Category: Movies

“If you focus on what you left behind, you will never be able to see what lies ahead.”

From: Ratatouille

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Chef Gusteau (in Remy’s mind)

The story behind the quote: This week’s quote comes from the Disney/Pixar animated film, Ratatouille. The film is about a rat named Remy (voiced by Patton Oswalt) who loves fine dining and learns to become a great cook, thanks to watching his favorite chef, Chef Gusteau (voiced by Brad Garrett). He then accidentally becomes partners with a young man named Linguini, the son of Gusteau, and together they try to become one of the greatest chefs in all of France.

The quote comes very early in the film. After being forced out of his home, Remy finds himself living in the streets of France. As it was his actions which led to him and his family leaving their home, Remy feels guilty. This is when Chef Gusteau (or, at least, Remy’s image of Chef Gusteau) tries to get him to pick himself up by delivering the quote.

Geek wisdom: While it is good to learn from our past and our mistakes, we should never let them control our lives. All of us has a future to live for and we should always look towards tomorrow and not yesterday. This is especially true for the upcoming new year.

“If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.”

From: Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Patches O’Houlihan

The story behind the quote: This week’s quote comes from the 2004 sports comedy film, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. The film is about a scrappy group of misfits who join a dodgeball tournament with the hopes of using the prize money to save their local gym from Globo Gym.

The quote comes in the middle of the film. Retired professional dodgeball player Patches O’Houlihan (played by Rip Torn) decides to train the group after finding out Globo Gym’s owner, White Goodman (played by Ben Stiller), created his own team to thwart the good guys. However, it turns out Patches O’Houlihan’s training is very unorthodox as his training involved throwing wrenches at them. He does explain why by delivering the quote.

Geek wisdom:  Skills aren’t just in a vacuum. Some of them will bleed into other skills and will actually help you learn new things.

“What are your Prime Directives?”

From: Robocop

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Bob Morton

The story behind the quote: This week’s quote comes from the 1987 sci-fi/cyberpunk movie, Robocop. The film is about Officer Alex Murphy (played by Peter Weller) who is gunned down on duty. But, thanks to Omni Consumer Products, also known as OCP, Murphy is resurrected as Robocop to be the future of law enforcement.

The quote comes early in the film. After officer Alex Murphy is transformed into Robocop and is transported to his old police unit, Bob Morton (played by Miguel Ferrer) goes up to Robocop and delivers the quote as part of his initialization tests.

Geek wisdom: Everyone has their own special code of conduct within themselves. These help them navigate through the complex world we live in and guides us through life. You have to recognize your very own “prime directives” and keep them to heart.

“I made an educated wish!”

From: Deadpool and Wolverine

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Deadpool

The story behind the quote: This week’s quote comes from, technically, the third Deadpool film, Deadpool and Wolverine. Featuring the Marvel superheroes, the aforementioned Deadpool and Wolverine, played by Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, respectively, the movie has the Merc with a Mouth partnering with the former Weapon X in a quest to save his universe.

The quote comes in the middle of the film. Deadpool and Wolverine are travelling when the former lets it slip that he doesn’t really know if the Time Variance Authority can fix the latter’s universe. Wolverine confronts Deadpool about this and, to defend himself, Deadpool delivers the quote.

Geek wisdom:  The world can be unfair at times and all you can do is try your best and hope all that hard work will bear fruit. Sometimes it will but sometimes it won’t. All we can do is make the “educated wish” things will work out.

“So this is how liberty dies… with thunderous applause.”

From: Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Padme Amidala

The story behind the quote: This week’s quote initially comes from Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. It is the final movie of the Prequel Trilogy and sets up the events which will lead to the Original Trilogy.

The quote comes from near the end of the film. Palpatine has managed to sow fear throughout the Galactic Republic and declares himself as Emperor in the guise of reining in all of the threats. Padme Amidala (played by Natalie Portman) sees this act as it truly is, people willing to give up their freedoms for this supposed security, delivers the quote.

Geek wisdom: Most dictatorships only happen when people declare their willingness to give up their freedoms for whatever reason. In fact, they might not even realize it and cheer on their new dictator as they believe that’s what’s right for them.

“You were always the wrong guy… until you weren’t.”

From: Deadpool and Wolverine

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: X-23/Laura

The story behind the quote: This week’s quote comes from, technically, the third Deadpool movie, Deadpool and Wolverine. The film has Marvel superheroes Deadpool (played by Ryan Reynolds) and Wolverine/Logan (played by Hugh Jackman) go on a interdimensional adventure in the hopes of saving Deadpool’s universe from annihilation.

The quote comes near the end of the film. X-23/Laura (played by Dafne Keen) meeting up with Logan. Although this Wolverine is of a different universe, Laura expresses her appreciation for saving her. Logan replies he shouldn’t deserve any credit as he has done a lot of terrible things in his universe and he’s not the same Wolverine she knows in the first place. This is when X-23 delivers the quote.

Geek wisdom:  Heroes come when the time and the place matters. When the situation arises, it’s the people who stand up during these crises who deserve praise. And that person could be anyone.

“Somehow, Palpatine returned.”

From: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Poe Dameron

The story behind the quote: This week’s quote initially comes from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Produced by Disney via Lucasfilm, this was the last entry of the new trilogy.

The quote comes from the start of the film. The First Order begins to rally after it is discovered that the Empire‘s previous leader, Emperor Palpatine, is still alive. The Rebels manage to retrieve this bit of information, which Poe Dameron (played by Oscar Isaac) relays to the group in one of the most unnatural sounding lines ever.

Geek wisdom: If there’s a fire in your house, you concentrate on putting out the fire and not what caused the fire in the first place. Sometimes, it’s more important to recognize what problem is happening in the present and solving that. Only after it’s done should you try to figure out the cause.

“That’s a lot of fish!”

From: Godzilla (1998)

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Dr. Nick Tatopoulos

The story behind the quote: This week’s quote comes from the American Godzilla movie that was released in 1998. A sort of reboot of the Japanese Godzilla films, this has the titular King of the Monsters stomping around New York. While lambasted by critics and fans of the Japanese films, the film was a box-office success and spawned an animated series. 

The quote in the middle of the film with Dr. Nick Tatopoulos (played by Matthew Broderick) devises a plan to lure Godzilla out of hiding by using a lot of fish as bait. As the US Army gathered as much fish as possible, Nick looks at the mountain of fish and delivers the quote. 

Geek wisdom: Sometimes, quantity will triumph over quality. More can sometimes be better.

“I myself am strange and unusual.”

From: Beetlejuice

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: Lydia Deetz

The story behind the quote: This week’s quote comes from the 1988 fantasy comedy Beetlejuice. Starring Michael Keaton as the titular character, the story is about a recently deceased couple who hire Beetlejuice to help the current living occupants out of their house.

The quote comes from near the beginning of the film. The deceased couple come in contact with the daughter of the family living in the house, Lydia Deetz (played by Wynona Ryder). They are amazed that she can see them as they are ghosts. She notes that the “ghost handbook” states that that’s only because most regular people ignore what’s weird. This is when she delivers the quote.

Geek wisdom: People should be proud of what makes us “strange and unusual” as this is precisely what makes us all unique. We should celebrate our differences rather than shun them.

“You put the wrong em-PHA-sis on the wrong sy-LAH-ble.”

From: View from the Top

Genre: Movies

Who said it?: John Whitney

The story behind the quote: This week’s quote comes from 2003 romantic comedy, View from the Top. The movie stars Gwyneth Paltrow as Donna, a smalltown girl hoping to become a high class airline flight attendant.

The quote comes early in the movie during her training under John Whitney (played by Mike Myers). While testing one of the students in a mock emergency, the student mispronounces the word “assess.” John Whitney teases the student by delivering the quote.

Geek wisdom: While it’s okay to mispronounce words once in a while, it’s also important to note that how we say things can have different meanings. In other words, we do have to be careful with not only what we say, but how we say it.