Pre-Rushmore
Bill Murray movies They're filled with everyday
movie-line nuggets: Meatballs ("It just doesn't matter!"),
Caddyshack (my fave is actually
Chevy Chase's "This isn't Russia.
Is this Russia? This isn't Russia."), Stripes ("It's a little
cute."), Ghost Busters ("Whoa, whoa, whoa. Nice shootin', Tex!"),
and
Groundhog Day ("I'm a god. I'm not the god.").
"It's Only Wafer-Thin"
Like this famous line from
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life -
always said when you're stuffed and offered dessert - there are
some lines for which you need little reason to bust out. It's just
a matter of finding your favorites, the ones you put in your mental
Palm Pilot and retrieve when needed. Here are some of my go-to
lines, and the sorts of occasions that call for them.
"Well, Boys, I Reckon This Is It"
When Major T.J. "King" Kong said this to his crew in Dr.
Strangelove, he was telling them what they already knew: Get ready
for the end. So go forth and experience for yourselves the joys of
movie-lining. The next time you're making a presentation to your
co-workers, throw out this reference from The Princess Bride:
"Lemme 'splain. No, there is too much. Lemme sum up." When you've
clearly overstayed your welcome at a dinner party, announce, as
Jeff Goldblum does at the end of
The Big Chill, "We took a secret
vote. We're not leaving. We're never leaving." Or if a book
publisher turns to you on a plane and says, "Hey, you think this
movie-line story, expanded, would make a good book?" simply give
him the Heathers response: "I like it. It's got that
it's-a-cruel-world-let's-throw-ourselves-in-the-abyss type
ambience."
Trust me. He'll take that as a yes.