Casablanca (1942) Writers: Screenplay: Julius J. Epstein Philip G. Epstein Howard Koch Play: Murray Burnett Joan Alison Uncredited: Casey Robinson One of the most famous reunions in film, but not a pleasant one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mK10Ze-mcQo ILSA No, Rick. Not tonight. RICK Especially tonight. ILSA Please don’t. RICK Why did you have to come to Casablanca? There are other places. ILSA I wouldn’t have come if I’d known you were here. Believe me, Rick, it’s true. I didn’t know. RICK It’s funny about your voice, how it hasn’t changed. I can still hear it. “Richard, dear, I’ll go with you anyplace. We’ll get on a train together and never stop.” ILSA Don’t, Rick. I can understand how you feel. RICK You understand how I feel. How long was it we had, honey? ILSA I didn’t count the days. RICK Well, I did. Every one of them. Mostly I remember the last one. The wow finish. A guy standing on a station platform in the rain with a comical look on his face because his insides have been kicked out. ILSA Can I tell you a story, Rick? RICK Does it got a wow finish? ILSA I don’t know the finish yet. RICK Go on, tell it. Maybe one’ll come to you as you go along. ILSA It’s about a girl who had just come to Paris from her home in Oslo. At the house of some friends. She met a man about whom she’d heard her whole life -- A very great and courageous man. He opened up for her a whole beautiful world full of knowledge and thoughts and ideals. Everything she knew or ever became was because of him. And she looked up to him and worshiped him with a feeling she supposed was love-- RICK Yes, that’s very pretty. I heard a story once. As a matter of fact, I’ve heard a lot of stories in my time. They went along with the sound of a tinny piano playing in the parlor downstairs. “Mister, I met a man once when I was a kid,” they’d always begin. I guess neither one of our stories is very funny. Tell me--who was it you left me for? Was it Laszlo--or were there others in between--or aren’t you the kind that tells?

Hook (1991) Writers: J.M. Barrie (books, play) James V. Hart, Nick Castle (screen story) Malia Scotch Marmo (screenplay) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ohgHjQvK5g Three days prior a frightened Peter Banning left the presence of James Hook after begging for his children and being sent away to prepare for a fight. He now returns as Peter Pan, and his first line demonstrates the complete change that has occurred. A short, simple declaration, but one completely foreign to what Peter Banning would have said in the same circumstances. JACK Who is that, Captain? HOOK It's Peter Pan. Has it been three days? 'Tis true, Peter, time does fly...and so do you, I see. How did you ever manage to fit into those smashing tights again, Peter? PETER Hand over my son now and you and your men may go free. HOOK Why don't you ask the lad yourself? Jack, someone to see you...son. PETER Jack, give me your hand. We're going home. JACK (Backing away) I am home. HOOK (Laughs) Good form. You see, Peter, he is my son. He loves me dearly, and I am prepared to fight dearly for him. I've waited long to shake your hand with this. Peter Pan, prepare to meet thy doom! PETER Dark and sinister man, have at thee!

Gross Point Blank (1997) Writers: Tom Jankiewicz (story) Tom Jankiewicz (screenplay) and D.V. DeVincentis (screenplay) & Steve Pink (screenplay) & John Cusack (screenplay) Trailer: http://youtu.be/IJ7AXKWmWOg INT. RADIO STATION - DAY Debi flips on the "ON-AIR" switch and prepares to speak into the microphone. Martin walks in. Debi sees him. They stare at each other. The song ends. Dead air. After a moment... DEBI (on air, groping) WRFN playing all vinyl, all the time. Oldies from the eighties. That was ah... the Specials. Doing... one of their songs... Debi turns to turntable B and finds it empty. She turns back to turntable A and lets the record roll on. DEBI ...and here's another. Debi swivels around to face Martin. MARTIN "Oldies from the eighties?" After a long pause.... DEBI I just play my own collection. MARTIN It's nice to see you again. Debi says nothing, just stares at him, in shock. MARTIN How long has it been? DEBI Since you stood me up on prom night and vanished without saying a word? MARTIN Ten years, I think. What I miss? Debi slowly grooves into irony, her best defense. DEBI Well, let me see... they tore down the George Orwell monument and put up a bust of George Michael. Main Street's a four-laner, no left turns four to seven. I was married and divorced. And Grosse Pointe is now officially the new sister city to Lower Hutt, New Zealand. We have fiber-optic town meetings every two months. MARTIN Here is now there. There is here. Their eyes lock on each other... DEBI Those are the headlines. The request line buzzes. DEBI Hold that thought. (into phone) WRFN FM, Grosse Pointe. All vinyl, all the... (pauses) No Pearl Jam. Call back in ten years. Beat. Debi makes the move. DEBI Tell me about yourself. MARTIN I'm in California most of the time. Traveling a lot on business. That's about it, really. DEBI That's it? MARTIN Not much else. DEBI What's your business? MARTIN I'm a professional killer. DEBI Professional killer. Do you get dental with that? Beat. MARTIN Well, I'm in town for a few days, anyway. They run out of words, the moment too big for small talk. Martin gets the fear, breaks it off. MARTIN Well, I gotta go. But I'll come back. DEBI Okay. Martin leaves Debi sitting alone, in disbelief. [In the film she says "What are the chances", and goes back to her job like he never existed.] Notes: There are numerous reunion scenes in this film. This one strikes me as most poignant and important since it has the two principals meeting. It is also very subtle in dialog and a lot of subtext implied in the situation, the characters' baggage, and finally a sort of WTF moment when he leaves and she seems to blow it off as some kind of strange encounter. I love her line in the film "What are the chances?" This encapsulate the whole movie theme of how chancy everything is from his survival to their ever getting back together. I think writing subtext like this is very important and can be very powerful. This scene is a great example of making it work. It's all based on back stories and the current situation the characters are thrown into.

Movie - The Blues Brothers Youtube - http://youtu.be/m1rsuroTf_Q Jake: What's this? Elwood: What? Jake: This car. This stupid car! Where's the Cadillac? [Elwood doesn't answer] Jake: The Caddy! Where's the Caddy? Elwood: The what? Jake: The Cadillac we used to have. The Bluesmobile! Elwood: I traded it. Jake: You traded the Bluesmobile for this? Elwood: No, for a microphone. Jake: A microphone? [pause] Jake: Okay I can see that. What the hell is this? Elwood: This was a bargain. I picked it up at the Mount Prospect city police auction last spring. It's an old Mount Prospect police car. They were practically giving 'em away. Jake: Well thank you, pal. The day I get outta prison, my own brother picks me up in a *police* car! Elwood: You don't like it? Jake: No I don't like it... [Elwood Blues floors the pedal and jumps over an open drawbridge] Jake: Car's got a lot of pickup. Elwood: It's got a cop motor, a 440 cubic inch plant, it's got cop tires, cop suspensions, cop shocks. It's a model made before catalytic converters so it'll run good on regular gas. What do you say, is it the new Bluesmobile or what? [a brief thinking pause while Jake attempts to light a cigarette] Jake: Fix the cigarette lighter. Comment - Isn't just like a brother to immediately start criticizing your choices even though you haven't seen each other in a long time?

Thanks, everyone, for your suggestions. Great as usual!