A book full of memorable and iconic detective movie quotes. The most memorable is probably Casablanca's "Play it again, Sam". Perfect for the movie buff in your life.

Love, love this book. Really took me back to places and times that I really forgotten about. So many marvelous lines that really created a folk following. Well written, full of fabulous background information and many iconic movie quotes that had not heard of before. A book to read over and over, and tell your friends about.. Thanks you NetGalley and the publishers for the DR .

I loved this book. I’m not really a movie buff but these are iconic movies so even I knew them. It was really cool to hear more about quotes that are so popular (still) & the person that delivered the line.

Thank you to NetGalley and Workman Publishing Group for an eARC copy of "You Talkin' to Me?" by Brian Abrams.

I am a huge movie buff, so when I saw this book I knew that I had to read it. I'm really the type of person who deep dives to find out history or facts about a film and this book spoke to me. I loved the format as it blended from movie quote to movie quote so well, as it wasn't just quote, quote, quote...they were blended together by genre and would blend theater timelines. I loved learning about the commentary from those behind the film and honestly, a lot of them made me laugh. I cannot wait to pick up a physical copy to read.

Nonfiction | 15-Adult
"You Talkin' to Me?": The Definitive Guide to Iconic Movie Quotes, by Brian Abrams (2023)

Movies are a big deal in our house. We watch them, often multiple times, both in our home and at the theatre. We talk about them, and we quote them. Heck, in this family we even show up in some of them! So this new release caught my attention as soon as it showed up in the promotional feeds, and while it’s officially coming out Monday, I’ve already ordered two copies, one for each of two households. “You had me at ‘Hello’.” “I’ll have what she’s having.” “You can’t handle the truth!” “‘I love you!’ ‘I know.'” This is a great book for any movie-phile, and especially one who loves to know the stories behind famous quotes, from the many takes behind Jack Torrance’s “Heeeere’s Johnny!” in The Shining to the off-the-cuff creation of the iconic “Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads” from Back to the Future‘s Doc Brown. There are about 200 quotes, most of them featured in a page-long entry that includes the movie title and year, followed by a narrative description that offers a tantalizing peek into the story behind the quote. The quotes are organize chronologically, starting with the first spoken words in the first major release talkie – “Wait a minute! Wait a minute! You ain’t heard nothing’ yet!” in 1927’s The Jazz Singer. The last entry? “Wakanda Forever” from Black Panther in 2018. So about 90 years of movies. Some of the stories are better than others, and those that are familiar are the best of all – Han Solo’s low “I know” response to Princess Leia’s declaration of love is an eye-roller now, but it is so much better than the original snoozer line! (I still think he should have simply closed his eyes and had “I love you” written on his eyelids. Oh sorry – wrong flick.) The endmatter includes an acknowledgement, a selected resource list, and an index that lets you look up movie titles as well as actors, directors and even some writers. A great gift for any movie lover, and a lot of fun for those of us who enjoy movies and quoting the best lines. My thanks to Workman Publishing for the digital reading copy provided through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
More discussion and reviews of this title: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/144721505

Triumph of the Extended Listicle

Listicles are really big right now - "Ten Best Scotch Whiskies Under $25", or "Twenty Best American Rollercoasters", and so on. Well, this book is an enormously entertaining collection of 200 or so of your favorite, most recognizable, lines. Just wander through the Table of Contents, (the ultimate listicle), to see how many of the classics you recognize. Then turn to the book, where each line gets two or three pages of treatment. Each line is placed in context, and joined by production notes, stories from the actors and the sets, amusing little-known facts, and so on. The author is a congenial and upbeat companion, with a superior eye for the telling anecdote or detail, and a stylish approach to placing each line into its proper place in the film culture zeitgeist. If you are any sort of film buff this is like paging through the family album. A fine treat.

I received a complimentary copy of this book via Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are my own opinions.

I'm not sure what I expected from this book, but it greatly exceeded them.

I appreciated the learning the history of the lines and the actors who said them. I also enjoyed how it focused on the professional lives of the actors and not private.

It's a book that made me want to re-watch my favorite movies again and check out ones I haven't seen before.

I

Thank you to the author, Workman Publishing Company and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was an enjoyable read, looking back to the advent of the "talkies" and through to the present day and unpacking a key quote from each movie, giving some background for each movie/quote. The chapters are short and a quick read - some with new-to-me details, others warming up well-known stories. Obviously the author's choices of which movies to include are subjective - I skipped over some that didn't much interest me, others sent me down a rabbit hole to find out more. Overall, well worth a read for movie buffs.

Was this a lot of fun? Absolutely. I would continuously read off things to my husband. Was it the book I was expecting? No; I was lead to believe there was going to be more, more of a dive into the quotes, like who thought of the line or why, etc, things of that nature. That doesn't mean this nifty trove of trivia isn't worth reading, because it is worth the read. It's worth a buy, honestly, but I think the description (which states the author, "...(D)raws on interviews, archival sleuthing, and behind-the-scenes details to tell the story of more than 175 classic Hollywood movie lines...") could use some tweaking. Or maybe I just read too much into said descriptor. Still, this is a nice movie lovers' companion!

A sidenote - My eARC had watermarks on a lot of images, which was distracting and somewhat tacky. I am assuming these will be removed for the final product, because they're a needed visual addition.

This is a sleuthing in the history of the movies from golden period to 70s to early 2021. From Casablanca to Good Will Hunting & Titanic to The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, it is a catechism of dialogues and behind-the-movie scenes.

This is treasure collection for the cinephiles but to me it is not that much parallelized to my likings of books. Such compendiums can only be interesting if the collection contains unknown facts, not the known stories. If there would be one on the reason for why such movies planned or who were initially cast for the respective ones, it could be more interestingly readable to me.

Quoting one such from the book;
“I’m the king of the world!” Titanic (1997)

"Inside the Shrine Auditorium, Cameron’s impression of starving
artist Jack Dawson (twenty-two-year-old Leonardo DiCaprio), standing
atop the ship’s bow and exclaiming “I’m the king of the world!” with a
crack in his throat, was met with applause. It would also plague the staff on
cruise ships and commuter ferries for years to come. “He’s not the king of
anything,” Cameron would later say of Dawson’s touching scene, “but he
felt like he was, at that moment.” On Oscar night, viewers at home seemed
to be witnessing a man whose self-admiration was out of control."

My concern was why such useless info, their could be story about how he planned to cast both the leads of the movie?, but Alas! there was none.

Though there is enough to read I would go with 2-stars, as these info can be arranged from googling articles on the lead cast or directors' interviews or IMDb.

This is a fun glimpse at the back story behind the most iconic movie quotes. The formatting on my kindle was very problematic, with misaligned and mis-organized and repetitive text appearing randomly. Still, I was able to muddle through and was delighted to be reminded of some of my favorite scenes and discover the stories behind others! For me it was more of a reference book than a singular read-through.

A collection of movie quotes, one per film, accompanied by short essays about the film or the actor who said it. While many are iconic, at least half, probably more, are the author's opinion. You'd be better off looking at a movie's best quotes on IMDb; there are more of them and better choices.

This is one of those light compendiums consisting of the stories behind or associated with famous movie dialogue or simply lines. It’s what some call a bathroom book because each anecdote is long enough but not too long to accompany the reader during a ‘bathroom break.’

I learned a good deal of trivia from having bounced around reading this or that entry. If a story didn’t catch my attention or I wasn’t familiar with the movie, I had no issue skipping ahead to one that did interest me. Such is the nature of bathroom books.

I have no way to verify these anecdotes but they all rang true to me. I congratulate the author on doing some serious movie detective work. There’s a great deal about the stars who spoke these lines. I never would have guessed, for example, that Mae West’s dress size was 18. Yikes.

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Workman Publishing Group for an advanced copy of this book on movies, filled with information on famous lines from movies, making of information, popularity of certain films, and other reasons why people love cinema.

I can remember the first movie that I ever saw. I was 3 or 4 and it was in a movie theater in the Bronx, next to a two level pizza place that we went to afterwards, which might have also been my first pizza. The film was Walt Disney's Robin Hood and I loved every second of it. Sir Hiss was my man and his line "Buster? You, sir, have taken my seat" was something that I repeated ad nauseam to friends, family and especially my Grandparents who has special seats when they visited and I was quick to make fun of them for this. Even now I have a smile, and am thinking of watching Robin Hood on Disney+ sometime soon. And that is the magic of movies. Even so many years later everytime I see a movie or flip to one on tv I still get a little bit of a rush. And if it has a great line in it, I am in heaven. Brian Abrams I think understands this feeling, and has the same emotions, especially when the writing is so so good. "You Talkin' to Me?": The Definitive Guide to Iconic Movie Quotes is a compendium not only of famous lines, but a comprehensive look at films, and honestly a book that film lovers really shouldn't be without.

The book begins with the advent of the talkies, The Jazz Singer with a line that seems so normal but was really at the forefront of change in the industry. Almost overnight careers were made or destroyed, the production of films was changed, and scenarists became screenwriters. The book moves forward chronologically from to about a few years ago, identifying key lines and phrases, and who said them. The book also looks into the movies themselves, writers , producers, actors and directors, discussing careers, or lack of careers after certain movies. There are numerous sidebars, featuring directors, specific movies like The Godfather, directors and screenwriters, or movies by theme. In addition the book is filled with film stills which really add to the writing.

Not just a book of quotes which would be easy to compile, but a real labor of love by Brian Abrams that shows on every page. Abrams loves movies, big or small, and great writing, and has researched the movies he lists, and provides a lot of information. Where a line came from be it writer or ad lib, more about the movie in general, its box office and legacy. Even if one doesn't like the movie chosen, readers learn much from what is presented, like a semester in film school, but with a real learning experience. The writing is very good, very informative and with a real style. One can read straight through or pick and choose and learn so much, and have fun while reading. Also Abrams is funny. Not funny hah hah, but with a light touch when needed, a little corn when merited, maybe a Dad joke or two. Again though, one can tell Abrams loves movies, and it shows on every page.

I have a few books on movie quotes, but most of those are either film series specific or genre related. Very few encompass so many different films, from so broad a swath of film history. This is a book for film lovers, and and film students. Also a good read for future and current screenwriters and people who love to read books on creativity. Trivia fans too. I really can't wait to read a sequel on this, or really anything Brian Abrams comes out with next. I am sure it will be a blockbuster.

For any movie buff - I would happily handsell this book and know they would walk away happy! Funny, iconic, a great book to have on hand for game night, or even for writers looking for some inspiration.
Well put together and I enjoyed a nice walk down memory lane.