April 23rd, 2012

Favorite Movie Quote #4

Harold: If you knew you were gonna die, possibly soon, what would you do?

Dave: That’s easy. I’d go to Space Camp.

Harold: Space Camp?

Dave: Yeah, it’s in Alabama. It’s where kids go to learn how to become astronauts. I’ve always wanted to go since I was nine.

Harold: Aren’t you too old to go to Space Camp?

Dave: You’re never too old to go to space camp, dude.

(edited out non-essential in-between lines – you can see the original scene here, but be warned that the clip continues after that and does spoil some parts of the movie.)

If you know me well enough, you’ve been expecting this quote for some time.  It’s from Stranger Than Fiction, which is not only my favorite Will Ferrell movie but also one of my favorite movies – Top 20, for sure.

I love the joy in this line, the hope. “As long as you’re alive, you can chase your dreams,” it says. I love the look on Dave’s face when he says it, like he can’t figure out why a person would think anyone would ever be too old to go to Space Camp.

March 8th, 2012

Favorite Movie Quote #3

Debi: You know what you need?

Martin: What?

Debi: Shakabuku

Martin: You wanna tell me what that means?

Debi: It’s a swift, spiritual kick to the head that alters your reality forever.

Martin: Oh, that’d be good. I think.

From Grosse Pointe Blank, one of my Top Ten movies.  Martin is an assassin who has lost the taste for his job and feels out of sorts and isn’t entirely sure where to go or what to do.  He’s back in his hometown, both for a job and for his 10-year high school reunion.  He finds his highschool girlfriend (that he stood up on Prom night to go join the Army), and she figures out pretty quickly what his deal is (other than him being a hitman, that is).

I love that phrase “swift, spiritual kick to the head that alters your reality forever,” though I take it differently than it’s meant here. I’ve come to learn that the word is Buddhist in origin, and I’m pretty far from being Buddhist. The version in the movie is more of a condensation of the thought, of the awakening meant, of being spurred on to something greater. To me it talks about being more, figuring out that thing that you’re meant to do. Like there’s this thing on your periphery that you can sense, but not quite make out, and you’re hoping to finally catch sight of it and go from there.

I often feel like I’m waiting for that spiritual kick to the head, and I’m curious to see where I’ll go from there.

January 28th, 2012

Favorite Movie Quote #2*

 

Q: Truthfully, Jean-Luc. I have been entirely preoccupied by a most frightening experience of my own. A couple of hours ago, I started realizing this body was no longer functioning properly… I felt weak, the life oozing out of me… I could no longer stand… and then I lost consciousness!

PICARD: You fell asleep.

Q: It’s terrifying! How can you stand it day after day?

PICARD: One gets used to it.

 

I think I’ve mentioned before that I’m currently working my way through Star Trek: The Next Generation on Netflix. The above exchange come from the 13th episode of Season 3, “Déjà Q.”

Q has been stripped of his powers by the Continuum, and requested to be sent to the Enterprise, knowing full well Captain Picard would feel obligated to protect him, even though Q has done nothing but cause the Enterprise grief time and time again. Sure enough, some races that Q has wronged in the past come looking for him, and Captain Picard protects him and Q learns a valuable lesson and is reinstated into the Continuum.

But before all that, Q is adjusting to life as a human being. He doesn’t like it. It’s not just the lack of his powers, it’s the whole business of being human that he objects to, and his reaction to humanity’s many “faults” is amusing. His unfamiliarity with sleep, though, amuses me to no end.

Sleep is such an odd thing! Several hours where you have no idea what’s going on, and we all do it and act like it’s not weird. It totally is!

Anyway, I love Q’s summation of it, so I wanted to share it with you.

 

*Technically it’s a TV quote, but that breaks the categories, so nertz.