Reel Life Blog

Movie quote from: Hitch (2005) - Alex Hitchens (Will Smith)

Alex Hitchens (Will Smith) is a date doctor who teaches lovesick men how to hook up with the woman of their dreams.  His basic message is that women want to meet a good man and good men present themselves to women in a certain way.  'Hitch' teaches men how to adjust their persona to become the man she is attracted to. Unfortunately, Hitch doesn't understand there is a much less complicated way to truly get your message across to someone else.

Movie quote from: The Notebook (2004) - Allie Hamilton (Rachel McAdams)

A subtle aspect of the romantic film The Notebook is the importance of painting to Allie, played by both Rachel McAdams (young Allie) and Gena Rowland (elder Allie).  When she paints, Allie is in the zone.  In psychology, this is called 'flow', a state of mind where you are completely immersed in the activity at hand.  Flow is good for the soul.  However, as The Notebook illustrates, flow can be difficult to attain when you're living with someone who has other plans for you.

Some people don't understand the importance of presentation in a job interview.  If you want to be certain NOT to get a job, come to the interview dressed how you feel that day.  Show up late, shake hands like your arm went numb, talk endlessly, chew gum, bring a friend, make fun of your last employer, and only ask questions about holidays and staff parties.  For added certaintly, mention one or two of these ten worst movie quotes for a job interview.

Movie quote from: The Shawshank Redemption (1994) - Andy Defresne (Tim Robbins)

In The Shawshank Redemption, prison has sucked the life out of Red (Morgan Freeman).  He has lost all hope, accepting that he will never see freedom again.  Into that life comes Andy Defresne (Tim Robbins), a prisoner who knows the importance of keeping hope alive.  Andy's arrival sparks a renewed sense of possibility for Red.  His life would never be the same.

Movie quote from: The Good Shepherd (2006) - Edward Wilson (Matt Damon)

In The Good Shepherd, Edward Wilson (Matt Damon) is a loyal citizen in the secret service of his nation.  As a foreign agent, he gives up traditional life to enter the empty world of espionage.  For Wilson, loyalty is an obligation not a choice.  It is a thankless value that leaves him emotionall numb.  No film has better portrayed the tragic emptiness of unquestioned loyalty.

During my professional life, I hired a lot of people.  Sometimes, one candidate would stick out from the rest; they demonstrated a wisdom that gave them a 'halo effect'.  For some reason, I felt like they would be the best fit with the job and the rest of our team.  Often it was something they said, a wise perspective shared in response to a question.  Here are the top ten movie quotes that would have impressed me if they were responses to the appropriate question.

Throughout the decades, movie titles have featured the word ‘Man’, preceded by some other catchy word, like Weather, Rain, Invisible, Spider, Music, Cinderella, Inside, Quiet, Family, Lawnmower, Raggedy, Hollow, Demolition, Best, Thin, Little Big, or Marathon.  We’ve seen 12 Angry Men, A Few Good Men, Grumpy Old Men, X-Men, Children of Men, and even Three Men and a Baby.  Here are the seven smartest movie quotes about the Y chromosome gender.

Movie quote from: Being John Malkovich (1999) - Craig Schwartz (John Cusack)

Would you pay $200 to see the world for 15 minutes through someone else's eyes?  How would your perspective of self change if you wore the 'mask' of someone else?  Charlie Kaufman's though-provoking screenplay takes us down completely untravelled roads in the movie, Being John Malkovich.  Along the way, he stirs up some interesting questions about the nature of human identity.

Movie quote from: Brief Encounter (1945) - Laura Jesson (Celia Johnson)

Brief Encounter is the first major motion picture about infidelity.  It was banned in Ireland in 1945 because the film honestly explored infidelity rather than condemning it.  Bad call by the Irish.  If the censors really wanted to discourage infidelity, they would have required every person in a relationship to watch the movie.  It reveals the great pain of secret love.

There have been many movie titles about women, including Little Women, Pretty Woman, Scent of a Woman, The French Lieutenant's Woman, An Unmarried Woman, and the Attack of the 50 Foot Woman.  However, no title quite sums up what every other gender wants to know - What Women Want.  Here are the seven best movie quotes about women.