Over the last couple weeks, the Lounge Lizards have narrowed a field of 100 movie characters down to ten. It is time now for the ultimate showdown. Here are the ten finalists, in random order:
ATTICUS FINCH
Gregory Peck, "To Kill A Mockingbird"
"But he said that sooner or later he supposed the temptation to go after birds would be too much, and that I could shoot all the blue jays I wanted - if I could hit 'em; but to remember it was a sin to kill a mockingbird. Well, I reckon because mockingbirds don't do anything but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat people's gardens, don't nest in the corncrib, they don't do one thing but just sing their hearts out for us."
INDIANA JONES
Harrison Ford, "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and sequels
"Listen. Since I've met you I've nearly been incinerated, drowned, shot at, and chopped into fish bait. We're caught in the middle of something sinister here, my guess is dad found out more than he was looking for and until I'm sure, I'm going to continue to do things the way I think they should be done."
TOMMY DeVITO
Joe Pesci, "Goodfellas"
"What did you say? Funny how? What? What do ya mean, funny? Let me understand this cause, I don't know maybe it's me, I'm a little fucked up maybe, but I'm funny how? I mean, funny like I'm a clown, I amuse you? I make you laugh? I'm here to fuckin' amuse you? What do you mean funny, funny how? How am I funny? . . . No, no, I don't know, you said it. How do I know? You said I'm funny. How the fuck am I funny, what the FUCK is so funny about me?"
VITO CORLEONE
Marlon Brando/Robert De Niro, "The Godfather" and "The Godfather Part II"
"What have I ever done to make you treat me so disrespectfully? If you'd come to me in friendship, then this scum that ruined your daughter would be suffering this very day. And if by chance an honest man like yourself should make enemies, then they would become my enemies. And then they would fear you."
ELLEN RIPLEY
Sigourney Weaver, "Alien" and sequels
"Final report of the commercial starship Nostromo, third officer reporting. The other members of the crew, Kane, Lambert, Parker, Brett, Ash and Captain Dallas, are dead. Cargo and ship destroyed. I should reach the frontier in about six weeks. With a little luck, the network will pick me up. This is Ripley, last survivor of the Nostromo, signing off."
DR. STRANGELOVE
Peter Sellers, "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb"
"But it is, you know, a sacrifice required for the future of the human race. I hasten to add that since each man will be required to do prodigious... service along these lines, the women will have to be selected for their sexual characteristics which will have to be of a highly stimulating nature."
INIGO MONTOYA
Mandy Patinkin, "The Princess Bride"
"He was a great swordmaker, my father. When the six-fingered man appeared and requested a special sword. My father took the job. He slaved a year before it was done. The six-fingered man returned and demanded it, but at one tenth his promised price, my father refused. Without a word, the six-fingered man slashed him through the heart. I loved my father. So naturally, I challenged his murderer to a duel. I failed. ... So the next time we meet, I will not fail. I will go up to the six-fingered man and say, 'Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.'"
JULES WINFIELD
Samuel L. Jackson, "Pulp Fiction"
"You read the Bible, Brett? Well, there's this passage I got memorized, sorta fits the occasion. Ezekiel 25:17. 'The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. AND YOU WILL KNOW MY NAME IS THE LORD WHEN I LAY MY VENGEANCE UPON THEE!'"
THE BLUES BROTHERS
John Belushi and Dan Akroyd, "The Blues Brothers"
"It's 106 miles to Chicago, we've got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses."
"Hit it."
THE MAN WITH NO NAME
Clint Eastwood, "A Fistful of Dollars" and sequels
"I don't think it's nice, you laughin'. You see, my mule don't like people laughing. He gets the crazy idea you're laughin' at him. Now if you apologize, like I know you're going to, I might convince him that you really didn't mean it."