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Great movie/tv/film scenes that are exclusively dialogue


Goo Punch

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This is such a great little film.  Only 5 speaking roles, and 2 of those roles only have 2 lines.  It's Spacey, Devito, and Facinelli.  90% of the film takes place in one hotel suite.  And nothin ever happens except a great evolution of dialogue.  For 15 years, anybody that traveled for my firm, I made them watch this movie because how it deals with the machinations of how business conversations away from home take shape and how they represent the best and mostly the worst of our existence.  Not from a business ethics standpoint, but from what Devito describes here and in the associated scene.  

Now that I've gotten this one out of the way, we can dive more into Mamet which is where this thread truly belongs...

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A couple of thoughts. First, great thread idea. Second, fuck you, because now I'm going to go down a youtube wormhole for the next several hours when I should be going to sleep. Third, does this scene count? I can't decide if it's great because of the dialogue or the action.

 

Edited by HornOnTheBayou
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9 minutes ago, Incredulity said:

We doing dialogue or monologue?

apparently scenes in films that involve one or more people talking.  Because these aren't monologues (which do, by definition, allow for a cursory reply here or there as kind of a stand-in for how the audience might respond were they there).  

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5 minutes ago, Lobo said:

apparently scenes in films that involve one or more people talking.  Because these aren't monologues (which do, by definition, allow for a cursory reply here or there as kind of a stand-in for how the audience might respond were they there).  

Sure, sure.

 

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11 minutes ago, HornOnTheBayou said:

A couple of thoughts. First, great thread idea. Second, fuck you, because now I'm going to go down a youtube wormhole for the next several hours when I should be going to sleep. Third, does this scene count? I can't decide if it's great because of the dialogue or the action.

 

Fuckity fuck fuck fuck.

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anybody wanna play Coen Bros. silliness quiz?  Watch the scene between TLJ and his cousin Ellis and then watch Anton at the gas station.  Two stickers/magnets are affixed in each of the two scenes, they are the same ones though separated by great distance.  You can't miss them now that you know.  Figure out why they are both where they are.

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32 minutes ago, Mdhorn said:

So many in this movie:

 

 

 

Different strokes for different folks. @tantric superman is probably the chief cinephile here and he turns his nose up at Shawshank. I basically do the same for Unforgiven. Tombstone is twice the movie if anyone asked for my two cents - and Tombstone probably isn't even a top 30 western in my book.

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Just now, ztejas said:

Different strokes for different folks. @tantric superman is probably the chief cinephile here and he turns his nose up at Shawshank. I basically do the same for Unforgiven. Tombstone is twice the movie if anyone asked for my two cents - and Tomvstone probably isn't even a top 30 western. 

I liked the simplicity of Unforgiven.  Once in a class at UT we had an Indian talk to us about how guns in the old west weren't as accurate as in the movies. You'd be lucky if you could hit something 20 or 30 yards away.  I don't know how accurate that is but I imagine things weren't as straight, clean, refined or light.  What I love about Unforgiven is William Munney is a badass because of his grit, steadfastness and a whole lot of luck. And even then, he's unlucky with his wife and long time best friend.  He was a reformed former bad guy that thinks he's going to right the farm by doing a deed that he justifies will additionally benefit everybody.  And while the dialogue is pretty simplified philosophically as it unravels killing and some myths of the old west, the decision to benefit economically with what appears to be an easy decision is anything but.  And it's a movie where everybody is faulty.     

The main problem I had with Tombstone was that I read a great deal about the gunfight at the OK Corral before the movie was ever made.  The good guys weren't really all that good in real life and it jaded my view of things.  And I never really subscribed to the ideas of guys that fired fast so much as accurate.  And for some reason, if something is based on a true event, I want everything to be accurate and I know it won't be.  But it's fine as an action movie.  

Shawshank is a story, like Cool Hand Luke. You either buy the ticket and take the ride or don't.  But you have to believe that brains and cunning run the prison.             

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2 from Saving Private Ryan:

After they've taken the machine gun nest where Wade dies and Captain Miller tells them he's a school teacher.  Miller asks what the betting pool is up to and then gives the speech about why they are doing this.  Its cheesy, I know, but it worked. 

Then near the end when they're all sitting around listening to Edith Piaf and reminiscing about home.  Miller's reply to Ryan asking about his memory of his wife....  "No, that one's just for me" gets me every time. 

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A couple of thoughts. First, great thread idea. Second, fuck you, because now I'm going to go down a youtube wormhole for the next several hours when I should be going to sleep. Third, does this scene count? I can't decide if it's great because of the dialogue or the action.
 
Yes, it instantly came to mind after I read the title
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5 minutes ago, Hate said:

Has anyone ever played an arrogant prick better than Alec Baldwin? Maybe it’s because he doesn’t have to “act” that much, but he does it so well.

Probably why he's called on by SNL to play certain public figures...not that much of a stretch.  ;)  

He was awesome in "The Hunt for Red October", then he just did one forgettable role after another.  Then somebody figured out he was funny as shit and we got so many great films out of it.  

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5 hours ago, Lobo said:

Probably why he's called on by SNL to play certain public figures...not that much of a stretch.  ;)  

He was awesome in "The Hunt for Red October", then he just did one forgettable role after another.  Then somebody figured out he was funny as shit and we got so many great films out of it.  

He was a nice guy in Cutter to Houston

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plenty of sorkin already on here (charlie wilson, malice, social network), and i could just link the west wing thread, or post a clip from a few good men or american president, because those contain a decent scene or two.  but instead, an overlooked classic...

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

"he was john because he wrote 'ticket to ride' and i wrote the apple ii."

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50 minutes ago, 4th&Five said:

The first scene is the best scene of the movie. I probably watch it 5 times a year. 

 

pretty much every time i find myself being critical of some critically acclaimed movie i find myself saying, "There was more drama, and suspense, and tension, and brilliant writing and acting in the first 20 minutes of Inglorious Basterds than there was in the entirety or Argo" or whatever the movie is. fucking brilliant opening scene. 

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