The Oscars are going to be on in two weeks. I love the Oscars—the glamour, the suspense, even the speeches. In the last few years, I’ve been a little lost when watching the Oscars simply because the movies seem to have gotten more and more obscure. So I decided to ask my own personal Oscar Academy about their choices for Best Picture. I asked my family what their favorite movies and favorite movie quotes are. And these are their choices, in their own words:
Dad. “One of my favorite movies is ‘The Great Escape.’ It’s about the power of purpose, teamwork, and willpower. My favorite quote from it is ‘Brace yourself—you’re fifty feet short.’ Just because a situation appears hopeless doesn’t mean it is. Another favorite movie of mine is ‘Forrest Gump’ because it showcases the power of the human spirit. The quote that I like most from ‘Forrest Gump’ is when Lt. Dan is speaking to Forrest and says, ‘Yes. I know that.’ It shows the power of stating the obvious.’”
Mom. “My favorite movie is ‘It’s A Wonderful Life.’ It’s a Christmas movie that I watch every year. Memories of watching it with your dad year after year and sometimes my family are so wrapped around this movie. It is a movie that teaches me and inspires me to live my life to the fullest. It reminds me that my life does make a difference. It’s also a favorite because I’ve watched it so many times that I anticipate all my favorite scenes and lines. And it has a happy ending — a total must for me! My favorite movie quote is from this movie, too: ‘Remember, no man is a failure who has friends.’ I have to say that my second favorite movie of all time would be ‘Les Miserables.’ It’s the opposite of everything I like from ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’ It’s not one I want to watch many times. In fact, I don’t think I really ever want to watch it again. It doesn’t have a happy ending. But I’ll never forget how I felt when I finished watching it in the theater. I have never been so moved by a movie. I just had to sit there for a minute when it was over. I like remembering that moment. The talent of the actors in the movie blew me away. They’re like Olympic athletes reaching their highest skill. Anne Hathaway singing ‘live’ while lying down was incredible. Every song was unbelievably done by actors I never even knew could sing. This movie was ‘work’ for me and I liked that, but like I said I wouldn’t really want to see it again.”
Lisa. “My favorite movie is ‘Pretty Woman.’ I remember seeing it with [my boyfriend and now husband] Lonnie on the day before I went home for summer break after freshman year of college. I loved all the clothes in it and proceeded to sew myself a whole ‘Pretty Woman wardrobe.’ I love the rags-to-riches story, and in the nineties I was one of Julia Roberts’s biggest fans. I loved every movie she made, especially this one. I can quote all the lines from it, but my favorite quotes are actually from two other movies. From ‘Gone With the Wind’, which is one of my favorite movies, I like the quote ‘After all, tomorrow is another day.’ I like how it is directly from the book that Margaret Mitchell wrote (actually the last line), and how it shows the resilience of Scarlett no matter what she faced. I also like the line from ‘The Wizard of Oz’—‘There’s no place like home.’ This one is obvious—just because it’s true!!!”
Heather: “One of my favorite movies is ‘The Family Stone.’ I love it because it is about family, and family is my favorite thing in the world. I like that the family members (and their significant others) are so different and made up of all kinds of quirks. The siblings weave in and out throughout the movie between remembering who they knew their siblings to be in the past, and accepting who they are in present day. I love the parents’ love and loyalty of their family. I love the old house in the movie—obviously a home that has had a lot of history, both good and bad. The siblings are friends in spite of their differing opinions and personalities. Many of the qualities of the movie mirror my own family, so when I am missing my family I can pull out this movie and it brings me comfort. My favorite quote from the movie is when Meredith, the character played by Sarah Jessica Parker, says, ‘What’s so great about you guys?’ Sybil, played by Diane Keaton, answers, ‘Uh, nothing. It’s just that we’re all that we’ve got.’”
Adam: “’Forrest Gump’ is an amazing movie that tells the story of modern America through the use of sixties pop songs. My favorite quote from ‘Forrest Gump’ comes from the scene where a hippie approaches Forrest and says, ‘Hey, man, hey, listen. I was wondering if you might help me, huh? Listen, I’m in the bumper sticker business and I’ve been trying to think up a good slogan. And since you have been such a big inspiration to the people around here, I thought you might be able to help me jump into. . . Whoa! Man, you just ran through a big pile of dog s***!’ Forrest responds, ‘It happens.’ The hippie says, ‘What? S***?’ Forrest says, ‘ Sometimes.’ And a bumper sticker is born. ‘The Godfather’ is the best movie ever. It’s a groundbreaking film that transformed American cinema. My favorite quote from it is, ‘I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse.’”
Monty. “I have three favorite movies. The first is ‘Mary Poppins.’ As a kid, I watched the ‘Star Wars’ trilogy many, many times and thought they were awesome. But I have to say my favorite movie as a kid was ‘Mary Poppins’—not because it was the greatest movie, but because I may have had a slight crush on Mary Poppins. I always wished she was my nanny. I also love ‘Jurassic Park.’ I remember watching it in the theater and being amazed. From the scene where the water in a dinosaur footprint rippled, from the thumps of the T-rex approaching, to how realistic the dinosaurs looked—this was on the forefront at the time of CGI and real life filming being blended together, and it was amazing. My third favorite is ‘Saving Private Ryan.’ I remember sitting in the second row in the movie theater so the screen was looming above us. The opening D-Day scene was mind-blowing. It was another movie at the time where the war scenes, like the D-day scene, were never done that way before. As far as movie quotes are concerned, I have two: The first is ‘Why so serious?’ from ‘The Dark Knight.’ Heath Ledger was so awesome in this movie and said it so creepily. But, if reading the quote on the surface, it’s actually something good to think about. Don’t always take every situation in life so seriously. The second quote is ‘Allllll-righty then!’ from the ‘Ace Ventura’ movies. Every time I think of it, it makes me laugh and feel happy thinking of all the funny parts of those movies. And, sometimes in life, you just have to say to your life’s current situation, ‘Alrighty then,’ laugh at it, and move on.”
Me. If any of you are at all familiar with my blog, you know that I’m a huge Rocky fan—and “Rocky V” is my favorite of the franchise. I love the continuing story between Rocky and Adrian. I like that Rocky returns to his roots in Philly after having lost his fortune. And I love his street fight with his protégé, Tommy. My all time favorite movie quote is from this movie: “One more round.” Every time Rocky thinks he has no fight left in him, he remembers what his coach Mickey told him: “One more round.” So many times when I think I can’t do something or I can’t give anymore, I think of those words. Can I do one more round? Just one more? My second favorite movie is “The Long, Long Trailer”—a movie from the fifties starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. It’s basically an extended version of “I Love Lucy.” Finally, the movie “Honeymoon in Vegas” is one of my favorites because it reminds me of all the times Adam and I watched it together. Like Mom said about having seen “It’s a Wonderful Life” so many times, it’s fun to anticipate the scenes and lines. My second favorite movie quote is from “Honeymoon in Vegas.” The quote isn’t profound; it really has no meaning at all. But it makes me laugh every single time I hear it. And, really, isn’t that what movies are about? To make us feel something, to foster nostalgia, to take us out of our own lives for a couple of hours? So here, for you, is my second favorite movie quote of all time. I hope Nicolas Cage entertains you:
I’d like to thank my “academy” for their above contributions. I’d love to hear what your favorite movies and/or movie quotes are. You can share them in the comments below.
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Comments 12
Linda, I love this story! I haven’t seen “Showboat”–but I love musicals, so I need to watch it. Thanks so much for reading and sharing your movie choice.
I love movies with happy endings as the realities of life are hard enough without getting depressed from watching a movie. Among my favorites are Pretty Woman, A League of Their Own, Field of Dreams and Hidden Figures. I also enjoyed two movies that made me cry The Bucket List and The Help. I avoid scary movies as I frighten easily.
Aunt Phyllis, you and my mom are very similar in your movie choices. Every movie you listed is one of her favorites. Like you, she won’t watch anything scary or violent. I thought “Hidden Figures” was so, so good. I had never heard about any of those women in history–it’s about time they were recognized for their contributions. And I do love “A League of Their Own”–it has two more of my favorite movie quotes: “If it were easy, everybody would do it.” And “There’s no crying in baseball!” Thank you so much for reading and sharing your choices.
The very first movie I ever saw
“Hooked” me.
Our family would move to Boulder every summer so my father could finish his thesis. There were 6 of us in a two story brick duplex.
For my 6th or 7th BDay mother let me invite a few neighbor kids to go to the “show”. Very exciting. We walked to the theater where Show Boat was playing.
It was magical! The music (especially Old Man River) hooked me.
The beautiful gowns, beautiful leading lady…
For me the Oscar Goes to
SHOW BOAT…I know Carol Scheel will vote with me!
I think that years ago I may have watched the Oscars once or twice with others, but frankly I don’t find it entertaining. I know very few actors or actresses as I don’t attend a ton of movies, but do watch them if they are on TV. I did attend a number of movies with Nancy before she died as she loved going to the theater, however the problem was that we both liked very different movies. I cannot watch anything that disturbs my soul such as mistreatment, slavery, horror, gruesome murder or anything that feels sadistic and so on. I remember going to the theater to watch ” One flew over the cuckoo’s nest”, and promptly walked out, I had notions of strangling one of the sadistic people in that movie. Twenty years later someone challenged me to watch it and I did, but had the same feelings? I do however love and always have ” The sound of music” and ” Pretty woman”. I love most movies with Julia Roberts and also like Merle Streep. I have learned from when I was very small that certain shows or movies are too close to reality for me and then cause a deep disturbance to my soul which lead me to nightmares over and over again. My parents used to turn of the TV if any scene went into that direction as per request of one of the doctors. I still have this problem and sometimes if I am with others watching something, I request to turn it off or I leave if I have that option. To me there is no such thing as saying ” Oh well, it’s just a movie”–it isn’t, most movies are based on reality of sorts. Movies on slavery are some of the worst for me due to having children who are bi-racial and it simply breaks my heart to know what happened in the past. I do remember being super impressed with “Gone with the wind” when I was about 16 years old. However I love anything that makes me laugh and gladly watch Christmas movies as they are mostly heartwarming and all about family, love and making a better world!
Klara, you and my mom would make good movie-watching companions! As a child, I was like you–very frightened of things on TV and very sensitive and impressionable. As an adult, once I discovered Stephen King, I kind of had an epiphany–horror and violence are escapes for me, I suppose because I think nothing in the real world can be as horrible and violent as those types of movies. I know that’s not true, but escaping into someone else’s nightmare helps my own not to seem as real. That probably makes no sense, but it works for me. That said, I can’t watch anything with animals being mistreated or dying; to borrow your phrase, those things deeply disturb my soul. I also get very “disturbed” by movies about the Holocaust–because of the atrocities of it, the truth of it, and because Monty is Jewish. I do love “The Sound of Music,” which you mentioned. Mom raised us on musicals, and that is one I can never get enough of. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts.
Renee, another wonderful Blog. Your Dad’s choice, The Great Escape, loveD the movie. Movies, transport a person, so to speak, Gone With The Wind, a superb movie. For me, going to the movies, in the ‘50s, double feature, plus cartoons, Loved the westerns, Randolph Scott, George Montgomery, and “The Duke”. James Dean “burst on the scene”, during my mid teen years. Cool, Rebellious, “Rebel Without A Cause”, white tee shirt, pack of Cigarettes tucked under one of the short sleeves. The turbulent ‘60’s, “Cool Hand Luke”, with Mr. Newman,, “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance”, Newman and Redford “super” in that movue, along with the Beautiful, Miss Katherine Ross, she also “knocked me out”, in “The Graduate”, Yes Mrs. Robinson,, you made Dustin’s heart “pound” and his mind go crazy. Will close with My Favorite actor, Clint. Loved him from the days of Rawhide, The Spaghetti Westerns, To Dirty Harry, “Hey Punk, Do you feel lucky today”, go ahead “Make my day”. Used to love to watch The Oscars, from start to finish.But, the current movies, nothing “shakes my brain” so to speak. African Queen, Caine Mutiny, Breakfast a5 Tiffany’s, All of The Rocky movies. Finally, movies transport me, to a magical place. Thank you, Renee. Your Blogs make me “think”, and that is a Good Thing.
P.S. Being a LAB Lover, “Marley”, loved it, “real tears” at the end.
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Harold, thank you for sharing all of your choices. My dad would definitely agree with you on your list! I think he likes every movie you mentioned. I haven’t seen most of the ones you listed. I loved “African Queen” and of course, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” is a favorite. (although I don’t like the scenes where that poor cat is in the rain!) I like your phrase about current movies–“nothing shakes my brain.” That’s exactly how I feel. Now and then one comes along that does shake my brain, but I like older movies the best. And yes–movies transport us to a magical place. And I think that’s wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing your choices.
Goodbye Christopher Robin is the true story of Christopher Robi n and how the story unfolds. You should watch it. Unexpected ending of course.
A dogs life … I’ll let you risk your heart on that one. A rollercoaster ride!!!
Steve–I think I got rid of your duplicate comments, but Monty is the real brains behind the blog, so if there’s a problem, you’ll have to wait for him to get up! I will definitely check out the Christopher Robin movie, but I just can’t “risk my heart” on the dog one.
I have watched all these movies. I know, a boring life?. They are escape for me but probably good lessons. The most poiniant movie to me was “A dogs life”! Ripped my heart out many times. Then there was “Goodbye Christopher Robin”. Surprised me. Something speaks to everyone somewhere sometime.
Steve, you said it exactly–movies are escape but also good lessons. I have to admit I’ve never seen “The Godfather,” (sorry, Adam) but other than that, I have watched the rest of them. I saw the preview for “A Dog’s Life” and knew I’d never be able to watch it. It would have, in your words, ripped my heart out, for sure. I haven’t seen or even heard of “Goodbye Christopher Robin” so I’ll have to check it out. Thank you so much for sharing.