The Notebook

ALLIE: Do you remember sneaking over here the first time you told me about
this place? I got home late that evening, and my parents were furious when I
finally came in. I can still picture my daddy standing in the living room, my mother
on the sofa, staring straight ahead. I swear, they looked as if a family member
had died. That was the first time my parents knew I was serious about you, and
my mother had a long talk with me later that night. She said to me, “Sometimes,
our future is dictated by who we are, not what we want.” And I know it was wrong
of her to keep your letters from me, but just try to understand. Once we left, she
probably thought it would be easier for me to just let go. In her mind, she was
trying to protect my feelings, and she probably thought the best way to do that
was to hide the letters you sent. Not that any of it matters, now that I have Lon.
He’s handsome, charming, successful. He’s kind to me, he makes me laugh, and
I know he loves me in his own special way… but there’s always going to be
something missing in our relationship — the kind of love we had that summer.






Million Dollar Baby

Even with a life of hardship, scrappy white-trash waitress Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank)
insisted to her reluctant trainer Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood), on her 32nd birthday, that she had
the fortitude to box. Finally, Frankie agreed to take her on and train her, beginning on her
birthday:

I'm 32, Mr. Dunn. And I'm here celebratin' the fact that I spent another year scrapin' dishes and
waitressin' which is what I've been doin' since 13. And according to you, I'll be 37 'fore I can even
throw a decent punch, which I have to admit, after workin' on this speed bag for a month and
getting nowhere, may be the God's simple truth. Other truth is, my brother's in prison, my sister
cheats on welfare by pretendin' one of her babies is still alive, my daddy's dead, and my momma
weighs 312 pounds. If I was thinkin' straight, I'd go back home, find a used trailer, buy a deep
fryer and some Oreos.

Problem is, this is the only thing I ever felt good doin'. If I'm too old for this, then I got nothin'. That
enough truth to suit you?




Inglorious Bastards

In 1944 during the war, First Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) spoke to his special team of 'take-no-
prisoners' Basterds - eight Jewish-American soldiers on a mission as a "bushwhackin' guerrilla
army" to go behind Nazi enemy lines:

My name is Lt. Aldo Raine and I'm puttin' together a special team, and I need me eight soldiers.
Eight Jewish-American soldiers. Now, y'all might've heard rumors about the armada happenin'
soon. Well, we'll be leaving a little earlier. We're gonna be dropped into France, dressed as
civilians. And once we're in enemy territory, as a bushwhackin' guerrilla army, we're gonna be
doin' one thing and one thing only - killin' Nazis. Now, I don't know about y'all, but I sure as hell
didn't come down from the god-damn Smoky Mountains, cross five thousand miles of water, fight
my way through half of Sicily and jump out of a f--kin' air-o-plane to teach the Nazis lessons in
humanity. Nazi ain't got no humanity. They're the foot soldiers of a Jew-hatin', mass murderin'
maniac and they need to be dee-stroyed. That's why any and every son of a bitch we find wearin'
a Nazi uniform, they're gonna die.

The Queen

Toward his mocking staff, UK Labour Party's Prime Minister Tony Blair (Michael Sheen) gave an
angry defense of the royals - and Queen Elizabeth II (Helen Mirren). He spoke out when his
director of communications Alastair Campbell (Mark Bazeley) begrudged: "The old bat's finally
agreed to visit Diana's coffin":

You know, when you get it wrong, you really get it wrong! That woman has given her whole life in
service to her people. Fifty years doing a job SHE never wanted! A job she watched kill her
father. She's executed it with honor, dignity, and, as far as I can tell, without a single blemish, and
now we're all baying for her blood! All because she's struggling to lead the world in mourning for
someone who... who threw everything she offered back in her face. And who, for the last few
years, seemed committed 24-7 to destroying everything she holds most dear!

American History X (1998)

Vengeful Neo-Nazi skinhead and violent ex-con white supremacist Derek Vinyard (Edward
Norton) cradled the bloodied body of his dead brother Danny (Edward Furlong) in his arms in a
school bathroom, after he had been shot three times in front of a bank of urinals by another black
student. A reformed Derek realized that he had been unable to prevent his younger sibling from
going down a similarly violent life path ("Oh God, what did I do?").

Danny provided the narration for the film's concluding voice-over, reading part of the conclusion
of his paper for his "American History X" class, quoting in part from the conclusion of Abraham
Lincoln's First Inaugural Address, as images of a Venice Beach sunset were shown:

So I guess this is where I tell you what I learned - my conclusion, right? Well, my conclusion is:
Hate is baggage. Life's too short to be pissed off all the time. It's just not worth it. Derek says it's
always good to end a paper with a quote. He says someone else has already said it best. So if
you can't top it, steal from them and go out strong. So I picked a guy I thought you'd like.

'We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it
must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again
touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.'

The Big Lebowski (1998)

As one of the "bereaved," Walter Sobchak (John Goodman) presented a eulogy for fellow bowler
Donny (Steve Buscemi), before his ashes in a red Folger's coffee can (a cheap substitute for the
mortuary's "most modestly-priced receptacle") were scattered on the Pacific Ocean from a cliff
promontory, although the ashes blew back in their faces:

Donny was a good bowler, and a good man. He was one of us. He was a man who loved the
outdoors - and bowling, and as a surfer, he explored the beaches of Southern California, from La
Jolla to Leo Carrillo and up to Pismo. He died, he died as so many young men of his generation
before his time. In your wisdom, Lord, you took him, as you took so many bright flowering young
men at Khe Sanh, at Langdok, at Hill 364. These young men gave their lives. And so would
Donny. Donny, who loved bowling. And so, Theodore Donald Karabotsos, in accordance with
what we think your dying wishes might well have been, we commit your final mortal remains to
the bosom of the Pacific Ocean, which you loved so well. Good night, sweet prince.


Pride & Prejudice (2005, UK)

Reluctant at first to fall in love with spirited, lower-ranked Elizabeth Bennet (Keira Knightley), the
arrogant and conceited Mr. Darcy (Matthew MacFadyen) - for the second time - declared his love
to her on the moors at dawn:

You must know, surely you must know, it was all for you. You are too generous to trifle with me. I
believe you spoke with my aunt last night, and it has taught me to hope as I'd scarcely allowed
myself before. If your feelings are still what they were last April, tell me so at once. My affections
and wishes have not changed, but one word from you will silence me forever. If, however, your
feelings have changed, I will have to tell you: you have bewitched me, body and soul, and I love, I
love, I love you. I never wish to be parted from you from this day on.