Exceptions: 2011 releases seen, and 2010 catch-ups early in the past year don’t count.
1. The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
Directed by Sergio Leone, Year: 1966
“You see, in this world there’s two kinds of people, my friend: Those with loaded guns and those who dig. You dig.”
2. Paths of Glory
Directed by: Stanley Kubrick, Year: 1957
“I apologize… for not being entirely honest with you. I apologize for not revealing my true feelings. I apologize, sir, for not telling you sooner that you’re a degenerate, sadistic old man. And you can go to hell before I apologize to you now or ever again!”
3. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Directed by: John Huston, Year: 1948
“This is the country where the nuggets of gold are just crying out for you to take them out of the ground and make ‘em shine in coins on the fingers and necks of swell dames.”
4. Sweet Smell of Success
Directed by: Alexander Mackendrick , Year: 1957
“Mr. Falco, let it be said at once, is a man of 40 faces, not one – none too pretty, and all deceptive. You see that grin? That’s the, eh, that’s the Charming Street Urchin face. It’s part of his helpless act: he throws himself upon your mercy. He’s got a half-dozen faces for the ladies. But the one I like, the really cute one, is the quick, dependable chap. Nothing he won’t do for you in a pinch – so he says. Mr. Falco, whom I did not invite to sit at this table tonight, is a hungry press agent, and fully up to all the tricks of his very slimy trade.”
5. The Bridge on the River Kwai
Directed by: David Lean, Year: 1957
“One day the war will be over. And I hope that the people that use this bridge in years to come will remember how it was built and who built it. Not a gang of slaves, but soldiers, British soldiers, Clipton, even in captivity.”
6. Barry Lyndon
Directed by: Stanley Kubrick, Year: 1975
“If ever I should meet him again you will find out who is the best man of the two. I’ll fight him sword or pistol, captain as he is.”
7. Young Mr. Lincoln
Directed by: John Ford, Year: 1939
“I may not know much of law Mr. Felder, but I know what’s right and what’s wrong. And I know what you’re asking is wrong.”
8. Straw Dogs
Directed by: Sam Peckinpah, Year: 1971
“ No. I care. This is where I live. This is me. I will not allow violence against this house.”
9. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Directed by: John Ford, Year: 1962
“When the truth becomes legend, print the legend.”
10. Duck, You Sucker!
Directed by: Sergio Leone, Year: 1971
“A revolution? Seems to me the revolutions are all over the world. You know, they’re like the *crabs*! We had a revolution here. When it started, all the brave people went in it, and what it did to them was terrible. Pancho Villa, the best bandit chief in the world, you know that? This man had two balls like the bull. He went in the revolution as a great bandit. When he came out, he came out as what? Nothing. A general, huh? That, to me, is the bullshit!”
11. Catch Me If You Can
Directed by: Steven Spielberg, Year: 2002
“Two little mice fell in a bucket of cream. The first mouse quickly gave up and drowned. The second mouse, wouldn’t quit. He struggled so hard that eventually he churned that cream into butter and crawled out. Gentlemen, as of this moment, I am that second mouse.”
12. Winter Light
Directed by: Ingmar Bergman, Year: 1963
“It may sound presumptuous of me – but in my humble way, I’ve suffered as much physical pain as Jesus. And his torments were rather brief. Lasting some four hours, I gather? I feel that he was tormented far worse on an other level. Maybe I’ve got it all wrong. But just think of Gethsemane, Vicar. Christ’s disciples fell asleep. They hadn’t understood the meaning of the last supper, or anything. And when the servants of the law appeared, they ran away. And Peter denied him. Christ had known his disciples for three years. They’d lived together day in and day out – but they never grasped what he meant. They abandoned him, to the last man. And he was left alone. That must have been painful. Realizing that no one understands. To be abandoned when you need someone to rely on – that must be excruciatingly painful. But the worse was yet to come. When Jesus was nailed to the cross – and hung there in torment – he cried out – “God, my God!” “Why hast thou forsaken me?” He cried out as loud as he could. He thought that his heavenly father had abandoned him. He believed everything he’d ever preached was a lie. The moments before he died, Christ was seized by doubt. Surely that must have been his greatest hardship? God’s silence.”
13. Badlands
Directed by: Terrence Malick, Year: 1973
“He needed me now more than ever, but something had come between us. I’d stopped even paying attention to him. Instead I sat in the car and read a map and spelled out entire sentences with my tongue on the roof of mouth where nobody could read them.”
14. Le Samouraï
Directed by: Jean-Pierre Melville, Year: 1967
“I never lose. Never really.”
15. Cinema Paradiso
Directed by: Giuseppe Tornatore, Year: 1988
“Get out of here! Go back to Rome. You’re young and the world is yours. I’m old. I don’t want to hear you talk anymore. I want to hear others talking about you. Don’t come back. Don’t think about us. Don’t look back. Don’t write. Don’t give in to nostalgia. Forget us all. If you do and you come back, don’t come see me. I won’t let you in my house. Understand? Whatever you end up doing, love it. The way you loved the projection booth when you were a little squirt.”
