Key Largo

"Maybe it is a rotten world.  But a cause isn't lost

as long as someone's willing to go on fighting."

Lauren Bacall as Nora Temple

Key Largo (1948)

Frost/Nixon

"Sometimes being out of your comfort zone is a good thing, I'm told."

Michael Sheen as David Frost

Frost/Nixon (2008)

The Nature of Existence

"Nobody can really be happy.  You can have moments of happiness, moments of joy.  But life is very difficult.  Unless you're a total idiot, THEN you can be happy."

Irvin Kershner

The Nature of Existence (2010)

Disclosure

"It's always somebody's version.  I mean, that's the legacy of the modern age.  We have information, but no truth.  Little flashes of electrons and a grain of sand."

Donald Sutherland as Bob Garvin

Disclosure (1994)

Cat On a Hot Tin Roof

"Not looking at a fire doesn't put it out."

Elizabeth Taylor as Maggie Pollitt

Cat On a Hot Tin Roof (1958)

Yonkers Joe

"I just don't think it's a good idea to hurt anyone, no matter what."

Christine Lahti as Janice

Yonkers Joe (2008)

Lone Star

"There's enough ignorance in the world without us encouraging it in the classroom."

Eleese Lester as Molly

Lone Star (1996)

Twelve Monkeys

"Never cry wolf.  Then people won't believe you

if something really happens."

Bruce Willis as James Cole

Twelve Monkeys (1995)

Wonder Boys

"Sometimes we have to improvise."

Robert Downey, Jr., as Terry Crabtree

Wonder Boys (2000)

Even the Rain

"Are these not men?  Do they not have rational souls?  Are you not obliged to love them as yourselves?"

Luis Tosar as Costa

Even the Rain (2010)

Fathers and Sons

"A man's life is his own fault."

Joseph Bologna as Noah

Fathers and Sons (2004)

MQP Recommends: The Ultimate Book of Gangster Movies

"You look like a gangster!"

If you enjoy gangster movies - and one thing I've learned from the Movie Quotes Project is that gangsters are surprisingly philosophical - then you will want to read The Ultimate Book of Gangster Movies by George Anastasia and Glenn Macnow.  The book was published in 2011 so it includes newer films like The Departed (2006) while paying tribute to classics like Key Largo (1948).

The Authors:  George Anastasia has a very respectable history reporting on crime for the Philadelphia Inquirer, and on TV, radio, and the Internet.  Glen Macnow has been a reporter at the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Detroit Free Press and co-wrote The Ultimate Book of Sports Movies.

Pleasant Surprise:  The authors include Bound (1996) in their top 100, one of my favorite gangster films and not a well-known one.

Weak Point:  The authors include some movies in their top 100 that even they admit aren't very good.  For example, they write "...we have trouble even getting a fix on the central figures..." about Michael Cimino's 1985 Year of the Dragon.  Better to rank solid efforts like The Limey (1999), which only gets a brief mention in a "If you liked this, you'll like" section.

Bottom Line:  The obvious choices are here - The Godfather, Carlito's Way, etc.  But the authors include a nice sample of foreign films and they provide interesting trivia that adds to the pleasure of watching these films (for example, if you think the car/train chase in The French Connection is memorable, you should read how that sequence was filmed.)  This book is flexible - you can read it cover to cover, or skim the pages for quick recommendations.  You will want to peruse this book if you're a movie fan, even if you're only lukewarm on gangster movies.

Casino Royale

"I do hate it when religion comes between us."

Daniel Craig as James Bond

Casino Royale (2006)

Husbands and Wives

"Everybody screws up, you know.  Nobody's perfect.  The question is, do you learn from it?  What do you do then?"

Sydney Pollack as Jack

Husbands and Wives (1992)

Into the Wild

"You know what I don't understand?  I don't understand why people, why every…person, is so bad to each other, so…often.  It doesn't make sense to me - judgment, control, all that, the whole spectrum…"

Emile Hirsch as Chris McCandless

Into the Wild (2007)

Carlito's Way

"You got to dream, baby."

Al Pacino as Carlito Brigante

Carlito's Way (1993)

Metropolis

"The mediator between head and hands must be the heart!"

Screen Titles

Metropolis (1927)

Beyond the Sea

"You can never go wrong with the truth."

Brenda Blethyn as Polly Cassotto

Beyond the Sea (2004)

Quiz Show

"The truth has its price."

Ralph Fiennes as Charles Van Doren

Quiz Show (1992)

Mad City

"The public's fickle."

John Travolta as Sam

Mad City (1997)

Unbreakable

"Do you know what the scariest thing is?  To not know your true place in this world, to not know why you're here.  That's…that's just an awful feeling."

Samuel L. Jackson as Elijah Price

Unbreakable (2000)

Siddhartha

"This river is everywhere, everywhere at the same time.  It is at its source and at the mouth.  It is everywhere.  The river only lives in the present.  We, too, must learn to live in the present."

Amrik Singh as Siddhartha's Father

Siddhartha (1972)

Gorky Park

"Patience has its own rewards."

William Hurt as Arkady Renko

Gorky Park (1983)

Visual Acoustics

"Architecture affects everybody.  From the hospital where you're born, to the schools and the grocery stores and markets, libraries, theaters.  Every part of a person's life is based on an architect's presence."

Julius Shulman

Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman (2008)

Blade Runner

"The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long."

Joe Turkel as Dr. Eldon Tyrell

Blade Runner: Theatrical Cut (1982)

Cradle Will Rock

"I have no problem with money…  I need it like everybody else.  The question is, what will you do for the money?  Where do you draw the line?"

Hank Azaria as Marc Blitzstein

Cradle Will Rock (1999)

The Purple Rose of Cairo

"The most human of all attributes is your ability to choose."

Van Johnson as Larry

The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)

Sneakers

"Money's most powerful ability is to allow bad people to continue doing bad things at the expense of those who don't have it."

Ben Kingsley as Cosmo

Sneakers (1992)

Chariots of Fire

"I have no formula for winning the race.  Everyone runs in their own way."

Ian Holm as Sam Mussabini

Chariots of Fire (1981)

Absence of Malice

"Don't expect the truth unless you're willing to tell it."

Sally Field as Megan

Absence of Malice (1981)

Southland Tales

"There'd be a lot less violence in the world if everyone just got a little more cardio."

Cheri Oteri as Zora Carmichaels

Southland Tales (2006)

Bugsy

"Everybody needs a fresh start once in a while."

Warren Beatty as Bugsy Siegel

Bugsy (1991)