Thursday, April 10, 2014

Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades

Here is a little quiz for readers of rhymeswithplague on what would have been my mother’s 104th birthday. It is not original with me. I found it on the Internet.

Here are some lines that may sound familiar:

1. Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.
2. Hello, Clarice.
3. Greed is good.
4. Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?
5. Luke, I am your father.
6. If you build it, they will come.

Can you name the movies in which each of those lines was spoken?

If you said, “Sure, no problem, number 1 is from The Wizard of Oz, number 2 is from The Silence of the Lambs, number 3 is from Wall Street, number 4 is from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, number 5 is from The Empire Strikes Back, and number 6 is from Field of Dreams” then, as Tonto once said to the Lone Ranger, you are wrong, kemosabe.

One hundred per cent wrong.

Not one of those lines has ever been spoken in a Hollywood movie.

I tricked you.

The movies are right, but the lines are not.

Each of them must be changed in some way to duplicate the deathless dialogue (don’t you just love alliteration?) you thought you knew so well

Don’t look up the answers. Give me your best guesses in the comments section.

Update, April 11, 9:15 a.m. -- The funniest answer to date in the comments section is reader Adrian’s guess that “If you build it, they will come” is from the Noah movie. Reader Yorkshire Pudding, as usual, has his own personal agenda. But the main reason I’m adding this update is to clarify what appears to be some confusion among my readers. The movie titles I listed are the correct movie titles; it’s the lines of dialogue that are slightly wrong. Okay, if no one wants to play, I will do the heavy lifting and provide the correct answers myself. The actual lines are:

1. Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.
2. Good evening, Clarice.
3. Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.
4. Magic mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?
5. No, I am your father.
6. If you build it, he will come.

I hate it when I have to solve my own puzzles.

4 comments:

  1. Not a movie watcher. I might have seen one or two of those. But no more.
    Alas poor Yorick...

    ReplyDelete
  2. I never watch movies but will guess the last is from the Noah film.

    ReplyDelete
  3. 1. Toto, I don’t think we're in Canton, Georgia anymore. (Wizard of Mansfield TX)
    2. Hello, Ellie. (Silence of the Plague)
    3. Sexy massage is good. (Fretwork)
    4. Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fattest one of all? (Snow White and the Seven Obese Midgets)
    5. Bjorn, I am your father. (The CIA Swedish Division Strikes Back)
    6. If you build it, they will pay. (Field of Property Developers)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh, you are devilishly clever!

    Of the movies you listed, I've
    seen only numbers 1 and 4 --those of "G" rating.

    I did enjoy Mr. Pudding's comment. :)

    ReplyDelete

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