Friday, February 16, 2007

More on Movies and Popular Taste

Today Netflix ("the thinking person's Blockbuster") released the results of its 2007 survey of great movie quotes of the year. I highly doubt any of these will hold up over the years - maybe the Nicholson? - and that gives me pause going into the Oscars. Not that I'm not still PUMPED. Did we all agree to live-blog? I think people in Magwitch's pool should definitely live-blog.

OK, Here are the survey results. Strange that there are no overlaps across categories. Could they really have done better?:

What was the best movie quote of 2006?

38.1% "Everyone just pretend to be normal!"
Richard -- Little Miss Sunshine
35.6% "The details of your incompetence do not interest me."
Miranda Priestly -- The Devil Wears Prada
17.1% "I don't want to be a product of my environment. I want my environment to be a product of me."
Frank Costello -- The Departed
5.7% "Have we shown you how to start a nuclear war yet?"
Queen Elizabeth II to Tony Blair -- The Queen
3.5% "I know who you are, and what you are. I am you!"
Idi Amin -- The Last King of Scotland

Which 2006 movie line would you classify as the best "Did They Just Say That?" quote?

61.7% "I'm just one stomach flu away from my goal weight."
Emily -- The Devil Wears Prada
15.3% "In America it's 'Bling-Bling,' but out here, it's 'Bling-Bang."
Danny Archer -- Blood Diamond
10.5% "Ask [the Queen] if SHE greased the brakes."
Alastair Campbell -- The Queen
8% "Tell my son the time his father died."
Capitán Vidal -- Pan's Labyrinth
4.5% "Your boyfriend is younger than my boyfriend."
Polly Hart -- Notes on a Scandal

What was the best movie line delivery in 2006?

41% "Hide the rum!!!"
Captain Jack Sparrow -- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
22.9% "Very niiiicceee!!!
Borat Sagdiyev -- Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
18.6% "That's all."
Miranda Priestly -- The Devil Wears Prada
9.1% "Boogity boogity boogity, boys! Let's go racin'!"
Darrell Cartrip -- Cars
8.4% "So... Deena's going to sing the lead 'cause you like the way she looks? Am I ugly to you, Curtis?"
Effie White-- Dreamgirls

In other news, perhaps you've noticed that when you read NY Times stories and commentaries on movies these days, there are comments from readers at the bottom. Does anyone ever read/refer to these comments? Betty was amused to slog through the hundreds of comments responding to Stanley Fish's essay on Dreamgirls, most of which were like "shut up, you're wrong. eddie murphy made me cry."

Perhaps Gawker put it best when they noted:

Not long ago, both the NY Times and the LA Times opened the golden gates of their movie review sections to You, the person of the year. Oooh, it's Web 1.34! Well, Your reviews are in—and You totally suck! You suck even worse than Stephen Holden!

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