WarGames (1983) Writers: Lawrence Lasker, Walter F. Parkes, Walon Green (uncredited) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vmnp7ghGPk DAVID: If Joshua tricks them into launching an attack it'll be your fault. FALKEN: My fault? The whole point was to find a way to practice nuclear war without destroying ourselves, to get the computers to learn from mistakes we couldn't afford to make. Except, that I never could get Joshua to learn the most important lesson. DAVID: What's that? FALKEN: Futility. That there's a time when you should just give up. JENNIFER: What kind of a lesson is that? FALKEN: Did you ever play tic-tac-toe? JENNIFER: Yeah, of course. FALKEN: But you don't any more. JENNIFER: No. FALKEN: Why? JENNIFER: Because it's a boring game. It's always a tie. FALKEN: Exactly. There's no way to win. The game itself is pointless. But back at the war room, they believe you can win a nuclear war, that there can be acceptable losses. DAVID: So you gave up? Decided to play dead? FALKEN: For security reasons they graciously arranged my death. (Turning to the movie screen.) Did you know that no land animal with a body weight of over 55 pounds survived that age? Extinction is part of the natural order. DAVID: Bullshit. (Turns off projector.) If we're extinguished, there's nothing natural about that. It's just stupid. FALKEN: Look, it's all right. I've planned ahead. We're just three miles from a primary target. A millisecond of brilliant light and we're vaporized. Much more fortunate than the millions who'll wander sightless through the smoldering aftermath. We'll be spared the horror of survival. JENNIFER: I'm only seventeen years old. I'm not ready to die, yet. DAVID: You won't make a simple phone call? JENNIFER: If the real Joshua was still alive---your Joshua---you'd do it, wouldn't you? FALKEN: Look, we might gain a few years, perhaps time enough for you to have a son and watch him die. But humanity, planning it's own destruction---that a phone call won't stop. DAVID: This is unreal. You don't care about death because you're already dead. DIALOGUE ON DIALOGUE: This is an example of the ultimate in quitting: resignation. Staging this scene with Falken watching a movie about dinosaurs (The Land That Time Forgot) and his knowledge about their extinction shows that Falken has already quit trying to change what he sees as inevitable and is just awaiting the end of the world. He seems almost pleased with himself that he's selected a home "just three miles from a primary target." The name "Joshua" used in this scene refers to two entities. In Falken's first line it's his pet name for the war gaming WOPR military computer. But "Joshua" is also the name of his deceased son, and it is that son that Jennifer uses to try to appeal to Falken to get him to snap out of his malaise, which he eventually does. TRIVIA NOTE: What got the teens into trouble was David's computer program that dialed phone numbers methodically searching for open modem connections, which he would then try to exploit (eventually dialing in to WOPR). This was already a known hacking method at the time, but this movie gave it a name that has stuck ever since: war dialing. When dial-up modems were replaced by wi-fi connections, the term was modified to war driving, meaning to drive around in a vehicle searching for open wi-fi connections.

Wreck-It Ralph (2012) Writers: STORY Rich Moore, Phil Johnston, Jim Reardon SCREENPLAY Phil Johnston, Jennifer Lee ADDITIONAL STORY MATERIAL John C. Reilly, Sam J. Levine, Jared Stern https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USHi4s_rHqQ VANELLOPE: I'm back. Did ya miss me? RALPH: Yeah. Ah...hey, can we talk for a second? VANELLOPE: Wait. First, kneel down. RALPH: What? No, no. We really--- VANELLOPE: Will you just do it? RALPH: Okay. (He kneels) VANELLOPE: Now, close your eyes. RALPH: Vanellope... VANELLOPE: SHUSH! CLOSE 'EM! (Places medal around Ralhph's neck.) Okay, open 'em up. RALPH: (Reading) "To Stinkbrain." Gee, thanks. VANELLOPE: Turn it over. I made it for you, just in case we don't win. Not that I think there's even a remote chance we're not gonna win. RALPH: Thanks, kid. Uh...listen. VANELLOPE: Now, rise my royal chump. I've got a date with destiny. Ralph, c'mon, move your molasses. RALPH: Um...I've been thinking. VANELLOPE: That's dangerous (giggles). RALPH: Who cares about this stupid race anyway, right? VANELLOPE: Ha, ha. That's not very funny, Ralph. RALPH: No, I'm serious. And, uh, it was really fun to build the car and everthing, but maybe...maybe you shouldn't do it. VANELLOPE: Uh, hello, is Ralph in there? I'd like to speak to him, please. RALPH: Look, what I'm saying is you can't be a racer. VANELLOPE: What? Why would you--- (notices the gold medal in Ralph's shirt.) Wait a minute... (Grabs the medal.) RALPH: No! VANELLOPE: Where did you get this? RALPH: Look, I'm gonna be straight with you, kid. I've been talking to King Candy. VANELLOPE: King Candy? RALPH: Yeah. VANELLOPE: You sold me out? RALPH: No, I didn't---listen, you don't understand... VANELLOPE: No, I understand plenty, traitor! RALPH: I'm not a traitor. List--- VANELLOPE: You're a rat, and I don't need you, and I can win the race on my own. RALPH: But I'm trying to save your skin, kid. VANELLOPE: Put me down! Let me go! RALPH: No, you listen to me. You know what's going to happen when the players see you glitching? They'll think the game's broken. VANELLOPE: I don't care! You're a liar! RALPH: No, you better care, because if your game goes out of order you go down with the ship, little sister. VANELLOPE: I'm not listening to you! GET OUT OF MY WAY! I'm going to that race. RALPH: No you're not. (Ralph hangs Vanellope on a tree.) VANELLOPE: Take me down from here, Ralph... RALPH: No! VANELLOPE: ...right now! RALPH: I'm doing this for your own good. VANELLOPE: Wait, wait wait. No. NO. NO! Ralph pounds the race car to pieces as Vanellope pleads for him to stop. When the car is gone, Vanellope glitches and falls to the ground. VANELLOPE: You really are a bad guy. DIALOGUE ON DIALOGUE: Sometimes, quitting is a character's choice. At other times, it's imposed against the character. In this scene, Ralph the wanna-be hero becomes the anti-hero and forces Vanellope to quit the big race thinking he's doing the right thing, not realizing he's being manipulated. King Candy doesn't have to stop Vanellope from racing because Ralph will do it for him. The focus on Ralph's hands just before he destroys the car brings the audience's mind back to Ralph's position in his universe. He's the designated bad guy whose role is to destroy while others are winners and heroes who build. Ralph can't seem to avoid his destiny, even when he thinks he's doing the right thing.

The Magnificent Seven (1960) Writers: William Roberts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4i_ZwMT3H0 CALVERA: We have a saying here. "A thief who steals from a thief is pardoned for one hundred years." Alright, what does that leave? Only one thing. I pardon you. Ride on. ADAMS: Just like that? CALVERA: Si, just like---I'll make it easy for you. You want food? Give them food. Water? All right, water. Horses? Saddled and waiting. Guns...the guns---your gun belts---you take off and put here now. ADAMS: What about these people? CALVERA: What happens to these people will happen to them whether I kill you first or not. Just a little gesture, huh? Show these people who the real boss is. You go, then I'll give you the guns back. I know you won't use those guns against me. Only a crazy man would make the same mistake twice. Adams thinks, nods, and removes his gun belt. Others do the same. CAVERA: What I don't understand is why a man like you took the job in the first place. Why, huh? ADAMS: I wonder myself. CALVERA: No, c'mon, c'mon, tell me why. TANNER: Like a fella I once knew in El Paso. One day he just took his clothes off and jumped in a mess of cactus. I asked him the same question: why? CALVERA: And? TANNER: He said it seemed to be a good idea at the time. DIALOGUE ON DIALOGUE: Another situation where quitting is imposed rather than chosen. Having been captured, the seven retreat for the moment. But, Calvera reveals his weakness when he claims "Only a crazy man would make the same mistake twice." That assumption will prove his undoing. The seven quit, but only so they can regroup and return with another plan and better knowledge about their opponent.

HALF-BAKED (1998) written by: Dave Chappelle and Neal Brennan SCARFACE: Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, you're cool, and fuck you, I'm out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIqeXSYc8nE Dialogue on Dialogue: c'mon, who HASN'T dreamt of quitting like this? Personally, I'm saving it until I sell my first spec, lol.

Movie – Stripes Written by Len Blum, Dan Goldberg and Harold Ramis Youtube- https://youtu.be/tMZHrXtPUUc Dowager in Cab: I’ve never gone this way before. John Winger: Well, I'm sure there are a lot of ways I've gone that you haven't. Dowager in Cab: What is your name? (reading the license) John Ringer? What kind of a name is Ringer? John Winger: Winger. I’m adopted, I’ve spent most of my life in institutions. Dowager in Cab: Doesn’t surprise me, who look like a typical low-life character to me. John Winger: Actually I’m a photographer, I took this job because I love people. There’s nothing I enjoy more than meeting someone like yourself, getting to know you and then taking a few action photos of you while I drive. [John starts photographing her] Dowager in Cab: Will you stop! Turn around, watch the road. Turn around, stop with the pictures. John Winger: Thank-you so much. Dowager in Cab: Aren’t you going too fast? John Winger: No, it’s not the speed really so much, I just wish I hadn’t drank all that cough syrup this morning Dowager in Cab: Oh no…We’re going to be killed. John Winger: Oh no. Not killed. Dowager in Cab: Just keep your hands on the wheel…And slow down. John Winger: Not killed. Dowager in Cab: You should have your license taken away. I am going to write your name down and see that it is given to the proper authorities…g-e-r. You’re a bum! And that’s all you’ll ever be, a bum! John Winger: Well that hurts Ma’am. And I don’t think I want to take your abuse. And I know I don’t want to take you and your luggage to the airport. How ‘bout that, huh? [stops the taxi in the middle of the bridge] Comment - A perfect introduction to the lovable loser John Winger. We see him hit rock-bottom after this incident and we are cheering for him the rest of the movie. One of Murray's best roles.