"Hope" is frequently mentioned, not only to allude to Spider-Man's status as a Hope Bringer but also as a reminder (especially to Peter) to pick yourself up from a Despair Event Horizon.
"Roosevelt", the name of the file that Richard Parker uploaded seconds before his death. Peter naturally associates it with President Roosevelt, but lacks a proper context and gets distracted by other issues until he uncovers a clue which allows him to realize its significance. The file ends up being located at an abandoned section of Roosevelt Avenue.
Annie: Annie's words to Stacks become significant enough that he puts them into his speech.
"Whenever someone says 'no', it's because they're scared of saying 'yes'".
Wes Anderson's filmography as a whole has an offbeat example in the Latin phrase sic transit gloria, meaning "thus passes glory." It's only spoken aloud in his second film, Rushmore, but it's a recurring motif in almost all of his movies, which usually feature at least one major character who wants to return to their lost Glory Days and typically going about that goal in a deeply unhealthy way, thereby causing a great deal of the conflict.
Assassin's Creed (2016): "For the Creed" describes the motivations of many characters, both Assassin and Templar.
During the first half of the film, Andrew's line "One is glad to be of service" indicates that he is enjoying his work. In the second half, however, after he's stopped using "one" as a personal pronoun, it's a sign that he is seeing himself as a robot and not happy. At the very end, Galatea quotes him to express her gratitude in helping.
"That will not do." The first time he says these words, right after Little Miss passes away, Andrew memorizes every medical textbook available in the world to begin designing artificial organs and DNA elixirs that mix the technological with the biological, making a profound leap in medical technology. When he says those words again after Portia tells him their marriage will never be accepted, he goes on a campaign to earn full rights as a human being.
Blood of the Tribades: "The blood is the life". It appears to be a religious phrase for the vampires, denoting their equivalent of communion, as the blood of Bathor is believed to have provided their eternal life.
Bohemian Rhapsody: "Family" is used many times in reference to both the band and their personal lives. Also, to a lesser extent: "Good thoughts, good words, good deeds."
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid often ask "who are those guys?" in reference to the posse chasing them across the west but it also symbolizes the End of an Era for western outlaws. They can't run away from progress.
Christopher Robin: Two contrasting phrases are brought up throughout the film and recur frequently: "Nothing comes from nothing" and "Doing nothing often leads to the very best kind of something."
Cinderella (2015): "Have courage and be kind", told to Ella by her dying mother. What starts out as a simple platitude ends up becoming a challenging Survival Mantra for Ella, as she determines herself to keep finding something in this world to keep hopeful about, even when all she ever seems to receive is hatred and cruelty.
In the original draft of the screenplay, Dante's constant complaint that "I'm not even supposed to be here today!" in Clerks was intended to foreshadow the tragic irony of Dante getting shot to death by a criminal at the film's conclusion. As the script was revised, this particular meaning is lost: however, Randall still references Dante's use of the phrase in his rant near the end about how Dante refuses to accept responsibility for his own actions or attempt to make change in his miserable life. The same with the other arc phrase: "Bunch of savages in this town."
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button "You never know what's coming for you" represents one of the film's themes that deal with the unexpected ways life will change.
For Superman, any variation of "my world" is frequently uttered. It showcases how he sees Earth as his home and Lois Lane as his life/soul mate.
For Batman, the words "men" and "good" being used in the same phrase/sentence. It highlights how cynical he is, and it also illustrates his journey on regaining a bit of his idealism.
Deadpool 2: "Your heart is not in the right place." Spoken by Vanessa and repeatedly haunt Wade after her death. It later turns out, his heartis.
Dumb Money: "I just like the stock." Keith's ultimate reasoning for buying into GameStop, which becomes a memetic phrase among his followers, and also is among his closing statement during his testimony at the end. His followers cheer upon hearing him say it.
"On your feet, maggot!" The Drill Sergeant Nasty saying this as he kicks Cage awake marks the beginning of a new loop. The only times Cage wakes up without hearing this phrase, first after he's lost the ability to loop and second after he's destroyed the Omega are huge moments as a result.
"You keep coming here every day and I'll train you." Rita's words to Cage show us that he's not the first person to have this power, eventually Cage interrupts her by saying that he already has come there and trained with her, hundreds if not thousands of times.
"Hey mate, there's something wrong with your suit! There's a dead guy in it!" Skinner taunts Cage with this in the dropship, highlighting how ridiculously out ofhis depth Cage is at the beginning. By the end, Cage has died so many times and become such a hardened warrior that he finishes the joke himself, and it's Skinner who feels intimidated when he looks at Cage.
Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare has "I Won't Tell." These three words are a constant in Maggie's nightmares throughout the film. Once it's revealed that her real name is Katherine, and she's the daughter of Freddy, it turns out that said nightmares are actually repressed memories of the day he murdered her mother, Loretta Krueger, right in front of her. Loretta said it once she discovered the truth about her husband's "special work", and it was the last thing little Katherine had said to her father after her mother died. The terrified little girl didn't keep that promise however, and it led to not only his arrest, but her being put into the Springwood orphanage where she was eventually adopted.
Get Out (2017): "Dead by the side of the road" comes up a lot — it's how Chris' mother dies, how the deer Chris and Rose hit with their car dies, what Dean says he thinks should happen to all deer, and how Chris leaves Rose at the end.
Godmothered: Agnes says it sounds like Mackenzie "doesn't believe in happy." Later, Mackenzie's daughter Mia says "Mom doesn't believe in happy, or crafts, or Christmas."
The Grand Budapest Hotel: "Enchanting old ruin." This phrase is only explicitly used to describe the hotel itself, but is implicitly applicable to M. Gustave, the country of Zubrowka, post-World War II Eastern Europe as a whole, and anyone or anything else that seems to be an out-of-place relic of a bygone time.
Hellraiser: Inferno: During his pursuit of the serial killer, Detective Joseph Thorne keeps hearing the phrase "Hunt the Engineer, and the Engineer hunts you." This is because they're the same person.
Hot Fuzz: "The Greater Good." Even outside of the Summation at the end, the phrase is always echoed by someone when it comes up, adding to the cult-like nature of the town.
The Illusionist (2006) fires off a series of arc words in a montage at the end of the movie, giving context to everything that was said earlier which takes on a new meaning when the truth is exposed at the end. The most significant being "Everything you have seen is an illusion."
Idiocracy: "Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way." Joe prefers to get out of the way and his Character Development involves him learning that sometimes being neutral isn't an option.
Into the Storm (2009): "Out spoke Brave Horatius, Captain of the gate, to every man upon this earth, death cometh soon or late. And how can a man die better, than by facing the fearful odds, for the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of his gods?" a phrase repeated by Winston Churchill twice in the movie.
Skyfall: "Skyfall" is mentioned early on in the movie and is the only part in the word association that James Bond didn't have a witty answer to. It turns out to be Bond's family home, where his parents had died in a freak accident.
John Wick: The series as a whole has "Be seeing you", generally used as a final exchange between a defeated (and possibly dying) opponent and John.
The first film also has "Let's go home", symbolizing John's return to the criminal underworld.
Several characters repeat and comment upon the phrase "I have served. I will be of service", which appears to be an oath of loyalty among the Table and those who serve under it. This adds some ambiguity to Winston's betrayal of Wick and re-pledge to The High Table at the end of the film, as while he claims to "have served", he doesn't complete the whole phrase, and instead goes on about how he's a valuable pillar of stability for New York City.
The phrase "choices and consequences" also pops up quite a bit, mostly in relation to the fallout of John's actions at the end of the second movie and what path he wants to take now.
Characters proclaim their loyalty to the High Table by pledging their "fealty". The Bowery King, notably, thinks it's a load of horseshit.
Bowery King: I'm gonna shove so much "fealty" up your ass it's gonna come spilling out your mouth.
"Life finds a way" is first said by Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park (1993), then later gets paraphrased by Alan Grant when he and the kids come across a dinosaur nest. It gets further paraphrased by John Hammond in The Lost World: Jurassic Park in reference to the surprising survival of the dinosaurs on Isla Sorna. This also serves as the Tag Line for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (incidentally the first film to include an appearance by Malcolm since Lost World).
"More teeth" is first used by Claire Dearing in Jurassic World to describe one of the things they are looking for in InGen's new hybrid dinosaur, the Indominus rex. Later, Gray says it to his aunt Claire after seeing they and the raptors are outmatched against Indominus, inspiring her to go and lure out the Tyrannosaurus rex.
Kill List: "Thank you." Said by all of Jay's intended victims throughout the film, culminating in an Ironic Echo when Gal says "Thanks" before Jay delivers a Mercy Kill.
Liberal Arts: Variations of "Please Say Yes" and "Don't Say No". Explanation It's based on the principle of Improv in that one must say "yes, and..." to whatever scene or combination is handed to them in order to keep the scene going. This is a recurring theme in the movie, even applying this principle to life in the following scenes. Life, like an improv scene, cannot advance if we do not respond with "yes, and..." This is one of the central conflicts faced by Jesse. He was allowing outside forces to dictate "yes, and..." so his scene had stopped advancing. He was stuck in the romanticized version of life he had created in college and he wasn't happy. Zibby represented the "yes, and..." conflict, and throughout their early interactions he says "yes" to everything and lets Zibby dictate the "and..." The film makes clear that this relationship is unhealthy. The resolution finally comes when Zibby tells him that she wants to have sex with him. He finally takes control of the "and..." then thanks her for teaching him this lesson. For the rest of the film we finally see him advancing his scene. He advances his love life with Ana and they show that he is now happy.
In The Martian, the entire world takes up the rally of "Bring him home." Several NASA officials say it throughout the film and once Watney's perilous rescue begins, millions and millions of people are shown holding signs, wearing T-shirts, and posting hashtags emblazoned with the pleading words.
If there are any arc words for the franchise as a whole, or at least Iron Man's character arc, they would be "I am Iron Man". Said in Iron Man I to admit he was responsible for everything in the film, Iron Man II at congress to defend his continued control of his suits, Iron Man III after he spent the whole movie showing us that he was more than his suits, and Endgame in defiance of Thanos's "I am inevitable"right beforehe snaps his fingers.
Iron Man: "This is your legacy." reflecting on both the titular protagonist's dark familial history as well as the new one he will make upon atonement, which is fitting since this movie launched the Shared Universe.
The Avengers (2012): Variants on "avenge". (In addition to the title and The Avengers Initiative, there's the unspoken but implied last word of Coulson's assertion that the team were never going to work together "if they didn't have something to..." and finally Tony's threat to Loki that they will avenge the world if they can't save it.)
Thor has been called "God/Lord of Thunder" throughout the film, and for good reason. Realizing that his powers are lightning and thunder themselves and not Mjölnir is what finally allows him to turn the tide of the Final Battle in his favor.
Thor is told that he's "Home" many, many times in many, many different locations. This is related to Odin's words that Asgard can be anywhere — thus, Thor can be "home" anywhere.
"We/You do not/will not speak of this". Said by characters in order to preserve Wakanda's masquerade as an impoverished nation, but at the same time coinciding with the film's plot that is driven by a Dark Secret.
"Who are you?" Plays into the overall themes of who we are versus who we choose to be versus who outside forces make us into.
"Move on." It relates to how the characters must try to adjust to the new status quo.
"I am inevitable." Uttered by Thanos, who believes that he is the "be all, end all" of all existence.
Spider-Man: No Way Home: "It's what we do." First said by Aunt May to Peter when he expresses doubt about trying to help Norman and May reinforcing the "great power, great responsibility" idiom, and later reiterated by both Raimi-verse and Webb-verse's Peters about the responsibility they and MCU Peter share as Spider-Men.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness: "Are you happy?" Stephen is asked this by his universe's Christine at her wedding and later by variant Christine from universe 838. Both times he claims he is, but Sinister Strange calls him out on the lie. At the end of the movie Stephen asks the question of Wong who admits he wonders if alternate versions of him are happier, but that he's content with the universe he lives in.
Red Sparrow: Various permutations of "identify what the target needs, and give it to them" form the mantra for the sparrows, a class of Russian spies trained as Honey Traps.
Seeking Justice had "The hungry rabbit jumps", a phrase linked to the secret vigilante organization Will Gerard found himself involved with. In fact, the working title for the movie actually was The Hungry Rabbit Jumps.
River first says "They never lie down" about the dead Reaver on the ship. Later, it is found out the words haunt her dreams.
Mal asks the Operative "Me and mine gotta lie down and die so you can live in your perfect world?"
The people of the planet Miranda really did lie down and die after they were accidentally poisoned. Those who didn't die became Reavers.
Spencer: "Currency". Elizabeth II first uses currency to give Diana a thinly veiled warning about their reputation as royals and public figures (comparing her photographs to being on a bill). Darren later tells Diana that gossip about the royals is currency in the staff quarters. Finally, Diana herself tells Maggie that she really is just currency, but in a way of having accepted it and becoming more assertive as a result rather than trying to run away from it.
"Don't tell Harry." First uttered by Mary Jane asking Peter not to tell Harry she's Waiting for a Break. Harry's father Norman made this his Last Request to Peter so his son wouldn't find out about him being the Green Goblin, kickstarting Peter and Harry's conflict throughout the trilogy.
"Thank God for you, Peter." Mentioned by other characters to Peter for being a Nice Guy, but also coinciding with him becoming more and more comfortable as a superhero.
Any time "midichlorians" are brought up, it's basically going to change Anakin's life forever.
The first is when his jedi talent is discovered and he's rescued from slavery.
The second is when Yoda reveals his dark destiny and refuses to let him be trained.
The third is when Qui Gon reveals he intends to train him regardless of what the council orders, sealing both their fates.
The fourth is when Palpatine tells him the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise, the exact reveal needed to get Anakin on his side.
For one that stretches across the sequeltrilogyfilms, a variation on the phrase "I know what I have to do (but I don't have the strength to do it)" is spoken by Kylo Ren once per film. Each time it appears signifies a massive shift in his character arc.
That Thing You Do!: Guy Patterson is fond of quoting the line "I am Spartacus." (The film is set in 1964, and Spartacus came out four years before that.) He says it as a sign-off to his girlfriend, shouts it in triumph as the band rockets to stardom... and at the end, alone in the studio as the last of the Wonders, sardonically gives "I am Spartacus" as the title for his noodling around on the drums when the techs ask if he wants to lay it down.
X-Men: Apocalypse: "All will be revealed." Apocalypse himself uses this phrase often, both to reassure the Horsemen and to not divulge details of his plan to Xavier and the rest of the X-Men. When Jean Grey unleashes the Phoenix Force against him, this changes to "All is revealed" just before he is disintegrated. It is left unclear if causing this event was one of his goals.
Z-O-M-B-I-E-S (2018): "The most precious thing in Seabrook" throughout Zombies 3, which is what the alien trio are searching for which contains the map to their new home, or "Utopia", as they put. It turns out to be Addison.
