2009’s Top 10 Movie Catchphrases

Show me the money! He’s just not that into you. You can’t handle the truth! For most people, these are cinema’s potent quotables. But I prefer the underdog sloganeers, like Kim Basinger in 8 Mile, who says to a belligerent Marshall Mathers, “What are you doing with your life that’s so great?” Or that hooker in Fargo, who insists to Frances McDormand’s pregnant cop, “He was kinda funny lookin’.” This year, there were so many amazing movie catchphrases. But never mind the obvious choices, because frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.

1. Mariah Carey in Precious: As Mrs. Weiss, the makeup-less tough-love social worker, Mimi broke all kinds of hearts when she said to Mo’Nique, “Can we talk about the abuse in your household. You know what I’m talking about.”

2. Alison Lohman in Drag Me to Hell: Hands down, Sam Raimi directs one of the silver screen’s best catfights when Lohman’s typically subdued banker Christine Brown finally attacks the gypsy cryptkeeper Mrs. Ganush, shoving an envelope down her venomous throat: “Choke on it, bitch!”

3. John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph in Away We Go: As a young couple in search of a home to raise their unborn baby, Burt (Krasinski) and Verona (Rudolph) examine the mess that is their beautiful life together.

Verona De Tessant: Burt, are we fuck-ups?
Burt Farlander: No! What do you mean?
Verona De Tessant: I mean, we’re 34 ...
Burt Farlander: I’m 33.
Verona De Tessant: ... and we don’t even have this basic stuff figured out.
Burt Farlander: Basic, like how?
Verona De Tessant: Basic, like how to live.
Burt Farlander: We’re not fuck-ups.
Verona De Tessant: We have a cardboard window.

4. Megan Fox in Jennifer’s Body: Who cares if Fox can’t act when she delivers badass lines like this one: “It smells like Thai food in here. Have you guys been fucking?”

5. Charlotte Gainsbourg in Antichrist: Lars Von Trier’s latest offering is scarier than human taxidermy, especially when “She” says, “Nature is Satan’s church.”

6. Taylor Lautner in The Twilight Saga: New Moon: I can’t remember if Jacob actually said this—I was a little distracted by all of the Edward and Bella nonsense—but it’s pretty amazing when one of the werewolves quips, “Looks like the wolf’s out of the bag.”

7. Abigail Breslin and Bill Murray in Zombieland: In one of this year’s best cameos, Breslin watches over the dying Lost in Translationstar and says, “Do you have any regrets,” to which he replies, “Garfield, maybe.”

8. “Talking Head Woman” in The Invention of Lying: In this Ricky Gervais black comedy, the world’s inhabitants can no longer tell anything but the complete, uncensored truth, which is why this happens: “Wow, I just got done taking the biggest poop of my life. Now what were we eating?”

9. Vera Farmiga in Orphan: When Esther, the thirty-something killer who has been posing as a child orphan, begs Farmiga to save her life by saying, “Please ... don’t let me die, Mommy,” she responds, “I’m not your fucking mommy!”

10. Sacha Baron Cohen in Brüno: There are so many to choose from here. But my personal favorite comes when Brüno tells a proud mother the concept for her baby’s first modeling gig: “We have chosen your baby to be dressed as a Nazi officer, pushing a wheelbarrow, with a Jewish baby, into an oven!”