Inspired by Pam
I suffer from insomnia now and then, usually brought on by worry: worry about my health, money, family, non-dating status, etc. All these things have been known to weigh heavily on my mind and sometimes preventing me from getting a good night’s sleep. The good news: late night television! I can always rely on some station somewhere showing a repeat. Not all nights mind you (can’t tell you how many times I have been lulled to sleep by someone selling the PX90 workout system, a bag of doritos spilling onto the floor as I finally crash) but on those rare occasions, I will find a movie I haven’t seen in ages and just have to watch. Like the warm blanket I’m usually already wrapped up in, I lose myself to my familiar friend and enjoy a chuckle or two.
Young Frankenstein is the perfect comedy. A stunning spectacle, this movie captures all of these comedic actors at the height of their powers and timing. Even though I have this on dvd and know the movie by heart, I cannot help myself but stop and watch whenever I see it on tv. Now some quotes:
- Igor: You know, I’ll never forget my old dad. When these things would happen to him… the things he’d say to me.
- Dr. Frankenstein: What did he say?
- Igor: “What the hell are you doing in the bathroom day and night? Why don’t you get out of there and give someone else a chance?”
Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Absurdist humor at it’s finest.
- Frenchman: You don’t frighten us, English pig-dogs! Go and boil your bottoms, sons of a silly person! I blow my nose at you, so-called Ah-thoor Keeng, you and all your silly English K-n-n-n-n-n-n-n-niggits! [makes taunting gestures at them]
- Sir Galahad: What a strange person.
- King Arthur: Now, look here, my good man–
- Frenchman: I don’t want to talk to you no more, you empty-headed animal food trough water! I fart in your general direction! Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!
Airplane! Visual gags galore! This movie makes me giggle like a little kid…
Lethal Wapon, the buddy movie that spawned hundreds of imitators and 3 sequels. Mel in a horrible mullet, Danny Glover yelling alot. Unbelievable stoy, destruction and mayhem and lots of dead drug dealers and guns. And only one quote matters for this movie and it’s sequels: “I’m too old for this shit.”
Four Weddings and a Funeral, OK, I admit it, sometimes I’m a big sap. Saw this movie for the first time on the flight back from England after living there for a year so I’m a little nostalgic and wistful when this movie comes on. And yeah, I ignore the obvious flaws in the film (just what the HELL is Andie Macdowal even doing in this film anyway???) and just enjoy it for the silliness…..
Charles: Sorry.. look. Sorry, sorry. I just, ehm, well, this is a very stupid question and… , particularly in view of our recent shopping excursion, but I just wondered, by any chance, ehm, eh, I mean obviously not because I guess I’ve only slept with 9 people, but-but I-I just wondered… ehh. I really feel, ehh, in short, to recap it slightly in a clearer version, eh, the words of David Cassidy in fact, eh, while he was still with the Partridge family, eh, “I think I love you,” and eh, I-I just wondered by any chance you wouldn’t like to… Eh… Eh… No, no, no of course not… I’m an idiot, he’s not… Excellent, excellent, fantastic, eh, I was gonna say lovely to see you, sorry to disturb… Better get on…
Carrie: That was very romantic.
Charles: Well, I thought it over a lot, you know, I wanted to get it just right.
Gareth: I’ve got a new theory about marriage. Two people are in love, they live together, and then suddenly one day, they run out of conversation.
Charles: Uh-huh.
Gareth: Totally. I mean they can’t think of a single thing to say to each other. That’s it: panic! Then suddenly it-it occurs to the chap that there is a way out of the deadlock.
Charles: Which is?
Gareth: He’ll ask her to marry him.
Charles: Brilliant! Brilliant!
Gareth: Suddenly they’ve got something to talk about for the rest of their lives.
Charles: Basically you’re saying marriage is just a way of getting out of an embarrassing pause in conversation.
Gareth: The definitive icebreaker.
The French Connection. Unabashedly politically incorrect, violent and thrilling, this movie is a throwback to honest storytelling and amazing action. Popeye Doyle is one of the most compelling characters ever put to film. And if you have a fascination with car chases, this film contains one of the most amazing car chases you will ever see.
Jimmy ‘Popeye’ Doyle: All right, Popeye’s here! get your hands on your heads, get off the bar, and get on the wall!
The Blues Brothers, unnapreciated in its time, this film is a cult classic of humor, car chases and rhythm and blues! It broke Jon Belushis heart that this film wasn’t more succesful or even acknowledged during its release. Word to the wise: see this film but never see the sequel….THAT will break your heart…
- Elwood: It’s a hundred and six miles to Chicago, we’ve got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it’s dark, and we’re wearing sunglasses.
- Jake: Hit it.
The Commitments, one of my favorite books and definitely a memorable film. A group of irish try to bring soul music to Ireland. Aside froma a few memorable characters, the entire cast are all musicians who do a damn good job playing up their characters as working class people with nothing but a dream and raw talent. The music is incredible and this film never fails to suck me right in…
Jimmy Rabbitte: Soul is the music people understand. Sure it’s basic and it’s simple. But it’s something else ’cause, ’cause, ’cause it’s honest, that’s it. Its honest. There’s no fuckin’ bullshit. It sticks its neck out and says it straight from the heart. Sure there’s a lot of different music you can get off on but soul is more than that. It takes you somewhere else. It grabs you by the balls and lifts you above the shite.
Jimmy Rabbitte Sr: Is this the band then? Betcha U2 are shittin’ themselves.
STar Wars and all its sequels and prequels…yup, I’m a complete and total geek when it comes to Star Wars and no matter whats going on, I always lose myself when this film appears on the screen. I was a wee child when I saw Star Wars in the theaters. Yup, I’m a little old…
- Princess Leia Organa: This is some rescue! You came in here, and you didn’t have a plan for getting out?
- Han Solo: He’s the brains, sweetheart!
- Luke Skywalker: Well, why don’t you –
- [Leia grabs Luke’s blaster and begins shooting at Stormtroopers]
- Han Solo: What the hell are you doing?!
- Princess Leia Organa: Somebody has to save our skins! [blasting a hole with Luke’s blaster in the ventilation shaft] Into the garbage chute, flyboy!
Ok, I’m cheating here, but I’m a sucker for sci-fi, action adventures and the blatantly testosterone driven, guns ablazin, “Get to the Choppahhhh!” and “Get away from her you Bitch!” films…Late night insomnia is a great time to disconnect your brain and just enjoy the spectacle and not think about the cerebral or logical and revel in the explosions, screaming and yelling, car chases and improbable story lines. No quotes here because I think everyone knows all the best lines to these films…
Half Full or Half Empty 
