We had a good week of death threats [suggested by Christopher Schipper] including some I couldn’t include for a variety of reasons such as:
Pulp Fiction — Diogo Figueira
The Long Good Friday — lizswan
Goldfinger — Bill Weinberger
This week the theme is Meet-Ups!
The theme was suggested by Tedd Pasternak as a ‘yang’ to the ‘yin’ Break-Up week we had a few weeks back.
So head to comments, please, and post some memorable movie meet-up dialogue. As usual:
* Copy/paste the dialogue from IMDB Quotes or some other transcript source.
* Copy/paste the URL of an accompanying video from MovieClips or YouTube.
Let’s explore what screenwriters have done with a variety of first meetings between key characters in movies.
See you in comments!
And the rest is history…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFWGOKuFyjk
Harry: You realize of course that we could never be friends.
Sally: Why not?
Harry: What I’m saying is – and this is not a come-on in any way, shape or form – is that men and women can’t be friends because the sex part always gets in the way.
Sally: That’s not true. I have a number of men friends and there is no sex involved.
Harry: No you don’t.
Sally: Yes I do.
Harry: No you don’t.
Sally: Yes I do.
Harry: You only think you do.
Sally: You say I’m having sex with
these men without my knowledge?
Harry: No, what I’m saying is they all WANT to have sex with you.
Sally: They do not.
Harry: Do too.
Sally: They do not.
Harry: Do too.
Sally: How do you know?
Harry: Because no man can be friends with a woman that he finds attractive. He always wants to have sex with her.
Sally: So, you’re saying that a man can be friends with a woman he finds unattractive?
Harry: No you pretty much want to nail ‘em too.
Sally: What if THEY don’t want to have sex with YOU?
Harry: Doesn’t matter because the sex thing is already out there so the friendship is ultimately doomed and that is the end of the story.
Sally: Well, I guess we’re not going to be friends then.
Harry: I guess not.
Sally: That’s too bad. You were the only person I knew in New York.
Out of Sight (1998)
http://movieclips.com/5yRP-out-of-sight-movie-stuck-in-the-trunk/
INT. TRUNK – SAME
As Foley plays the light down the length of her…
FOLEY: You don’t seem all that scared.
KAREN: Of course I am.
FOLEY: You don’t act like it.
KAREN: What do you want me to do? Scream? I don’t think it would help much. (then) I’m just gonna sit back, take it easy, and wait for you to screw up.
FOLEY: Jesus, you sound like my ex-wife.
KAREN: You were married? All those falls, I’m surprised you had time.
FOLEY: It was just a year, give or take a few days. I mean, it’s not like we didn’t get along or anything. We had fun, we just didn’t have that… that thing, you know? That spark, you know what I mean? You gotta have that.
KAREN: (thinking) Uh-huh.
FOLEY: We still talk, though.
KAREN: Sure.
EXT. CAR – SAME
As Buddy passes a sign that says “MIAMI, 74 MILES.”
INT. TRUNK – SAME
As she tries to get a look at him…
KAREN: You know, this isn’t gonna end well, these things never do.
FOLEY: Yeah, well, if it turns out I get shot like a dog, it’ll be in the street, not off a goddamn fence.
KAREN: You must see yourself as some kind of Clyde Barrow.
And for a few moments, all we hear is the sound of the car on the road. Then…
FOLEY: Oh, you mean of Bonnie and Clyde? Hm. You ever see pictures of him, the way he wore his hat? You could tell he had that don’t-give-a-shit air about him.
KAREN: I don’t recall his hat, but I’ve seen pictures of him lying dead, shot by Texas Rangers. Did you know he didn’t have his shoes on?
FOLEY: Is that right?
KAREN: They put a hundred and eighty-seven bullet holes in Clyde, Bonnie Parker and the car they were driving. Bonnie was eating a sandwich.
FOLEY: You’re full of interesting facts, aren’t you?
KAREN: It was May, 1934, near Gibsland, Louisiana.
EXT. HIGHWAY – NIGHT
Quiet. Empty. A moment later the car flies past.
INT. TRUNK – SAME
FOLEY: That part in the movie where they get shot? Warren Beatty and… I can’t think of her name.
KAREN: Faye Dunaway.
FOLEY: Yeah, I liked her in that movie about TV…
KAREN: Network. Yeah, she was good.
FOLEY: And the guy saying he wasn’t gonna take any more shit from anybody…
KAREN: Peter Finch.
FOLEY: Yeah, right. Anyway, that scene where Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway get shot? I remember thinking at the time it wouldn’t be a bad way to go, if you have to.
KAREN: Bleeding on a country road.
FOLEY: It wasn’t pretty after, no, but if you were in that car — eating a sandwich — you wouldn’t have known what hit you.
We HEAR FAINT SIRENS OS…
INT. CAR – SAME TIME
As Buddy sees FLASHING LIGHTS approach from the opposite direction. He stays cool as the green and whites get closer… closer… then fly right on past.
INT. TRUNK – SAME
As the SIRENS SCREAM AT US FOR A MOMENT, then FADE.
FOLEY: You’re sure easy to talk to. I wonder — say we met under different circumstances and got to talking, say you were in a bar and I came up to you — I wonder what would happen.
KAREN: Nothing.
FOLEY: I mean if you didn’t know who I was.
KAREN: You’d probably tell me.
FOLEY: I’m just saying I think if we met under different circumstances…
KAREN: You have to be kidding.
Silence. Foley tries to get back to where it was working…
FOLEY: Another one Faye Dunaway was in I liked, Three Days of the Condor.
KAREN: With Robert Redford, when he was young.
FOLEY: Yeah…
They lie there a moment, think about that as we hear THE CAR SLOWING DOWN, coasting, then bumping along the shoulder of the road to a stop.
KAREN: I never thought it made sense, though, the way they got together so quick.
FOLEY: Really.
KAREN: I mean, romantically.
FOLEY: Uh-huh. (then) Well, but if –
The trunk goes dark again as the car’s turned off.
Badlands (1973)
http://youtu.be/JOMEsM6daGE
EXT. FRONT LAWN
KIT: Hi, I’m Kit. I’m not keeping you from anything important, am I?
HOLLY: No.
KIT: Well, I was just messing around over there, thought I’d come over and say hello to you. (smiling) I’ll try anything once. (pause) What’s your name? I said mine.
HOLLY: Holly.
KIT: Listen, Holly. you want to take a walk with me?
HOLLY: What for?
KIT: Well. I got some stuff to say. Guess I’m kind of lucky that way. Most people don’t have anything on their minds, do they?
Holly eyes him suspiciously.
EXT. STREET
They walk down the middle of the street. Holly has accepted his offer.
KIT: Oh, incidentally, my last name is Carruthers. Sounds a little too much like “druthers,” doesn’t it?
HOLLY: It’s okay.
KIT: Well, nobody asked me what I thought. They just hung it on me.
Holly breaks the silence that follows.
HOLLY: You still in school?
KIT: Nah, I got me a job.
HOLLY: (o.c.) Doing what?
KIT: Well, I don’t mind getting up early, so I got a job throwing garbage… I’m not in love with the stuff, okay.
In the distance we hear Holly’s FATHER calling her. She eases off.
HOLLY: That’s my father. I got to run.
KIT: Hey. wait a minute. When am I going to see you again?
Holly isn’t sure how to reply.
HOLLY: Well, I know what my daddy’s going to say.
KIT: (o.c.) What?
HOLLY: Can I be honest?
KIT: Sure.
HOLLY: Well, that I shouldn’t be seen with anybody that collects garbage.
KIT: (o.c.) He’ll say that?
HOLLY: Yeah.
KIT: (o.c.) Now what’s he know about garbage, huh?
HOLLY: Nothing.
KIT: (o.c.) There you go.
HOLLY: Well, I mean there’s nothing he wants to know about it… I’ve got to run.
She waves goodbye and runs off. Kit waves back.
EXT. HOLLY’S BACK YARD
Holly walks into the back yard, where her father is working. Half-painted signs lean against the garage.
FATHER: Who was that?
HOLLY: Just some boy.
Harold and Maude (1971)
http://movieclips.com/DxFhJ-harold-and-maude-movie-harold-meets-maude/
MED. SHOT – HAROLD
Harold sits attentively.
VOICE (o.s.): Psst!
Harold, startled, looks over his right shoulder and sees Maude kneeling in the pew behind him. She speaks with a slight British/European accent.
MAUDE: Like some licorice?
She offers some.
HAROLD: Eh, no. Thank you.
MAUDE: You’re welcome. (gesturing to the deceased) Did you know him?
HAROLD: Eh, no.
MAUDE: Me neither. I heard he was eighty years old. I’ll be eighty next week. A good time to move on, don’t you think?
HAROLD (trying to ignore her): I don’t know.
MAUDE: I mean, seventy-five is too early, but at eighty-five, well, you’re just marking time and you may as well look over the horizon.
MED. SHOT – ALTAR
The priest finishes the prayers and exits. The casket is closed and the pallbearers take it out the side door. The few mourners follow.
Maude is now sitting next to Harold.
MAUDE: I’ll never understand this mania for black. I mean no one sends black flowers, do they? Black flowers are dead flowers and who would send black flowers to a funeral? It’s absurd.
The Matrix (1999)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXeF1rMkpQw
INT. APARTMENT
An older apartment; a series of halls connects a chain of small high-ceilinged rooms lined with heavy casements.
Smoke hangs like a veil, blurring the few lights there are.
Dressed predominately in black, people are everywhere, gathered in cliques around pieces of furniture like jungle cats around a tree.
Neo stands against a wall, alone, sipping from a bottle of beer, feeling completely out of place. He is about to leave when he notices a woman staring at him.
The woman is Trinity. She walks straight up to him.
In the nearest room, shadow-like figures grind against each other to the pneumatic beat of INDUSTRIAL MUSIC.
TRINITY Hello, Neo.
NEO How do you know that name?
TRINITY I know a lot about you. I’ve been
wanting to meet you for some time.
NEO
Who are you?
TRINITY My name is Trinity.
NEO Trinity? The Trinity? The
Trinity that cracked the I.R.S. D-Base?
TRINITY That was a long time ago.
NEO
Gee-zus. What? I just thought… you were a guy.
TRINITY
Most guys do.
Neo is a little embarrassed.
NEO Do you want to go somewhere and
talk?
TRINITY No. It’s safe here and I don’t
have much time.
The MUSIC is so LOUD they must stand very close, talking directly into each other’s ear.
NEO That was you on my computer?
She nods.
NEO How did you do that?
TRINITY Right now, all I can tell you, is
that you are in danger. I brought you here to warn you.
NEO
Of what?
TRINITY They’re watching you, Neo.
NEO
Who is?
TRINITY Please. Just listen. I know why
you’re here, Neo. I know what you’ve been doing. I know why you hardly sleep, why you live alone and why, night after night, you sit at your computer. You’re looking for him.
Her body is against his; her lips very close to his ear.
TRINITY I know because I was once looking
for the same thing, but when he found me he told me I wasn’t really looking for him. I was looking for an answer.
There is a hypnotic quality to her voice and Neo feels the words, like a drug, seeping into him.
TRINITY It’s the question that drives us,
the question that brought you here. You know the question just as I did.
NEO What is the Matrix?
TRINITY When I asked him, he said that no
one could ever be told the answer to that question. They have to see it to believe it.
She leans close, her lips almost touching his ear.
TRINITY The answer is out there, Neo.
It’s looking for you and it will find you, if you want it to.
She turns and he watches her melt into the shifting wall of bodies.
A SOUND RISES steadily, growing out of the MUSIC, pressing in on Neo until it is all he can hear as we –
A bonus suggestion just for fun: Claude Lelouch’s C’était un Rendez-vous (1976)
http://youtu.be/-NJzrv4MaMo
NATURAL BORN KILLERS (1994) directed by Oliver Stone
written by Oliver Stone, David Veloz, and Richard Rutowski, story by Quentin Tarantino
MALLORY: Who are you?
MICKEY: Mickey. Who are you?
MALLORY: Mallory.
MICKEY: You oughtta change your name to beautiful. You a big meat eater, Mallory?
MALLORY: I could be.
MICKEY: You always dress like that or are you just – waiting for me?
MALLORY: Why would I be dressed like this for someone I don’t know?
MICKEY: Maybe something inside you told you to, you know, like fate. You believe in fate, Mallory?
MALLORY: Maybe.
MICKEY: Don’t look too happy. Wanna go for a ride and talk about it?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ed0Y3D2F-ow (dialogue @2:31
A Matter of Life and Death.
A British wartime aviator who cheats death must argue for his life before a celestial court.
Writers/Directors
Michael Powell
Emeric Pressborger
David Niven – Peter Carter
Kim Hunter – June
J: Request your position, request your position, come in Lancaster, come in Lancaster
P: Position Nil, repeat nil, age 27, 27. Did you get that? That’s very important. Education interrupted, violently interrupted. Religion church of England, Politics conservative by nature, labour by experience. What’s your name?
J: I cannot read you, cannot read you, request your position, can you see our signals?
P: Oh give me my scallop shell of quiet, my staff of faith to walk upon, my strip of joy immortal diet, my bottle of salvation, my gallon? of glory hopes true gage and thus I’ll take my pilgrimage. Sir Walter Raleigh wrote that, I’d rather have written that than flown through Hitler’s legs.
J: I cannot understand you, hello Lancaster, we are sending signals, can you see our signals? come in Lancaster, come in Lancaster,
flying noise
P: But at my back I always hear, times winged chariots hurrying near, and yonder all before us lie, deserts of vast eternity. Andy Marvel, What a Marvel. What’s your name?
J: Are you receiving me? repeat are you receiving me? request your position. Come in Lancaster
P: You seem like a nice girl, I can’t give you my position, instruments gone, crew gone too, all except Bob here my sparks, he’s dead, the rest all bailed out on my orders time 03.35, d’you get that?
J: Crew bailed out 03.35
P:Station Warrenden bomber group A G George, send them a signal got that?
J: Station Warrenden bomber group A apple G george.
P: They’ll be sorry about Bob we all liked him.
J: Hello G George, Hello G George, are you all right? are you going to try to land, do you want a fix?
P:Name’s not G George its P Peter, Peter D Carter, D’s for David, Squadren Leader Peter Carter. No I’m not going to land, undercarriage is gone, inner port’s on fire, I’m bailing out presently, I’m bailing out. ……Take a telegram.
J: Got your message, received your message, we can hear you,
P: Telegram to my mother, Mrs Michael Carter, 88 Hamstead Lane, London North West.
J: 88 Hamstead Lane, London
P: Tell her that I love her, you’ll have to write this for me but what I want her to know is, that I love her very much, that I’ve never shown it to her, not really, but that I’ve loved her always, right up to the end. Give my love to my two sisters too, don’t forget them
J: Received your message, we can hear you, are you wounded? repeat are you wounded? Are you bailing out?
P: What’s your name?
J: June
P:Yes June I’m bailing out, I’m bailing out but there’s a catch, I’ve got no parachute,
J:Hello, hello Peter, do not understand, hello hello peter, can you hear me?
P:Hello June, don’t be afraid its quite simple, we’ve had it and I’d rather jump than fry. After the first 1000 feet what’s the difference I shan’t know anything anyway, I say I hope I haven’t frightened you.
J: No, I’m not frightened
P: Good Girl
J: Your sparks you said he was dead, hasn’t he got a chute?
P: Cut to ribbons, cannon shell. June? Are you pretty?
J: Not bad I …
P: Can you hear me as well as I can hear you?
J: Yes
P: You’ve got a good voice, you’ve got guts too, its funny I’ve known dozens of girls, I’ve been in love with some of them but its an American girl whom I’ve never seen and never shall see who’ll hear my last words, its funny, its rather sweet. June, if you’re around when they pick me up, turn your head away
J: Perhaps we can do something Peter, let me report it.
P: No, no one can help, only you. Let me do this in my own way. I want to be alone with you June. Where were you born?
J: Boston
P: Mass?
J: Yes
P: That’s a place to be born, history was made there. Are you in love with anybody, no, no don’t answer that.
J: I could love a man like you Peter
P: I love you June, you’re life and I’m leaving you. Where do you live? On the station?
J: No in a big country house about 5 miles from here, Lee Wood House
P: Old house?
J: Yes very old,
P: Good I’ll be a ghost and come and see you, you’re not frightened of ghosts are you? It would be awful if you were.
J: I’m not frightened.
P: What time will you be home?
J: Well I’m on duty until 6, I have breakfast in the mess and then I have to cycle half an hour, I often go along the sands. …This is such nonsense.
P: No it not it’s the best sense I’ve ever heard. I was lucky to get you June. Can’t be helped about the parachute, I’ll have my wings soon anyway, big white ones. I hope they haven’t gone all modern I’d hate to have a prop instead of wings. What do you think the next worlds like? I’ve got my own ideas
J: Oh Peter
P: I think it starts where this one leaves off or where this one could leave off if we’d listened to Plato and Aristotle and Jesus. With all our little earthly problems solved but with greater ones worth the solving. I’ll know soon enough anyway. I’m signing off now June, goodbye, goodbye June
J: Hello G for George, hello G George, hello G George, hello……….
Sobs….
Not on radio:
P: So long Bob, I’ll see you in a minute. You know what we wear by now, prop or wings.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z07BYLkzXXs&feature=related
Sorry it’s a bit long – but it’s a classic – meeting.
Liz