I love movies!!
Comedy, drama, action, chick flick, guy flick, it doesn’t matter. If it is a good movie, I like it. If it is a great movie, I can like it over and over and over again. I can watch a really good movie multiple times and never get tired of it. To me, there are three main ingredients that make a great movie: the actors, the characters and the lines. Now many people will think “Duh, what else is there?”, but let me explain my thoughts. I can watch a movie and mildly enjoy it if it has a good story but bad acting because I can appreciate the story. I can enjoy a movie if it has great special effects, but either a weak story or poor acting. I can even enjoy watching a movie once if there is a good character but bad story, such as the movie “No Country For Old Men”. I don’t see myself ever watching that movie again because I did not like the story, but the guy that played the hired killer did a fantastic job. He was immersed in the character and was totally believable. Even though he did not say much, when he did speak he usually had a sadistic wit to his lines that made his character complete.
Now, back to the three main ingredients to a great movie and why I chose these three. It is important that you have all three because if you leave out one, the movie probably just lost its great rating. The actor is important, because you could have a great character with great lines, but if the wrong person is cast, the character is not believable (Imagine John Candy as Captain Jack Sparrow). The character has to be there because if they are not important to the story or distinctive for some reason (funny, crazy, etc), people won’t remember them once the movie is over. And the lines have to be there because that’s what weirdoes like me like to quote long after the movie has ended. A very good example of all three of these things being present is Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight. If you did not know it was Heath, it would have been hard to figure out who the actor was because he was the Joker, from his actions to his words. His lines were funny, in a menacing way, and he was believable. I can quote most of his lines from memory.
Why is it that certain lines stand out and others don’t? My uncle and I incorporate movie lines into nearly every conversation that we have. Our wives have gotten used to it by now and sometimes they join us. Sometimes they will quote one that they have heard from us and ask us what movie it was from. I can usually tell what movie it was from, who said it, who they said it to and what part of the move it was from. Too bad I can’t remember everything like I can movie lines.
Some of our often used lines include:
“They were cones!” , The Wedding Singer
“Can you fly, Bobby?” Clarence Bodiger, Robocop
“He didn’t know, Petey.” Blue, Remember the Titans
“You know what you are? You’re a tomato.” Mickey, Rocky
“I definitely got to get me one of these!” Capt. Steven Hillard, Independence Day
“I can fly. I’m a pilot.” Russell Case, Independence Day
“All too easy.” Darth Vader, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
“I’d buy that for dollar.” Old man on game show, Robocop
Well, I guess that is enough for now. More to come later.
McSkagar signing off.
