I'm going to go in a different direction with TS3. First P. 117, when the toys are heading toward their demise:

There’s no way out. Jessie looks at Buzz. JESSIE Buzz...! What do we do? Buzz looks at her. He reaches out, takes her hand. Jessie grabs Bullseye’s hoof. Slinky takes Hamm’s hand. Hamm reaches out to Rex. The Potato Heads hold each other. Mr. Potato Head grabs Rex. Buzz reaches out to Woody... Woody takes Buzz’s hand, and the circle is complete. As they approach the vortex, heat waves blast their faces. The Toys close their eyes, turn away. Woody stares at the fire, shuts his eyes. This is the end.

Sometimes the best dialogue is no dialogue. Second there are two lines of dialogue in a script that have extra importance: The first line and the last line. In TS3, the first line is this from One Eyed Bart: Money, money, money! Ha, ha, ha! That signifies to us we are smack dab in the middle of playtime with the toys, thus sucking us immediately into the story. The last line is from Woody as he watches Andy drive away to college: So long, Pardner. How perfect is that?

Scott, I was so excited that we were doing TS3 and then no one came to the party! Do you think that is because this is the 5th week and people just lose interest or because it's animation or something else? My favorite lines were the whole bit with Buzz speaking Spanish and it was also a great callback to the first movie, as he repeats his pre-programmed lines but with that wonderful Spanish flair. Some others: HAMM I get the corvette. (after Barbie gets donated) TRIXIE We’re either in a cafe in Paris, or a coffee shop in New Jersey. I’m pretty sure I just came back from the doctor with life-changing news! (the triceratops at Mollie's) BARBIE Jessie’s right! Authority should derive from the consent of the governed! Not from the threat of force! (It's Barbie!) ALEINS The claw!! The lines work for me because they all come from character. No one else could have said, "I get the Corvette." except Hamm. I liked the exposition from Lotso at the day care. I think it was the delivery and of course the reactions from the toys. Looking forward to Pan's Labyrinth and hope for more discourse!

I think that's perhaps right, a bit of burn-out at reading scripts. Unless the bottom just completely falls out and no one shows up, I'm committed to seeing through this series through the end of the year and hopefully beyond. I can't emphasize enough the importance of reading scripts. And of the three parts of that mantra -- Read scripts. Watch movies. Write pages. -- I strongly suspect it's the one aspiring writers do the least. To their detriment as writers, I figure. Do I need to take two hours out of every week to read a script from a movie I've seen? At this point as a writer, probably not. But perhaps I can lead by example. In any event, we'll plow through December with weekly readings, then reassess at that point. Starting tomorrow, Pan's Labyrinth. Wonderful film and an excellent script (I've read the English version before and will read again tonight).

I didn't have time to read TS3 but I will try to get to PL tonight and hopefully join next week's discussion. It's a great and essential series, Scott. I'm glad you're dedicated to seeing it through!

Teddy, obviously it's not my intent to make folks feel guilty or whatever about reading scripts... although I suppose in the name of a writer's education, that could be justifiable. Rather just trying to impress how important reading scripts is. In fact, this thread has inspired me to write up a post to go tonight that reminds us the value of this part of the learning process.