How about a classic from The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King (2003)... Aragorn: Let the Lord of the Black Land come forth! Let justice be done upon him! The Mouth of Sauron: My master, Sauron the Great, bids thee welcome. Is there any in this rout with authority to treat with me? Gandalf: We do not come to treat with Sauron, faithless and accursed. Tell your master this: the armies of Mordor must disband. He is to depart these lands, never to return. The Mouth of Sauron: Ahh, old Greybeard. I have a token I was bidden to show thee. [Pulls out Frodo's mithril vest and throws it at them] Pippin: [whispers] Frodo... Gandalf: Silence. Merry: No! Gandalf: Silence! The Mouth of Sauron: The halfling was dear to thee, I see. Know that he suffered greatly at the hands of his host. Who would've thought one so small could endure so much pain? And he did, Gandalf, he did. Interestingly, we know this isn't true, but seeing the effect on the rest of the Fellowship is what matters here...

It's A Wonderful Life (1946) Writers: Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Frank Capra http://movieclips.com/RwX6-its-a-wonderful-life-movie-mary-the-old-maid/ EXT. LIBRARY – NIGHT CLOSE SHOT Mary comes out the door, then turns and locks it. We see George watching her from the sidewalk. Mary is very different – no buoyancy in her walk, none of Mary's abandon and love of life. Glasses, no make-up, lips compressed, elbows close to body. She looks flat and dried up, and extremely self- satisfied and efficient. CLOSEUP George, as he watches her. CLOSE SHOT George and Mary, on the sidewalk. GEORGE Mary! She looks up, surprised, but, not recognizing him, continues on. GEORGE Mary! Mary starts to run away from him, and he follows, desperately. GEORGE Mary! Mary! He catches up to her, grabs her by the arms, and keeps a tight grip on her. She struggles to free herself. GEORGE Mary, it's George! Don't you know me? What's happened to us? MARY (struggling) I don't know you! Let me go! GEORGE Mary, please! Oh, don't do this to me. Please, Mary, help me. Where's our kids? I need you, Mary! Help me, Mary! Mary breaks away from him, and dashes into the first door she comes to, the Blue Moon Bar. INT. BLUE MOON – NIGHT CLOSE SHOT Small tables, booths, perhaps a counter. It is crowded. Many of the people are the same who were present during the run on the Building and Loan. Mary comes running in, screaming. The place goes into an uproar. George comes in, practically insane. Some of the men grab and hold on to him. GEORGE (shouting) Mary... (to men holding him) Let me go! Mary, don't run away! MAN Somebody call the police! ANOTHER MAN Hit him with a bottle! ANOTHER MAN He needs a strait jacket! MARY (from back of room) That man – stop him! GEORGE (recognizing some of them) Tom! Ed! Charlie! That's my wife! Mary lets out a final scream, then faints into the arms of a couple of women at the bar. GEORGE Mary! MAN Oh, no you don't! GEORGE (screaming) Mary! George can't fight through the men holding him. Desperately he thinks of Clarence, and heads for the door. GEORGE Clarence! Clarence! Where are you? EXT. SIDEWALK – NIGHT CLOSE SHOT Just as George breaks through the door, Bert arrives in his police car. He gets out and heads for the door, to run into George as he comes out. BERT Oh, it's you! He grabs for George, who lets him have one square on the button, knocking him down, then continues running down the street yelling for Clarence. Bert gets up, takes out his gun and fires several shots after the fleeing figure. BERT (to crowd) Stand back! Bert gets into the police car, and, siren screaming, sets off in pursuit of George. TRIVIA: Dalton Trumbo, Dorothy Parker, Marc Connelly, and Clifford Odets all did uncredited work on the script. The film was a flop when it played theatres in 1946. Voted the #1 inspirational film of all time in AFI's "100 Years, 100 Cheers" (June 14th, 2006) DIALOGUE ON DIALOGUE: Up to this point George is in denial mode, refusing to believe Clarence The Angel. But now, All is Lost when he realizes his beloved Mary doesn't know him. It's heart crushing to see and hear him beg Mary for help. At his breaking point, he scrambles to find the only person that does know him--Clarence.

I'm a sucker for Roy Batty's final moments, at a point where 'all is lost' he embraces his mortality, saves his nemesis and pulls out a moving speech celebrating his life. Also in the 'all is lost' category, but without any rip roaring charge I am fond of Withnail's final soliloquy from Hamlet. "what piece of work is a man..."

Of Mice And Men, naturally. "George, tell me about the rabbits."

BUTTERFIELD: I'll pay the two hundred, Dan, right now, and you can walk away. DAN: You know, this whole ride, it's been nagging' on me. That's what the government gave me for my leg. Hundred ninety eight dollars and thirty six cents. And the funny thing is, you think about it, which I have been lately, was they weren't paying' me to walk away. They were paying' me so they could walk away. WADE: Don't muddy the past and the present, Dan. DAN: No, no, Wade, I'm seein' the world for the way it is. WILLIAM: If you take him to the train, Pa, I'm goin' with you. DAN: No. Mr. Butterfield's gonna take you home. WILLIAM: No, I'm not going anywhere without you. DAN: Yes you are. WILLIAM: I'm staying here with you. DAN: You're gonna hold up in a room across the hall. You're gonna wait until we leave. BUTTERFIELD: I'll get him to Bisby, Dan. I promise you. DAN: Oh you're gonna promise me a lot more than that, Butterfield. I want guarantees that Hollander, and his boys, will never set foot on my land again, and that my water's gonna flow, and I expect you to hand my wife one thousand cash dollars when you see her. You got money to spare. BUTTERFIELD: I can deliver that. Just get him on the train. DAN: You heard him? WADE: I heard him. DAN: William, I want you to give this back to your mother. (He pulls out the broach/totem…and gives it to William.) DAN: I want you to tell her that it helped me find…what was right. WILLIAM: Pa. I can't-- I can't just leave you. DAN: I'm gonna be a day behind you, William. Unless something happens, and if it does, I need a man at the ranch. To run things. Protect our family. And I know that you can do that because you've become a fine man, William. You've become a fine man. You've got all the best parts in me. What few there are. (Dan takes and shakes his son's hand, firmly, man to man. Wade watches them, reluctantly moved.) DAN: And you just remember, that your old man walked Ben Wade to that station, when nobody else would. -- 3:10 to Yuma (2007) -- Screenplay by Michael Brandt & Derek Haas. Based on the film "3:10 to Yuma" (1957) screenplay by Halsted Welles, from the short story by Elmore Leonard. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BB9JHog-mg Comments: Given the writing pedigree and acting talent on both films and their source material, it's no wonder that "3:10 to Yuma" constitutes a master class in how to craft a story and screenplay. This was the script that crystallized for me, as an aspiring screenwriter, just how damn hard it was, to write and elevate material to a professional level. It's maddeningly brilliant…every line, every beat, a thing of beauty. You can see this in director James Mangold's visual blocking and editing in this scene, and in the modulation of Christine Bale's delivery of the lines. Trivia: The scene above, as filmed, is quite a bit different from a draft of the script date-stamped 12-16-2005 by Columbia Pictures. In the earlier draft, there's no reference to the dollar value of his leg, no revelation to Wade about seeing the world for what it is, no promise and guarantees that Dan imposes on Butterfield, no imploring his son about the need for a man at the ranch…

Another "all is lost" moment, etched into the realm of the unforgettable by image, sound and music: Sgt. Elias' death scene from PLATOON: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ue8VS-bcj88 CHRIS: Aw fuck! They got Elias! SGT. BARNES: Back down! Back down there! PILOT (filtered): "There's still one on the deck down there…" -- PLATOON (1986) Written by Oliver Stone

Sam: On this spot I'll fight no more forever. Sam: [to oncoming horde] Come and get me, you bastards! [lightning strikes him] Sam: [with everyone looking on, he sits up and blows off his glasses] I'm okay. Sam: Follow me. [runs off] Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7N8wkVA4_8s Trivia: Before filming, neither Kara Hayward (Suzy) nor Jared Gilman (Sam) had ever seen a typewriter in person. Hayward later said, "Fran (Frances McDormand) had a lot of fun with that. She couldn't believe it. She showed me that the keys are in the same place as now (on computers)." Dialogue on Dialogue: Each character in Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom has a moment of “all is lost” but none so spectacularly than young Sam. At this moment in the story he has lost everything and is ready to give up when he takes a direct lightening strike. The “hordes” (in this case a scout troop) are awed by the strike and his immediate recovery. Sam is instantaneously transformed from “loser” to “leader.” Takeaway: The audience/reader’s gasp at seeing a child hit by lightening is immediately tempered with the understated “I’m okay” - a totally fitting rhythm and outcome in this film. Pure delight.

Now we're talking! Thanks for the suggestions! I knew I could count on you!

excellent movie!

I just watched Perks of Being a Wallflower last night and WOW! Loved it. I'm wondering if the 'all is lost' moment is right after he kisses Sam (Emma Watson) during the game of Truth or Dare when he's dared to kiss the prettiest girl in the room... and the ensuing distancing. Or is it when he's making out with Sam towards the end and she touches his leg and the memories come back and he's suicidal...?

Perfect. Now, if you can add a link to a clip...

Wreck-It Ralph - Ralph wrecks Vanellope's kart. VANELLOPE I’m going to that race! He pulls her out again and holds her by the scruff. She thrashes and kicks at him. RALPH No, you’re not. He hangs her by her hood on the edge of a pointy gumdrop. VANELLOPE Take me down from here, Ralph, right now! RALPH No.... I’m doing this for your own good. He goes over to the kart and raises his fists. She struggles to get free, but can’t. VANELLOPE Wait. Wait. Wait. No. No. No. Please, Ralph! No! Stop! But he doesn’t stop. He destroys the kart. She sobs. Then she glitches and lands on her butt on the ground. The kart is in ruins. Ralph turns to her. VANELLOPE (CONT’D) (heartbroken) You really are a bad guy.

Here's a clip from the Meredith-Cheney version. It should start at the right spot. http://youtu.be/lTr-Z1ZOmQE?t=5m23s

The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989) Written and directed by Steve Kloves On a lighter note of 'All is lost'. Frank and Jack Baker audition a series of totally unsuitable singers. All is lost, or perhaps not... Susie arrives (a great character introduction), too late! All is lost, or perhaps not... Trivia: Madonna was originally approached for the role that went to Michelle Pfeiffer. She turned it down because the plot was "too mushy". This was also Steve Kloves' first film as Director. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yN9DJ7hf22M When it’s all over, Jack and Frank -- ties limp, collars broken -- look like they’ve been mugged. FRANK This must be statistically impossible. INT. WILLIE'S SHOWROOM - DAY A YOUNG WOMAN appears in the doorway, heavily BACKLIT. A silhouette in high heels. Willie, eating a corn beef on rye, looks up. YOUNG WOMAN Hey. You one of the Fabulous Baker Boys? INT. WILLIE’S REHEARSAL ROOM - DAY (SAME TIME) Frank is counting names on his note pad. FRANK Thirty-seven. Thirty-seven girls and not one who can carry a tune. JACK There was a certain surreal quality to it. YOUNG WOMAN (O.S.) Goddamnit! The woman in high heels stumbles into the doorway, holding a shoe in her hand. It’s broken. SUSIE Brand new Thursday. Believe it? After today, Jack and Frank are prepared to believe anything. SUSIE This where the auditions are? FRANK This is where the auditions WERE. We’re finished. SUSIE What about me? FRANK You’re an hour and a half late. SUSIE Yeah, well, I had a little trouble catching a cab. FRANK Punctuality. First rule of showbusiness. SUSIE (looking around) This is showbusiness? FRANK (in no mood) Look, Miss. We’re tired, you have gum on your lip, and we’re going home.

I particularly love this All Is Lost because it comes entirely from Ralph's flaw - his confusion over what he thinks he wants (a medal proclaiming him a hero) with what he really wants (being an actual hero). So it's really the perfect All Is Lost, to my mind, because it's the point where the protagonist betrays his need for his desire - he gets everything he (thinks he) wants, and realizes it all means nothing.