That I should have read the book, instead.
Like “True Grit”, an absolutely lovely little book by Charles Portis, that barely takes the length of the movie to read.
Always… no, never go out in a blizzard.
What uncommonly good advice have you learned from the movies?
That if I’m cruising with a date, and I want to increase my chances of scoring I should play side 1 of Zeppelin 4. But I try, and keep coming up with Kashmir.
When you step over the line you risk entering a world of pain.
A world of pain.
That’s from Babylon 5, right?
One of my favorite quotes from a show or movie. JMS was a great writer, but man did he pretty much just have one genius idea that pulled all his talent out.
Sense8 was neat, but a mess.
Party on.
And be excellent to each other.
Serious answer among the snark.
I struggle with depression, and sometimes it’s hard to find the energy to do whatever it is that I need to get done. Shit tends to pile up until it’s a staggering workload that becomes harder to deal with as there’s so much more to do. There are two quotes, one from a movie, one from a book, that I hold on to that helps me deal with life and keep it manageable.
Movie:
In The Matrix, at the beginning, Trinity is fleeing from an agent. She jumps across an alley from a rooftop, crashing through a window in a building on the opposite side and tumbles down a flight of stairs. She lands at the bottom, draws her guns, and targets the window, awaiting the pursuing agent to come flying through. If she stays, she’s dead, but if she gets up and turns to run, she is no longer targeting the window, and the agent may right then come through and kill her. She has to move, and she says to herself, “Get up, Trinity. Get. Up.” Then she gets up and flees towards her exit from the matrix.
When things seem overwhelming and I don’t want to deal with it, I hold onto those words and use them to find the motivation to face the day. It helps break the inertia and get me moving.
Book:
In one of Richard Marcinko’s books about the adventures of Navy SEALS, he offers a quote from one of his SEAL instructors: “You don’t have to like it, you just have to do it.”
Which is true. There’s all sort of shit in life that you don’t want to face, but ignoring it isn’t an option. For some this comes easy, but it’s a struggle for me. Remembering these words helps give me a kick in the ass to get things done.
Ah, you mean “Pain don’t hurt”.
They fuck you at the drive-through.
This is probably the worst out of that whole stupid Jedi “philosophy.” Some other movie had it right, paraphrasing because I don’t remember the movie or the exact words: sometimes to try and fail is more magnificent than to succeed.
17 quatloos to whoever can source and cite the exact quote.
Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.
Always, uh, never forget to check your references.
That’s the same as “do or do not”. “There is no try” means you don’t make a half-hearted attempt.
Or, to make the point in a Scots accent, “Losers whine about doing their best. Winners go home and fuck the prom queen.”
On other topics:
“Helluva thing to kill a man. Take away everything he has, and everything he’s ever gonna have.” (from memory)
“Complaints always go up, never down.”
If you’re a nubile teenage girl in a revealing nightie going to bed in an creepy old house and the lights go out and you hear noises, for god’s sake, DO NOT GO INTO THAT BASEMENT (ATTIC, WHATEVER)
Always bring a saw when you go out looking for a tree for that “fun, old fashioned family Christmas.” And check for squirrels.
Keep your friends close, your enemies closer.
Coffee is for closers.
In all my life, I’ve never put a baby in a corner–take that for what you will.
Mercy is for the weak. A man confronts you, he is the enemy. An enemy deserves no mercy.
This, a thousand times this.
“Do or do not, there is no try” is one of those sound-good but totally inane, empty, smug, out-of-touch pieces of movie advice or movie “sage wisdom” that there is. You can’t do something without trying. When Stephen Curry goes for a 3-pointer, he can’t just “do” it, as if anyone can automatically make a ball go into a basket from thirty feet away on command. He is “trying” to make a 3-pointer. Even Curry, perhaps the best 3-point NBA shooter that there is, still has perhaps a 30-40% chance of missing.