“Here’s Johnny!”

“Nooooo Wire Hangers!”

“I love the smell of Napalm in the Morning.”

“Tell me about it…stud.”

“If you build it…they will come.”

These are just a handful of the quotes Brian Abrams has compiled to talk to you and your listeners about the greatest movie quotes of all time!

“YOU TALKIN’ TO ME?”:

The Definitive Guide to Iconic Movie Quotes

by Brian Abrams

Iconic movie lines have long dominated pop culture — a simple line in a film can turn into its own entity, almost outliving the film itself! Brian Abrams explores this phenomenon in “You Talkin’ to Me?”: The Definitive Guide to Iconic Movie Quotes (Workman Publishing; September 26, 2023; Paperback; $19.99), an endlessly fascinating look at classic Hollywood movie quotes from Casablanca to Dirty Harry and The Godfather to Mean Girls.

“You Talkin’ To Me?” is an exploration of how dialogue can transcend context and impact culture, define actors’ careers, and become cemented in the modern lexicon.

Beginning with the 1920’s with the first feature length film with sound, The Jazz Singer which introduced the likes of “Wait a minute! Wait a minute! You ain’t heard nothin’ yet”, “You Talkin’ to Me?” dives into each era of film thereafter, granting readers an intimate look into films we love, films we forgot, or films we’ve never seen yet have somehow heard time and time again.

Some familiar quotes explored include:

• “Magic mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?” —Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

• “That’ll be the day.”—The Searchers (1956)

• “They call me Mister Tibbs!”—In the Heat of the Night (1967)

• “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.”—Jaws (1975)

• “May the Force be with you.”—Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)

• “Here’s Johnny!”—The Shining (1980)

• “Bye, Felisha.” —Friday (1995)

• “As if!”—Clueless (1995)

• “I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.”—Taken (2008)

• “Look at me, I’m the captain now.”—Captain Phillips (2013)

• “Wakanda forever.”—Black Panther (2018)

Packed with film stills, sidebars, lists, and other fun detours throughout movie history, the book covers all genres and a diverse range of directors, writers, and audiences.

“You Talkin’ to Me?" is a fascinating, and exhaustively reported look at all the iconic Hollywood movie quotes we know and love and the ultimate treat for movie buffs, pop culture mavens, and appreciators of eccentric history. In the words of Will Hunting from the 1997 film Good Will Hunting, “How do you like them apples?”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Brian Abrams is the author of many best-selling oral histories, tackling the subjects of Late Night with David Letterman, Gawker, Die Hard, and the Obama presidency. He was dubbed “the Ken Burns of presidential alcoholism” upon publication of his first book, Party Like a President: True Tales of Inebriation, Lechery, and Mischief from the Oval Office.

TO BOOK AN INTERVIEW CONTACT PETER at peter@playbackproducers.com

"A movie buff's treat, curated by a real movie buff!" —Illeana Douglas, actor and author of I Blame Dennis Hopper and Connecticut in the Movies

"A richly entertaining and deeply researched book about the movie lines that live in our collective unconscious, infiltrate our speech, guide our actions, and shape our perceptions." —Dave Kehr, critic and curator

"Brian Abrams has put together a fascinating compendium of absorbing information on the films and stars who uttered the most memorable one-liners heard 'round the world. Wait 'til you discover what 'Rosebud' really refers to!" —Josiah Howard, author of Blaxploitation Cinema: The Essential Reference Guide