact. Some are cleverly written (“Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn”), others the result of improv (“You’re gonna need a bigger boat”) and others yet have become so common (“Fasten your seatbelts”) it’s easy to forget they come from the movies.
Here’s the list of Hollywood’s finest:
100. “Wait a minute! You ain’t heard nothin’ yet!” – Al Jolson – “The Jazz Singer” (1927)
99. “I drink your milkshake!” – Daniel Day-Lewis – “There Will Be Blood” (2007)
98. “Children of the night! What music they make.” – Bela Lugosi – “Dracula” (1931)
97. “Argo f*ck yourself” – Alan Arkin – “Argo” (2012)
96. “Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys” – Robin Williams – “Dead Poets Society” (1989)
95. “You get nothing! You lose! Good day sir!” – Gene Wilder – “Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory” (1971)
94. “I’m not going to be ignored, Dan” – Glenn Close – “Fatal Attraction” (1987)
93. “I’m the king of the world!” – Leonardo DiCaprio – “Titanic” (1997)
92. “Yippee ki-ya” – Bruce Willis – “Die Hard” (1988)
91. “You’re a cookie full of arsenic” – Burt Lancaster – “Sweet Smell of Success” (1957)
90. “Follow the money” – Hal Holbrook – “All the President’s Men” (1976)
89. “Is that hair gel?” – Cameron Diaz – “There’s Something About Mary” (1998)
88. “The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist” – Kevin Spacey – “The Usual Suspects” (1995)
87. “I’m not bad, I’m just drawn that way” – Kathleen Turner – “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” (1988)
86. “Win one for the Gipper” – Ronald Reagan – “Knute Rockne All American” (1940)
85. “Open the pod bay doors, HAL.” “I’m sorry, Dave. I can’t do that.” – Keir Dullea & Douglas Rain – “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968)
84. “This one time at band camp” – Alyson Hannigan – “American Pie” (1999)
83. “My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die” – Mandy Patinkin – “The Princess Bride” (1987)
82. “Hello, gorgeous” – Barbra Streisand – “Funny Girl” (1968)
81. “To infinity and beyond!” – Tim Allen – “Toy Story” (1995)
80. “I wish I knew how to quit you” – Jake Gyllenhaal – “Brokeback Mountain” (2005)
79. “One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I’ll never know” – Groucho Marx – “Animal Crackers” (1930)
78. “Why don’t you come up sometime and see me?” – Mae West – “She Done Him Wrong” (1933)
77. “Why so serious?” / “Ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?” – Heath Ledger & Jack Nicholson – “The Dark Knight” (2008) / “Batman” (1989)
76. “It’s only a flesh wound” – John Cleese – “Monty Python & The Holy Grail” (1975)
75. “The first rule of Fight Club: You do not talk about Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club: You do *not* talk about Fight Club” – Brad Pitt – “Fight Club” (1999)
74. “Greed, for the lack of a better word, is good” – Michael Douglas – “Wall Street” (1987)
73. “Watch that first step, it’s a doozy” – Stephen Tobolowsky – “Groundhog Day” (1993)
72. “Nobody puts baby in the corner” – Patrick Swayze – “Dirty Dancing” (1987)
71. “Get your stinkin’ paws off me, you damned dirty ape!” – Charlton Heston – “Planet of the Apes” (1968)
70. “Squeal like a pig” – Bill McKinney – “Deliverance” (1972)
69. “I am not an animal!” – John Hurt – “The Elephant Man” (1980)
68. “Snap out of it!” – Cher – “Moonstruck” (1987)
67. “That’ll be the day” – John Wayne – “The Searchers” (1956)
66. “What’s in the box?” – Brad Pitt – “Se7en” (1995)
65. “I’m out of order? You’re out of order! This whole court is out of order!” – Al Pacino – “And Justice for All” (1979)
64. “No wire hangers!” – Faye Dunaway – “Mommie Dearest” (1981)
63. “These go to 11” – Christopher Guest – “This is Spinal Tap!” (1984)
62. “You read the Bible, Ringo? Ezekiel 25:17 … I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy My brothers. And you will know My name is the Lord when I lay My vengeance upon thee!'” – Samuel L. Jackson – “Pulp Fiction” (1994)
61. “Is it safe?” – Laurence Olivier – “Marathon Man” (1976)
60. “We rob banks” – Faye Dunaway & Warren Beatty – “Bonnie and Clyde” (1967)
59. “Bueller? Bueller?” – Ben Stein – “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” (1986)
58. “La de da, la de da” / “Love is too weak a word for what I feel. I luuurve you” – Diane Keaton & Woody Allen – “Annie Hall” (1977)
57. “Donnie, you’re out of your element” – John Goodman – “The Big Lebowski” (1998)
56. “I’m a man!” “Well, nobody’s perfect” – Jack Lemmon & Joe E. Brown – “Some Like it Hot” (1959)
55. “Houston we have a problem” – Tom Hanks – “Apollo 13” (1995)
54. “You can’t fight in here, this is the war room!” – Peter Sellers – “Dr. Strangelove” (1964)
53. “They’re here!” – Heather O’Rourke – “Poltergeist” (1982)
52. “It’s alive! It’s alive!” – Colin Clive – “Frankenstein” (1931)
51. “Forget it Jake, it’s Chinatown” – Buck Henry – “Chinatown” (1974)
50. “I feel the need…the need for speed” – Tom Cruise – “Top Gun” (1986)
49. “Mojo” – Mike Myers – “Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery” (1997)
48. “Made it ma! Top of the world!” / “You dirty (rat)” / “A copper!” – James Cagney – “White Heat” (1949)
47. “Toga! Toga!” – John Belushi – “Animal House” (1978)
46. “You do know how to whistle, don’t you Steve? You just put your lips together, and blow” – Lauren Bacall – “To Have and Have Not” (1944)
45. “They call me Mr. Tibbs!” – Sidney Poitier – “In the Heat of the Night” (1967)
44. “Cinderella story, outta nowhere, a former greenskeeper, now about to become the Masters champion. It looks like a mirac – it’s in the hole!” – Bill Murray – “Caddyshack” (1980)
43. “Get busy living, or get busy dying” – Morgan Freeman – “The Shawshank Redemption” (1994)
42. “Show me the money!” / “Help me help you” / “You complete me” / “You had me at hello” – Tom Cruise & Renee Zellweger – “Jerry Maguire” (1996)
41. “You’ll shoot your eye out!” – Melinda Dillon – “A Christmas Story” (1983)
40. “Say hello to my little friend!” – Al Pacino – “Scarface” (1983)
39. “Hello? McFly?” / “Where we’re going, we don’t need roads” – Thomas Wilson & Christopher Lloyd – “Back to the Future” (1985)
38. “Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings” – Karolyn Grimes – “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946)
37. “Attica! Attica!” – Al Pacino – “Dog Day Afternoon” (1975)
36. “There’s no crying in baseball” – Tom Hanks – “A League of Their Own” (1992)
35. “Yo, Adrian!” – Sylvester Stallone – “Rocky” (1976)
34. “Hey Stella!” – Marlon Brando – “A Streetcar Named Desire” (1951)
33. “I don’t have to show you any stinkin badges!” – Alfonso Bedoya – “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” (1948)
32. “Mrs. Robinson, you’re trying to seduce me” – Dustin Hoffman – “The Graduate” (1967)
31. “Life is like a box of chocolates” / “Stupid is as stupid does” / “Run, Forrest, Run” / “That’s all I have to say about that” – Tom Hanks & Robin Wright – “Forrest Gump” (1994)
30. “Love means never having to say you’re sorry” – Ali MacGraw – “Love Story” (1970)
29. “I see dead people” – Haley Joel Osment – “The Sixth Sense” (1999)
28. “E.T. phone home” – Debra Winger – “E.T. The Extra Terrestrial” (1982)
27. “The…uh…stuff that dreams are made of” – Humphrey Bogart – “The Maltese Falcon” (1941)
26. “A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti” / “It puts the lotion on its skin” – Anthony Hopkins & Ted Levine – “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991)
25. “A boy’s best friend is his mother” – Anthony Perkins – “Psycho” (1960)
24. “Surely you can’t be serious.” “I am serious, and don’t call me Shirley” – Robert Hays & Leslie Nielsen – “Airplane!” (1980)
23. “I’ll be back” / “Hasta la vista baby” – Arnold Swarzenegger – “The Terminator” (1984-1991)
22. “If you build it, he will come” – Phil Alden Robinson – “Field of Dreams” (1989)
21. “I love the smell of napalm in the morning” – Robert Duvall – “Apocalypse Now” (1979)
20. “Rosebud” – Orson Welles – “Citizen Kane” (1941)
19. “Bond, James Bond” / “A martini, shaken not stirred” – Sean Connery – “Dr. No” (1962)
18. “I’m walking here! I’m walking here!” – Dustin Hoffman – “Midnight Cowboy” (1969)
17. “Here’s Johnny!” – Jack Nicholson – “The Shining” (1980)
16. “What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate” – Strother Martin – “Cool Hand Luke” (1967)
15. “My precious!!” – Andy Serkis – “The Lord of the Rings” (2001-2003)
14. “May the force be with you” / “I am your father” – Harrison Ford & James Earl Jones – “Star Wars” (1977) / “The Empire Strikes Back” (1980)
13. “I’m mad as hell and I’m not gonna take this anymore!” – Peter Finch – “Network” (1976)
12. “Alright, Mr. Demille, I’m ready for my close-up” / “I am big. It’s the pictures that got small.” – Gloria Swanson – “Sunset Blvd.” (1950)
11. “You can’t handle the truth!” – Jack Nicholson – “A Few Good Men” (1992)
10. “You talkin’ to me?” – Robert DeNiro – “Taxi Driver” (1976)
9. “I’ll have what she’s having” – Estelle Reiner – “When Harry Met Sally” (1989)
8. “You’ve got to ask yourself one question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya, punk?” / “Go ahead, make my day” – Clint Eastwood – “Dirty Harry” (1971) / “Sudden Impact” (1983)
7. “Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy night.” – Bette Davis – “All About Eve” (1950)
6. “You’re gonna need a bigger boat” – Roy Scheider – “Jaws” (1975)
5. “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn” / “Tomorrow is another day” / “As God as my witness, I’ll never go hungry again” – Clark Gable & Vivien Leigh – “Gone With the Wind” (1939)
4. “Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore” / “There’s no place like home” / “Lions and tigers and bears, oh my” / “I’ll get you my pretty, and your little dog, too” / “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain” – Judy Garland, Margaret Hamilton & Frank Morgan – “The Wizard of Oz” (1939)
3. “You don’t understand! I coulda had class! I coulda been a contender! I coulda been somebody. Instead of a bum, which is what I am, let’s face it. It was you, Charlie. It was you, Charlie” – Marlon Brando – “On the Waterfront” (1954)
2. “I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse” / “It’s not personal, it’s strictly business” / “Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer” / “I know it was you, Fredo, you broke my heart” / “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!” – Marlon Brando & Al Pacino – “The Godfather” (1972-1990)
1. “Here’s lookin’ at you kid” / “Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine” / “Play it Sam” / “Round up the usual suspects” / “We’ll always have Paris” / “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship” – Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains – “Casablanca” (1942)
Follow WTOP Film Critic Jason Fraley on Twitter @AboveTheJFray or on his blog The Film Spectrum.
