Hello to everyone. I’m very excited to be doing my first ever solo blog here in my new LoveCat digs. Forgive my tardiness - this blog took a lot longer to write than I thought it would. Which is as good as time as any to warn you I tend to ramble on subjects I love so, apologies in advance.
Anyone who knows me knows I have a thing for movies – romances in particular. No surprises there I guess J No matter how trashy or fluffy – I love ‘em. In fact if some snooty critic somewhere has given a romance a 1 star review then I’m probably going to love it the mostest. I own all my favs on DVD and would probably have watched each at least 20 times.
There's always a point in each movie where I wait for the line. You know they all have the line. Like when Dirty Harry says, “Make my day”. I think maybe as a writer I recognise these gems more than others because good writing, even in a movie format, jumps right out at you.
Here are some of my favs –
Notting Hill where Julia Roberts says, “After all... I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.” Happy sigh.
The Princess Bride when Westley says, “As you wish,” or Inigo Montoya says, “My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die.”
Bridget Jones’s Diary where Rene Zellweger says, “Hang on a moment, nice boys don’t kiss like that,” and then , then, Colin Firth in his utterly swoon-worthy British accent says, “Oh yes they f*@king do.” Kills me every time! I saw that movie 5 times in the cinema just for that line!
My Big Fat Greek Wedding when Toula says, “Are you kidding? Any second now he's gonna look at me and go, "Ha. Yeah, right, you're so not worth this." And then her brother say “Yes, you are. “ Okay, that one’s a brother sister moment but it’s still so sweet I tear up every time.
When Harry Met Sally where Harry says, “ I love that you get cold when it's 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you're looking at me like I'm nuts. I love that after I spend the day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it's not because I'm lonely, and it's not because it's New Year's Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.” How can a girl say no to that?
Raising Helen where John Corbett says, ‘I got news for you little lady, I’m sexy... yeh... I’m a sexy man of God and I know it.” Awww. If she hadn’t have pashed him right then and there after that I most definitely would have!
Dirty Dancing. Probably one of the most recognisable lines in movie history when Patrick Swayze says, “Nobody puts Baby in a corner.”
And I could go on forever!
But my point is – one of my favourite movie lines ever doesn’t come from a romance, it comes from an action movie. It comes from Die Hard - #4 to be exact.
I’m generally not an action movie kind of girl. Sure, I watch ‘em, I really enjoy ‘em but I don’t go to a cinema and see them five times, if you know what I mean. Except for the Die Hard franchise each of which I have seen multiple times. Every one of the four movies have been gold – and we all know how badly sequels can bomb! In fact I think #4 is probably the best – not bad for a 3rd “sequel” that came out 12 years after the previous one. I am so looking forward to number five – A Good Day to Die Hard - coming out this week (it’s going to be my reward for getting the damn book away). And it better be as good cos it has a lot to live up to! And if not, well hey, the more hair Bruce Willis loses the sexier he gets so if nothing else there’ll be good eye candy.
So. What is the line I hear you ask after I’ve rambled for several hundred words to get to the point? Because the Die Hard franchise is known for quite a few lines – none of which are printable here. But it’s not any of those lines. This is the line.
“That’s what makes you that guy.”
Matt Farrell says it to John Maclean after he asks him why he’s risking his own life to save the world and John says, “Because there's no body else to do it right now, that's why. Believe me, if there were somebody else to do it, I'd let them do it, but there's not. So we're doing it.”
And then Matt says, “That’s what makes you that guy.”
And you know, the line at that point in the movie, whilst searingly insightful, isn’t what makes it great. What makes it truly great is when John says its back to skinny, nerdy, fraidy-cat Matt after Matt’s saves John’s daughter’s life. And that’s when it becomes THE line. That’s when I get tears in my eyes and goosebumps everywhere. That’s when it becomes memorable.
That’s why I watch #4 over and over again and hold my breath just before John says it – “that’s what makes you that guy.” Aww. Cue lump in throat.
Every writer should be so lucky to write such an amazing line.
So, after my incredibly rambly post, its over to you guys – got any favourite movie lines?
