Tag Archives: Movie Quotes

Movie Wisdom – James Caan Edition

3 May

Yesterday, I was flipping through the channels and came upon a movie that I had never seen. In The Killer Elite, James Caan, Burt Young and Bo Hopkins are trying to protect Mako from Robert Duvall. This thing has 1070s written all over it. The action takes place in San Francisco, and I kept wondering if they would run into Dirty Harry Callahan. They looked like the kind of guys he would go after.

Anyway, this started me thinking about all of the James Caan movies that I have watched. In turn, that started me thinking about all of the wisdom that can be found in James Caan movies. At least, that started me thinking about all of the wisdom that can be found in James Caan movies that I have watched.Rollerball

Here we go.

From El Dorado

A man can’t shoot good when his horse is jumping.

Faith can move mountains, but it can’t beat a faster draw.

From Brian’s Song

Every true story ends in death.

From The Godfather

A man who doesn’t spend time with his family can never be a real man.

Women are more dangerous than shotguns.

Don’t discuss business at the table.

Times have changed.

From The Godfather: Part II

Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.

Good health is the most important thing. More than success, more than money, more than power.

From Rollerball

Comfort is freedom.

Four or five little things make one big thing.

From The Killer Elite

It’s in the manner of living and of dying one finds relevance.

Every country needs at least one voice raised in opposition.

From Dick Tracy

There’s a big world out there, and it’s up for sale.

All’s fair in love and business.

A big boss must have a vision.

From Honeymoon in Vegas

Always remember to have good words come out of your mouth.

 

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Movie Wisdom – Levon Helm Edition

7 Apr

Last night, I was flipping through the channels and stopped on a movie called In the Electric Mist. Tommy Lee Jones plays a Louisiana detective who is trying to catch a serial killer. Along the way, he runs into some great actors.

John Goodman

Mary Steenburgen

Ned Beatty

It was surprising to see such performers in what I would consider a B Movie. I kept thinking that it was an excuse for a bunch of friends to get together and have fun in New Orleans.

It was also surprising to see a couple of famous musicians in the movie. Namely, Buddy Guy and Levon Helm, who played a ghostly character.

As I watched the movie, I thought about a post that I wrote about Levon Helm. It would be great if you read it. That post is about his music, but it is also about his movies. In the Electric Mist was the last one in which he appeared.

It has been a long time since I wrote a Movie Wisdom post. Now, it is a good time to discover the words of wisdom that can be found in the movies of Levon Helm.Levon Helm

From Coal Miner’s Daughter

I thought “horny” meant cuttin’ up and acting silly!

What we got to do next is figure out what to do next.

From The Right Stuff

No bucks, no Buck Rodgers.

From Shooter

Sometimes to catch a wolf you need to tie the bait to a tree.

From In the Electric Mist

Venal and evil men are destroying the world you were born in.

Don’t compromise your principles or abandon your cause.

There’s two ways of looking at the idea of understanding. One is if you don’t look you never will see. And the other is, if you look a little less you’ll understand a hell of a lot more.

A Blue Jay don’t sit on a Mocking Bird’s nest. The Mocking Bird will whoop the Blue Jay’s ass every time.

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Movie Wisdom – Max von Sydow Edition

21 Nov

I was reading an article about Max von Sydow and his appearance in the new Star Wars movie. It talked about his greatness as an actor and his long career. After reading the article, I decided to write a Movie Wisdom post based on the movies of Max von Sydow, and that is when I discovered something disturbing.

I have not seen as many of his movies as I thought. This is a void in my movie-watching experience that will be filled. However, I thought I had seen a bunch of them. That misconception may come from the impact that he had in the movies that I have seen.

Anyway, this is not going to prevent me from completing my original idea. Here is some wisdom that can be gained from the movies of Max von Sydow.Ming

From The Exorcist

There are no experts.

If certain British doctors never asked “What is this fungus?” we wouldn’t today have penicillin.

From Three Days of the Condor

Someone is always willing to pay.

From Flash Gordon

Live and let live.

From Victory

Anything you say in your sleep can’t be held against you.

From Conan the Barbarian

There comes a time when the jewels cease to sparkle, when the gold loses its luster, when the throne room becomes a prison, and all that is left is a father’s love for his child.

Wealth can be wonderful, but you know, success can test one’s mettle as surely as the strongest adversary.

That which does not kill us makes us stronger.

From Ghostbusters II

Death is but a door. Time is but a window.

Better late than never.

From Needful Things

Everybody is insane.

From Minority Report

Sometimes, in order to see the light, you have to risk the dark.

Dig up the past, all you get is dirty.

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

We don’t choose the things we believe in; they choose us.

From Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

If things were easy to find they wouldn’t be worth finding.

 

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Movie Wisdom – Fred Thompson Edition

2 Nov

Fred Thompson first gained national attention as counsel for the Senate Watergate Committee, In fact, some credit him for coming up with Tennessee Senator Howard Baker’s questions, “What did the president know, and when did he know it?”

A few years later, he represented Marie Ragghianti during Tennessee’s own political scandal. I will not go into the details, but a movie was made about the episode. My dad, who was involved in state politics, has said nothing in the movie was true, but it launched Thompson’s second career as an actor. In Marie, he played himself.

As the years progressed, Thompson had one foot in Hollywood and one in Washington. He appeared in films and television shows and represented Tennessee in the Senate. He also had a short-lived campaign for president.

Earlier, news broke that Fred Thompson passed away. In his honor, these are some words of wisdom that can be found in his movies.Fred Thompson

From No Way Out

Order some breakfast. It’s the most important meal of the day.

From The Hunt for Red October

Some things don’t react well to bullets.

It is wise to study the ways of ones adversary.

The hard part about playing chicken is knowin’ when to flinch.

From Days of Thunder

Rubbin, son, is racin’.

Loose is fast, and on the edge of out of control.

Control is an illusion.

From Die Hard 2

Progress peaked with frozen pizza.

From Necessary Roughness

Eternal vigilance is the price of integrity.

From Cape Fear

If you hold on to the past, you die a little each day.

From Thunderheart

There is a way to live with the earth and a way not to live with the earth.

From Secretariat

You never know how far you can run unless you run.

 

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Movie Wisdom – Maureen O’Hara Edition

29 Oct

A few days ago, Maureen O’Hara passed away. In my opinion, she was one of Hollywood’s most underrated actresses. She excelled in a variety of movie genres, but I knew her most from the Westerns of John Ford and John Wayne. Since her passing, I have delved into her career and realized that I have also seen a few of her non-Western movies.

To honor Maureen O’Hara, these are some words of wisdom that can be found in her works.Maureen

From Miracle on 34th Street

Faith is believing when common sense tells you not to.

Don’t overlook those lovely intangibles.

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

A man’s gotta do something to keep warm.

From Rio Grande

A man’s word to anything is his honor.

From The Parent Trap

History’s just jammed with stories of lovers parted by some silly thing.

From Spencer’s Mountain

Sometimes educated people has less brains than fools.

The world steps aside to let any man pass if he knows where he is going.

From McLintock!

Everybody’s entitled to their own opinion.

From The Rare Breed

You cannot live with dreams.

A man in love is neither lord nor master of himself.

While beauty is skin deep, meanness runs all the way through.

 

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Movie Wisdom – Charlton Heston Edition

5 Oct

In the last post, I mentioned a character played by, among others, Charlton Heston. Then, I flipped through the channels and caught a few minutes of Will Penny, which stars Charlton Heston. If that is not a sign, then I do not know what a sign looks like. Obviously, it is time to check out words of wisdom from the movies of Charlton Heston.Charlton Heston

From The Greatest Show on Earth

When things go up, they must come down.

From The Ten Commandments

Ambition knows no father.

Nothing from some is more than gold from others.

A charging chariot knows no rank!

From The Big Country

Take a bath sometime.

You don’t shoot an unarmed man.

From Ben-Hur

Live your own life.

The world is more than we know.

A grown man knows the world he lives in.

From Will Penny

We don’t all have the same choices.

No self-respectin’ cowhand’d be caught dead milkin’ a cow!

From Planet of the Apes

Some apes, it seems, are more equal than others.

You can’t trust the older generation.

From The Omega Man

There’s never a cop around when you need one.

From Soylent Green

People were always rotten.

You’re bought as soon as they pay you a salary.

From Tombstone

Wearing that badge don’t make you right.

From True Lies

Seconds count.

 

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Movie Wisdom – Robert De Niro Edition

1 Oct

My stepdaughter saw The Intern and came home talking about how much she liked it. As she talked, I wondered if she had ever seen a Robert De Niro movie before. As we older folks know, he has appeared in some great films.

I do not know if I will see The Intern, but I have seen a lot of his movies. With that in mind, I figured that we should look into those movies and see what words of wisdom we can find.De Niro

From Bang the Drum Slowly

Everybody knows everybody is dying; that’s why people are as good as they are.

From The Godfather: Part II

Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.

Good health is the most important thing. More than success, more than money, more than power.

From The Deer Hunter

When a man says no to champagne, he says no to life.

From The Untouchables

Never stop fighting till the fight is done.

If you’re afraid of getting a rotten apple, don’t go to the barrel. Get it off the tree.

From Goodfellas

Never rat on your friends and always keep your mouth shut.

From Cape Fear 

If you hold on to the past, you die a little each day.

Every man has to go through hell to reach paradise.

From Casino

When you love someone, you’ve gotta trust them.

Take chances and drive fast.

From Heat

I say what I mean, and I do what I say.

From Ronin

Whenever there is any doubt, there is no doubt.

Either you’re part of the problem or you’re part of the solution or you’re just part of the landscape.

There is something outside yourself that has to be served.

Everyone’s your brother until the rent comes due.

All good things come to those who wait.

At the end of the day, we are likely to be punished for our kindnesses.

From The Good Shepherd

Everything is a secret.

Friends can be enemies, and enemies friends.

You have to look behind the words to understand their meaning.

From Silver Linings Playbook

The world will break your heart ten ways to Sunday.

 

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Movie Wisdom – Richard Jaeckel Edition

14 Sep

The other night, I caught a few minutes of the original 3:10 to Yuma. I have seen it before, and it is better than its remake from a few years ago. Of course, originals are usually better than remakes. The first one has better actors in several roles, but I definitely think that Richard Jaeckel is better than Ben Foster in the role of Charlie Prince.

Jaeckel shows up in a lot of movies, and I figured this would be a good time to look for words of wisdom in those movies. As in all Movie Wisdom posts, I must have seen all of the movies, but the words can be spoken by any actor in the movie.Richard Jaeckel

From Sands of Iwo Jima

You gotta learn right and you gotta learn fast.

Don’t get blind, staggerin’ stinkin’ falling down drunk.

From 3:10 to Yuma

It seems terrible that something bad can happen and all anybody can do is stand by and watch.

Funny, some men you see every day for ten years and you never notice; some men you see once and they’re with you for the rest of your life.

Squeezin’ that watch ain’t gonna stop time.

Borrowing isn’t begging.

From 4 for Texas

A secret whispered in a coffee house is as confidential as a headline in a newspaper.

From Chisum

No matter where people go, sooner or later there’s the law.

From Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid

Comes an age in a man’s life when he don’t wanna spend time figuring what comes next.

From Starman

Red light stop, green light go, yellow light go very fast.

From Delta Force 2: The Colombian Connection

Most mountains have four sides.

 

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Movie Wisdom – Harry Dean Stanton Edition

24 Aug

I am still in the process of breaking my writer’s block, and I am still creating easy posts until it completely goes away. Today’s easy post is part of the Movie Wisdom series that I often use to get through such times.

In the past, we have looked at words of wisdom from leading men, leading ladies and character actors. This time, we are exploring the works of one of time all time character actors, Harry Dean Stanton. The Kentucky native has been in some classics.Harry Dean

From How the West Was Won

There ain’t much glory in trompin’ behind a plow.

It don’t pay to eat too much on an empty stomach.

There ain’t much glory in lookin’ at a man with his guts hanging out.

From Cool Hand Luke

Sometimes nothin’ can be a real cool hand.

Things are just never the way they seem.

From Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid

Comes an age in a man’s life when he don’t wanna spend time figuring what comes next.

From The Godfather: Part II

Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.

If anything in this life is certain, if history has taught us anything, it is that you can kill anyone.

Good health is the most important thing. More than success, more than money, more than power.

From The Missouri Breaks

The closer you get to Canada, the more things’ll eat your horse.

From Red Dawn

Far better it is to dare mighty things, than to take rank with those poor, timid spirits who know neither victory nor defeat.

No one can ever go home again.

From Pretty in Pink

If somebody doesn’t believe in me, I can’t believe in them.

If you give off signals that you don’t want to belong, people will make sure that you don’t.

From The Last Temptation of Christ

Change will happen with love, not with killing.

From The Green Mile

People hurt the ones they love.

Sometimes the past just catches up with you, whether you want it to or not.

You can’t hide what’s in your heart.

From Rango

No man can walk out of his own story.

Stay in school, eat your veggies, and burn everything but Shakespeare.

Control the water, and you control everything.

Sometimes you have to dig deep to find what you’re looking for.

It’s the deeds that make the man.

 

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Movie Wisdom- Robert Mitchum Edition

15 Aug

Several months ago, I put together a Movie Wisdom post based on the films of John Mitchum. Now, I have decided to write one about the movies of his more famous brother, Robert Mitchum.

The idea developed as I watched Thunder Road, a movie that I had never seen. Robert Mitchum wrote it; starred in it; and co-wrote the theme song. In other words, it was a movie that he was passionate about.

Thunder Road is about moonshine running in Appalachia. After watching the movie, I looked up its filming locations. When I was a kid, I heard that a movie like this one was made nearby, and I wondered if this was the one. It was not, but I am going to figure out that mystery.

Anyway, here are some words of wisdom that can be found in the movies of Robert Mitchum.Robert Mitchum

From River of No Return

There are lots of ways to die. Starving to death isn’t my favorite.

The longer you last the less you care.

From Thunder Road

If you want to bray, go find yourself a barnyard.

From The Longest Day

The thing that’s always worried me about being one of the few is the way we keep on getting fewer.

You can’t give the enemy a break.

From El Dorado

A man can’t shoot good when his horse is jumping.

Faith can move mountains, but it can’t beat a faster draw.

From 5 Card Stud

A man don’t work, he ain’t respectable.

The funeral is for the living.

From Scrooged

Sometimes the truth is painful.

That’s the one good thing about regret: it’s never too late. You can always change tomorrow if you want to.

From Cape Fear

If you hold on to the past you die a little each day.

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