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The ‘absolute best’ insults from movies are perfect to add to your repertoire

Quips from classic cinema are a poignant reminder of the vital role screenwriters play in crafting iconic movie narratives.

Aliens | James Cameron | Sargent Vasquez
20th Century Studios/Hulu

In life’s verbal jousts, it helps to have a trusty rejoinder at the ready. Some cinephiles are turning to movies to hone their powers of witty banter, with inspiration from works by Martin Scorsese and Frank Darabont, among others.

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A film aficionado took to the r/movies subreddit, urging fellow Redditors to share their most loved silver screen barbs.

Vasquez’s stinging wisecrack comes from the mind of James Cameron, who penned the screenplay for Aliens, sandwiched between completing The Terminator and embarking on Titanic. The 80s nostalgia continued with a jibe crafted by Monty Python’s Terry Gillam and Michael Palin for Time Bandits.

The 2005 neo-noir satire Kiss Kiss Bang Bang received a shout-out, although other examples of Shane Black fare —like Lethal Weapon and The Long Kiss Goodnight — are just as quotable.

One Redditor was in awe of how Staff Sergeant Sean Dignam flipped it and reversed it in The Departed.

Another Redditor thought the playful humor of a well-known screen adaptation of a Stephen King novella was quite a gas.

Somehow a slight made famous by legendary sportscaster Howard Cosell wandered into the party.

Hats off to the screenwriters whose ingenuity travels across space and time to evoke laughter with comedic finesse. Amidst the ongoing WGA strike, it’s important to recognize that writers’ roles extend beyond storytelling. They weave intricate tapestries of words that unite people around intriguing ideas and encourage us to dream of opportunities beyond the limits of what seems possible. The Reddit thread is a poignant reminder that the written word can be just as iconic as films.

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