“Look, we can discuss sexism in survival situations when I get back”
-Laura Dern, in Jurassic Park
Practically perfect in every possible way
Julie Andrews, in Mary Poppins
I’ll admit I only scanned this thread, so forgive me if I’m repeating. (I was going to mention Lauren Bacall’s “Put your lips together and blow”, but I did see that one already.)
“I never dreamed that any mere physical sensation could be so stimulating!” – Katherine Hepburn, The African Queen
“I don’t know nothin’ ‘bout birthin’ no babies!” – Butterfly McQueen, Gone With the Wind
“You’re just a simple farm boy; the rest of us are sophisticated beatniks!” – the obnoxious blonde in A Bucket of Blood
“Hand over that baby, you warthog from hell!” – Holly Hunter, Raising Arizona
“Don’t you come back without a baby, Hy!” – (ibid.)
“Girl clothes!” – Holly Hunter, Always and Irene Dunne, A Guy Named Joe
“The prowler needs a jump.” – Frances MacDormand, Fargo
Someday I’ll learn how to quote but WildestBill said this
"And if you don’t believe that it is true, list as many lines as you can from women and then from men and see which one has more.
We did it with the people at the restaurant and there was a big disparity between the two."
If I had never seen a single film ever, I would quickly agree that this is probably true since
Most screen writers are men
Most directors are men
Most producers are men
Most CEOs at the film companies are men
etc etc etc
So if you did go, line by line through every film we have and kept note of really good lines and who said them then yeah, there’d probably be a disparity, but as we can see there are a lot of good lines for both sexes.
My fav female line comes from TV
Matthew (i’ll have to paraphrase here) “So how about it Beth, looks like you and I are going to swap some spit.”
Beth “Tell you what, why don’t I just spit on you from over here.” csg
Obfus dude
The one time a band camp line is from American Pie a rather recent film.
Of all the Wizard of Oz quotes how could you leave out…
I’ll get you my pretty and your little dog too!
Fly Monkeys Fly!
Then of course there is
I’ll never let go Jack. I’ll never let go.
(Titanic another recent film)
Watch Almost Famous there are tons and tons of great lines from both sexes.
Like…
This song will explain why I must leave home.
If you harm him, damage his spirit, keep him from his chosen profession which is law, something you may not value but I do, you will meet the voice at the other end of this phone and it will not be a pretty thing.
Your time has come.
You can Count on Me has some great lines for Laura Linny
Or how about Julia Roberts
They’re called boobs Ed.
You work on commission don’t you? Big mistake. Hugh!
or how about this one which I won’t even admit to having seen the film.
Actually, you may be on to something. This will probably be seen as sexist, but oh well…
My understanding is that, in general, women are more emotive (or maybe I mean emotionally expressive), both IRL and on-screen. And you just can’t convey emotional complexities in one line.
Men on-screen are more action-driven, they’re more doing than feeling, and it’s easier to sum-up what you’re doing in one line.
It may be unfair to present this whole situation as a symptom of “male-dominated Hollywood”. It’s possible this is just another example of the differences between male and female dynamics.
Men might get memorble single lines, but I think women get better dialogue. Right now I’m thinking of Judi Dench’s scene as the Queen at the end of “Shakespeare in Love”. I can’t remember a word of it, but I DO remember the emotions of the scene.
Damn! I was getting so excited… almost at the end of the thread and nobody had mentioned it…
In My Cousin Vinny(1992), Marisa Tomei has a few pretty memorable lines…
“Oh yeah - you blend.”
“…my biological clock ::stomp stomp stomp:: …”
Also, the whole speech about the deer which I won’t embarrass myself by misquoting.
“Why you stuck up, half-witted, scruffy-looking nerfherder!”
“I’d just as soon kiss a wookiee!”
“Aren’t you a little short for a stormtrooper?”
“Would somebody get this walking carpet out of my way?”
“Look: I don’t you know who you are, or where you came from. But from now on, you’re going to do what I tell you to!”
-all from the immortal Princess Leia
“I’d rather be his whore than your wife.”
“The difference between Cal’s taste in art and mine is that I have some.”
“I know. It doesn’t make any sense. That’s why I trust it.”
“You unimaginable bastard!”
“Jack, I want you to draw me like one of your French girls. Wearing this. Wearing only this.”
“I know what icefishing is!”
“I don’t see what all the fuss is about. It doesn’t look any bigger than the Mauretania.”
“I’m through being polite, goddammit-take me down!”
“You jump, I jump right?”
“I’m flying!”
-Kate Winslet in Titanic. Come on, tell me the first one ISN’T the best line! (everybody just SHUT UP!)
“Men are such babies!”
“Dimitri, do you really think I’m royalty? Then stop bossing me around!”
“This is for Dimitri! This is for my family! And this, this is for you! Dasvidanya!”
“What, what-why are you circling me-what, where you a vulture in another life?”
“Hmmph! Be grateful, Anya. I am grateful-grateful to get away!”
“Go left, she says! Well, I know what’s to the left. I’ll be Anya the Orphan forever!”
“I am NOT afraid of you!”
“Great, a dog wants me to go to St. Petersburg.”
-Anya, Anastasia.
“The Lion in Winter” is great. There are a lot of witty exchanges between Katherine Hepburn’s Queen Eleanor and King Henry II (the name of the actor eludes me).
Eleanor: So glad you let me out of prison, Dear.
Henry: Its’ only for the holidays.
Henry: When pigs fly!
Eleanor: There will be pork in the treetops by dawn!
Henry: Give me a little peace.
Eleanor: How about I give you eternal peace.
Dazed and Confused: You guys are doing really well. They did it to me when I was a freshman, and you’ll do it when you’re a senior. Now FRY LIKE BACON, YOU LITTLE FRESHMAN PIGGIES!!
Raising Arizona: Give me back my baby, you warthog from hell!!
Romancing the Stone: [Michael Douglas] You ever smoked pot?
[Kathleen Turner] I went to college!
Henry: The day those stout hearts band together is the day that pigs get wings!
Eleanor: There’ll be pork in the treetops come morning.
Sorry to be so exacting about this, but this is, in my opinion, the greatest movie ever made, and the dialogue between Henry and Eleanor is consistently great:
Eleanor (responding to Henry’s threat to have the their marriage annulled and for him to take on a new wife): Suppose I hold you back a year? It’s possible. Suppose your first child dies? Ours did. How old is daddy then? What kind of gammy handed, wizened line of things will you beget?
Later:
Henry (responding to Eleanor’s threat to have their son, Richard, kill any new sons Henry might have): You wouldn’t do a thing like that.
Eleanor: I’d push him through the nursery door.
Eleanor has all the great lines:
Eleanor (visiting her sons in jail): But today I felt such love for each of you, and so I brought you breakfast. (Removes the lid from a serving tray she’s carrying, revealing knives she’s brought to help her sons escape)
Or from earlier in the movie:
Geoffrey: “I don’t care who’s king. I just want to watch the two of you (Henry and Eleanor) go picnicking on one another.”
Eleanor: “You have a gift…for hating.”
I love this movie. I recommend it to anyone. If my very favorite doper is reading this, I’ll beg her–please, please see this movie. You won’t be disappointed!