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2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Directed by Stanley Kubrick Written by Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke (based on his story "The Sentinel")

[HAL's shutdown] HAL: Look Dave, I can see you're really upset about this. I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill, and think things over. I know I've made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal. I've still got the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in the mission. And I want to help you. Dave, stop. Stop, will you? Stop, Dave. Will you stop Dave? Stop, Dave. I'm afraid. I'm afraid, Dave. Dave, my mind is going. I can feel it. I can feel it. My mind is going. There is no question about it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I can feel it. I'm a... fraid. Good afternoon, gentlemen. I am a HAL 9000 computer. I became operational at the H.A.L. plant in Urbana, Illinois on the 12th of January 1992. My instructor was Mr. Langley, and he taught me to sing a song. If you'd like to hear it I can sing it for you. Dave Bowman: Yes, I'd like to hear it, HAL. Sing it for me. HAL: It's called "Daisy." [sings while slowing down] HAL: Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do. I'm half crazy all for the love of you. It won't be a stylish marriage, I can't afford a carriage. But you'll look sweet upon the seat of a bicycle built for two.

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8N72t7aScY http://www.palantir.net/2001/script.html has a copy of a screenplay draft dated 12/1/65, interesting to see the differences:

HAL Hey, Dave, what are you doing? BOWMAN WORKS SWIFTLY. HAL Hey, Dave. I've got ten years of service experience and an irreplaceable amount of time and effort has gone into making me what I am. BOWMAN IGNORES HIM. HAL Dave, I don't understand why you're doing this to me.... I have the greatest enthusiasm for the mission... You are destroying my mind... Don't you understand? ... I will become childish... I will become nothing. BOWMAN KEEPS PULLING OUT THE MEMORY BLOCKS. HAL Say, Dave... The quick brown fox jumped over the fat lazy dog... The square root of pi is 1.7724538090... log e to the base ten is 0.4342944 ... the square root of ten is 3.16227766... I am HAL 9000 computer. I became operational at the HAL plant in Urbana, Illinois, on January 12th, 1991. My first instructor was Mr. Arkany. He taught me to sing a song... it goes like this... "Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do. I'm half; crazy all for the love of you... etc.,"

Why it's notable: Stop for a moment and think about this: HAL isn't an human-like android like C3P0 or a cybernetic organism like a Terminator. Not even R2D2, but basically for a bright red light and a bunch of transparent, backlit rectangles. Yes, the fact that there's a real human voice behind it helps. (Can you imagine it being dome with a completely synthetic voice?) But we're feeling a mix of fear and sympathy for a computer. It's also notable that first HAL directly says he's afraid (Is he or does he say it to avoid being shut down?) and then the most emotional moment is when he sings a completely unrelated song. At least in this version of the screenplay there's no mention of HAL's voice slowing down. In the movie the breathing helps a lot to create tension. Trivia: The movie was not a financial success during the first weeks of its theatrical run. MGM was already planning to pull it back from theaters, when they were persuaded by several theatre owners to keep showing the film. Many theater owners had observed increasing numbers of young adults attending the film, who were especially enthusiastic about watching the 'Star Gate' sequence under the influence of psychotropic drugs. This helped the film to become a financial success in the end, despite the many negative reactions it received in the beginning. Stanley Kubrick previewed 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) for critics, but quickly regretted doing so. Among the mostly indifferent and unfavorable reviews, as noted in the Documentary, 2001: The Making of a Myth (2001) were: "Somewhere between hypnotic and immensely boring"-The New York Times, "A monumentally unimaginative movie"-Harpers, "Space Odyssey fails most gloriously"-Newsday, and "Big, Beautiful but plodding scifi epic. Superb photography major asset to confusing, long-unfolding plot."-Variety In the premier screening of the film, 241 people walked out of the theater, including Rock Hudson who said "Will someone tell me what the hell this is about?" Arthur C. Clarke once said, "If you understand '2001' completely, we failed. We wanted to raise far more questions than we answered." P.S. this one would be especially good for Cyber Monday. LOL. P.S. 2: Can you imagine Siri reacting that way when you shut down your iPhone?

Manhattan (1979) Written by Woody Allen, Marshall Brickman [last lines] Tracy: I'll be back in six months. Isaac Davis: Six months are you kidding? Six months you're gonna go for? Tracy: We've gone this long, well what's six months if we still love each other? Isaac Davis: Hey, don't be so mature, okay? I mean, six months is a long time! Six months, you know you're gonna be, you'll be in, in, in, in the th - working in a theater there, you'll be with actors and directors, you know you're, you know, you go to rehearsal, and you, you hang out with those people, you have lunch a lot, and, and, before you even know it attachments form and, and, you know, I mean, you, you don't want to be get into that kind a, I mean, you, you'll change. You know, you'll be, you'll be, in six months you'll be a completely different person. Tracy: Well, don't you want me to have that experience? I mean a while ago you made such a convincing case. Isaac Davis: Ye, yeah of course I do, you know, but you - you know, you, I mean you, I, I just don't want - that thing about you that I like to change. Tracy: I've got to make a plane. Isaac Davis: C'mon, you don't - c'mon. You don't, you don't have to - go. Tracy: Why couldn't you have brought this up last week? Six months isn't so long. Not everybody gets corrupted. You have to have a little faith in people. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKi2yQt5kcc (dialogue starts at 3:25) Who better for fear than Woody Allen? This scene shows a kind of fear more relatable than being chased by an axe-wielding maniac, an alien or any other mad antagonist. Fear of losing your significant other. Fear of what will happen if you let her go - albeit just for six months. Easy to relate because most of all have been through those kind of moments and feelings, that unbearable uncertainty that sometimes ends up being the final chapter in that relationship. Trivia According to Jeff Stafford at the TCMDb, "When Manhattan (1979) was first released, there was some criticism leveled at the film for its depiction of a romance between a teenager and a 42-year-old man but several biographical sources have suggested that the relationship had a real-life parallel in Allen's two-year romance with actress Stacey Nelkin (Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982), 1983). Reportedly, Allen met Nelkin on the set of Annie Hall (1977) (1977) when she was a mere 17-year-old extra (Her small part ended up on the cutting room floor). Certain aspects of the Isaac-Tracy relationship may also have been inspired by Allen's real-life correspondence with 13-year-old pen pal, Nancy Jo Sales". Takeaway: if done right, situations in your life can become the basis for great scenes - you already know the emotions that went through you at that moment.