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Post by london777 on Dec 24, 2018 18:53:00 GMT
As we are now in the midst of the that odious festival of sentimentality, blasphemy, cynical exploitation and moral turpitude known as Christmas, with its annual boost to the divorce rate, the accidental death rate, the suicide rate and rate of insolvency, I glimpsed the promise of a little light relief when I saw that "The Independent" newspaper had listed the best 60 insults in film history. Perhaps I could be briefly cheered by some wit and clever word-plays to re-cycle against my enemies on this board and elsewhere? But like my childhood Christmas stockings, found to contain nothing but a few plastic puzzles from the previous year's crackers and a half-moldy tangerine, it turned out to be a typical Yuletide letdown. Frankly, if anyone used one of these insults against me, I would feel insulted! Can our scholarly members come up with something better (preferably without employing the four-letter word for human excrement which is apparently regarded as side-splittingly funny in the USA, judging by these examples)? The 60 best movie insults of all time |
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Post by OldAussie on Dec 24, 2018 19:25:36 GMT
Can't access that site, but here's my favourite insult
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Post by OldAussie on Dec 24, 2018 19:27:22 GMT
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Post by mikef6 on Dec 24, 2018 19:40:18 GMT
The list compilers sure haven't seen many movies before 1980. Of the 60, I counted just six or seven from earlier - and I am counting Star Wars from 1977. The majority was from 1990 to the present, including one from 2018. There is one from Groucho, but all 60 could have been from Groucho. The only one that made me laugh, however, was #24, Sgt Hartman demolishing Pvt. Pyle from "Full Metal Jacket" (1987).
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Post by manfromplanetx on Dec 24, 2018 21:04:54 GMT
Dare I wish you a Merry Xmas london777 Struggling through I gave up on the list, I felt insulted by the majority of the crass examples. given.  Private Lives (1931) an adaptation of a 1930 stage play written by Noel Coward containing some of the funniest & wittiest spousal abuse you’ll ever hear.
Amanda (Norma Shearer) Oh, you insufferable pig! .. Amanda: You are an unmitigated cad and a bully! Elyot (Robert Montgomery) And you are an ill-mannered and bad-tempered slattern! Amanda: Slattern indeed! Elyot: Yes, slattern and fishwife! A slattern ?? .. "a dirty untidy woman"  |
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Post by mikef6 on Dec 24, 2018 22:24:17 GMT
Jack (Alan Alda): You do the work of three people. You're perfect!
Kate (Carol Burnett): [disgusted] How DARE you call me that!
Jack: Call you perfect?
Kate Burroughs: Yeah! That's what I heard, right?
----The Four Seasons (1981)
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Post by Doghouse6 on Dec 24, 2018 22:57:12 GMT
I was hoping for a list in text, but when I launched the video, I got a 30-second Mazda ad, then a clip from God-knows-what Will Ferrell movie, then another Mazda ad, so I gave up. From what I'm reading here, it doesn't look like I missed much.
The fast-paced Warner Bros films of the '30 were always good for some artful insults: Joan Blondell kicking Claire Dodd out of their apartment in Footlight Parade with, "Outside, sister! As long as there are sidewalks, you'll always have a job;" in 42nd Street (I think), Ginger Rogers mouths off to a fellow chorus girl, "It must have been tough on your mother, not having any children."
Ginger was always handy with the wisecracking put-downs: in Shall We Dance, Ketti Gallian tells her, "You know, you're much more intelligent than you look," to which Ginger replies, "Thank you; I wish I could say the same of you;" in Vivacious Lady, Phyllis Kennedy's offer to "give you a piece of my mind" is met with Ginger's, "Oh, I wouldn't want to take the last piece."
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Post by london777 on Dec 24, 2018 23:00:59 GMT
Can't access that site, but here's my favourite insult: I don't know why not. I am not in the UK either. But you have not missed much, it is a very clunky site with windows popping up all over the place. ... here's my favourite insultCertainly better than any of the examples listed. |
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Post by london777 on Dec 24, 2018 23:03:15 GMT
They list that one (Breakfast Club/Barry Manilow), but without the context, so I did not understand it. Thanks. In fact I did not get the reference for a lot them. |
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Post by london777 on Dec 24, 2018 23:05:52 GMT
Jack (Alan Alda): You do the work of three people. You're perfect! Kate (Carol Burnett): [disgusted] How DARE you call me that! Jack: Call you perfect? Kate Burroughs: Yeah! That's what I heard, right? ----The Four Seasons (1981) Sorry, too subtle for me.  |
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Post by london777 on Dec 24, 2018 23:13:55 GMT
I was hoping for a list in text, but when I launched the video, I got a 30-second Mazda ad, then a clip from God-knows-what Will Ferrell movie, then another Mazda ad, so I gave up. From what I'm reading here, it doesn't look like I missed much. The fast-paced Warner Bros films of the '30 were always good for some artful insults: Joan Blondell kicking Claire Dodd out of their apartment in Footlight Parade with, "Outside, sister! As long as there are sidewalks, you'll always have a job;" in 42nd Street (I think), Ginger Rogers mouths off to a fellow chorus girl, "It must have been tough on your mother, not having any children."
Ginger was always handy with the wisecracking put-downs: in Shall We Dance, Ketti Gallian tells her, "You know, you're much more intelligent than you look," to which Ginger replies, "Thank you; I wish I could say the same of you;" in Vivacious Lady, Phyllis Kennedy's offer to "give you a piece of my mind" is met with Ginger's, "Oh, I wouldn't want to take the last piece." All great, and better than anything on The Independent's list. As mentioned, it is a clunky site, but I do not see the advertisements because I use Adblock. It is free, takes three seconds to instal and causes no problems. |
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Post by london777 on Dec 24, 2018 23:22:00 GMT
The list compilers sure haven't seen many movies before 1980. Of the 60, I counted just six or seven from earlier Young smart-asses! But I cannot complain too much. Movies before the date of my birth do not exist for me. Rather like the theological question of whether those deceased before the time of Christ could be saved. The church danced on a few pinheads to allow certain favored exceptions and so do I for a small selection. |
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Post by london777 on Dec 24, 2018 23:26:47 GMT
I was hoping for a list in text ... Certainly more convenient for quick reference. But film is a visual medium, so, to give the quotations a fair chance, we should see a video clip. Not that that helps many of the examples they give, nor does it impair your excellent examples. |
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Post by london777 on Dec 24, 2018 23:35:04 GMT
Dare I wish you a Merry Xmas london777 ? By all means. And I reciprocate your kind greetings. Thanks for all your interesting and educational posts throughout the year. I only wish I could get to see most of the interesting titles to which you have introduced me, but that will not happen. However, I am more than grateful for the few I have accessed. |
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Post by mikef6 on Dec 25, 2018 0:13:03 GMT
Jack (Alan Alda): You do the work of three people. You're perfect! Kate (Carol Burnett): [disgusted] How DARE you call me that! Jack: Call you perfect? Kate Burroughs: Yeah! That's what I heard, right? ----The Four Seasons (1981) It is comedy reversal. He complements her; she takes it as an insult. Dames! Who can figger 'em? BTW, I agree with your assessment of the holiday season. |
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Post by Rufus-T on Dec 25, 2018 1:05:40 GMT
"He may look like an idiot and talk like an idiot but don't let that fool you – he really is an idiot."
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Post by london777 on Dec 25, 2018 2:49:21 GMT
"He may look like an idiot and talk like an idiot but don't let that fool you – he really is an idiot." That one is also in The Independent's selection. One of their better ones. Reminds me of this exchange from Out of the Past (1947): Meta Carson (Rhonda Fleming): For a man who appears to be clever, you can certainly act like an idiot. Jeff Bailey (Robert Mitchum): That's one way to be clever! Look like an idiot. |
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Post by koskiewicz on Dec 25, 2018 16:08:17 GMT
Here is a true life anecdote:
Lady Astor: "Mr Prime Minister, if you were my husband, I would put poison in your tea."
Prime Minister Churchill: "Lady, if you were my wife, I'd drink it!"
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