Neil Simon | Aurora | maid | Arthur So | Dudley Moore
“movies Is Magic”
by
Eric CelesteSeems Like Old Times Didn't see that one coming, did you? But this
Neil Simon script offers so many possibilities, it deserves its own
story. First of all, there are the two lines you repeat in a
Spanish accent, a la Aurora, the maid: "I didn't ask and she didn't
say," and the always gold, "She's not out in the back eating
chicken, that's for sure." Then there are the Chevy Chase lines,
everything from the one you use when someone says something
unintelligible or stupid ("Well said, well spoken, B.G.") to the
one I break out at least once a week, when someone does absolutely
nothing to help solve a problem ("Well, you've done everything
humanly possible.").
Arthur So fun because you get to deliver all of them in a British
accent, since it works for either Dudley Moore's or Sir John
Gielgud's characters. Lines like "Bathing is a very lonely
business" and "If I begin to die, please take this off my head." I
also like the "Where's the rest of this moose?" zinger, but if you
can work that one into the conversation, then you don't really need
my help at this.
Ocean's Eleven Most films need years to a) see if the humor holds
up to multiple viewings, and b) work their way into the pop-culture
ethos so that there's at least a scintilla of a chance your joke
will be recognized and appreciated.
Steven Soderbergh's 2001
version has quickly become an instant classic, though, packed with
lines that give you a cribbed feeling of understated cool. Memorize
this movie, and you'll be surprised how many times you can use
excerpts like "If I'm reading this right … and I like to think that
I am"; "Denim like a jean"; "This is the best part of my day"; and
the one even my wife uses, often at the grocery store when we're
selecting wine, "You think we need one more? You think we need one
more. All right, we'll get one more."
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