Humblebrag 2: Nora Ephron Movies

I am a huge fan of the Pioneer Woman. As well as Nora Ephron movies. What do these things have in common?

After Nora Ephron died, the Pioneer Woman posted a quiz about Nora Ephron movies on her website. I happened to remember that she was posting the quiz right around the time I got done with a client, so I entered the quiz, got 100%, and ended up winning a $300 Amazon gift card! Why is this a humble brag, rather than a regular brag? Well, I'm a little embarrassed that while I sometimes forget the names of my students, I have a deep and extensive knowledge of something as trivial as Nora Ephron. But I do. It's not the only unimportant subject of which I have an extensive knowledge.

So I thought it was appropriate to chronicle my favorite moments from Nora Ephron's movies, as they just helped me win a contest.

After I heard that Nora Ephron died, I went through my DVD shelves and discovered I own four of her most well-known movies. The older I get, the more resentful I become of chick flicks that put unrealistic ideas in the minds of teenage girls about relationships. However, I can't help but love Nora Ephron. Sometimes it's nice to escape to a world where things end happily, and everyone is able to think of witty things to say at the right time. Plus, she always wrote such great supporting characters: Dave Chappelle in You've Got Mail, Carrie Fisher and Bruno Kirby in When Harry Met Sally, Rosie O'Donnell and Rob Reiner in Sleepless in Seattle, and Stanley Tucci in Julie and Julia. Here are some of my favorite scenes and quotes from each of those movies:

When Harry Met Sally

• The scene where Billy Crystal and Bruno Kirby are at the football game, and Billy Crystal is telling the sad story of how his wife left him. Meanwhile, the wave is going around the stadium, and they keep standing up for it. I think of it every time I'm at a football game and someone starts the wave.
• Bruno Kirby in the Pictionary Scene.
• Every single vignette with the older couples.
• Bruno Kirby and Carrie Fisher on their double date making no effort to spare the feelings of the people they were supposed to be out with.
• The wagon wheel coffee table scene.
• The scene in Sharper Image with the karaoke machine and the battery-operated pith helmet.
• The callback scene where Billy Crystal has bought the karaoke machine and leaves a musical message on Meg Ryan's answering machine. 

"Baby fish mouth!"*

"Six years later you find yourself singing 'Surrey With a Fringe on Top,' in front of Ira!"

"I want you to know that I will never want that wagon wheel coffee table."*

"There are two kinds of women: high maintenance and low maintenance...You're the worst kind: you're high maintenance, but you think you're low maintenance."*

"Someone is staring at you in 'Personal Growth'."*

“I’d like the chef salad, please, with the oil and vinegar on the side, and the apple pie a la mode.

But I’d like the pie heated, and I don’t want the ice cream on top, I want it on the side, and I’d like strawberry instead of vanilla if you have it, if not then no ice cream, just whipped cream, but only if it’s real, if it’s out of the can, then nothing.”

(Not even the pie?)

“No, just the pie, but then not heated.”

Sleepless in Seattle

• Rita Wilson's speech about the plot of An Affair to Remember, as well as the men's reactions to it. She pretty much steals the movie right out from under her husband's nose with that one scene.
• The exchange between Tom Hanks and Rob Reiner about what the dating scene is like in 1993, which ends with Rob Reiner checking out Tom Hanks's butt to let him know if it is "cute."
• The dinner table scene with Meg Ryan's family ("I'm allergic to bees.").
• On New Year's Eve, when Bill Pullman sings, "Dim sum, dim sum," while dancing with Meg Ryan.*
• Every scene between Tom Hanks and Ross Malinger, who plays his son. 

"Did you know if you play this backwards, it says 'Paul is dead'?"

"There is no way we are going on a plane to meet some woman who could be a crazy sick lunatic. Didn't you see Fatal Attraction?" "You wouldn't let me!"

"This is really fun...And helpful."

"This man makes the best soup you have ever eaten, and he is the meanest man in New York. I'm really serious about this. It's not just about the soup." There is speculation that he is referring to the same man on whom the Soup Nazi is based.

"That's your problem: you don't want to be in love; you want to be in love in a movie."

You've Got Mail

• The whole opening montage of Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in New York City.
• The scene where the little girl sings "Tomorrow," while a patient accompanist valiantly keeps up with her.
• Just about every scene with Greg Kinnear.
• The running joke about The Godfather.
• The scene where Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks meet for the first time, and he makes every effort to avoid letting her finding out who he is.
• Dabney Coleman's appropriate use of the term "ironic."

"I was eloquent...(Expletive)!"

"You need quiet while a hot dog is singing?"*

"This place is a tomb! I'm going to the nut shop where it's fun."

"Thank yer, ladies and gentlemen."

"Where are my Tic Tacs?!"*

"It's my own fault. Never marry a man who lies." (giggle)

"Happy Thanksgiving back."

Julie and Julia

This may be my favorite movie of the four, partly because it inspired the cupcake project that consumed a year of my life. It is one of the few movies that I actually liked better than the book it was based on, and I credit Nora Ephron completely with that. While I liked the idea of the Julie and Julia project, I was not crazy about the way Julie Powell wrote about it. But I've read some of Nora Ephron's books, and I think the way she thought and wrote about food is really what comes out in the movie. I am ashamed to admit that I cry every time I watch it, and I'm even more ashamed to admit that I can't quite articulate why I cry. This one is more of a sentimental one for me, so I haven't included any funny quotes. But I do love this line:


"You know what I love about cooking? I love that after a day when nothing is sure, and when I say nothing, I mean, NOTHING, that you can come home and absolutely know that if you add egg yolks to chocolate and sugar and milk, it will get thick. It's such a comfort." These are words I live by.

*indicate subjects of a quiz question.

**I have had this post in my queue for awhile, but, like the Riley Nelson post, I thought it was too stupid to publish until propelled by something from my life.**

Humblebragging

I interrupt the string of Broadway rants to bring you something from my actual life:

A few weeks ago, a reporter from BYU's paper came to interview me about having a successful relationship.  The irony was not lost on me, thank you very much. I sort of forgot about it until this morning, when the clinic director sent me the link:

http://universe.byu.edu/index.php/2012/07/05/key-ingredients-to-a-successful-relationship/

Also, in case you are wondering what a humblebrag is, I have included a link to Harris Wittles' explanation on Grantland. I have to warn you, though, that, while Grantland is extremely entertaining, you will probably find yourself wanting back whatever time you spend on it.

And you can all stop laughing now.