Top 5 Movie Speeches

#5 – V for Vendetta

“Words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning and for those who will listen the annunciation of truth. And the truth is there is something terribly wrong with this country.”

This movie is one of the best written scripts ever so you can be pretty safe and pick out any of Hugo Weaving’s monologues in it and throw any of them into a “Best Speeches” list. However, his speech that he gives via his virtuous vigilante character aptly named V during his hijacking of all of the tv signals is right up there as one of the best ever given in my book. Listen to it and tell me you do not feel like dawning a Guy Fox mask and joining the revolution?

#4 – Schindler’s List

“This car. Goeth would have bought this car. Why did I keep the car? Ten people right there. Ten people. Ten more people. This pin. Two people. This is gold. Two more people. He would have given me two for it, at least one. One more person. A person, Stern. For this. I could have gotten one more person… and I didn’t! And I… I didn’t!”

The nazi film genre has steadily become a favorite style of mine over the years. Therefore it is no surprise that Schindler’s List finds its way on this list. When Liam Neeson started taking off his lapel and his ring it immediately took that scene too a new level of emotion. I didn’t cry (partly because I am a heartless robot) but It still got to me.

#3 – Fight Club

“You’re not your job. You’re not how much money you have in the bank. You’re not the car you drive. You’re not the contents of your wallet. You’re not your f*cking khakis. You’re the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world.

I am pretty sure that when they were naming this film they wanted to call it “Existentialism Club” but figured that would have been giving away too much. Tyler Durden gives several very powerful speeches and monologues throughout the film so this was another one that I could have pulled plenty of choices from. Instead I chose this little ditty. It uses vivid imagery and word usage to an almost Hitler type level that embodies Tyler’s urban chaos movement. And you just have to love his line “you are not your f*cking khakis”.

#2 – 300

“My children, gather round! No retreat, no surrender; that is Spartan law. And by Spartan law we will stand and fight… and die. A new age has begun. An age of freedom, and all will know, that 300 Spartans gave their last breaths to defend it!”

This movie is the ultimate battle rouser that was ever made. I remember numerous times while watching it for the first time that I was very much ready to jump out of my seat and yell “HOO-AH!” with the Spartans if not for the fact that I was in a crowded theater. The King Leonidas character has some of the best lines ever in this movie (i.e. the unforgettable (This is Sparta!” cry he makes in the beginning of the film) so I chose his speech he gives his men the night before their big battle.

#1 – Good Will Hunting

“So if I asked you about art, you’d probably give me the skinny on every art book ever written. Michelangelo, you know a lot about him. Life’s work, political aspirations, him and the pope, sexual orientations, the whole works, right? But I’ll bet you can’t tell me what it smells like in the Sistine Chapel. You’ve never actually stood there and looked up at that beautiful ceiling; seen that.”

Good Will Hunting probably wasn’t what you were expecting as my number one choice. Bet you figured I’d throw in Braveheart or Return of the King or something, one of those well known speeches that will be remembered till eternity. Nope, I picked good ol’ Robin Williams and Matt Damon. This speech is probably the speech that got Robin his oscar. I love how he starts this conversation with Will by saying “You’re just a kid, you don’t have the faintest idea what you’re talkin’ about.” and then continues to peel away everything about Will’s character that he has been hiding and defending against. Not many people can argue against this being a fantastic monologue and it’s my #1 of all time.

10 things I learned from watching “No Country For Old Men”

10. Never laugh at someone’s bowl cut.

9. The bags under Tommy Lee Jones’ eyes could hold a pound of rice each.

8. Telling a border agent you are a Vietnam Veteran will get you back across the border, even if you are wearing nothing but a hospital gown and some boots.

7. Texans transport bodies from a crime scene on a flatbed truck by dudes that are dumber than a bag of hammers.

6. Boots are cool. The pointier, the sexier.

5. Woody Harrellson used to be a top-billed actor. Now he pops up in the strangest places.

4. Josh Brolin has come a long way for a Goonie.

3. In Coen world, (the quirky dimension cooked up by the Coen Brothers in movies like Fargo, The Big Lebowski, and O Brother) interesting old men pop up with interesting things to say at every turn. Then they are usually dispatched in a clever wide-shot.

2. If someone is walking towards you with an odd looking air tank with a thingamabob on the end. You no longer have to ask, “What’s that thing there?” You run.

1. Never, under any circumstances, work as a motel clerk at a cheap Texas motel. You’re dead for sure. It is especially hazardous if someone tips you a bloody Benjamin. Unless you are an annoying, overweight, old woman, then you’re safe.

the underdog of summer

I am an avid movie fan. I am also an avid comic book fan. Two things I will geek out on any day with little warning. Therefore, as far as math is concerned, if you were to put those two elements together logic states that it should make a good combo and I should be very well pleased. Unfortunately, as far as the majority goes, I have not been very happy with the comic book film industry. For every Batman Begins we have a Spider-man, Fantastic Four & Ghost Rider to push the scales back to crappy movies being in favor. In fact, it is more likely to get an actual good comic book movie from a sequel than from a first attempt (i.e. going from X-Men to X-Men II). So I am going to be honest with you, when they released the announcement that Iron Man was in the making I was conflicted. The fanboy in me was excited to get to geek out at another super hero flick and the cinesnob in me was grumbling with angst because I knew that the chances of it actually being good were slim to none. But now, after closer speculation & despite the fact that it is going to have to contend against the return of Batman and Indiana, Iron Man is looking quite promising. Here’ why:

1) The people at Marvel took a very odd but potentially very smart chance and named John Favreau, the genius who brought Elf into our lives, as director.

2) Probably the best casting choice yet in comic book films (right next to Mr. Bale obviously) was made and Robert Downey Jr. was appointed the role of Tony Stark. The dude is channeling Iron Man straight from the pages.

3) The trailers actually make it look like the movie is going to not only be true to the themes & characters of the original comci book but it will also actually be in good taste and believable. (Did anybody understand why in Spider-Man 3 that getting an alien symbiote attached to you equaled turning emo and learning classical dancing moves?) The witty quips recited by Mr. Downey are humorous but not corny, unlike the majority of the script in FF4’s first film.

All in all, I may actually let me inner fanboy get totally excited and not keep him restrained like I planned on so he wouldn’t get disappointed again like after seeing The Hulk (i know, the graphics kicked ass but that movie sucked the big one).