6. Monty Python and The Holy Grail (1975)
“Tis but a scratch!”
If you’re part of a certain generation that grew up watching Monty Python’s irreverent take on King Arthur’s legend on repeat until their VHS copy wore out or snapped in half, chances are you can probably still recite at least a handful of its most memorable lines today. Particularly in a genre like comedy where movies tend to age faster than usual and older titles are liable to be rather hit-and-miss among younger viewers, it’s such a blessing to know you can always rely on this almost-quinquagenarian 1970s artifact to deliver the goods when you need to decompress after a long day.
Shot on the fly in the downtime between shooting seasons for their hit TV show and scraped together with extra funding by a number of brand-name rock bands including Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, “Holy Grail” saw the beloved British slapstick troupe crank their absurdist humor up to 11 and bring their A-game to solidify their righteous place among the higher echelon of comedy geniuses.
From its glorious cold opening (Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?”), the Knights of Ni (also known as the knights who say ecky ecky ecky ecky pakang zoom-poing) and the resilient if also delusional Black Knight (“It’s just a flesh wound!”) to the townspeople who was turned into a Newt but somehow got better, “Holy Grail” boasts a higher batting average in terms of uber-quotable gag-for-gag hit rate than any comedy in recent memory.
7. Star Wars (1977)
“I have a bad feeling about this.”
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, there was once no such thing as the prequel or sequel trilogy yet, and “Episode IV: A New Hope” was simply known as “Star Wars”. As history has it, what was originally conceived as an escapist B-movie space adventure stewed from bits and pieces from 1950s sci-fi, serial magazines, classic Westerns, and samurai flicks would of course shatter every box office record in the book, reshape the entire film industry, and make George Lucas a shitload of money through merchandising and licensing rights.
But not even Disney’s ongoing debasement of cinema’s former marquee franchise can sour the sheer force and cinematic delight of the 1977 original, a stone-cold cultural touchstone that also happened to produce an endless supply of legendary quotes and nuggets of wisdom that both diehard fans and casual viewers can instantly recognize today. The “May the force be with you” parting gesture has become synonymous with the franchise’s unofficial holiday (May the 4th), while “never tell me the odds” and “I find your lack of faith disturbing” both stake a legitimate claim to being as the most iconic lines uttered by Han Solo and Darth Vader respectively.
8. American Psycho (2000)
“Impressive, very nice. Let’s see Paul Allen’s card.”
It’s all too easy to mock Mary Harron’s scorching takedown of Reagan-era capitalism these days knowing that a sizeable number of edgy film bros and terminally online trolls have latched onto the movie and created an entire mythology around it for the past twenty-odd years. But don’t let its rabid, male-centric fanbase ruin the whole thing for you: A case for Christian Bale’s Patrick Bateman as being the single most memorable, funniest and quotable movie villain of the 21st century can easily be made.
As a pop-cultural signifier of male vanity and greed, the investment executive-by-day, sociopath serial killer-by-night who slashes his way through New York’s financial district essentially does to ’80s yuppie culture what “Jaws” did to sharks and beaches back in the ’70s. More importantly, Bateman gifted us with an overabundance of hilarious quotes to pull from.
Whether it’s returning some videotapes, barely concealing his rage while carefully analyzing the intricate design of Paul Allen’s business card, trying to make reservations at Dorsia, or blathering about the clear, crisp sound of Huey Lewis and the News, Bale delivers a genuine tour-de-force in deadpan delivery that makes the entire experience of re-watching “American Psycho” today a morbid and hilarious one in almost equal measure.
9. The Godfather (1972)
“I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse.”
Contrary to what its nearly mythic status in the public consciousness as a high-water mark in the New Hollywood Wave and the epitome of highbrow capital-S Serious cinema may suggest, there was a time when this novel adaptation about a well-intentioned young man (Al Pacino) taking his first steps into the criminal life after being swept into his family’s Mafia empire was once considered a pulpy crowd-pleaser of mass appeal (it’s easy to forget now that it raked in a whopping $250 million domestically, good for 25th all time adjusted for inflation).
That Francis Ford Coppola’s crime epic ended up sweeping the Academy Awards and continues to be name dropped, referenced and spoofed across media today is a testament to its undisputed pedigree and re-watchibility value. While a bunch of memorable one-liners have caught on as viral catchphrases and gotten the meme treatment in recent times (“”Look how they massacred my boy.” and “leave the gun, take the cannoli”, just to name a couple), no line in the trilogy has been co-opted by pop-culture for longer than Vito’s ominous promise to his godson Johnny Fontane during his daughter’s wedding (“I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse”), which tells viewers all they need to know about the Don from the get-go.
10. Mean Girls (2004)
“That is so fetch!”
Gretchen Wieners’ catchphrase might’ve not instantly caught on at Illinois’ North Shore High School after all (much to Regina George’s dismay), but it certainly ended up permeating pop culture and the Millennial cultural lexicon after the earth-shattering success of “Mean Girls”, the apparent heir to the “Clueless” and “Heathers” penned by SNL alum Tina Fey.
Not to be mistaken by this year’s vapid remake by the same name, the 2004 cult classic about a fresh-faced home-schooled girl raised in Africa (Lindsay Lohan) joining the titular clique of snarky queen bees known as Plastics at her new high school instantly sealed its place in the teen-movie pantheon and shot Amanda Seyfried and Rachel McAdams’ careers into the stratosphere in no small part due to the sheer number of uber-quotable lines from the script that seeped into the mainstream.
Unless you’re either too young or have lived under a rock for the past two decades, you must have heard someone rattle off lines like “Get in, loser. We’re going shopping” while picking someone up with their car, or ““Boo you whore” jokingly while bantering with friends. After all, there’s a reason why the film spawned a Broadway musical, and why people still celebrate October 3rd and wear pink on Wednesdays.