Robert De Niro as Jake LaMotta.

As I pointed out last time, there have been a gazillion motion pictures made since a two-second garden scene was filmed in Leeds, England in 1888. Here are a few more notable last lines.

“I’m da boss. I’m da boss. I’m da boss. I’m da boss. I’m da boss. I’m da boss. I’m da boss. I’m da boss. I’m da boss. I’m da boss. I’m da boss.” Yep, rather redundant, which makes it memorable. It’s from boxer Jake LaMotta (Robert De Niro) in Raging Bull (1980).

“The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he did not exist. And like that…he is gone.” Creepy Verbal Kint (Kevin Spacey) in the 1995 neo-noir mystery drama, The Usual Suspects. (Spacey was even creepy way before he became creepy.)

“Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) to Captain Renault (Claude Rains) in Casablanca (1942), a Hollywood classic.

“Go ahead! I take your fucking bullets! You think you kill me with bullets? I take your fucking bullets! Go ahead!” Tony Montana (Al Pacino) and his li’l friend in Scarface (1983).

“Some men get the world. Others get ex-hookers and a trip to Arizona.” Lynn Bracken (Kim Basinger) in L.A. Confidential (1997).

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while you might miss it.” How true. Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) uttered this gem in the comedy classic, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986.)

“One more thing, Sofie. Is she aware her daughter is still alive?” Bill (David Carradine) in Kill Bill, Volume 1 (2003). Wow, what a teaser that was!

“This place makes me wonder…which would be worse, to live as a monster, or to die as a good man?” Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) in the 2010 uber-creepy film, Shutter Island.

“This is my gift, my curse. Who am I? I’m Spider-man.” Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) in the 2002 superhero film, Spider-Man. (This was one of the 7,384 versions of this character ever filmed…give or take, of course.)

“Why don’t we just wait here for a little while…see what happens…” MacReady (Kurt Russell) to Childs (Keith David) in the awesome 1982 version of John Carpenter’s The Thing. Their Antarctica research station is burning around them—hopefully the nightmarish creature that killed the rest of their team also—and the temperature is about a thousand below zero, so they’re doomed either way.

“The truth is, I am Iron Man.” Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) let the world know in Iron Man (2008).

Ray Liotta as Henry Hill.

“I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?” The Writer (Richard Dreyfuss) in the brilliant coming-of-age film, Stand by Me (1986).

“Right after I got here, I ordered some spaghetti with marinara sauce and I got egg noodles and ketchup. I’m an average nobody. I get to live the rest of my life as a schnook.” Henry Hill (the late, great Ray Liotta) in the Mafia drama, Goodfellas (1990).

“A man’s got to know his limitations.” Spoken by a cop who had no limitations, Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood), in the 1973 cop drama, Magnum Force. (What, 1973?!? Holy crap!)

Norman went a little mad…

I’ll end this post with one of my favorites…and don’t think I haven’t presented it before, in other contexts. In one of the greatest horror films ever made, Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 gem, Psycho, Norman Bates—or maybe it’s his mother (both played by Anthony Perkins)—sits in a jail cell contemplating his/her future: “I’m not even going to swat that fly. I hope they are watching. They’ll see. They’ll see, and they’ll know and they’ll say, ‘Why, she wouldn’t even harm a fly.’”

Last lines are fun. We’ll do some more in the future.