My Favorite Films of 1997

"You're not the boss of me, Jack. You're not the king of Dirk. I'm the boss of me. I'm the king of me. I'm Dirk Diggler. I'm the star. It's my big dick and I say when we roll."

Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
Written by Paul Thomas Anderson
Music by Michael Penn
Cinematography by Robert Elswit
Editing by Dylan Tichenor

"You can't trust Melanie. But, you can always trust Melanie to be Melanie."

Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Written by Quentin Tarantino
Music by
Cinematography by Guillermo Navarro
Editing by Sally Menke

"I didn't see Chang, but I saw his family. I finally understood how he could be happy running around so free. It's because he has a place he can always return to."

Directed by Kar-Wai Wong
Written by Kar-Wai Wong
Music by Danny Chung
Cinematography by Christopher Doyle
Editing by William Chang and Ming Lam Wong

"Dear Lord, thank you for this Thanksgiving holiday. And for all the material possessions we have and enjoy. And for letting us white people kill all the Indians and steal their tribal lands. And stuff ourselves like pigs, even though children in Asia are being napalmed."

Directed by Ang Lee
Written by James Schamus
Music by Mychael Danna
Cinematography by Frederick Elmes
Editing by Tim Squyres

"You'll never have me."

Directed by David Lynch
Written by David Lynch and Barry Gifford
Music by Angelo Badalamenti
Cinematography by Peter Deming
Editing by Mary Sweeney

"It's not your fault."

Directed by Gus Van Sant
Written by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck
Music by Danny Elfman
Cinematography by Jean-Yves Escoffier
Editing by Pietro Scalia

"Define irony. Bunch of idiots dancing on a plane to a song made famous by a band that died in a plane crash."

Directed by Simon West
Written by Scott Rosenberg
Music by Mark Mancina and Trevor Rabin
Cinematography by David Tattersall
Editing by Chris Lebenzon, Steve Mirkovich and Glen Scantlebury

"Go back to Jersey, sonny. This is the City of the Angels, and you haven't got any wings."

Directed by Curtis Hanson
Written by Curtis Hanson and Brian Helgeland
Music by Jerry Goldsmith
Cinematography by Dante Spinotti
Editing by Peter Honess

"You do know Elvis is dead, right?"
"No, Elvis is not dead. He just went home."

Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld
Written by Ed Solomon
Music by Danny Elfman
Cinematography by Donald Peterman
Editing by Jim Miller

"Oh please, if everyone around here is going to start telling the truth, I'm going to bed."

Directed by Mark Waters
Written by Mark Waters
Music by Rolfe Kent
Cinematography by Michael Spiller
Editing by Pamela Martin

"Being right is not a bullet-proof vest, Freddy!"

Directed by James Mangold
Written by James Mangold
Music by Howard Shore
Cinematography by Eric Alan Edwards
Editing by Craig McKay

"Y'know, I could eat a peach for hours."

Directed by John Woo
Written by Mike Werb and Michael Colleary
Music by John Powell
Cinematography by Oliver Wood
Editing by Steven Kemper and Christian Wagner

"Leeloo Dallas mul-ti-pass."

Directed by Luc Besson
Written by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen
Music by Éric Serra
Cinematography by Thierry Arbogast
Editing by Sylvie Landra

"No one ever owns his youth - or the women he loves."

Directed by Pedro Almodóvar
Written by Pedro Almodóvar, Ray Loriga and Jorge Guerricaechevarría
Music by Alberto Iglesias
Cinematography by Affonso Beato
Editing by José Salcedo

"Sometimes it hits you how quickly the present fades into the past, and you question everything around you. You wonder if anything you'd ever do would matter."

Directed by Jill Sprecher
Written by Jill Sprecher and Karen Sprecher
Music by Mader
Cinematography by Jim Denault
Editing by Stephen Mirrione

"Yea, it's like a plumber: do your job right and nobody should notice. But when you fuck it up, everything gets full of shit."

Directed by Barry Levinson
Written by Hilary Henkin and David Mamet
Music by Mark Knopfler
Cinematography by Robert Richardson
Editing by Stu Linder

"This is for all you new people. I have only one rule. Everybody fights, no one quits. If you don't do your job, I'll kill you myself! Welcome to the Roughnecks!"

Directed by Paul Verhoeven
Written by Edward Neumeier
Music by Basil Poledouris
Cinematography by Jost Vacano
Editing by Mark Goldblatt and Caroline Ross

"For someone who was never meant for this world, I must confess I'm suddenly having a hard time leaving it. Of course, they say every atom in our bodies was once part of a star. Maybe I'm not leaving... maybe I'm going home."

Directed by Andrew Niccol
Written by Andrew Niccol
Music by Michael Nyman
Cinematography by Slawomir Idziak
Editing by Lisa Zeno Churgin

"It's some dumb-ass white movie about some dumb-ass white girls getting their white asses cut the fuck up, okay?"

Directed by Wes Craven
Written by Kevin Williamson
Music by Marco Beltrami
Cinematography by Peter Deming
Editing by Patrick Lussier

"I don't care about the money. I'm pulling back the curtain. I want to meet the wizard."

Directed by David Fincher
Written by John Brancato and Michael Ferris
Music by Howard Shore
Cinematography by Harris Savides
Editing by James Haygood

"How dare you break wind before me."
"I'm sorry I didn't realize it was your turn."

Directed by Jay Roach
Written by Mike Myers
Music by George S. Clinton
Cinematography by Peter Deming
Editing by Dawn Hoggatt and Debra Neil-Fisher

"People who talk in metaphors oughta shampoo my crotch."

Directed by James L. Brooks
Written by James L. Brooks and Mark Andrus
Music by Hans Zimmer
Cinematography by John Bailey
Editing by Richard Marks

"A thousand innocent people get killed every day! But a millionaire's pet gets detonated, and you're marked for life."

Directed by George Armitage
Written by Tom Jankiewicz, D.V. DeVincentis, Steve Pink and John Cusack
Music by Joe Strummer
Cinematography by Jamie Anderson
Editing by Brian Berdan

"For me, it's like I've just given birth to my own baby girl, except she's like a big giant girl who smokes and says "shit" a lot. You know?"

Directed by David Mirkin
Written by Robin Schiff
Music by Steve Bartek
Cinematography by Reynaldo Villalobos
Editing by David Finfer

"You know nothing. Hell is only a word. The reality is much, much worse."

Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson
Written by Philip Eisner
Music by Michael Kamen and Orbital
Cinematography by Adrian Biddle
Editing by Martin Hunter