Annie Hall Quotes
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Source: Annie Hall
Speaker: Alvy Singer
I don't want to move to a city where the only cultural advantage is being able to make a right turn on a red light.
Context
This line is spoken by Alvy Singer, played by Woody Allen, in the movie Annie Hall, directed by Woody Allen (1977).
New York or LA? That's the eternal question, Shmoopers. Annie Hall tells the story of neurotic New York comic, Alvy Singer, and his up-and-down relationship with a girl named... wait for it... Annie Hall (Diane Keaton). In this movie, like all the old Woody Allen movies that actually had Woody Allen in them, Woody Allen does a lot of acting like… Woody Allen. In case you don't know, acting like Woody Allen includes a lot snappy one-liners (among other things). This particular quote comes when Alvy and Annie are on the outs. When Annie tries to convince Alvy to move from NYC to LA, he fires back with this quip, taking a shot at the City of Angels.
Where you've heard it
Despite a persistent Googling effort, we haven't found evidence of a specific reference to this quote. However, the beloved movie it came from gets plenty of shout-outs. A wide range of movies like Kill Bill: Vol 2, High Fidelity, and Meet the Parents reference the film, as well as TV shows like NCIS, CSI: NY, Gilmore Girls, How I Met Your Mother, House MD, Mystery Science Theater 3000, Californication, Orange is the New Black, and even Family Guy. We could just keep listing shows, but you get the point. Even if this quote might not be the most re-quoted thing, the movie itself is seared into the mind of America. To which America says... ouch.
Pretentious Factor
If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.
Quoting Woody Allen definitely marks you as a bit of a film know-it-all. But, hey, who cares where a good joke comes from?