find a friend in a film

Note to self: you will never be one of those dancers in the iPod commercials, so you may want to rethink the whole convulsing around in your apartment by yourself to your iPod mini thing. Then again, it's not really your fault- Galang and The Jurassic Five back to back are difficult to resist.

Before my apartment turned into Dance Party USA, I noticed that the AFI was doing a special on the top 100 film quotes of all time. Blech. There was no need for televising this, especially since VH1 was not involved, enlisting such hipsters as Michael Ian Black to make sardonic remarks. Instead, you have mostly self-involved actors/directors remarking on the brilliance of these quotes. Puh-leeze. What's really brilliant is not the movies, or even the dialogue, but the audience, and how the audience chooses to latch onto words that most writers/actors/directors can't predict for the life of them. J will be very disappointed that there were no Old School quotes- that just shows what the AFI knows. Here are the ones that were mentioned that find their way into conversations I have with people all the time:

#3- "I coulda been a contender" from On the Waterfront. I use this all of the time, mostly because I am constantly falling flat on my face.
#4- "...we're not in Kansas anymore" from The Wizard of Oz, although my friend R and I use it more in reference to Swingers.
#8- "May the force be with you", mostly for commenting on Abhi's blog. My brother also feels the need to say "May the Schwarz be with you" all. the. time. I feel it's important to note here that the Star Wars quote I favor most ("I know") was noticeably absent.
#9- "Fasten your seatbelt. It's going to be a bumpy night." from All About Eve, when I've been drinking. Gets a lot of funny glances.
#10- "You talking to me?" from Taxi Driver. Duh- I lived quite close to NYC for 5 years.
#11- "What we've got here is a failure to communicate." from Cool Hand Luke. I found it very disheartening that most people thought I was referring to a Guns'N'Roses song whenever I quoted this in the 90s. Also, young Paul Newman was the sexy... I'm just saying.
#12- "I love the smell of napalm in the morning" from Apocalypse Now. My brother, not me. Yes, he's a sociopath.
#19- "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!" from Network, because I often feel like that nutcase in my current place of employment. Also gets a lot of funny glances.
#29- "You can't handle the truth!" from Mr. Jumpsalotoncouches. Thanks to my friend A, that film gets a lot of quoting.
#37- "I'll be back" from Terminator, another one used frequently by psycho-bro. He would be frothing at the unfortunate fact that no Kindergarten Cop quotes made the list.
#45- "Stella! Hey Stella!" from A Streetcar named Desire. It's fun to yell out non-sequiturs like this, even if the reaction is sometimes less than optimal.
#54- "There's no crying in baseball!" from A League of their own. Now, I hate Tom Hanks as much as the next person, but this quote is great and multi-purpose if you remove baseball, and replace it with any other thing under the sun. And believe me, I do.
#61- "Say 'hello' to my little friend" from Scarface. One of my friends in college had the bad luck of getting introduced to everyone with this opening line. By me.
#69- "They're here" from Poltergeist. Fun to say (in a creepy, Poltergeisty voice) when you're expecting people for dinner or a party. Really livens up the mood.
#79- "I am serious, and don't call me Shirley" from Airplane. My cousin D used this one on me when I was fifteen, I didn't get it, which prompted him to sit me down and watch the movie as if it was required summer reading. I owe him one.
#80- "Yo, Adrian!" See #45 for an explanation.
#85- "My precious" from LOTR. Used by my buddy W. Regarding just about anything.
#94- "I feel the need, the need for speed" also by Mr. Jumpsalotoncouches. My friend R used this on me, just yesterday in fact. I told him that I don't keep recreational drugs in my office.
#96- "Snap out of it!" from Moonstruck, although most of the time, people don't think I'm actually quoting anything when I use it.
#98- "Nobody puts Baby in a corner" from Dirty Dancing. The sheer brilliance of this one when it's well-placed can result in much hilarity.

There were a lot of quotes missing that disappointed me, but I really couldn't believe the cheesefest that is "You survive, you stay alive! I will find you!" didn't make the cut. Anyway, I'm a collector of useful movie quotes because I have no talent for articulating anything with originality, so if you've got one (that's not from Old School or Pulp Fiction), let me know.

Just to keep in the theme of lists and the tangential mention yesterday, and since I am too blue about being here to recollect Peru right now, here are my favorite summer songs:

• "Beautiful!" by Snoop & Pharrell. I can't actually listen to this song if it's cloudy.
  
• "Summertime" by The Sundays. Have I read too much fiction or is this how it happens?
  
• "Summertime" by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince. I explained this yesterday.
  
• "Girl" by Beck. It works.
  
• "Doin' Time" by Sublime, despite the fact that it features this cringeworthy gem: the tension is getting harder, I'd like to put her head under water.
  
• "Summer Breeze" by Seals & Croft. Because I am a relic.
  
• "Summer Wind" by Frank Sinatra. Sort of more for a Sunday in the summer. At the geriatric home. But I still lurve it.
  
• "Summer Breeze" by Emiliana Torrini, which is like a sip of lemonade in the country.

Maybe more will come to me later.

In another news, I am now fodder for flaming, I suppose, because I am both a) over 30 and b) on Friendster. If that's not enough to earn some wrath, check this- I'm such a techtard that I'm really not certain how the whole thing is supposed to work. Once again, I rule.