Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Awkward - Film Crush Collective at 2013-12-14 18:07:25:
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FilmIntuition at 2013-12-14 19:15:37:
Hi Scott, How about Woody Allen's 'Annie Hall' or more specifically Alvy's encounter with Christopher Walken's Duane: IMDb: Duane: Can I confess something? I tell you this as an artist, I think you'll understand. Sometimes when I'm driving... on the road at night... I see two headlights coming toward me. Fast. I have this sudden impulse to turn the wheel quickly, head-on into the oncoming car. I can anticipate the explosion. The sound of shattering glass. The... flames rising out of the flowing gasoline. Alvy Singer: Right. Well, I have to - I have to go now, Duane, because I, I'm due back on the planet Earth. YouTube Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSRm_X3BLPU
Scott at 2013-12-15 03:45:06:
Ha! Got a tweet suggesting Annie Hall, but with Annie. That moment with Duane (walken) is a great one. I'll amend the post to include it as well. Thanks!
Illimani at 2013-12-15 14:11:49:
Ghost World (2001) Daniel Clowes (Comic Book) Daniel Clowes and Terry Zwigoff (Screenplay) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rL3RO1_8KgQ Cineplex Manager: What the hell is wrong with you? Enid: What? I was just joking around with the customers. It's my schtick. Cineplex Manager: Well, lose it! And why aren't you pushing the larger sizes? Didn't you get training about upsizing? Enid: Yeah. But I feel really weird. It's pretty sleazy. Cineplex Manager: It's not OPTIONAL! [he leaves her] Enid: [rolls her eyes] Jesus. [a customer comes up to the counter] Soda Customer: Hi, can I get a medium 7-Up? Enid: Medium? Why sir, do you not know that for a mere 25 cents more you can purchase a large beverage? And you know, I'm only telling because we're such good friends, medium is really only for suckers who don't know the concept of value. Ghost World is a movie full of awkward scenes, but this particular moment is a masterclass about how to convey awkward moments in comedy. Enid is a sarcastic teenager forced to work in a shitty job. When her supervisor represses her ironic tendencies she turns them into awkwardness.
Alejandro at 2013-12-16 10:33:09:
Many scenes in a lot of David Lynch's films come to my mind, but I don't know if you would like something very R-rated for the Daily Dialogue. So, going to something PG (and comedy) Monsters University Dan Scanlon, Daniel Gerson, Robert L. Baird Initiation to Oozma Kappa! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyy3B3YBzDo From the screenplay (http://gointothestory.blcklst.com/2013/12/update-award-season-screenplay-downloads-37-scripts.html) Page 60-61 INT. OOZMA KAPPA BASEMENT - NIGHT Mike and Sulley step down into the basement. One candle is lit in the middle of the room. A ROBED MONSTER (Don) suddenly steps from the shadows. DON Do you pledge your souls to the Oozma Kappa brotherhood?! A robed Terri and Terry step out from the shadows. Terry whacks Mike on the butt with a paddle. MIKE Ow! TERRY Do you swear to keep secret- TERRI All that you learn here? ART No matter how horrifying! Squishy whacks Sulley on the butt with a paddle. SULLEY Hey! A robed Squishy rises from the shadows, paddle in hand. SQUISHY Will you take the sacred oath of the S-- Suddenly, a super-bright light comes on, flooding the basement in light. A middle-aged monster mom comes down the stairs carrying a basket of laundry. MISFITS (bright light reaction) Whoa!/Hey, for crying out loud. MS. SQUIBBLES Sweetie, turn the lights on while you’re down here. You’re going to ruin your eyes. SQUISHY Mom, we’re doing an initiation! MS. SQUIBBLES Oh scary! Well, carry on, just pretend I’m not here. SQUISHY This is my mom’s house. Squishy tries to pretend she’s not there. SQUISHY (CONT’D) Do you promise to look out for your brothers, no matter what the peril.... Ms. Squibbles goes about her business, turning on both the washer and the dryer. The noise gets much louder. SQUISHY (CONT’D) (louder) ...will you defend Oozma Kappa, no matter how dangerous, no matter how insurmountable the odds may be? From evils - both great and small - in the face of unending pain and-- (then, giving up) Oh, forget it. You’re in. P.S. Awkwardness is more visual than through dialogue... and I think it depends a lot on the direction, timing and acting, which are very hard to convey on the page. Try to think for a moment how it reads if you haven't seen that clip. It's interesting to see how the awkwardness and comedy is created by starting seriously, then introducing a completely logical but unexpected factor (Squishy's mom doing laundry)
Alejandro at 2013-12-16 11:09:28:
A scene that is more dialogue based: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) Stanley Kubrick , Terry Southern & Peter George (screenplay) Peter George (based on the book: "Red Alert" by) The movie has so many funny and awkward moments, the hard part was to choose only one. I think this one is good for the daily dialogue because we hear only one side of the conversation, it's interesting to see how the other side is implied, which is very hard to do keeping the dialogue not sounding artificial. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6T2uBeiNXAo President Merkin Muffley: Hello?... Uh... Hello D- uh hello Dmitri? Listen uh uh I can't hear too well. Do you suppose you could turn the music down just a little?... Oh-ho, that's much better... yeah... huh... yes... Fine, I can hear you now, Dmitri... Clear and plain and coming through fine... I'm coming through fine, too, eh?... Good, then... well, then, as you say, we're both coming through fine... Good... Well, it's good that you're fine and... and I'm fine... I agree with you, it's great to be fine... a-ha-ha-ha-ha... Now then, Dmitri, you know how we've always talked about the possibility of something going wrong with the Bomb... The Bomb, Dmitri... The hydrogen bomb!... Well now, what happened is... ahm... one of our base commanders, he had a sort of... well, he went a little funny in the head... you know... just a little... funny. And, ah... he went and did a silly thing... Well, I'll tell you what he did. He ordered his planes... to attack your country... Ah... Well, let me finish, Dmitri... Let me finish, Dmitri... Well listen, how do you think I feel about it?... Can you imagine how I feel about it, Dmitri?... Why do you think I'm calling you? Just to say hello?... Of course I like to speak to you!... Of course I like to say hello!... Not now, but anytime, Dmitri. I'm just calling up to tell you something terrible has happened... It's a friendly call. Of course it's a friendly call... Listen, if it wasn't friendly... you probably wouldn't have even got it... They will not reach their targets for at least another hour... I am... I am positive, Dmitri... Listen, I've been all over this with your ambassador. It is not a trick... Well, I'll tell you. We'd like to give your air staff a complete run-down on the targets, the flight plans, and the defensive systems of the planes... Yes! I mean i-i-i-if we're unable to recall the planes, then... I'd say that, ah... well, ah... we're just gonna have to help you destroy them, Dmitri... I know they're our boys... All right, well listen now. Who should we call?... Who should we call, Dmitri? The... wha-whe, the People... you, sorry, you faded away there... The People's Central Air Defense Headquarters... Where is that, Dmitri?... In Omsk... Right... Yes... Oh, you'll call them first, will you?... Uh-huh... Listen, do you happen to have the phone number on you, Dmitri?... Whe-ah, what? I see, just ask for Omsk information... Ah-ah-eh-uhm-hm... I'm sorry, too, Dmitri... I'm very sorry... All right, you're sorrier than I am, but I am as sorry as well... I am as sorry as you are, Dmitri! Don't say that you're more sorry than I am, because I'm capable of being just as sorry as you are... So we're both sorry, all right?... All right. Trivia: Based on the novel "Red Alert" by Peter George, and originally conceived as a tense thriller about the possibility of accidental nuclear war. Stanley Kubrick was working on the script when he realized that many scenes he had written were actually quite funny. He then brought in Terry Southern to turn the story into a satire. Among the changes were the addition of the title character and the renaming of other characters using satirical names such as Turgidson, Kissoff, Guano, DeSadesky, and Merkin Muffley. Many of the characters have names which are double entendres or innuendos: Jack D. Ripper refers to the famous London murderer; Merkin Muffley's names refer to female parts - a merkin is a pubic hair wig and muff is slang for women's pubic hair; Turgidson's first name is "Buck" and "turgid" is a word describing the condition of an erect penis; the Soviet premier is "Kissoff"; the Soviet ambassador is named after the Marquis de Sade (the original "sadist"); and the title character is called "Strangelove". "My idea of doing it as a nightmare comedy came in the early weeks of working on the screenplay. I found that in trying to put meat on the bones and to imagine the scenes fully, one had to keep leaving out of it things which were either absurd or paradoxical, in order to keep it from being funny; and these things seemed to be close to the heart of the scenes in question." - Stanley Kubrick. Macmillan International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, vol. 1, p. 126
Alejandro at 2013-12-16 11:17:43:
Scifiscripts.com (http://scifiscripts.com/scripts/strangelove.txt) has a copy of the screenplay. PRESIDENT MUFFLEY Hello?...Yes...Uh-huh...certainly I understand ...Oh someone tried it on you once before... Look, Belch, I'll tell you why I called... Hello...Hello...Can you hear me?...Say, could they turn the music down a little?...Oh, well, could they stop playing?...Oh, good, I thought we lost the connection there for a minute... yes, I hear you very clearly...Well, look... (clears throat) You know how we've always talked about the possibility of something going wrong?...With the H-bomb...uh-huh...that's right...Well, it happened...Hello?...Can you still hear me?... What?...Not missiles - planes...that's right... B-90's...That's right...Thirty-four of them... In about an hour and a half...uh-huh...Uh-huh ...Uh-huh...Well, how do you think I feel about it?...I know that...Uh-huh...Uh-huh...Well, why do you think I'm calling you?...to work some- thing out on this disarmament thing...Uh-huh... Sure, but you haven't been reasonable...Uh-huh... Uh-huh...Look Belch...Look, we're wasting time... Uh-huh...a base commander...We're not sure... Well, we think he's gone psycho...Had a mental breakdown...We're trying to do that...We're doing that right now...Well, we've got our fingers crosses...we're hoping...We're trying that too... Uh-huh...Uh-huh...Uh-huh...That's not fair for you to say...We're doing everything we possibly can ...Certainly...Sure I can imagine...Uh-huh... PRESIDENT MUFFLEY (cont) Uh-huh...Uh-huh...Look, there's something else. We want to give your Air Staff a complete rundown on the targets, flight plans, and defensive systems of the planes ...No, it's on the level...Sure I hate to do a thing like that, but at this point it's got to be a case of one hand scratches the other...co-operate...Right now...Who should they call?...The People's Central Air Defense Headquarters?...Where?...In Karnak?...Right... You'll call them first...Uh-huh...Do you happen to have the phone number?...Just ask Karnak information?... (he gestures to GENERAL SCHMUCK who exits the room) What's that?...Yes, I'm listening...Uh-huh... Uh-huh...a hundred thousand megatons...Cobalt- Thorium-G casing?...What's that for?...Uh-huh ...Uh-huh...Irrevocable and automatic?...Uh- huh...Why didn't you let us know?...Sure I know the Party Congress is next week...Certainly I understand..but what are we supposed to do about it now?...Right...Okay, well, how long will it take for you to get back to your office?...Right, well call me back as soon as you do...BEdlock 3- 3333, extension, 2497...If you forget, just ask for me...Right...Bye-bye. Hangs up phone. P.S. It would be very interesting to know what Scott thinks about the changes from script to screen. I think on screen: Merkin is more naive and meek. A lot of technical jargon was cut. Maybe I'm missing something else?
JasperLamarCrab at 2013-12-17 16:38:05:
LIAR LIAR (1997) written by Paul Guay and Stephen Mazur Fletcher: Hi. Busty Woman: Hi. Fletcher: New in the building? Busty Woman: Yeah, I just moved in Monday. Fletcher: Ohhhh. You like it so far? Busty Woman: Mmm-hmmm. Everybody's been real nice. Fletcher: Well, that's because you've got big jugs. I mean your boobs are huge. I mean, I wanna squeeze 'em. Mama! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7hEkbazCs4 Dialogue takeway: The brevity helps make the dialogue hilarious. Beyond that... I got nothing... embarrassing.