BOOGEYMAN [2005]

You Thought It Was Just A Story... 

But It's Real 

Listen to me Tim. It's time to grow up. 

Nothing supernatural happened. 

These feelings you're having, they're going to get worse unless you face this. 

Go home Tim. 

Spend one night in that house. 

It will help.

[Katie]

 [Tim]: Do you want to tell me why you're following me around? 

[Franny Roberts]: I wanted to ask you something. 

Is it true, the Boogeyman took your Dad? 

Are you scared?

*****

THE LEGEND OF ZORRO [2005]

This Fall, Adventure Begins With a Z

So the devil will know who sent you.

[Zorro, after making a Z mark on Armand]

I don't know why they call it "wine-tasting". 

After two glasses you can't taste anything.

[Armand]

[Zorro]: Why are you still wearing his necklace?

[Elena]: I'm under cover! Besides, these are pearls. You never gave me pearls.

[Zorro]: I thought you didn't care about things like that.

[Elena]: I lied. Every woman loves pearls.

[Zorro]: Well, now you have them, PRINCESS!

[Frey Felipe]: Maybe you shouldn't drink so much on an empty stomach.

[Zorro]: Maybe you should wear lipstick if you're gonna act like my mother. 

[Frey Felipe]: Don't bother coming to confession because I'll never forgive you.

[Zorro]: You blackmail my soul, eh?

[Frey Felipe]: Hell yes.

*****

IN HER SHOES [2005]

Friends. Rivals. Sisters.

The art of losing isn't hard to master; 

so many things seem... filled... with the intent to be lost that their loss is no disaster. 

Lose something every day. 

Accept the fluster of lost door keys, the hour badly spent. 

The art of losing isn't hard to master. 

I lost two cities, lovely ones. 

And, vaster, some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent. 

 I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster. 

Even losing you... the joking voice, a gesture I love... I shan't have lied. 

It's evident the art of losing's not too hard to master though it may look like... 

Write it!... like disaster.

[Maggie Feller]

You're not going to look like this forever, you know. 

Eventually you'll be older, 

and all of the men who foot your bill now will be buying drinks for women half your age 

and then what will you do? 

Well, you'd better think of something because middle-aged tramps aren't cute, 

they're pathetic. 

[Rose Feller]

[Maggie Feller]: Shoes like these should not be locked in a closet! 

They should be living a life of scandal, 

and pasion and getting screwed in an alleyway by a billionaire 

while his frigid wife waits in the limo thinking that he just went back into the bar to get his cellphone. 

These are cute too. 

[Rose Feller]: Please tell me you just made that up.

[Maggie Feller]: Look, if you're not going to wear them... don't buy them! 

Leave them for someone who's going to get something out of them. 

[Rose Feller]: I get something out of them! 

When I feel bad I like to treat myself. 

 Clothes never look any good... food just makes me fatter... shoes always fit.

[Ella Hirsch]: Wrong dresser. It's in the sock drawer.

[Maggie Feller]: What?

[Ella Hirsch]: My cash. That's what you were looking for, right? That's what you want.

[Maggie Feller]: No! god!

[Ella Hirsch, sigh]: Oh, well. 

I guess after being absent for some 20-odd years 

I can't expect you to want to have a relationship with me. 

How much? 

[Maggie Feller]: How much what?

[Ella Hirsch]: MONEY, Maggie! How much money were you hoping to get from me?

[Maggie Feller]: ...I don't know.

[Ella Hirsch]: Yes, you do. 

[Maggie Feller]: I want to go to New York. Maybe act. I think I'd be good at it.

[Ella Hirsch]: Humph, clearly!... How much do you need? 

[Maggie Feller]: Three-grande.

[Ella Hirsch]: THAT you would not have found in the sock drawer... 

How much do you have? 

[Maggie doesn't respond. Ella nods]

[Ella Hirsch]: I won't give you three-thousand dollars, but I'll do this; 

they need help down at the assisted living center. 

You get that job, stop loafing around here like a princess... 

and I will match what you earn, penny for penny.

[Maggie stares at her, shocked]: ... You would do that? [Ella nods] Why?

[Ella Hirsch, sighs]: Because I'm your Grandmother.

*****

THE WEDDING DATE [2005]

Love Doesn't Come Cheap


 [over the answering machine]
Hi, Kat, this is Nick Mercer.
Sorry I didn't get back to you last night but I got your messages, all 7 of them.
I know you're nervous, Kat, but this is what I get paid for.
I'm running late so I sent a messenger to pick up my ticket.
Kat, stop worrying.
Your ex-fiance will sorry for left you and your family will think we're in love.
Trust me, I'll see you at the airport.
Can't wait to meet you.
~Nick Mercer

Oh, I should warn you.
You know those families where everyone's out of their mind
but they're your family so you love them?
[Nick nods]
Mine's not like that.
~Kat Ellis

Nick: Do me a favor, quit apologizing.
If you look at this as a business transaction, maybe you won't feel compelled to keep saying sorry.
Kat: I'm sorry.
Nick: It's also really annoying.

Weddings are a celebration of love and commitment in Utopia.
In the real world they're an excuse to drink excessively and say things you shouldn't.
~Nick Mercer

Kat, reading the article: You say, and I quote,
"Every woman has the exact love life she wants."
That seems a broad generalization...
Do you honestly believe that I want to be single and miserable?
Do you think that I want to be hung up on some guy who led me on for years and out of the blue shattered my heart?
Nick: First of all, there's no such thing as out of the blue.
And second of all, yeah.
Kat: What?
Nick: When you ready to let go to be un-single and un-miserable, you will.

Kat: Have you ever done a wedding before?
Nick: No, but I have done funerals.
Kat: An escort at a funeral? [chuckles] Someone's dead.
Nick: Yeah, imagine facing that alone.

It's not about the sex.
It's about understanding what people need.
It's not about me.
It's about you.
~Nick Mercer

Nick: You're safe, you can relax.
He's gonna be so sorry he lost you.
So, stop worrying.
Forget the past.
Forget the pain.
And remember, what an incredible woman you are.
If you do that, he'll realize what he lost.
Kat: Holy crap! You're worth every penny.

Nick: Here's to the husbands who've won you, the losers who've lost you,
and the lucky bastards who've yet to met you.
Amy: And to the cock in the henhouse.

Nick: When I told you I'd never done a wedding before, it wasn't because I'd never been asked.
I'd just never said yes.
Kat: Why'd you say yes to me?
Nick: There was something in your voice on the phone that day.
Kat: Desperation?
Nick: I think it was hope.

Kat: I've been spilling my guts all weekend and I don't know anything about you.
Nick: I'm allergic to fabric softener.
I'm majoring in comparative literature at Brown.
I hate anchovies.
I think I'd miss you even if we'd never met.

Nick: This may not make much sense to you, sir, 
but I'd like to ask your permission to date your daughter.
Dad: I thought you already were.

Kat: I should probably admit that I brought Nick with me to torture you, slowly, for the entire weekend.
But then, I don't know, something happened and now,
I hope this doesn't hurt your feelings, but I'm just sick of you and me,
of our whole story...
so come on, let's just go upstairs and eat some tiramisu.
Jeffrey: I slept with your sister.
Kat: I'm sorry?
Jeffrey: Well, I shagged Amy, 2 years ago, that's why I broke it off with you.
And then after you left, sod it, we kept at it like rabbits,
until we both realized it was absolutely mad and, obviously, morally wrong.
And then that was it.
But last Christmas, when Ed proposed, I realized, I'm in love with her.

Kat: How could you not have told me?
Nick: What did you expect me to say?
Kat: You let me make a fool of myself.
You lied to me, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised because that's what you do,
that's who you are, you're a liar.
Nick: You're judging me? That's a good one.
You stand there and point a finger at me, the guy that you hired to pretend to be your boyfriend.
Kat: You're right. I was so desperate to make everyone believe that I was happy,
that I paid $6000 for a lie.
And, at the end of the day, the only one who ended up falling for it was me.
I wish I could say it was worth it.
Nick: Go ahead, Kat, hate me.
I think you're running out of steam on this whole Jeffrey thing anyhow.
It maybe now you'll be able to hold on to this long enough to ruin your next relationship.

Dad: So, why did you let him go?
Kat: It's complicated, Dad.
Dad: Right. It probably wouldn't have worked out anyway, huh?
I remember reading a fascinating article in the New York Times Magazine once,
where this guy said, "Every woman has the exact love life she wants."
You know what? I agree with him.
But I refuse to believe that this is what you want, Kat.
Ever since you were little, you've always worried about what other people think.
Now, come on. What do you think? Is he the guy for you?
[Kat nods]
Then go and get him.

The hardest thing's loving someone and then having the courage to let them love you back.
But if you know her shit and she knows yours
and at the end of the day, you still would rather give up than try,
nothing's ever gonna be worth it.
~Nick Mercer

*****

ELIZABETHTOWN [2005]

The Best Place To Find Yourself
  
 As somebody once said, there's a difference between a failure and a fiasco.
 A failure is simply the non-presence of success.
Any fool can accomplish failure.
But a fiasco is a disaster of mythic proportions.
A fiasco is a folktale told to others that makes other people feel more alive
because it didn't happen to them.
~Drew Baylor

Mercury Worldwide Shoes, which is actually Phil,
contains some of America's finest artists' masterworks
seen only by people heading for very important meetings, a promotion, or otherwise.
"We are not just employees," as Phil once said. "We are denizens of greatness."
Phil says, " The world is full of those who achieve through negativity, or theft."
"We succeed through original thought."
A shoe is not just a shoe. It connects us to the earth.
The right shoe can transport us, make us believe we are capable of more.
~Drew Baylor

Success, not greatness, was the only god the entire world served.
~Drew Baylor

Claire: I'm just wondering if this whole thing is better on the phone.
You're so much better on the phone.
Maybe we should never face each other again.
Drew: I enjoyed this.

 Claire: We're the substitute people.
I've been the substitute person my whole life.
I'm not an Ellen. I never wanted to be an Ellen.
And I'm not a Cindy, either. Although Chucks love me.
Drew: I'm sure they do.
Claire: I like being alone too much.
I'm with a guy who's married to his academic career.
I rarely see him. And I'm the substitute person there.
I like it that way. It's a lot less pressure.

Drew: I'm not used to girls like you.
Claire: That's because I'm one of a kind.
Drew: You don't have to make a joke.
I like you without the jokes.
 

 

Drew: He forgot? No storm in Georgia, no trustees, no big ideas.What a fucking jerk.
Claire: He's not a jerk.
He's a brilliant man who gives himself permission to be preoccupied.
Drew: Come on.
There is nothing greater than deciding in your life that things maybe really are black and white!
And this guy Ben, who clearly takes you for granted,
who serially takes advantage of you, is bad!
And what I am saying is good, see what I mean?
You shouldn't be the substitute for anybody.
This guy should be right here, right now, doing this. [kiss her]
Claire: Maybe so.
Drew: He's lucky I'm not the right person for you. [kiss her again]

I will miss your lips and everything attached to them.
~Claire Colburn

Drew: 4 days ago, I lost a major American shoe company.
Frankly, you could round it off to one billion dollars!
And by tomorrow afternoon, everyone will know.
Something's gonna be published that pinpoints me as the most spectacular failure in the history of my profession which is all I know how to do.
And I've been here this whole time trying to be responsible and charming and live up to this success that doesn't exist.
All I really want is to not be here.
I'm sorry, I have a very dark appointment with destiny.
That's my secret. That's who I am.
Claire: That's it?
Drew: Yes, that's it.
Claire: I'm sorry.
I guess I thought a small part of you might be a small bit sad to see me go.
But I guess this is all mostly about a shoe.
Drew: Of course I'm sad about you.
But this is just a little bit bigger than you and me!
And by the way, I didn't say million. I said billion! A billion dollars! That's a lot of million!
 Claire: So, you failed.
Drew: No, you don't get it.
Claire: All right, you really failed. You failed, you failed, you failed, you failed, you failed...
You think I care about that?
I do understand.
You're an artist, man, your job is to break through barriers.
Not accept blame and bow and say, "Thank you, I'm a loser, I'll go away now, Phil's mean to me..." So what?
Drew: I don't cry.
Claire: You want to be really great?
Then have the courage to fail big and stick around.
Make them wonder why you're still smiling.
That's true greatness to me.
But, don't listen to me. I'm a Claire.
Drew: Well, thank you, Claire.
Claire: You're welcome.
Now would you quit trying to break up with me?
You're always trying to break up with me, and we're not even together.
Drew: We're not?
Claire: Of course not. We're the substitute people, remember?

You have 5 minutes to wallow in the delicious misery.
Enjoy it, embrace it, discard it... and proceed.
~Claire Colburn

No true fiasco ever began as a quest for mere adequacy.
A motto of the British Special Service Air Force is, 'Those who risk, win.'
A single green vine shoot is able to grow through cement.
The Pacific Nortwestern salmon beats itself bloody on its quest to travel hundreds of miles upstream against the current, with a single purpose.
Sex, of course.
But also... life.
~Drew Baylor


*****

PAY IT FORWARD [2000]

Some Favors You Are Not Allowed 
To Pay Back

Mr. Simonet: How often do you think about things that happen outside of this town?
Do you watch the news? Yes? No?
Allright, so we're not global thinkers yet, but why aren't we?
Trevor: Because we're 11.
 Mr. Simonet: Good point. What's your name?
Trevor: Trevor.
Mr. Simonet: Maybe Trevor's right.
Why should we think about the world?
After all, what does the world expect of us?
Trevor: Expect?
Mr. Simonet: Of you?
What does the world expect of you?
Trevor: Nothing.
Mr. Simonet: Nothing.
My God, boys and girls, he's absolutely right. Nothing.
Here you are. You can't drive, you can't vote, 
you can't even go to the bathroom without a pass from me.
You're stuck, right here in 7th grade.
But not forever... because one day you'll be free.
[students are cheering]
But what if on that day you're free, you haven't prepared, you're not ready, 
and then you look around you and you don't like what the world is.
What if the world is just a big disappointment?
Student: We're screwed.
Mr. Simonet: Unless... unless you take the things that you don't like about this world,
and you flip them upside down right on their ass.
 Don't tell your parents I use that word.
[students giggling]
And you can start that, today.
[showing the assignment on the board
"Think of an idea to change our world, and put it into ACTION"]
This is your assignment.
Extra credit, it goes on all year long.

The realm of possibility exist in each of you.
~Mr. Eugene Simonet

Arlene: What is going on with you and my son?
Jerry: He wanted to help somebody.
Wanted to get somebody back on their feet, so he gave me a little money.
Arlene: He gave you money?
Jerry: Yes, ma'am.
Arlene: That's his savings.
Jerry: Well, it's clothes and shoes and I got the job off it.
Arlene: You think you can keep it?
[glance at Jerry's scars on his hand]
Looks to me like you've got yourself a little problem.
Jerry: I can lick it.
Arlene: How's that supposed to happen all of a sudden?
Jerry: You ever been on the street?
Arlene: My mom took us pretty close.
Jerry: Well, you can't know, not untill you're looking at a dumpster.
But when you climb in the first time, and pull the newspapers over you
that's when you know you've messed your life up.
Somebody comes along like your son and gives me a leg up, I'll take it.
Even from a kid, I'll take it.
I can't mess up again or I'll be dead.
Arlene: I appreciate that you're trying to pay back Trevor...
Jerry: I'm not allowed to pay back Trevor.
Arlene: Then what is it you're doing?
Jerry: I'm paying it forward.

[Trevor makes some sketch on the board]
That's me.
And that's 3 people.
And I'm going to help them, 
but it has to be something really big, something they can't do by themselves.
So I do it for them. 
Then they do it for 3 other people, that's 9.
And I do 3 more... 
~Trevor McKinney

[after her kiss got rejected]
Arlene: Okay, that's the best I got.
Mr. Simonet: It's not about you.
Arlene: Yes, it is!
Something's been offered to you here and you don't want it.
Maybe you're scared to get rejected.
Well I can't reject you.
You're too quick for me.

Mr. Simonet: Your dad will come back and... 
what will happen when he comes back, Trevor?
Will he hurt you?
[Trevor shake his head]
Will he hurt her?
Trevor: Not if someone's there... instead of him.

Mr. Simonet: What are you doing here?
Arlene: I want you to understand.
Mr. Simonet: It's not necessary. No explanation required.
Arlene: Please, don't talk to me like that.
We had 13 years in, Eugene.
He's sober now. We've never been sober together.
Mr. Simonet: Well, I wish you luck.
Arlene: I feel like I've got to give him a chance.
Mr. Simonet: A chance? A chance for what?
Arlene: To change.
To try to make up for lost time.
Mr. Simonet: To take Trevor to ball games? Do some real 'daddy' things with him?
Arlene: Yeah, he promised to try.
What you want me to do?
Mr. Simonet: Oh, I don't know, be smart?
Arlene: He's his father, Eugene.
Mr. Simonet: He impregnated you, Arlene.
In what other way has he been a father to Trevor, 
unless knocking somebody around is a new family value?
Arlene: What do you talking about?
He never touched Trevor.
 Mr. Simonet: Oh, that's right. Only you.
He only took it out on you. That's so much better.
Arlene: What did Trevor tell you?
Mr. Simonet: Enough.
Secrets like that shouldn't be kept.
What good does it do to Trevor?
Arlene: Ricky never meant to hit me. We were drunk!
Mr. Simonet: Christ! What is it with women like you?
Is that something you tell yourself, "it's okay he beat me.", "Trevor's okay."
Trevor locked himself in a bathroom and he can't breathe... 
and he said he's hoping and praying that it will stop!
Arlene: Trevor never went throught that!
Mr. Simonet: You know what Trevor went through?
How do you know?
How do you know that the next time after you, he doesn't come for Trevor?
I know what I'm talking about, Arlene.
My father got on his knees and begged my mother...
and my mother, she always took him back.
I never understood it.
She'd cover the bruises ans the cuts and she'd take him back...
because he begged and he cried.
 Now you ask me what happened after he came back.
Arlene: No...
Mr. Simonet: No, go on! You wanted to know what happened to me! Now ask me!
Arlene: I don't like this.
Mr. Simonet: "Did he hurt you?" Ask me!
Arlene: Did he hurt you?
Mr. Simonet: Not for long.
By 13 I was gone. I ran away.
But I missed her, so I had to go back and see her.
So one night I did.
Ask me what happened. "What happened that night you came back, Eugene?"
Arlene: What happened?
Mr. Simonet: He was there, drunk as usual.
Only this time, I wasn't the same.
I was 16 years old and I was no longer afraid of him.
And when I looked him in the eye, and told him if he ever touched her again, I would kill him, he knew... he knew that he would never exist for me again.
And I'm standing in front of the house, I'm screaming for her to come out,
I'm telling her she doesn't have to take it anymore.
 She can come with me now.
I don't see it coming.
He hits my head with a 2-by-4 and I'm bleeding from my ear.
He's dragging me behind the house into the garage, then he's gone,
a minute, 5 minutes, I don't know.
Then he's back and wetting me down.
And I don't understand, why water should smell so bad.
And then I see it.
I see... this... this gas can... this red gas can from his truck.
And he looks at me one last time, and he lights a match.
And the last thing I remember, and I'll never forget it, were his eyes,
because they were filled with this... immense... satisfaction.
Arlene: I'm so sorry.
Mr. Simonet: Don't tell me how sorry you are for me!
Just tell me how you gonna stop it happening to Trevor.
Arlene: Ricky would never do that.
Mr. Simonet: Oh, Jesus, Arlene, he doesn't have to.
All he has to do is not love him.

Chris: Hi, I'm Chris Chandler and I'm joined today by an unusual 7th grader, Trevor McKinney.
Trevor, you must be pretty proud of yourself.
Trevor: No.
Chris: So you're not proud at all?
Trevor: I don't know, I guess.
Chris: Come on, you start a movement like Pay It Forward. You're not proud?
Trevor: I guess. I mean, I got an A in social studies.
But that was just for the effort.
Stuff I did, it didn't work out.
Chris: You're here.
Trevor: Yeah, but... I don't know, I tried real hard, but nothing really happened.
My mom's stuff worked.
She talked to my grandma, kind of made up with her.
It was really hard for her.
It was great for me, because my grandma came to my birthday party.
And I had really missed her.
And that's why Pay It Forward went to all those places... because of my mom.
Because she was so brave.
My stuff, I don't know, I think some people are too scared or something, 
to think things can be different.
The world's not exactly... shit.
I guess it's hard for some people who are used to things the way they are,
even if they're bad... to change.
And they kind of give up.
When they do, everybody... they kind of lose.

Mr. Simonet: I don't want to be one of those people he's talking about.
And I've become one.
I don't want to spend another second of wasted air.
Please don't let me stay trapped in here forever.
Arlene: I won't.
Mr. Simonet: I don't want to spend another second without you.

I guess it's hard for some people who are used to things the way they are,
even if they're bad... to change.
And they kind of give up.
When they do, everybody... they kind of lose.
It's hard. You can't plan it.
You have to watch people more, sort of keep an eye on them to protect them.
 Because they can't always see what they need.
It's like your big chance to fix something that's not like your bike.
You can fix a person.
~Trevor McKinney

*****