11 March 2003

According to imdb.com, the London Daily Telegraph just conducted a poll to name the best movie line of all time. The winner is a surprising one, from the heist comedyThe Italian Job, spoken by Michael Caine to a bumbling criminal who has just blown up a truck: "You were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!" I'm sure it's much funnier in context. (Note that audiences will soon be able to thrill to Edward Norton and Mark Wahlberg in the upcoming remake.)

The runner-up is probably the most famous movie line of them all: "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."

I was going to post my own choices, but you know...it's really the actor and the situation, even more than the words, that makes a line great. I realized this after noticing that most of the lines that intially came to mind were spoken by Sean Connery. (My favorites from his oeuvre: "I suddenly remembered my Charlemagne." And: "Isn't that just like a wop? Brings a knife to a gunfight.") Anyway, I'll keep thinking, and maybe later today I'll post my real choice for the best movie line, ever.

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