Well, it's about stinkin' time. After 12 weeks of regular competition and three tiebreakers- encompassing a total of 21 quotations- we finally have a group of winners for this first round of Screengrab's Famous Last Words game. Even with all of the extra weeks of play, I was unable to whittle down the winners to the pre-determined three, so I decided to award prizes to the five top finishers. The worthy winners are: Ben Herrera, Brian Kennedy, Victor Morton, Marshall Savitt, and Cameron Worden. Each will receive a $25 gift certificate from The Criterion Store.
A prize which, I might add, could potentially be used to help pay for two of the three films represented by last week's quotes. Here are the films in question, for those of you playing at home:
1. "It's the tin lids... when- how- will the world ever..."
"End?"
"Yes." ~ this exchange marks the final dialogue we hear in Mike Leigh's masterpiece Naked, taking place before one of the greatest parting shots in movie history.
2. "Jones is my name. I'm in insurance." ~ this was the gimme of the bunch, coming at the tail end of Terry Gilliam's Twelve Monkeys.
3. "Will there be a last letter?" ~ And this comes from Chris Marker's towering 1982 essay film Sans Soleil. Oddly enough, the film shares a Criterion DVD with Marker's classic La Jetee, which was the inspiration for Twelve Monkeys. I assure you I didn't do that on purpose.
Congratulations to all of the winners, and thanks to everyone who participated. The game will be taking a break for the next few months, but I'm planning to start it up again this summer with a whole new batch of quotes. Until then, remember:
"The end is important in all things."
