Worst Dialogue in a Movie

February 4th, 2008

Via The Movie Blog I found out that Entertainment Weekly has compiled a list of 15 nominees for the worst movie dialogue ever. Some of them are indeed too corny, but a couple don’t belong on this list at all. Here they are in no particular order:

Notting Hill

Notting Hill – “I’m just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.”

While it’s not the greatest dialogue and is cheesy as anything, remember the setting and who’s saying it. Julia Roberts plays an actress who falls in love with a simple bookshop owner (Hugh Grant). Of course, that lines is supposed to be cheesy. The character is an actress, playing out her very own love scene. The line is perfect for this movie.

Star Wars

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith – “Hold me, like you did by the lake on Naboo.”

I can’t argue with this. Almost every single line in those Star Wars prequels were cringe worth. The worst one though in my eyes has to be: “Anakin, you’re breaking my heart! And you’re going down a path I cannot follow!”

Ever After

 

Ever After – “A bird may love a fish, signore, but where will they live?’”

I love Ever After, so I might be a bit biased on this one. That line in particular though doesn’t deserve to be on the list. It’s followed by the best line of the movie delivered by Leonardo Da Vinci: “Then I will give you wings.”

X-men

X-Men – “You know what happens when a toad gets struck by lightning? The same thing that happens to everything else.”

Ooh, worst line of that movie. At the time I thought Halle Berry was a bad actress, but I’m now I think no one could ever possibly make that line work.

Sin City

Sin City – “My warrior woman. My valkyrie. You’ll always be mine, always and never. Never. The Fire, baby. It’ll burn us both. It’ll kill us both. There’s no place in this world for our kind of fire.”

I don’t understand why this line is in the list. Sin City was brilliant. If you think the dialogue is clunky, than you just don’t get the film.

Pretty Woman

 

Pretty Woman – “And she rescues him right back.”

I hated this line in the movie. She’s going to rescue him? Because now he won’t be lonely anymore?

She's All That

She’s All That – “I feel just like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. You know, except for the whole hooker thing”

This line in itself doesn’t seem so bad, but it’s the moment in which she says it that makes it so horrible. They’re supposed to be dancing romantically with each other and then she says this? Awkward…

City of Angels

 

City of Angels – “We were made to fit together.”

Yep, cheesy line in a cheesy scene in a cheesy chick flick. But, hey, I still love the film.

Four Weddings

 

Four Weddings and a Funeral – “Is it still raining? I hadn’t noticed.”

Of course, it’s still raining! You’re standing in the freaking rain, getting freaking soaked!

Here are the rest of the quotes:

Jerry Maguire – “You complete me.”

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me – “I’m gone, like a turkey in the corn. Gobble gobble!”

Love Story – “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.”

A Cry in the Dark – “A dingo ate my baby! “The dingo’s got my baby!”

As Good as it Gets – “You’re why cavemen chiseled on walls.”

Dirty Dancing – “I carried a watermelon.”

Most of these movies I haven’t seen (I know, I know, I call myself a movie lover and I haven’t even seen these films yet) or just don’t remember that particular line. So what are your most cringe worthy movie lines?

Tags: Movies

My Favourite Geeky Web Comics

February 4th, 2008

Until about a year ago, I didn’t really have a daily morning ritual. I wasn’t so addicted to my computer that I had to check it the moment I woke up. At the time I didn’t even follow any blogs or other news sources. Since I got a laptop though that kind of changed. My laptop is with hand’s reach of my bed and every morning I sit at least half an hour in bed, slowly waking up and reading all the items in my news reader. Among those items are a great collection of geeky web comics. I’ll share with you a couple of my favourites.

xkcd

Every geek should read xkcd; it’s a weird mix of humor, math, romance and language.

xkcd

xkcd

Geek and Poke

Cute comic with some great humor on blogging, Twitter and other “social media”.

Geek and Poke

Applegeeks

Surprisingly it’s not always Apple related.

Apple Geeks

Sinfest

I mainly like the cat and dog comics here. The rest can be funny at times, but the cat and dog are always hilarious.

Sinfest

Real Life Comics

Funny comic about a geeky couple, Greg and Liz.

Real Life Comics

PHD Comics

While I’m not doing a PHD, I am still trying to finish my master’s and this comic sometimes captures exactly how I’m feeling.

PHD Comics

 

Tags: Comics, Geeky

Interesting links for February 2nd through February 3rd:

  • Top 15 Clever Adverts – Some very interesting advertisement campaigns. A couple I had seen before (the camera lens is a bus wheel and the jaws of a shark bus doors), but most of them I had never seen before.
  • 20 of the Best Evil Lairs and Criminal Hideouts | Geek About – Great list of the lairs and hideouts from villains of movies.
  • Forbidden Kingdom Posters – Ooh, this posters from the Forbidden Kingdom are pretty! I always like those promotional one-sheets, featuring only one character. The image they make when they’re hung up together is much more convincing.
Tags: Links

Episode 34: “Wow. yoo hoo”

Wall-E is just the cutest robot ever! I’ve been dying to see this movie ever since the first trailer came out and this new clip only makes me want to see it more. [Via /Film]



A Video A Day: Domino Snooker

February 3rd, 2008

Episode 33: “Oh, fabuleux”

I wonder how many takes it took to get this perfect shot:

 Amazing Skill - Watch more amazing videos here

Episode 32: “I think it’s some kind of protest. Either that or acting class”

The missions of Improv Everywhere are always pure brilliance. This time more than 200 “agents” froze at exactly the same time at Grand Central Station in New York. The confusion of the non-agents is priceless. [Via Boing Boing]



Interesting links for February 1st:

  • Funny Kitten – Awh, it’s a dancing ASCII art kitten! Some people have too much spare time.
  • Only in Russia? – Are these for real? Some of these photos are just ridiculous. That street lamp? The door above the heater?
  • How To Solve A Rubik’s Cube – Pictures for Beginners! – A tutorial on how to solve a Rubik’s Cube. Haven’t tried it out yet, but it’s one of those skills I’ve always wanted to learn. Yes, I’m that much of a geek.
Tags: Links

Welcome to this new recurring topic PageTurner, where I will be reviewing books (and in some cases book series). I mainly read fantasy, preferably with a touch of romance (in other words some love plot, but not too gooey and corny) and a well defined world and mythology. First up is The Runelords Series by David Farland [Official Website].

The complete series is supposed to be ten books long with the first four books forming the story of the Earth King, Gaborn, and the remaining six books about his son, Fallion. The sixth book has just come out in hardcover and I read the fifth book last month, but I’ll be only covering the first four books here. The plot and characters are significantly different, so it’s better to split it up. In the future though I will review the newer books; I just don’t want to start with my reviews in the middle of a series.

The Plot

The series begins with Gaborn Val Orden, a young Runelord and a prince of Mystarria, seeking the hand of Princess Iome Sylvarresta, the daughter of the King of Heredon. Both nations are part of the kingdom of Rofehaven, a peaceful medieval-like land. While traveling from Mystarria to Heredon, the prince’s party learns that Raj Ahten, the most powerful Runelord in existence, is leading his army into Heredon, his first step of invading all of Rofehaven. Raj Ahten has already conquered all the nations of the neighbouring Indhopal and Gaborn realizes he must be stopped at all costs. Along the way though, Gaborn and his companions find out that Raj Ahten is not the only threat – their world is threatened by a race of resilient subterranean creatures: the Reavers.

The World

The Runelords contains one of the most original and creative forms of magic and powers I’ve ever seen. Everything is based on “endowments”, a magical transfer of a sense or an attribute from one person to another. The transferred sense or skill is amplified in the receiver, the Runelord, while the giver, the Dedicate, looses it completely until the death of one or the other. For instance, if someone gave you an endowment of sight, you would be able to see twice as far, but you would leave the other person blind. If that person dies though, you loose the double sight. If you die, the Dedicate receives his sight back again.

The transfer is done through a magical ritual of branding, leaving runes on the skin (hence the name Runelords). Besides sight, endowments can be given for voice, smell, hearing, touch, brawn, grace, stamina, wit, metabolism and glamour. The weirdest is metabolism which slows down the world for the receiver, granting him increased physical speed. It also reduces your lifespan though, cause you’re living your life twice as fast.

Most kings and warriors in this world are Runelords, all receiving their strengths from Dedicates. This creates a complete new type of context for ethics, social hierarchy and battle strategy, producing a wonderful different world.

The Verdict

These books can not be missed from any fantasy lover’s library. Besides a refreshing original world, the story flows smoothly from one chapter till the next. The characters are likable and you can easily imagine yourself reacting the same way in some situations they are in. This was one of those book series I couldn’t put down, reading all four books in one weekend. At the time though I thought that the fourth book was the end of the series. Thinking this, the last book felt very incomplete. Farland raises certain questions and at the end of the fourth book they are still not answered. Knowing though that these four books are only the start and that the world will be revisited in subsequent books, I am sure these loose ends will be tied up in the future. All in all, it’s a great read that can’t be missed.

[rating:4/5]

Take a look at the books on Amazon:

Interesting links for January 30th through January 31st:

  • Another 20 Unfortunate Product Names – The List Universe – A list of products that don’t have the most advantageous names. Seriously though, why would companies even bother naming their products like this? Isn’t this just plain stupidness?
  • Muxicall – Create music online with other people. Trust me it’s not what you expect. There’s a grid of all the possible notes and the played notes of you and the other people are visualized on it.
  • Don’t Click It – Experimental web design without buttons. It’s kind of weird not having anything to click.
  • Creative photos by Chema Madoz – Very cool set of photos. I especially love the cherry in the scales and the ladder against the mirror.
Tags: Links

WΔZ
Again a movie trying to use mathematics as some interesting plot device. In this case we’ve got Stellan Skarsgard (Dogville, Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3) and Melissa George (Alias, 30 Days of Night) as two cops trying to track down a gruesome serial killer. But, wait, he (or she) is not just a serial killer! He’s looking for an equation to determine what it will take for someone to murder a person they love. Ooh, then after watching this movie we should find an equation to determine what the best way is to make gullible people believe in your movies! [Trailer]

Smart People
I just saw Juno two days ago and I must admit I’m impressed with Ellen Page. She doesn’t play the main role in this movie, but the whole cast seems pretty great (except Sarah Jessica Parker, I don’t get what people see in her). It’s about a widowed literature professor (Dennis Quaid), who has to deal with his perfectionist daughter (Ellen Page), his out-of-work brother (Thomas Hayden Church) and his new relationship with his doctor (SJP). [Trailer]

Smart People

Snow Buddies
Whoa, sickeningly cute puppy alert! This movie is a direct-to-dvd release and after seeing the trailer I completely understand why. Some movies just should never be mad, let’s leave it at that. Watch the trailer at your own risk. [Trailer]

Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer
Once in a while a movie comes along, that is so bad, it actually becomes good (in some cases intentionally, in other cases unintentionally). Judging by the trailer, I’m guessing this is one of those movies. The premise of the film is simple: Jack Brooks find his true destiny as monster slayer. There’s a weird Evil Dead/Buffy vibe I’m getting off the trailer, so I’m curious to see if the whole film has that same spirit. [Trailer]

Jack Brooks

Be Kind Rewind
Sweding: the art of re-creating, remaking movies from scratch. The movie Be Kind Rewind is about two guys (Jack Black and Mos Def) who, after accidentally erasing all the videotapes in Def’s video store, decide to swede all the erased movies. The real trailer has come out a couple of months ago and since then sweded trailers have come out for GhostBusters, RoboCop and Boyz N’ The Hood (link). Now there’s a new sweded trailer of the Be Kind Rewind, created by the director of Be Kind Rewind, Michael Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). Be sure to watch the original trailer first though.. Fun Fact: the term “sweding” was coined by Condry, but it was supposed to be “sueding” (as in the fake leather). The cast didn’t understand him though through his thick French accent and it turned into sweding. [Trailer]

Son of Rambow
This is one of those movies that will make you secretly smile. It just seems so sweet and genuine. The movie’s about two boys who want to remake Rambo (hey, sweding!) and all the troubles and adventures they get into while doing so. The only problem I have with this film is that it looks a lot like this article about two boys who remake Indiana Jones. Yes, there are differences (setting, story, etc), but they just seem so similar, it’s hard to believe it’s not a rip-off. [Trailer]

Son of Rambow