up in the air

Top 10: Famous Final Lines in Films

Here are my top 10 favourite ‘famous last words’ from some iconic films.

1. “Good morning, and in case I don’t see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night!” –The Truman Show

2. “Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need roads” –Back to the Future

3. “That was my father’s final joke, I guess. A man tells his stories so many times that he becomes the stories. They live on after him. And in that way, he becomes immortal.” –Big Fish

4. “Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months. And then, one not-so-very special day, I went to my typewriter, I sat down, and I wrote our story. A story about a time, a story about a place, a story about the people. But above all things, a story about love. A love that will live forever. The end.” –Moulin Rouge!

5. “By the toll of a billion deaths, man had earned his immunity, his right to survive among this planet’s infinite organisms. And that right is ours against all challenges. For neither do men live nor die in vain.” –War of the Worlds

6. “Some people are born to sit by a river. Some get struck by lightning. Some have an ear for music. Some are artists. Some swim. Some know buttons. Some know Shakespeare. Some are mothers. And some people dance.” –The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

7. “Tonight most people will be welcomed home by jumping dogs and squealing kids. Their spouses will ask about their day. Tonight they’ll sleep. The stars will wheel forth from their daytime hiding places, and one of those lights, slightly brighter than the rest, will be my wingtip passing over.” –Up in the Air

8. Phil: “They’re gone! They’re all gone. Do you know what today is?”
Rita: “No, what?”
Phil: “Today is tomorrow. It happened. You’re here. I’m here.”
Rita: “Oh, Phil. Why weren’t you Iike this last night? You just fell asleep.”
Phil: “It was the end of a very long day. Is there anything I can do for you today?”
Rita: “I’m sure I can think of something.”
Phil: “It’s so beautiful! Let’s live here! We’ll rent to start.”
-Groundhog Day

9. ‘Leo’: “They’re ruby slippers, Adrian. Put these on and say, ‘there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home,’ and you can be there.”
Adrian: “I hope. I hope we all could.”
-Good Morning, Vietnam

10. Joe: “Don’t cry, Shopgirl. Don’t cry.”
Kathleen: “I wanted it to be you. I wanted it to be you so badly.”
–You’ve Got Mail

Top 5: Film Pet Peeves

Community tv show

For the sake of all the Abeds out there…

Spotless shoe soles
This obviously happens because the shoes are brand new, bought for the actor and the character they’re playing. But I’m tired of never seeing a scuff, scratch or smudge. No dirt or wear to the shoes at all. Work them in a little!

Empty coffee cups
This annoys me to no end. It’s usually those take-away cups where it is obvious there is nothing in them. Put some water in them or something! Because no matter how great an actor is at drinking pretend coffee, (Brad Pitt is quite talented at this) when they set that cup down on a table – it wobbles. Act your way outa that one!

Drivers that never look at the road!
The passenger may have very intriguing things to say, but it’s been like… a solid six seconds since you last looked where you’re driving. The last time I saw this was on that incredible political TV show, House of Cards. But, it happens in a lot of films and shows.

People not eating or drinking
I know, I know, having actors eat and drink during every take is a continuity nightmare. But twirling pasta and pushing it around the plate is so frustrating to watch. Up in the Air is a fantastic movie and one of my favourites, but there’s a scene where George Clooney and Anna Kendrick are in a restaurant staring at food and tapping it with forks.

The scene is long, my friends. That food is cold, and uneaten.

The Up in the Air director (Jason Reitman) probably learned his lesson from when he did Juno though. In that movie, he asked Jennifer Garner to drink the red wine in her hand take after take. She eventually started to bung-up her lines, sway and slur her words. But it looked realistic, nonetheless!

In Julie & Julia the director was adamant that the actors must eat the food. A chef was on site, and the food was apparently delicious. But take after take, the actors did begin to feel sick from the amount they were eating!

The Very Hungry Hannibal In the most recent TV show Hannibal, the actors had to eat the food because it had to look legit. You can’t exactly skimp on the eating part in a show about a cannibal! But man did the crew work for it! The dietary requirements of the actors must have been an annoyance. Making it look like everyone is eating the same thing, but some being vegetarian or gluten intolerant or vegan… Phwah! For the love of art, right?

Flawless make-up during battles and strenuous exercise
This annoys me more than any of the rest. I get it. Women are supposed to be flawless in movies. I know there are unrealistic beauty standards, but that aside. Lipstick fades. Eye shadow smudges. Mascara bleeds. Ugly crier If anything, seeing a character sweat without the make-up shifting breaks my suspension of disbelief. In action scenes like in Edge of Tomorrow or the fourth Transformers (God, there’s so much wrong with that film, invincible make-up is the least of its worries), putting a bit of dirt on their face doesn’t count. Tussle the hair! Uneven the eyeliner! Streak the foundation! Do something!

Add your pet peeves in the comments section below!

Abed: I can tell life from TV, Jeff. TV makes sense, it has structure, logic, rules, and likeable leading men. In life, we have this. We have you.

Jodie.

Top 9: First Class Films About Travelling

I know I need to stop going on about it! But The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a fantastically inspiring film. It really did make me want to travel. Coincidently, Iceland is my dream location anyway. So that was just the cherry on top.

This got me thinking what other films make you want to quit your day job and get lost in the wilderness.

Into the Wild
A film that keeps coming up in conversation when I talk about travelling films. I have seen the first 40-odd minutes of it, but it didn’t quite grasp my imagination… Perhaps I should give it another shot though. Still shots taken from the film look extraordinary. (Finally reviewed it).

Midnight in Paris
It is a film I marvelled over. It’s a perfect marriage between the environment of a magical and unfamiliar city, plus a fantastical and romantic storyline. Can’t go wrong with a bit of time travel too! The mysterious and enchanting themes will make anyone want to book a flight to Paris.

Eat Pray Love
Now, I need to disclose that this was so disappointing! I thought it was going to be a deep and meaningful tale of self-discovery. However, it was pretty much a chick flick based in three different countries; Italy, Bali and India. But I have to say, I did buy into the dream. To take off for a year! What an experience.

Up In The Air
I know, I know, you pretty much only see airports in this film. But my imagination was harnessed by this movie! Turning up to an airport, picking a place, and going. No strings attached, no worries, just leaving everything behind.

Water For Elephants
Have you ever fantasised about joining a travelling circus? Perhaps it’s not a common dream now days, but I can definitely relate to it. Living rough, never being in the same place twice or staying in one location for too long. The people around you, mesmerised and spellbound by the circus performances.

Cemetery Junction
It’s all about escaping the ordinary life. After being inspired by Julie, a young aspiring photographer, Freddie realises he doesn’t want to live in a sleepy town either. He wants to go on an epic adventure. The film is about him building up the courage to leave; to ditch a town of no potential, to go around the world. It’s a grand idea to ponder.

Chocolat
About a mother and daughter who wander from place to place, finding towns to warm up with chocolate treats. They’re always on the road, floating from town to town, until they finally settle. It is more about the people than the places to be honest, but it’s a magical film with beautiful locations nevertheless.

Brooklyn
One of my favourite films about a young Irish girl who goes to Brooklyn to work, but she’s torn between her life in Ireland and her life in Brooklyn. Should she follow her heart and stay in America? Or should she stay in Ireland with her vulnerable mother and the life that’s expected of her?

Jodie.

Top 4: Feel-Good Film Trailers

I love getting to the cinema early to watch the trailers! But if I’m not watching movies, I’m sifting through film trailers on YouTube.

My attention has been drawn to the skill of making compelling and intriguing trailers, there is such an art to it.

Of course, the idea of a trailer is to get as many people to buy a ticket to the movies as possible; trailers are an advertisement.

Recently, I’ve realised the most compelling trailers have no dialogue. It’s the music that sets the mood.

Such as the first trailer released for the movie: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. This is so fantastic. Relying completely on the powerful music to sell the story… And it works so incredibly well.

To The Wonder is a romantic movie, which would otherwise not appeal to me. Yet, thanks to the trailer, I’ve already decided I’m definitely going to buy the DVD… I don’t even like romantic films.

They use an uplifting and, once again, powerful piece of music. But this time, a well-spoken speech is added which gives me shivers.

Up In The Air is another example of a speech over music, edited together with a collage of appropriate clips. It simply gives you chills. Although, if I’m honest, it doesn’t quite give you an accurate feel of the actual movie. But it sells it, nevertheless.

Gravity‘s trailer shows so much contrast, sound-wise, music-wise, and the shots used. So intense!

Trailers are the only kind of advertising I consume willingly. I’ve realised it’s the music that has the most impact. The footage isn’t always true to the movie, but the scenes picked for the trailer are purely used to sell the story; it doesn’t need to be accurate.

What trailers have convinced you to go see the movie?

Jodie.

My Favourite Scene: Up in the Air

Up In The Air (2009): “I stereotype, it’s quicker”
A story about the lives of people who have been made redundant during an economic crisis, told by the man who is hired to fire them on behalf of their bosses. A very comedic look by Ryan (George Clooney) regarding people in airports:

“Everybody needs a co-pilot”
A heavier scene about the point of life, with quite an insightful answer by Ryan.

Jodie.

Director: Jason Reitman
Writer: Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner (based on novel by Walter Kirn)
Released: December 2009
Starring: George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick
—

At face value, this may seem like just another shallow idea with a typical love story. But this is far from it.

It’s an incredible story that has a very serious undertone, indeed. It is actually documenting the effects of the start of the financial downfall that we are now experiencing globally.

The movie is not told from the perspective of an employee being let go and the inevitable family and financial problems that would accompany it, but from the point of view of the man that is hired by the boss to tell their employers they no longer have a job.

This is a song that a man named Kevin Renick wrote after losing his job. He sent it to Jason Reitman after hearing about the film and the song is played on the credits. Shows how real this film is, I think.

It’s a fantastic – yet heartbreaking – perspective, because we also see how technology is ruining human connection. For example, it is proposed that instead of Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) flying from city to city letting these people go face to face, that he could actually tell them online via a camera which would be more ‘efficient’, but obviously much less personal. This proposition doesn’t work for Bingham whatsoever. Let alone the people getting told they’re losing a job.

It’s a sad story of how people’s worlds collapse, how in many respects the odds are against us and that people can no longer rely on each other since it is predominately all about profit. It addresses how we have stopped being personal, only professional, and how a job can become somebody’s life. How it can be their only reliable thing.

Of course, being the director of Juno, Jason Reitman has created another fantastic comedy with very quirky lines. I love this kind of humour, particularly in the scene showed in the photo above.

Ryan: I’m not a shrink, Bob. I’m a wake-up call. You know why kids love athletes?
Bob (JK Simmons): I don’t know. Cause they screw lingerie models?
Ryan: No, that’s why we love athletes. Kids love athletes because they follow their dreams… Your resume` says that you minored in French culinary arts. Most students, they work on the fryer at KFC, but you bussed tables at Il Picador to support yourself. Then you get out of college and then you come and you work here. How much did they first pay you to give up on your dreams?
Bob: 27 grand a year.
Ryan: And when were you going to stop and come back and do what makes you happy?
Bob: Good point.

My favourite part is when George Clooney’s character is deliberating which line to join for security screening in an airport:

This fantastic film is pretty much about all the different ways somebody can feel ‘up in the air’ with little substance and solidarity in their life.

It is a sad film if you look beyond its face value, with not much of a happy ending which I think is very appropriate since we are not quite out of the dark yet. However, it’s strong, underlying current of humour keeps us afloat and captured throughout the whole film.

Jodie’s rating: 9/10