Oscar Screenplays Quotability Index
Friday, February 5, 2016 at 8:00PM Manuel here. In a lot of people’s minds, a great screenplay requires at least one quotable line. Look no further than the poster for the 2006 awards which celebrated great lines from Academy Award winning films. Lines like "Rosebud", "Show me the money!" and "I coulda been a contender" — or more recently, "You know what's cooler than a million dollars?" and "Argofuckyourself" — immediately remind you of the films in question, functioning as helpful shorthand. A good line is sometimes all you need. And so, since we know TFE readers love themselves a list, we had to rank the 10 films nominated for screenplay categories in order of quotability:
10. Ex Machina
Is there such a thing as "visually" quotable? Because that's certainly the case here.
9. Bridge of Spies
The one truly iconic catchphrase in these screenplays but otherwise, not much else, no?
8. Brooklyn
News of that TV spinoff means more vintage banter!
7. Spotlight and more after the jump...
"It takes a village" is as great a line to peg your film to as any.
6. Room
Mostly I'm just trying to make "Dumbo Ma!" happen.
5. Straight Outta Compton
And let's not forget the fact that the title itself was a meme goldmine.
4. The Big Short
Seeing as it's created for the Vox generation, it makes sense it'd be so perfectly bite-sizeable.
3. Carol
I may or may not use a handful of these on a daily basis.
2. Inside Out
Props to the entire voice-cast who you cannot help but hear when you read these out loud.
1. The Martian
You have to admit, Watney gives good quote.
I'm sure I missed plenty others, so tell me, which quotes from this year's nominated screenplays have entered your own vocabulary these past few months?
Reader Comments (23)
This is kind of Exhibit A in proving how meh 2015 was on the whole. Where is Aaron Sorkin when you need him? (Oh, yeah...)
Sorry, but Inside Out should be #1. Outside of the quotes you mentioned, you'll probably remember these;
"...That is not brightly colored or shaped like a dinosaur." (referring to broccoli.)
"We did not die today, I call that an unqualified success."
"Remember the funny movie where the dog dies?"
"Crying helps me slow down and obsess over the weight of life's problems."
"For THIS we gave up that Brazilian helicopter pilot?"
"On a scale of 1 - 10, I give this day an F!"
"I'm sorry, I went sad again, didn't I?"
(and my favorite line)
"I'm starting to envy the dead mouse."
That village and abuse line is sadly funny and good writing. I love the Amazon series about Nazis. Man in Huge Castle or whatever. Like an old time serial. Smart.
Inside out FTW.
Some others:
"Boo! Pick a plot!"
"I loved you in Fairy Dream Adventure Part 7. Okay bye. I love you!"
"When I'm through, the other kids will look at their own outfits and barf."
"Wait, Joy! You could get lost in there!" "Think positive!" "Okay. I'm positive you will get lost in there!"
"I saw we lock ourselves in our room and use that one swear word we know. It's a good one!"
And for simplistic heartbreak:
"I... I know you don't want me to, but I miss home. I miss Minnesota. You need me to be happy, but I want my old friends, and my hockey team. I wanna go home. Please don't be mad."
That last part kills me.
Inside Out should be #1 - it's way more quotable and more insightful.
The Martian I think suffers from being a little too quippy, I disliked it trying to be "science lite".
Brooklyn should be higher because it dealt with life lessons we can all relate to:
1) Try and remember that sometimes it's nice to meet people who don't know your auntie.
2) Yes. Even if the first date is a disaster, I'll give it another chance.
Remember she signed up for 2 movies which should give "Brooklyn" some bonus points.
LadyEdith: Yes, The Martian is too quippy. But we're talking quotability, not quality. If we were actually talking quality, I'd guess this would be my rankings of these ten:
10. The Big Short
9. Bridge of Spies
8. Straight Outta Compton
7. Spotlight
6. Carol
5. Ex Machina
4. The Martian
3. Room
2. Brooklyn
1. Inside Out
I love this post and mostly agree with the ranking even
my favorite line in Room changes all the time. currently it's
"Toilet is good at disappearing poo!"
Wow, I'm not the biggest "Bridge of Spies" fan but the thing has reams of great dialogue, especially Donovan's negotiations in East Berlin. And: "Because I have a cold, I don't live in Berlin, and I want to get home."
"Spotlight," too, should be much higher, what with all of Keaton's biting retorts and incriminations.
"I was doing my job." / "Yeah. You and everyone else."
"You know I can't answer that Robby, it's unethical." / "Is that all it is?"
And the crowning jewel:
"We've got two stories here. We've got a story about degenerate clergy and we've got a story about a bunch of lawyers turning child abuse into a cottage industry. Now, which story do you want us to write? Cause we're writing one of them."
At least we can all admit that if "Mistress America" had been nominated like it should have, it would be an easy #1.
"Bye room."
"To President McKinley!"
Idk how Carol is number 3 on THIS list. Not a quotable film.
Or apparently a hit one. Maybe Tarantino was right but I'm not one to gossip. Just the facts.
How is Ex Machina number 10?!
"I'm about to tear up the fucking dance floor."
alone.
My number one that I now say whenever the occasion is delivered by Carol (proving Anonny wrong):
" . . . It will get ugly. And we are not ugly people . . . "
Can we include body language if so that arm pulling away in 45 yrs..
Anything that comes out of Jane Fonda's mouth in Youth.
'I can't help you with that' is a quote that is SO USEFUL in everyday life, you guys.
'Somehow you end up overcooking the turkey anyway'. I am gonna use that next winter all the time.
LadyEdith, I agree: The Martian is quippy (and glib) in the worst way. Still astonished at its popularity.
Andrew: YES! "I'm about to tear up that fucking dance floor" = one of the funniest lines/scenes in 2015.
I'm with Lady Edith: Inside Out for the win. The best Pixar script to lose the Original Screenplay Oscar since Ratatouille.
"I am positive you will get lost in there," is my fave.
I never understood the "difference between stupid and illegal" quote from The Big Short. I get what it's trying to say but logically it's phrased all wrong.
I'm trying and failing to think of a recent quote more instantly iconic than "I can't help you with that." Also, mainly due to Blanchett's delivery: "We're not ugly people."
Brooklyn should be way higher.
"A giddy girl is a bad as a slothful man. And the noise she makes is much worse."
"I'll thank you to keep His name out of a conversation about nylons, thank you very much. He might be everywhere, but He's not in Bartocci's on sale day."
"You need to think carefully about your costume. It's the most Tony will ever have seen of you. You don't want to put him off."
"Keep him. There isn't an Italian like him in New York."
"That's what Mrs. Kehoe called them. A pair of betches."