Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Conservatism: there are some people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

He really is that stupid.

Prediction: the GOP will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

The revolution will be supervised.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

The willow is too close to the house.

If you are still in the GOP, you are an extremist.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

Consistently wrong since 2002

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

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Open thread

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No new posts in a while so I thought I’d do an open thread. Here’s a topic that we did before that was a lot of fun: what’s your favorite scene from any movie in terms of dialog? One of you posted links to an amazing scene from Double Indemnity last time.

Reader Interactions

293Comments

  1. 1.

    Kropacetic

    Reposted from last thread:
    I’m preparing to vote in the MA primary. I’m still not entirely decided in the Markey/Kennedy race, but listening to an interview now that Watergirl recommended. Also, I’m torn between Leckey and Mermell in the CD-04 primary. If anyone cares to weigh in, I’ll be here for a little bit.

  7. 7.

    oatler.

    “Hitler. Now there was a painter. He could paint an entire apartment,one afternoon, two coats!”

  12. 12.

    trollhattan

    I could lift a random scene from “Glenngarry Glen Ross” and be pretty happy with my entry. “Repo Man’s” “The more you drive the less intelligent you become” scene has lasting value, also too.

    Backpacking in the Sierra a few days last week got me sleeping again. Stress-buster, I think, more specifically replacing physical stress for emotional. Hate this year.

  13. 13.

    Falling Diphthong

    @Kropacetic: Because you specifically asked: I voted in the primary, something I usually skip, solely to vote against Kennedy. He had months to expand his argument beyond “Because I’m a Kennedy” and failed to do so, and I just find this deeply irritating. No, a vote on something when I–who have a child in graduate school–was way too young to vote does not impress me. Markey has done a fine job as US Senator and did not deserve a primary challenge from someone who doesn’t even differ from him on any issues.

    I respected Ted Kennedy. His last name had nothing to do with that, and every time we politically drag through another round of “Well, this one’s a Kennedy” my eyes roll a little harder.

  17. 17.

    laura

    Salt water bad for glass (grass) as the gardener pulls Horace Mulgrews spectacles from the water feature and hands them to investigators Jake Gittes.

    So today is the official1st day of retirement. I just got a mowhawk and my head feels all suedey.

  18. 18.

    germy

    I think it was Animal Crackers where Groucho announces the next number will be Somewhere My Love Lies Sleeping with a male chorus.

  21. 21.

    trollhattan

    @Falling Diphthong:

    I don’t think the name carries any weight today, or at least does not outside Massachusetts. RFK Jr. is the only Kennedy who gets press out west and it’s definitely of the BAD press variety. Fucker.

  25. 25.

    FlyingToaster

    @Kropacetic: I just voted for Joe3.  HerrDoktor voted for EdMarkey.

    Position-wise, they’re identical.

    Both are hard workers.

    Markey is a seasoned campaigner.  However, he’s not good at raising money.  Unlike Warren, he never has any money left to pass along to the DNC or DSCC.

    Joe3 is kind of an amateur; but the man is a fundraising machine.  Which is precisely why Pelosi is endorsing him.

    Watch the interview.  Flip a coin if you need to.  Just make sure you’re voting (D) in the general, because Shiva’s running again…

  28. 28.

    A Good Woman

    I really like the scene in The Thing From Another World (1951) when Captain Henry arrives at the station and confronts Nikki, who left him passed out in Anchorage with a note pinned to his chest about his pretty legs.  Couldn’t find it on YouTube, so settled for this one from Forbidden Planet.  I would have stopped this clip BEFORE the tiger appeared.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gn1OMBK0Xfo

  29. 29.

    Kropacetic

    @Falling Diphthong:   Because you specifically asked: I voted in the primary, something I usually skip, solely to vote against Kennedy. He had months to expand his argument beyond “Because I’m a Kennedy” and failed to do so

    The argument he seems to be making, and others here have made it, involves constituent service. I was leaning toward him most of this time but I’m still not sold.  I will say, this campaign has raised my opinion of Markey’s efficacy as a legislator

    I’m more torn on the House seat.  My final two, in the only polling I’ve seen, are tied for third.  My sister voted for the one I ultimately decided as my second choice and I don’t want to split our votes if possible.

  31. 31.

    Tom Levenson

    @Kropacetic: I voted for Markey and Khazei, who is a friend. But he got kneecapped by Emily’s list, and if I were voting tactically today I’d go for Jessie Mermell, as she seems to be the best shot we have of avoiding a closet Republican from sneaking through.

  33. 33.

    MazeDancer

    Just read an alarming stat in a Monmouth Poll that feels like it should have caused more uproar:

    Only 22% of GOP intend to vote by mail.

    That’s why Trump could declare victory on Election Night. Unless he loses Florida.

    Anyone who would like to change their Voting Plan to “Masking up. Voting in person” happy to re-illustrate your plan. Also happy to illustrate the Voting Plan of anyone who would like to post it here.

    And a new batch of Illustrated Plans to inspire others is here in the handy Election Action sidebar.

  34. 34.

    dmsilev

    Biden campaign launches official Animal Crossing: New Horizons yard signs

    Starting today, September 1st, Animal Crossing: New Horizons players will be able to deck out their island homes with official Joe Biden yard signs as part of the campaign’s broader initiative to organize voters online this fall.
    The Biden-Harris campaign released four sign designs for players to download, featuring the official Biden-Harris logo, Team Joe logo, the “Joe” Pride logo, and an image of aviator sunglasses shaded in red, white, and blue. Players will be able to access the designs in-game by scanning the design QR codes through the Nintendo Switch Online app.

  38. 38.

    HumboldtBlue

    @trollhattan: @Turgidson:

    Indeed, but it boggles the mind to consider that a deeply liberal state with a deeply liberal supermajority in the legislature can’t find a way for a new mom to vote by proxy particularly in the face of an ongoing and deadly pandemic.

  39. 39.

    JPL

    @MazeDancer: He’s going to say he won no matter what.   We know what we have to do, and that is vote.   I’m voting early, but that is because I don’t have faith that  in GA absentee.   It was a mess during the primary.

  41. 41.

    FlyingToaster

    The “knife” scene from A Lion in Winter:

     

    • John : A knife! He’s got a knife!

      Eleanor of Aquitaine : Of course he has a knife, he always has a knife, we all have knives! It’s 1183 and we’re barbarians! How clear we make it. Oh, my piglets, we are the origins of war: not history’s forces, nor the times, nor justice, nor the lack of it, nor causes, nor religions, nor ideas, nor kinds of government, nor any other thing. We are the killers. We breed wars. We carry it like syphilis inside. Dead bodies rot in field and stream because the living ones are rotten. For the love of God, can’t we love one another just a little – that’s how peace begins. We have so much to love each other for. We have such possibilities, my children. We could change the world.

  44. 44.

    Sab

    Weird thing. My dad was a registered Republican in Ohio. We put him in a nursing home about two years ago and switched all the mail to me at my house. Then Frank laRose our execrable Sec of State sent us a query ( this guy hasn’t voted in a while. Does he live there)We didn’t respond since Dad indeed doesn’t live here and his is on a memory unit at a nursing home. To repeat , we did not resond because Dad has dementia,

    He  (Dad, with dementia)  just got an absentee ballot application although he did no respond to their query because he is in a nursing care memory unit. And he did not resond to why he hadn’t voted before ( because he was in a nursing home memory care unit.)

    Frank LaRose, Ohio’s Republican Sec of State, is not a good guy. He is a partisan hack.

    Purge isn’t honest. Why is my demented dad even on the voting rolls after multiple correspondences.

  50. 50.

    JPL

    The local police just put this up on facebook, along with his picture and more information   Not sure what the penalty is, but I’m glad that they are trying to track down the asshole.

    For the past several months, the suspect pictured has continued to steal and or vandalize the “Black Lives Matter” signs valued at $100.00 dollars in the area

  52. 52.

    opiejeanne

    @robmassing: I love that movie! Thanks for the reminder, because we’ve been looking for things to watch and that would be great.

    My dad despised Cher, no idea why; she was a Republican, what’s not to like? (snicker) But when he saw this movie he softened a lot, and then he saw “Tea With Mussolini” and he decided he loved her.

  54. 54.

    Snarki, child of Loki

    “Look, strange women, lying in ponds, distributing swords, is no basis for a system of government!”

  55. 55.

    rp

    The final scene in Pulp Fiction.

    The Moby Dick scene in Star Trek: First Contact.

    The two jive scenes in Airplane!

  56. 56.

    Cowgirl in the Sandi

    Any scene between Hildy (Rosalind Russell) and Walter (Cary Grant) in His Girl Friday.

  60. 60.

    JoyceH

    A scene I really liked comes right at the beginning of A Face In The Crowd. What I like about it is that it’s the best example I’ve ever seen of creating ‘audience superior’ mode (where the audience knows something that the characters in the story don’t yet know), and it’s done without a word of dialog.

    The scene takes place at the county jail. Patricia Neal comes in with her recording gear to get a random interview for her ‘face in the crowd’ radio segment.

    Pre-Mayberry Andy Griffith (in his film debut) is a drifter in one of the cells. He’s on the bunk facing the wall while Neal chats with the deputies, and we see his face – and it’s just a PICTURE of rage and resentment and contempt.

    Then he puts on a big old grin and the folksy charm and sits up and grabs his ol’ geetar, and sings a song and tells jokes – and is on his way to stardom.

    So the audience knows from the gitgo that Lonesome Roads is a fraud and a conman – but it takes Neal most of the movie to figure it out.

    But dang, that there was some ACTING!

  64. 64.

    Ken

    @dmsilev: I wonder if they negotiated an exclusivity contract, so the Trump campaign can’t do the same?

    I hope so, because when the whining starts a Biden spokesperson can say “Yes, that’s the art of the deal.”

  66. 66.

    Suzanne

    Bruno Kirby and Carrie Fisher arguing over furniture and good taste in “When Harry Met Sally”.

    I told my husband that I want a wagon wheel coffee table so that we can recreate the scene at home.

  70. 70.

    jl

    I don’t see an ‘everything sucks’ post from Cole over last day or so. That’s my contribution for this morning (edit: afternoon).

  78. 78.

    Leto

    @WereBear: “Yeah, well, that’s just, like, your opinion, man.” So much goodness in that movie.

    O’Brother Where Art Thou? Just going to say from opening scene to closing scene.

  80. 80.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Baud: What’s not clear to me is whether those early ballots, regardless of how early they are, will be counted on Election Day, earlier or later. I suspect it varies a lot by state and even by location.

    Slate had a nice election guide in which they offered their preferred voting method for every state–they seemed to strongly prefer, if possible, getting your ballot by mail but then hand-delivering it to a drop box or election office, as early as humanly possible. That could get your vote in even before in-person early voting opens (if it’s available). But whether that earliness means anything, that’s another question

    I’m suspicious of the panicked admonitions to vote in person on Election Day. The thing about Election Day is that you don’t know what’s going to go down and you won’t get any second chance if something goes wrong.

  83. 83.

    EriktheRed

    From Saturday Night Fever:

    “No Tony, Tony.

    You can’t fuck the future, the future fucks you! It catches up with you and it FUCKS you if you ain’t prepared for it.”

  84. 84.

    JPL

    From Dark Shadows    via google

    • Barnabas Collins) “So, this is how it ends. There was a time, when I could have loved you. We could have spent eternity together.”
    • (Angelique Bouchard) “We still — can –“
    • (Barnabas Collins) “You never loved me. You wanted to control me.”
  85. 85.

    Subcommandante Yakbreath

    @A Good Woman: 
    Your choices led me to think of two other scenes which I like because they’re so allusive. In The Thing, the scene where they outline the shape of the buried ship. In Forbidden Planet, the scene where Morbius compares the Krell arches to “…our functional human door…”. That one still gives me chills after all these years.

  86. 86.

    Patricia Kayden

    Favorite movie line: “So let it be written, so let it be done.” Said several times by Yul Brenner as Ramses.

  87. 87.

    rp

    The vast majority of voters on both sides are going to vote in person on election day. I think it’s far-fetched to think we won’t know the results that night.

  89. 89.

    Scott

    Herr Zeller:
    Perhaps those who would warn you that the Anschluss is coming – and it is coming, Captain – perhaps they would get further with you by setting their words to music.

    Captain von Trapp:
    If the Nazis take over Austria, I have no doubt, Herr Zeller, that you will be the entire trumpet section.

    Herr Zeller:
    You flatter me, Captain.

    Captain von Trapp:
    Oh, how clumsy of me – I meant to accuse you.

  94. 94.

    trollhattan

    @eclare:

    “Moonstruck” was a very pleasant surprise. For whatever reason I compare its sparkling dialogue with “Breaking Away”, another cracking good movie. Now that makes me think of “Clerks.”

  99. 99.

    TXG1112

    Any of the scenes with Dante and Randal conversing  in “Clerks”, but the StarWars deconstruction might be my favorite.

  101. 101.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    Had dinner with the kiddo over the weekend, she’s headed to Alaska for a vacay.  Prince William Sound tour, Seward, Fairbanks to attempt to catch the northern lights and Danali.

  102. 102.

    Immanentize

    @Kropacetic: reposting from below myself —

    I have written a lot on this blog about why Markey is a better choice than Kennedy.  I really am not going to repeat it now on friggin primary day.  If you are still undecided, I don’t get it.

    Most of the people I know who are voting for Kennedy are doing so for two reasons — Markey is an older gent and “Kennedy.” There really is nothing more to his campaign.  As a big MA political operative I know said about Scott Brown when he beat Coakley : “Don’t worry about him, he will be Senator number 100.”  Which is what Kennedy would be if he won.

    Why vote for Markey?  He is a true progressive voice on climate change and was one of this country’s earliest leaders on that issue.  He fought hard for net neutrality and it took Ajit Pai at the FCC to overturn those hard fought advances for the democratization of the internet. Also, and super important to me as I said in this very thread?, Markey is authentic — Kennedy is a privileged whiny ass fucker who has come from privilege and is shocked he wasn’t just given the seat.

    As to CD 4 — all the true lefties (older than 29) that I have know who have lived and worked in the now-old Kennedy district are looking being Mermell to keep the recent Republican, Charlie Baker’s guy (Auchincloss), from working out a win in a divided list of what, six candidates? Twelve?

  103. 103.

    Scott

    Wanda: But you think you’re an intellectual, don’t you, ape?

    Otto: [superior smile] Apes don’t read philosophy.

    Wanda: Yes they do, Otto, they just don’t understand it! Now let me correct you on a couple things, okay? Aristotle was not Belgian! The central message of Buddhism is not “Every man for himself!” And the London Underground is not a political movement! Those are all mistakes, Otto. I looked ’em up

  106. 106.

    catclub

    @robmassing: What Does Olympia Dukakis say? Something like:

    “Old man, you give any more of my food to those dogs and I’ll kick you into next week.”

  108. 108.

    Leto

    The scene in the first Terminator movie when the naked Arnold, just through the time jump, looks over LA. Basically a predator surveying his prey.

  109. 109.

    catclub

    @Scott: The central message of Buddhism is not “Every man for himself!”

     

    The funny thing about this is, that it actually kind of is that. Nobody can teach you enlightenment, you have to do it yourself.

  113. 113.

    Roger Moore

    @rp: 
    I think you’re wrong on both counts. It’s possible that the majority of people will vote in person on election day, but it’s not likely to be the vast majority of people. And at least as important, the past few elections have had plenty of races swing in the days after the election as more mailed in ballots are counted. As long as more people are voting by mail this year than in past years, that’s only going to be worse this year.

  114. 114.

    Brooklyn Dodger

    Igor : You know, I’ll never forget my old dad. When these things would happen to him… the things he’d say to me.

    Dr. Frederick Frankenstein : What did he say?

    Igor : “What the hell are you doing in the bathroom day and night? Why don’t you get out of there and give someone else a chance?”

  115. 115.

    opiejeanne

    @MazeDancer: You know, it doesn’t matter what he declares, the election doesn’t work that way. He can yell and scream all he wants, he can’t halt the count.

    We live in WA, where voting by mail is the norm. Ballots will be mailed out on October 16.

    Our plan is to fill them out the moment they hit our mailbox, and drive them to the nearest drop box. Because the drop boxes are emptied at least once daily, and they are counted as soon as received, using the drop box takes pressure off of the election officials as well as the post office.

  117. 117.

    Gravenstone

    @MazeDancer: 

    hat’s why Trump could declare victory on Election Night.

    What Trump “declares” doesn’t mean jack shit. It’s what Congress certifies that matters.

  118. 118.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    what’s your favorite scene from any movie in terms of dialog?

    I haven’t read the thread, and i don’t know if I have a singular “favorite” anything, but I’ll offer up the opening scenes of the original, the real, The Producers, from “hold me! touch me!” through “Shut up! I’m having a rhetorical conversation” to “You’re gonna jump on me! Like Nero jumped on Pompeia!” “Huh?”

    I’ve seen and heard a lot of interviews with Mel Brooks, and hardly anybody talks about Mostel. I’ve always suspected that Brooks wrote that part for him, or at least that it grew into him once he got a hold of it.

  121. 121.

    mrmoshpotato

    Nosferatu 1922 – Count Orlok
    (Nosferatu) to Hutter (Harker): “Your wife has a beautiful neck.”

    Cinema Paradiso –
    Alfredo: Living here day by day, you think it’s the center of the world. You believe nothing will ever change. Then you leave: a year, two years. When you come back, everything’s changed. The thread’s broken. What you came to find isn’t there. What was yours is gone. You have to go away for a long time… many years… before you can come back and find your people. The land where you were born. But now, no. It’s not possible. Right now you’re blinder than I am.

    Salvatore: Who said that? Gary Cooper? James Stewart? Henry Fonda? Eh?

    Alfredo: No, Toto. Nobody said it. This time it’s all me. Life isn’t like in the movies. Life… is much harder.

  122. 122.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @FlyingToaster:

    Joe3 is kind of an amateur; but the man is a fundraising machine.  Which is precisely why Pelosi is endorsing him.

    Ah, that makes more sense than most explanations I’ve seen or thought of myself.

  123. 123.

    khead

    “You know we just don’t recognize the most significant moments of our lives while they’re happening. Back then I thought, well, there’ll be other days. I didn’t realize that that was the only day”.

    Also…. “Son, if I’d only gotten to be a doctor for five minutes, now that would’ve been a tragedy”.

    Moonlight Graham

  124. 124.

    trollhattan

    “Where’s Poppa” is a little-known Carl Reiner film from 1970 and features the amazing Ruth Gordon as Mrs. Hocheiser, Gordon’s (George Segal) out-of-control mother. Her most memorable scene is with Trish Van Devere at the dinner table.

    Louise Callan: Gordon has been telling me so much about you.

    Mrs. Hocheiser: Gordon? Uh, I know a Gordon.

    Louise Callan: You must be very proud of your son.

    Mrs. Hocheiser: Sidney’s a wonderful boy.

    Louise Callan: I thought his name was Gordon.

    Mrs. Hocheiser: Oh, that one. Yes, Gordon, he’s a wonderful boy too.

    Louise Callan: I’m sure he is.

    Mrs. Hocheiser: [holds out her finger] Got a pecker this big.

    Louise Callan: I – I beg your pardon?

    Mrs. Hocheiser: This big. Just like his Poppa.

  127. 127.

    mrmoshpotato

    @MazeDancer:

    That’s why Trump could declare victory on Election Night. 

    It’s not the fucking orange fascist’s call.  And I’m anticipating a while to tabulate mail-in ballots.

  128. 128.

    Lee Hartmann

    “… And although I hate to judge before all the facts are in, it’s beginning to look like General Ripper exceeded his authority.”

  129. 129.

    FlyingToaster

    Re: Vote counting of absentee/early votes.

    Check with your Secretary of State/Commonwealth.

    In MA, all early in-person ballots, plus mail-in ballots received by close of business Friday before, are counted during Election Day.  I’ve watched my local polling place take their sealed envelopes of early ballots, sign and witness to open, and then feed them into the ballot scanner. Mail-in ballots received by close of business Election Day are sorted and sent to their respective precincts to be scanned in that evening, after close of polling place.  All mail-in ballots for the General, postmarked by Election Day, need to arrive by a deadline (this changes; this year I think it’s 2 weeks, but the pandemic may make that longer), and are manually tabulated and added into the totals for certification.

    By some time in the early morning of Nov 4, MA will be able to report 99% counted.  Paper ballots and scanner make this work.  I recommend this to other states (cough Georgia cough).

  130. 130.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Leto: I’ve yet to watch The King and I.  I loved Brenner in Westworld and The Magnificent Seven.  Just a great actor overall. 

  133. 133.

    MazeDancer

    Just remembering James Baker seizing control of the narrative in 2000, and narrative, narrative, narrative – Bush “wins”.

    Which is why Hillary has been saying to Joe, publicly, you can never concede. Never.

    Trump has Barr, he will use the narrative to impound absentee ballots and destroy them.

    Would prefer Trump wasn’t 30 points ahead on Election Night.

    But Florida will report on Election Night. If, knock wood, Trump loses Florida, he cannot seize the narrative. Even the New York Times would have to admit Trump has no path without Florida.

  134. 134.

    prostratedragon

    @Subcommandante Yakbreath:
    “…our functional human door…”

    Oh yes! First saw that movie when I was about 9 and almost bailed right there. (Glad I hung on.) It’s like a lot of my favorite dialog, which on its own might sound bland, but plays well with insinuation, implication, or dramatic irony.

  135. 135.

    MomSense

    One of the best scenes ever for both dialog and acting, is the brief scene between Viola Davis and Meryl Streep in the movie Doubt.  Truly masterful acting and writing.

  139. 139.

    FlyingToaster

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: It’s been making the rounds in MA poli talk since her surprise endorsement.  Pre-pandemic, Joe traveled around the country, helping freshman congressfolk and new recruits raise money.  Warren’s been doing zoom meetings with same.  Markey, well, nope.

  140. 140.

    Baud

    @FlyingToaster: I don’t have an interest in that primary, but hearing that, it’s hard for me to have a bad thought about Joe (even assuming his motive in doing that was completely self serving).

  141. 141.

    prostratedragon

    @Leto:  The first movie I remember. Walked around the house saying a 4-year-old version of “et cetera, et cetara” for weeks after. And all the pretty brown children!

  142. 142.

    MomSense

    @Leto:

    That whole musical is a massive ear worm for me.  I played Eliza several lifetimes ago.  Run Eliza.  Run From Simon.
    I still will sometimes break out in Shall We Dance and I cannot stop.  Like right now.

    Shall we dance

    on a bright cloud of music

    shall we fly

  143. 143.

    Ken

    @opiejeanne: He can yell and scream all he wants, he can’t halt the count.

    Betcha a nickel he sues to stop the count in all states where he’s ahead on election night, and simultaneously to continue the count in all states where he’s behind.

  145. 145.

    NotMax

    Cerebral overload. There are entirely too many competing for attention inside the head space. Thus shall pluck just a handful at random from the interior madding throng, relying on what could quickly be found on YouTube (some I initially chose could not).

    Direct description would be a giveaway as to the content so instead shall play it coy:

    A one and a two and a three and a four and a five.

  146. 146.

    Immanentize

    Also, in one of my favorite movies, Laura, Dana Andrews (the detective) is always playing with this little maze game and one of the suspects (Vincent Price?) yells — “Will you stop that? It’s driving me crazy!” And Anderson replies softly and slowly, “Yeah? calms me down.”

  148. 148.

    mrmoshpotato

    Hehehe

    Dr. Alan Grant: [seeing the dinosaurs for the first time] How fast are they?

    John Hammond: Well, we clocked the T-Rex at 32 miles an hour.

    Dr. Ellie Sattler: T-T-Rex?

    John Hammond: [nodding] Mm-hm.

    Dr. Ellie Sattler: You said you’ve got a T-Rex?

    John Hammond: [nodding] Uh-huh.

    Dr. Alan Grant: [grabbing Hammond’s shoulder] Say again?

    John Hammond: [smiling] We have a T-Rex.

    [Grant almost faints]

  149. 149.

    James E Powell

    My Number One movie is The Godfather and the garden scene is the heart of the whole story.

    “I don’t apologize, that’s my life, but I thought that when it was your time that you would be the one to hold the strings.”

  151. 151.

    prostratedragon

    @WereBear:  Yes! Actually the intro to that scene might be my favorite: “Why did you call me killer?!” Brilliant scene, makes it clear that  Addison reigns in Hell.

  152. 152.

    docNC

    In Caddyshack

    Carl Spackler: “Licensed to kill gophers by the government of the United Nations. A man, free to kill gophers at will. To kill, you must know your enemy, and in this case my enemy is a varmint. And a varmint will never quit — ever”.

  153. 153.

    tokyokie

    Harmonica (Charles Bronson): And Frank?

    Snaky (Jack Elam): Frank sent us.

    Harmonica: Did you bring a horse for me?

    Snaky: Looks like … (chuckles) … looks like we’re shy one horse.

    Harmonica (shakes head): You brought two too many.

  154. 154.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @FlyingToaster: the explanation I heard was that she was offended by some flip remark from Markey about the Kennedy family, which would make sense for some pols, but not the gimlet-eyed Riverboat Pelosi.

  157. 157.

    Tsquared2001

    Mortimer Brewster in Arsenic & Old Lace: Insanity runs in my family….it practically gallops.

  160. 160.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @MazeDancer: That’s why Trump could declare victory

    Remember Rove’s hissy fit on election night in 2008?  Trump will declare victory after he loses, because Trump always does the dumbest thing possible and Rove set a pretty low bar there.

  161. 161.

    Bobby Thomson

    @WereBear: The Big Lebowski is the most dialogue-rich movie I know.  Maude’s initial meeting with the Dude and the “First Amendment” scene are particularly good.

    Inglorious Basterds is basically three extremely tense conversations with filler in between.  (All Tarantino-written movies are, including True Romance, but it’s really obvious in this one.)  The diner scene in Reservoir Dogs.   The “what Gus is saying” scene in The Right Stuff.  “Now go home and get your fuckin’ shine box.”   “You won’t be able to get a game of jacks!”

    They are showing their age, but Same Time, Next Year, My Dinner with Andre, and The Breakfast Club are almost nothing but dialogue.

  163. 163.

    Kent

    No one has mentioned Rutger Hauer in Blade Runner yet?

    “Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.”

  167. 167.

    SFBayAreaGal

    Harvey Bullock: “You tell yourself, “I’ll just do this one bad thing. All the good things I’ll do later will make up for it.” But they don’t.”

  169. 169.

    HumboldtBlue

    @Patricia Kayden:

    Oh, you have to watch it. We regularly replayed clips in the newsroom and the whole range of human sexuality was all in agreement that Yul Brenner was beautiful.

  170. 170.

    bluefoot

    For MA:  If you’re undecided, vote Markey!!  Net neutrality, Green New Deal and other climate-related legislation, his record on other progressive causes.

    Dialog: The “vessel with the pestle” bit from The Court Jester is genius and I laugh every damn time I hear it.

  171. 171.

    Immanentize

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Pelosi has been a friend, mentee, and political soldier with the Kennedy clan her whole political life.  I think her Dad was one of Tip’s army that spread some walking around money for Jack in 1960?  And Joe3 is a House member and she has been pretty steadfast in her support of House members — from Dan Lipinski to Ilhan Omar.

  173. 173.

    HumboldtBlue

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Who’s the asshole assholes who should be drown in the baby’s bathwater for this shit?

    Well you’ll notice they’re all men.

    Anthony Rendon (speaker), Kevin Mullin (speaker pro tempore) and Ian Calderon (majority leader)

  180. 180.

    Anotherlurker

    @Don: For me, Robert Shaw’s “USS Indianapolis” monologue is powerful and a tribute to the actor’s ability to overact and still remain chilling and compelling.  Lesser actors would appear ridiculous.

  182. 182.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @germy: Speaking of Ruth Gordon (and by association Garson Kanin), Desk Set seems to be the red-headed stepchild of Tracy-Hepburn movies, but I’ve always liked it best. This clip is cut a little short, and she gets a little Hepburn-y at certain points, but it’s a favorite of mine.

    And speaking of Herself, if you toss the script of Lion in Winter in the air, odds are it all land on a great exchange:

    Henry: How about you, Eleanor? You still like a Democratic drawbridge? Laying yourself down for every passing traveller? 

    Eleanor: These days there’s not much traffic.

     

    Eleanor on Rosamund: She had wonderful teeth. Of course she smiled to excess, but she chewed with great distinction.

     

    Eleanor of Aquitaine: Henry’s bed is Henry’s province. He can people it with sheep for all I care, which on occasion he has done.

    Henry II: Rosamund’s been dead for seven years…

    Eleanor of Aquitaine: …two months and eighteen days. I never liked her much.

    Henry II: You count the days?

    Eleanor of Aquitaine: I made the numbers up.

  186. 186.

    piratedan

    i guess it matters as to wether we’re talking about scenes or lines… as for scenes, have to admit, that Brimley’s turn in Absence of Malice he just steals the entire bleeping movie right there… but as for lines…

    Strother Martin’s rendition of “What we have here… is a failure to communicate” in Cool Hand Luke is evocative and conversely, “Mongo is but pawn in game of life” still always slays me.

    but for me the scene that still stays with me is Jason Robards in “All The President’s Men” when Woodtsein reveal the true nature of the conspiracy and its depth and his speech about the Free Press and America…

  187. 187.

    JMG

    @HumboldtBlue: This is not true at all, just fear mongering by someone talking their book. Florida will be decided by 10, midnight at the latest, and whoever wins it will almost surely be the winner.

  189. 189.

    JoyceH

    @catclub:

    speaking of something else. Omar Sharif and Lawrence of Arabia.

    Nothing is written.

     

    Or Anthony Quinn as Auda:

    Auda: You will cross Sinai?

    Lawrence: Moses did.

    Auda: And you will take the children?

    Lawrence: Moses did.

    Auda: Moses was a prophet and beloved of God!

  192. 192.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    can you imagine if there were any enthusiasm for Biden/Harris?

    Shane Goldmacher @ShaneGoldmacher · 5h
    NEWS: Joe Biden raised more than $300 million in August, per sources. How much higher is not clear but it’s a record-shattering haul.

  193. 193.

    RandyG

    @Ken: That scene immediately came to my mind too. I never actually cared for the whole film, per se, but that’s a great scene.

  197. 197.

    mrmoshpotato

    @laura:

    So today is the official1st day of retirement. I just got a mowhawk and my head feels all suedey. 

    ???

    Didn’t you say you were going to dye it too?

  198. 198.

    patrick II

    Not a movie, but TV.

    The next one’s coming faster Raylen Givens.

    Great characters and dialogue for six years.
    Another favorite moment is when Mags Bennett finds out her son Coover is dead and comes as a pleading mother to talk to her “adopted” daughter Loretta McCready (Kaitlyn Dever). She is pleading, Raylen says no, she can’t, and in a few seconds her face turns from sorrowful mother into the hard criminal clan matriarch she was.

    Dialogue is great, but what good actors can show you with small changes in expression is remarkable.

    Speaking of which, the work I have ever seen Jennifer Lawrence do was as the quiet but determined daughter in “Winter’s Bone”.

  200. 200.

    SFBayAreaGal

    “No. Not like this. I haven’t faced death. I’ve cheated death. I’ve tricked my way out of death and patted myself on the back for my ingenuity. I know nothing.”

  202. 202.

    Wapiti

    @Patricia Kayden: I’m somewhat amused that Kenosha is going to get stuck with the bill for providing security for Trump’s visit. They should just short change the cops – no overtime funds available, so sorry!

  203. 203.

    JMG

    I voted for Markey because I saw no real reason to replace him. Also should be known that he (well, he and his staff) is the leading Democrat in terms of knowledge and experience on telecommunication issues, which are kind of important.

  206. 206.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @patrick II:

    The work I have ever seen Jennifer Lawrence do was as the quiet but determined daughter in “Winter’s Bone”.

    that is an amazing movie– the actress who played Merab is as I recall bone-chilling in that role

  207. 207.

    BruceFromOhio

    @rp: 

    Is that Pulp Fiction reference the scene in the diner? Seconded!

    Morpheus speech to Zion, and then the restaurant scene with the Merovingian in Matrix:Reloaded.

    “I stand here before you, without fear, because I REMEMBER!”

  209. 209.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Do one liners count as dialogue? From Breaking Away

    “No! I’m not glad to be alive. I’m glad I’m not dead. There’s a difference.”

    “Refund? Refund!”

  210. 210.

    MazeDancer

    All of you folks full of wisdom about what Trump and Barr absolutely cannot do on Election Night, may you be 1000% right

    But am reminded of the “knife fight” scene in William Goldman’s “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” Watch it here.

    Shortened version (even though Trump/Barr are scum and Butch is not.)

    Scene: Big, hulking Harvey is physically challenging much smaller Butch for leadership.

    Harvey: “You always said that any one of us could challenge you, Butch…”

    Butch: “Cuz I figured none of you would do it…”

    Harvey: “Guns or knives, Butch?”

    Butch reluctantly pulls out his knife. Harvey starts to move.

    Butch: “Oh, no, not yet. Not until me and Harvey get the rules straightened out.”

    Harvey stops, incredulous: “Rules? In a knife fight? There are no rules.”

    Sundance instantly countdowns the fight in a rush and before Harvey knows what hit him, Butch has knocked him out.

  211. 211.

    Kathleen

    @JoyceH: That is one of my favorite movies. It’s another one that holds up very well and seems to get more relevant every year. I love that movie. I’d love to see Trump go full metal Lonesome like  did in the final scene.

  218. 218.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    Forget the myths the
    media’s created about the White House–
    the truth is, these are not very
    bright guys, and things got out of
    hand.

  220. 220.

    Citizen Alan

    @piratedan:

    Strother Martin’s rendition of “What we have here… is a failure to communicate” in Cool Hand Luke is evocative

    I never got around to seeing that movie until my 30’s, but I was aware of the quote and the name of the actor who said it. But in my head, I had confused Strother Martin with Scatman Crothers somehow, and until I actually saw the movie, I could never figure out how a black man could have ended up the abusive chief guard over a mostly white chain gang.

  221. 221.

    HumboldtBlue

    @BruceFromOhio:

    I’m at a loss, a mom nursing a newborn in an ongoing pandemic seems it meets the legislature’s qualification for voting by proxy.

    In fact, the quick reading I have done shows the legislature approved proxy voting for the final for weeks of the session.

    From SacBee:

    During the final four weeks of the 2020 legislative session, California lawmakers vulnerable to the worst of COVID-19 will be allowed to submit proxy or remote votes on bills at the cost of losing their daily pay if they select that option.

  223. 223.

    Kathleen

    @MomSense: Yes it is. I landed on it yesterday and within 10 minutes I felt claustrophobic. The scenes brought back the terror and guilt I experienced in a Catholic grade school in the same era the film was set. I had to turn it off. Too evocative for me.

  224. 224.

    arrieve

    @prostratedragon: I love the dialog between Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

    A favorite exchange:

    Lorelei Lee: You must think I was born yesterday.

    Dorothy: Well, sometimes there’s just no other possible explanation.

  225. 225.

    PAM Dirac

    @MazeDancer:

     

    But Florida will report on Election Night. If, knock wood, Trump loses Florida, he cannot seize the narrative. Even the New York Times would have to admit Trump has no path without Florida.

    I don’t really understand the internal consistency of that scenario. If Barr has the power to impound uncounted ballots, why not do it everywhere, even New York or California? Why not turn it into a complete drumf blowout? Hell if he has that power, why let any ballots be counted? If he has the power only in particular states, what is the special about those states? It’s not that I don’t think Barr would want to do it, I just don’t see any mechanism that isn’t blatant lawlessness and if that is going to work, why won’t it work everywhere?

  227. 227.

    Falling Diphthong

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    Into Neo-Confederate Sci-fi?

    I’ve never understood the conviction that confederates are the only possible analogy to make here, especially given that slavery yes/no is not an issue between the two fictional sides. I always thought it landed closer to an alternate history in which England won the American Revolution, and discouraged patriots headed west. You can find plenty of colonial revolts in history, for other analogies.

  228. 228.

    phein61

    @TXG1112:   Speaking of Star Wars:

     

    Malcolm Tucker : It’s time for you to step up Ollie. What’s that film that you love?

    Oliver Reeder : What film?

    Malcolm Tucker : The one about the fucking hairdresser, the space hairdresser and the cowboy. The guy, he’s got a tin foil pal and a pedal bin. His father’s a robot and he’s fucking fucked his sister. Lego! They’re all made of fucking Lego.

    Oliver Reeder : Star Wars?

    Malcolm Tucker : That’s the one, right. It’s like that, okay? Where you fucking kill all the bad guys, and you’ll be able to blow up the big…

    Oliver Reeder : Death Star.

    Malcolm Tucker : The Death Star thing. Then you can go and live happily ever after on the planet of the teddy bears.

    Oliver Reeder : They’re Ewoks, they’re Ewoks. It’s a fantastic analogy, well done.

     

    Almost anything by Peter Capaldi from In The Loop.

  231. 231.

    patrick II

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    It’s one of my favorite movies too, and generally one of the small, character-driven movies I like best.  I used to live in St. Louis and drive down to the edge of the Ozarks and Johnson’s Shut-in state park or go rafting on one of the mountain streams.  There are some very poor people there, the movie was so true to form.  The two kids who played Jennifer’s younger brother and sister actually lived in that house.

  232. 232.

    dnfree

    @Baud:  do most states count mail ballots before Election Day? Some states don’t start until the polls close on Election Day, and they can take weeks.

  233. 233.

    Kropacetic

    @JMG: I voted for Markey because I saw no real reason to replace him.

    I had been champing at the bit to replace Markey for a while, I saw no real reason to keep him.  I considered him a sort of tag-along for years, supports good things but not much of a driver.  I wasn’t too impressed with a lot of what I’ve learned over time about his voting record either.

    However, his campaign did a good job dispelling that notion. And my preference for turnover in an election where neither candidate particularly distinguishes oneself from the other kind of fell apart when it occurred to me that…let’s say Markey is likely closer to wanting to retire.

  234. 234.

    Kathleen

    @The Utter Dregs: That movie is brilliant! To me the best thing about it is that every single character, regardless of how “minor”, is fully developed in their brief screen time and their lines are individual masterpieces.

  235. 235.

    SFBayAreaGal

    Speaking of Buffy:

    Andrew: You’re just scared.

    Jonathan: Of course I’m scared. Last time we were here, 33.3 bar percent of us were flayed alive.

  236. 236.

    Quaker in a Basement

    @Wileybud: I like the initial dialogue between Carmen Sternwood and “Doghouse Reilly”:

    (Can’t find an exact script, but my recollection runs something like:)

    CS: “You’re kind of short.”

    DR: “I try not to be.”

  237. 237.

    Bostondreams

    Not a movie, but as the father of a daughter wondering about herself, my favorite line from a great new show on Netflix, Teenage Bounty Hunters:

    April Stevens, ultra-rich, ultra-conservative Southern Christian very much deep in the closet because of bigoted parents and an evangelical private school , explaining to her BFF-turned mortal enemy-turned who knows what: ‘Before you ask, no, I don’t think God is going to smite me for being a lesbian. He created narwhals and those poisonous little blue tree frogs, so obviously he has a plan.’

  238. 238.

    Citizen Alan

    @arrieve:

    The best line, though, was Lorelei’s conversation with “Daddy” at the end, where she eloquently provides  a stirring moral defense for being a gold-digger.

    Esmond Sr: “Say! People told me you were dumb!”

    Lorelei: “I can be smart … when it’s important.”

  239. 239.

    Baud

    @dnfree: 

    I don’t know, but the question is about the likelihood that Trump will be leading on election night in a state that he will ultimately lose when all the votes are counted. I would think most states start counting absentee ballots they have received on election night, and that will affect who is leading on election night.

  240. 240.

    James E Powell

    @patrick II:

    Speaking of which, the work I have ever seen Jennifer Lawrence do was as the quiet but determined daughter in “Winter’s Bone”.

    Absolutely love that movie. Jennifer Lawrence and John Hawkes were both fantastic.

  241. 241.

    Ivan X

    I could choose nearly any scene from Margin Call, but Zachary Quinto’s and Kevin Spacey’s conversation outside the building before they’re about to go back in is one of my all time favorites. (“Are you sure it’s the only…or, the right thing, to do?” “For who?” “I’m not sure.” “Neither am I.”) And Paul Bettany’s speech driving over the Brooklyn Bridge in the scene before. Hell, the whole damn movie.

    Also nearly any scene from Miller’s Crossing.

    The diner scene in Heat.

    Many, many more.

  245. 245.

    Just One More Canuck

    Even if that did put you square with the Lord, the State of Mississippi’s a little more hardnosed

  247. 247.

    Ivan X

    Oh yeah, and the scene in Let’s Go To Prison where Chi McBride explains to Will Arnett how to make Merlot in the toilet. I can go highbrow, I can go lowbrow.

  248. 248.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @R-Jud: I never made that Goldman connection. TLIW has been on my mind because the other day, I forget why, I went down a rabbit hole of Peter O’Toole interviews, starting with this one.

    Richard Harris also used to tell great old stories on Letterman, including one of the funniest stories I’ve ever heard about a time he was feuding with O’Toole, and for some reason it’s not on youtube, that I can find.

  254. 254.

    dnfree

    @MomSense: that was good in the movie. The play was better than the movie because the child was never shown. There was no reason to show the child.

  255. 255.

    Brachiator

    Movies use visual language to tell the story.

    I like a scene in The Dark Knight that shows the Batman standing on a tower in Gotham (or actually Chicago or Pittsburgh). It emphasizes that he owns the night, a point previously made by the Joker when he mocks the mobsters for meeting in the daytime.

    There is a similar scene in Tim Burton’s Batman movies, but to my eyes it is more obviously an interior set. At the time it was impressive, but by comparison it is not as strong as Nolan’s scene.

  258. 258.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    I’ve got 2 scenes

    This scene from Paths of Glory with Kirk Douglas, Adolphe Menjou , and George Macready is absolutely priceless

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwH-X-4RAQg

    Wikipedia sums it up better than I can:

    Following the executions, Broulard breakfasts with the gloating Mireau. Broulard reveals he has invited Dax to attend and tells Mireau that he will be investigated for the order to fire on his own men. Mireau storms out, protesting that he has been made a scapegoat. Broulard then blithely offers Mireau’s command to Dax, assuming that Dax’s attempts to stop the executions were a ploy to gain Mireau’s job. Discovering that Dax was in fact sincere, Broulard rebukes him for his idealism, while the disgusted Dax calls Broulard a “degenerate, sadistic old man.”

    This scene from In the Heat of the Night in which Chief Bill Gillespie convinces Virgil Tibbs to remain in town to assist him with investigating Phillip Colbert’s murder

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXfD-Ai_QuA

     

     

  265. 265.

    Feathers

    Y’all are sleeping on OUT OF THE PAST!!!

    Ann: She can’t be all bad – no one is.
    Jeff: She comes the closest.

    Jeff: [at the roulette wheel] That isn’t the way to play it.
    Kathie: Why not?
    Jeff: ‘Cause it isn’t the way to win.
    Kathie: Is there a way to win?
    Jeff: Well, there’s a way to lose more slowly.

    OUT OF THE PAST trailer

  271. 271.

    LuciaMia

    Any scene from “Raising Arizona.”

     

    “Do these blow up into funny shapes? (Holding a bag of balloons)

    “Well, no. Unless round is funny.”

  272. 272.

    LuciaMia

    @prostratedragon: ‘All About Eve.’   How do you choose? One of my favorites is the beginning where Eve relates her sad, sad story to Margo. At the end, Birdie sighs and says, “What a story! Everything but the bloodhounds snapping at her rear end.”

  276. 276.

    J R in WV

    @laura: 

    So today is the official1st day of retirement. I just got a mowhawk and my head feels all suedey.

    So many congratulations!!! After I got my last job, which ran from 1991 to 2008, I only got a haircut a couple of times. I did a ponytail and full beard, which worked because beards are common and popular in WV the Mountaineer state, and I was a software geek, and everyone knows software geeks are long haired but smart.

    I bet you look great with a mohawk! If I had hair across the middle of my head I would try that look, but sadly, not.

    Some years ago I stopped on the way home and got a haircut driving back from Ohio to WV, in OHio to meet with coders working for me. A couple of days later we got a late spring cold front, OH MY I froze my ass off for a couple of weeks. That was pretty much my last serious haircut!

  277. 277.

    BruceFromOhio

    @Ivan X:

    The diner scene in Heat.

    **GASP** I FORGOT about that one! De Niro and Pacino, calmly sitting across from each other – there’s a hole ripped in the universe somewhere. I remember the first time I saw that flick, I tried to think of any time these two have ever been in a scene together, and came up dry.

     

    Gonna be pulling that one out later.

  279. 279.

    J R in WV

    @Immanentize:

    @trollhattan: Repo Man: “Did you do a lot of acid back in the Hippy days?”.

    I still often ask people that question.

    After I was done with Boot Camp, and enrolled in ET school at Great Lakes, acid was our favorite weekend drug. No smell, no month long wait for it to exit your system. Plus there seemed to be a huge amount of it available in the greater Chicago, cheap.

    But later on, in FLA at my duty station, no acid, but a huge amount of Colombian reef, $20 for a BIG bag, because Key West was an entry point for South American contraband.

    ETA: Evidently the pee test back then was for narcotics like heroin, which I have never touched.

  280. 280.

    patrick II

    @Wyatt Salamanca:

    Steiger won the academy award for that performance.  I would have given it to Sidney.  “In the Heat of the Night” is on Prime right now, so if you haven’t seen it, do. I just watched it again myself.

    I am old enough to remember segregation in the South, and this movie gives as good a sense of it as I have seen.

    It was a dangerous movie to make.  They were going to shoot it in Mississippi but Poitier was receiving death threats from the KKK.  They moved the shoot to Southern Illinois.  The only scenes shot in the South were the plantation scenes.  They had planned to stay for two weeks but left after one because of more death threats.  It’s bad now, but it was worse then.

  283. 283.

    burnspbesq

    2020 in a nutshell, from The Hunt for Red October:

    “This business will get out of hand. It will get out of hand, and we’ll be lucky to live through it.”

  287. 287.

    Dave

    “And are there two g’s in bugger off?”   Local Hero. Gideon, after being asked if he was spelling dollar correctly with two L’s.

  288. 288.

    Mary Ellen Sandahl

    I’m amazed that no one seems to have mentioned a couple of classic delights from Some Like It Hot: the first encounter between Joe/Josephine and the short-‘n’-lecherous bellhop and the scene between Joe and Jerry/Daphne in the hotel bedroom after they’ve come back from their big dates with Sugar and Osgood.

  290. 290.

    Frank McCormick

    Edith Potter and Sylvia Fowler (Phyllis Povah and Roz Russell) in the powder room discussing the fact that Stephen Haines is “stepping out on Mary” in “The Women”.

     

    Fun dialog, spoken at breakneck speed, with impeccable timing no doubt meticulously coached by George Cukor.  It’s a continuous stream of “babble, babble, babble” until the sudden stop on the take: “I know plenty I’d never breath about my friends’ husband.”/”So do I!”

     

    And, after a sizing up of the other,  they’re off again…

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