Daniel Brizuela 5/8/11
People Don’t Care.
One fine day in Toronto, Canada, where there was no problem going on or anybody worrying about anything, a giant, fire-breathing mutant turtle rises from the ground and starts destroying the city. At the same time an alien army from another galaxy arrives in rectangular, blue spaceships and uses their weapons to melt everything they hit. Besides those two things something worse was happening: a poor, defenseless kitten was stuck in a very high tree.
And if you thought it couldn’t get any worse for this great Canadian city, the largest in Canada by the way, think again. Street gangs are setting cars on fire, newsmen are mooning on live television, pigs are attempting to fly, more and more people are changing their names to James Cameron. In other words it was absolute chaos.
While all this was going on, the citizens and people of Toronto, Canada did something surprising and hard to believe. They did not pay attention!
They were literally not caring what was going on around them, all the chaos that was happening in the city. There was a man who was eating a bagel while the building in front of him was melting, a mailman driving in a road made of taffy, a woman not noticing that there is an army of bats flying behind her, and all sorts of people not even paying attention.
Not even the local nut was perplexed by this and he was on fire, or the usual end of the world sign guy, he was warning people not to eat the tacos. The same thing was going on with the Canadian government, they were pretty much sleeping and playing poker and betting over how many more alien ships arrived.
When the local news team and the media arrived at the scene of some strange things happening, you would think they’d be covering that. Well. One TV reporter is on the scene for a guy, who hit his toe on a fire hydrant and another is interviewing a woman about her success in breaking the record for the longest hair.
Friday, May 10, 2013
Sunday, May 5, 2013
The Best Picture winners
Daniel Brizuela 3/15/12
The Big Prize: Best Picture winners.
1st Academy Awards: 1927s Wings-the only all silent film to win Best Picture.
2nd Academy Awards: 1929s The Broadway Melody-first sound film to win Best Picture.
3rd Academy Awards: 1930s All Quiet on the Western Front-first film to win Best Picture and Best Director.
4th Academy Awards: 1931s Cimarron-first western to win Best Picture.
5th Academy Awards: 1932s Grand Hotel-only Best Picture film to not be nominated for other awards.
6th Academy Awards: 1933s Cavalcade-first FOX film to win Best Picture.
7th Academy Awards: 1934s It Happened One Night-first of only three films to win the top five Oscars of Best Picture, Director, Adapted or Original Screenplay, Actor, and Actress with the other films being One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and The Silence of the Lambs.
8th Academy Awards: 1935s Mutiny on the Bounty-last film to win Best Picture without winning for anything else.
9th Academy Awards: 1936s The Great Ziegfeld-first musical film to win an acting Oscar.
10th Academy Awards: 1937s The Life of Emile Zola-first Warner Bros. film to win Best Picture.
11th Academy Awards: 1938s You Can’t Take It with You-The first year a foreign language film, 1937 French The Grand Illusion, was nominated for Best Picture.
12th Academy Awards: 1939s Gone with the Wind-first color film to win Best Picture.
13th Academy Awards: 1940s Rebecca-first and only Hitchcock film to win Best Picture.
14th Academy Awards: 1941s How Green Was My Valley-modern film fans and critics think of this as an upset since it beat Citizen Kane.
15th Academy Awards: 1942s Mrs. Miniver-first film to ever have five acting Oscar nominations.
16th Academy Awards: 1942s Casablanca-last Best Picture winner to compete against nine other films before it came back in 2010.
17th Academy Awards: 1944s Going My Way-The only film to ever have one actor be nominated for both Best Leading and Supporting Actor for the same role.
18th Academy Awards: 1945s The Lost Weekend-one of the first films to use a theremin for its musical score.
19th Academy Awards: 1946s The Best Years of Our Lives-Harold Russell, who won a Best Supporting Actor and Honorary Award for bringing hope to WW2 veterans, is one of only two non-actors to win an acting Oscar and the only one to win two for the same role as a war veteran who lost both hands, which is what actually happened to Russell in World War Two.
20th Academy Awards: 1947s Gentleman’s Agreement-controversial at the time it was released, the House Un-American Activities Committee called many of those associated with the film to be called to testify.
21st Academy Awards: 1948s Hamlet-first British film to win Best Picture.
22nd Academy Awards: 1949s All the King’s Men-last year wherein all Best Picture nominations were in black and white.
23rd Academy Awards: 1950s All About Eve-only film to have four actress nominations, two for leading and two for supporting.
24th Academy Awards: 1951s An American in Paris-the first Best Picture film to give the Oscar to the producer instead of the studio.
25th Academy Awards: 1952s The Greatest Show on Earth-considered the worst film to ever win Best Picture.
26th Academy Awards: 1953s From Here to Eternity-so far the last Best Picture winner to be nominated in all four acting categories.
27th Academy Awards: 1954s On the Waterfront-Rear Window's Best Director nomination marks the only time Hitchcock was nominated for a film in color.
28th Academy Awards: 1955s Marty-first film based on a television production to be nominated and win Best Picture.
29th Academy Awards: 1956s Around the World in 80 Days-the first year in which all Best Picture nominees were in color.
30th Academy Awards: 1957s The Bridge on the River Kwai-first time a British director won a Best Director Oscar.
31st Academy Awards: 1958s Gigi-David Niven's Best Actor win marks the only time a host won.
32nd Academy Awards: 1959s Ben-Hur-tied with 1997s Titanic and the third Lord of the Rings with the most Oscars won with eleven.
33rd Academy Awards: 1960s The Apartment-the last all black-and-white film to win Best Picture until The Artist in 2012.
34th Academy Awards: 1961s West Side Story-the first film with two directors to win Best Picture.
35th Academy Awards: 1962s Lawrence of Arabia-the first of eight films in which actor Peter O’Toole is nominated and never wins.
36th Academy Awards: 1963s Tom Jones-the only film to ever have three of its actresses be nominated for Best Supporting Actress.
37th Academy Awards: 1964s My Fair Lady-the first year all four Acting wins were for non-Americans.
38th Academy Awards: 1965s The Sound of Music-the first Oscars broadcast in color.
39th Academy Awards: 1966s A Man for All Seasons-Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf's four acting nominations marks the first time all credited cast members were nominated.
40th Academy Awards: 1967s In the Heat of the Night-the first detective mystery to win Best Picture.
41st Academy Awards: 1968s Oliver!-first, and so far only, G-rated film to win Best Picture.
42nd Academy Awards: 1969s Midnight Cowboy-the only X-rated film to win Best Picture.
43rd Academy Awards: 1970s Patton-George C. Scott’s, who won Best Actor, was the first time someone refused to attend and accept their award.
44th Academy Awards: 1971s The French Connection-the first R-rated film to win Best Picture.
45th Academy Awards: 1972s The Godfather-Marlon Brando became the second refused to accept his second Oscar win because of how Hollywood and the government treated Native Americans.
46th Academy Awards: 1973s The Sting-the first film with a female producer to win an Oscar.
47th Academy Awards: 1974s The Godfather Part II-the first sequel to win Best Picture.
48th Academy Awards: 1975s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest-George Burns's Best Supporting Actor win marks the last time an actor born in the 19th century would win an acting Oscar.
49th Academy Awards: 1976s Rocky-the first sports film to win Best Picture.
50th Academy Awards: 1977s Annie Hall-Woody Allen winning Best Director was the first time any director won it after starring in the film itself.
51st Academy Awards: 1978s The Deer Hunter-the first film dealing with the Vietnam War to win Best Picture.
52nd Academy Awards: 1979s Kramer vs. Kramer-Justin Henry's Best Supporting Actor nomination at 8 years old makes him the youngest nominee in any of the acting categories.
53rd Academy Awards: 1980s Ordinary People-Held a day after it was supposed to air due to Ronald Reagan's attempted assassination.
54th Academy Awards: 1981s Chariots of Fire-the first year that the Best Makeup category was awarded, in this case An American Werewolf in London.
55th Academy Awards: 1982s Gandhi-Ben Kingsley, being half-Indian, was the first South Asian to win Best Actor.
56th Academy Awards: 1983s Terms of Endearment-Linda Hunt's Best Supporting Actress win for The Year of Living Dangerously marks the first time an actor won for portraying the opposite sex.
57th Academy Awards: 1984s Amadeus-F. Murray Abraham is the first Arab descended actor to win Best Actor.
58th Academy Awards: 1985s Out of Africa-Kiss of the Spider Woman was the first independent film to be nominated for Best Picture.
59th Academy Awards: 1986s Platoon-Marlee Matlin's Best Actress win for Children of a Lesser God makes her the youngest in the category and the first deaf actor to win an Oscar.
60th Academy Awards: 1987s The Last Emperor-first film where the Chinese government allowed filming in the Forbidden City.
61st Academy Awards: 1988s Rain Man-the first year that the announcement of “and the Oscar goes to…” was told instead of “and the winner is…”
62nd Academy Awards: 1989s Driving Miss Daisy-the first and, so far, only off-Broadway play based film to win Best Picture.
63rd Academy Awards: 1990s Dances with Wolves-The Godfather, Part III's Best Picture nomination marks the first time a trilogy was nominated in the category.
64th Academy Awards: 1991s The Silence of the Lambs-the first horror film to win Best Picture.
65th Academy Awards: 1992s Unforgiven-the last western, so far, to win Best Picture.
66th Academy Awards: 1993s Schindler’s List-Holly Hunter and Emma Thompson being nominated for both Leading and Supporting Oscars marks the first, and so far, only time two actors were double nominated.
67th Academy Awards: 1994s Forrest Gump-Dianne Wiest became the first person to win a second acting Oscar from the same director as the first win.
68th Academy Awards: 1995s Braveheart-the last year, so far, in which all acting wins were for films not nominated for Best Picture.
69th Academy Awards: 1996s The English Patient-Frances McDormand's Best Actress win marks the first time any actor won an Oscar for a movie directed by their spouse.
70th Academy Awards: 1997s Titanic-the highest-grossing film to ever win Best Picture and the first to make over a billion dollars.
71st Academy Awards: 1998s Shakespeare in Love-Judi Dench's Supporting Actress win for Shakespeare in Love and Cate Blanchett's Leading nomination for Elizabeth marks the first time a pair of actors were nominated for portraying the same character in different films.
72nd Academy Awards: 1999s American Beauty-the first DreamWorks film to win Best Picture.
73rd Academy Awards: 2000s Gladiator-Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon's nomination for Best Picture marks the first martial arts film to be nominated.
74th Academy Awards: 2001s A Beautiful Mind-the first year of the Best Animated Film category, given to Shrek.
75th Academy Awards: 2002s Chicago-at 29, Adrien Brody's Best Actor win for The Pianist makes him the youngest to win in the category.
76th Academy Awards: 2003s The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King-the first fantasy film to win Best Picture.
77th Academy Awards: 2004s Million Dollar Baby-Eastwood’s win for Best Director at 74 made him the oldest director to win it.
78th Academy Awards: 2004s Crash-Ang Lee's Best Director win for Brokeback Mountain marks the first time a non-Caucasian won in the category.
79th Academy Awards: 2006s The Departed-the first remake of a foreign film to win Best Picture.
80th Academy Awards: 2007s No Country for Old Men-Javier Bardem’s Best Supporting Actor win marked the first time a Spanish actor won an Oscar.
81st Academy Awards: 2008s Slumdog Millionaire-Heath Ledger’s posthumous Best Supporting Oscar win for the Joker in The Dark Knight, was the first time any actor won an Oscar for a role in a comic book superhero film.
82nd Academy Awards: 2008s The Hurt Locker-the first Best Picture winning film to be directed by a woman.
83rd Academy Awards: 2010s The King’s Speech-the first Australian film to win Best Picture.
84th Academy Awards: 2011s The Artist-Christopher Plummer's Best Supporting Oscar win for Beginners at 82 makes him the oldest winner of any acting category.
85th Academy Awards: 2012s Argo-Seth MacFarlane is the first solo host to be nominated for a song.
86th Academy Awards: 2013s 12 Years A Slave-first film by a black director to win Best Picture.
87th Academy Awards: 2014s Birdman-first year since the expansion of Best Picture nominees in 2010 that all films nominated won an Oscar.
88th Academy Awards: 2015s Spotlight-Ex Machina winning for Best Visual Effects made it the least expensive film to win the award since 1979s Alien.
89th Academy Awards: 2016s Moonlight-Mahershala Ali's win for Best Supporting Actor marks the first win for a Muslim actor.
90th Academy Awards: 2017s The Shape of Water-With Icarus winning for Best Documentary Feature, Netflix has nabbed its first Oscar win.
91st Academy Awards: 2018s Green Book-Black Panther's Best Picture nomination marks the first comic book superhero film to be nominated in that category.
92nd Academy Awards: 2019s Parasite-The first foreign film in a language other than English to win Best Picture.
The Big Prize: Best Picture winners.
1st Academy Awards: 1927s Wings-the only all silent film to win Best Picture.
2nd Academy Awards: 1929s The Broadway Melody-first sound film to win Best Picture.
3rd Academy Awards: 1930s All Quiet on the Western Front-first film to win Best Picture and Best Director.
4th Academy Awards: 1931s Cimarron-first western to win Best Picture.
5th Academy Awards: 1932s Grand Hotel-only Best Picture film to not be nominated for other awards.
6th Academy Awards: 1933s Cavalcade-first FOX film to win Best Picture.
7th Academy Awards: 1934s It Happened One Night-first of only three films to win the top five Oscars of Best Picture, Director, Adapted or Original Screenplay, Actor, and Actress with the other films being One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and The Silence of the Lambs.
8th Academy Awards: 1935s Mutiny on the Bounty-last film to win Best Picture without winning for anything else.
9th Academy Awards: 1936s The Great Ziegfeld-first musical film to win an acting Oscar.
10th Academy Awards: 1937s The Life of Emile Zola-first Warner Bros. film to win Best Picture.
11th Academy Awards: 1938s You Can’t Take It with You-The first year a foreign language film, 1937 French The Grand Illusion, was nominated for Best Picture.
12th Academy Awards: 1939s Gone with the Wind-first color film to win Best Picture.
13th Academy Awards: 1940s Rebecca-first and only Hitchcock film to win Best Picture.
14th Academy Awards: 1941s How Green Was My Valley-modern film fans and critics think of this as an upset since it beat Citizen Kane.
15th Academy Awards: 1942s Mrs. Miniver-first film to ever have five acting Oscar nominations.
16th Academy Awards: 1942s Casablanca-last Best Picture winner to compete against nine other films before it came back in 2010.
17th Academy Awards: 1944s Going My Way-The only film to ever have one actor be nominated for both Best Leading and Supporting Actor for the same role.
18th Academy Awards: 1945s The Lost Weekend-one of the first films to use a theremin for its musical score.
19th Academy Awards: 1946s The Best Years of Our Lives-Harold Russell, who won a Best Supporting Actor and Honorary Award for bringing hope to WW2 veterans, is one of only two non-actors to win an acting Oscar and the only one to win two for the same role as a war veteran who lost both hands, which is what actually happened to Russell in World War Two.
20th Academy Awards: 1947s Gentleman’s Agreement-controversial at the time it was released, the House Un-American Activities Committee called many of those associated with the film to be called to testify.
21st Academy Awards: 1948s Hamlet-first British film to win Best Picture.
22nd Academy Awards: 1949s All the King’s Men-last year wherein all Best Picture nominations were in black and white.
23rd Academy Awards: 1950s All About Eve-only film to have four actress nominations, two for leading and two for supporting.
24th Academy Awards: 1951s An American in Paris-the first Best Picture film to give the Oscar to the producer instead of the studio.
25th Academy Awards: 1952s The Greatest Show on Earth-considered the worst film to ever win Best Picture.
26th Academy Awards: 1953s From Here to Eternity-so far the last Best Picture winner to be nominated in all four acting categories.
27th Academy Awards: 1954s On the Waterfront-Rear Window's Best Director nomination marks the only time Hitchcock was nominated for a film in color.
28th Academy Awards: 1955s Marty-first film based on a television production to be nominated and win Best Picture.
29th Academy Awards: 1956s Around the World in 80 Days-the first year in which all Best Picture nominees were in color.
30th Academy Awards: 1957s The Bridge on the River Kwai-first time a British director won a Best Director Oscar.
31st Academy Awards: 1958s Gigi-David Niven's Best Actor win marks the only time a host won.
32nd Academy Awards: 1959s Ben-Hur-tied with 1997s Titanic and the third Lord of the Rings with the most Oscars won with eleven.
33rd Academy Awards: 1960s The Apartment-the last all black-and-white film to win Best Picture until The Artist in 2012.
34th Academy Awards: 1961s West Side Story-the first film with two directors to win Best Picture.
35th Academy Awards: 1962s Lawrence of Arabia-the first of eight films in which actor Peter O’Toole is nominated and never wins.
36th Academy Awards: 1963s Tom Jones-the only film to ever have three of its actresses be nominated for Best Supporting Actress.
37th Academy Awards: 1964s My Fair Lady-the first year all four Acting wins were for non-Americans.
38th Academy Awards: 1965s The Sound of Music-the first Oscars broadcast in color.
39th Academy Awards: 1966s A Man for All Seasons-Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf's four acting nominations marks the first time all credited cast members were nominated.
40th Academy Awards: 1967s In the Heat of the Night-the first detective mystery to win Best Picture.
41st Academy Awards: 1968s Oliver!-first, and so far only, G-rated film to win Best Picture.
42nd Academy Awards: 1969s Midnight Cowboy-the only X-rated film to win Best Picture.
43rd Academy Awards: 1970s Patton-George C. Scott’s, who won Best Actor, was the first time someone refused to attend and accept their award.
44th Academy Awards: 1971s The French Connection-the first R-rated film to win Best Picture.
45th Academy Awards: 1972s The Godfather-Marlon Brando became the second refused to accept his second Oscar win because of how Hollywood and the government treated Native Americans.
46th Academy Awards: 1973s The Sting-the first film with a female producer to win an Oscar.
47th Academy Awards: 1974s The Godfather Part II-the first sequel to win Best Picture.
48th Academy Awards: 1975s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest-George Burns's Best Supporting Actor win marks the last time an actor born in the 19th century would win an acting Oscar.
49th Academy Awards: 1976s Rocky-the first sports film to win Best Picture.
50th Academy Awards: 1977s Annie Hall-Woody Allen winning Best Director was the first time any director won it after starring in the film itself.
51st Academy Awards: 1978s The Deer Hunter-the first film dealing with the Vietnam War to win Best Picture.
52nd Academy Awards: 1979s Kramer vs. Kramer-Justin Henry's Best Supporting Actor nomination at 8 years old makes him the youngest nominee in any of the acting categories.
53rd Academy Awards: 1980s Ordinary People-Held a day after it was supposed to air due to Ronald Reagan's attempted assassination.
54th Academy Awards: 1981s Chariots of Fire-the first year that the Best Makeup category was awarded, in this case An American Werewolf in London.
55th Academy Awards: 1982s Gandhi-Ben Kingsley, being half-Indian, was the first South Asian to win Best Actor.
56th Academy Awards: 1983s Terms of Endearment-Linda Hunt's Best Supporting Actress win for The Year of Living Dangerously marks the first time an actor won for portraying the opposite sex.
57th Academy Awards: 1984s Amadeus-F. Murray Abraham is the first Arab descended actor to win Best Actor.
58th Academy Awards: 1985s Out of Africa-Kiss of the Spider Woman was the first independent film to be nominated for Best Picture.
59th Academy Awards: 1986s Platoon-Marlee Matlin's Best Actress win for Children of a Lesser God makes her the youngest in the category and the first deaf actor to win an Oscar.
60th Academy Awards: 1987s The Last Emperor-first film where the Chinese government allowed filming in the Forbidden City.
61st Academy Awards: 1988s Rain Man-the first year that the announcement of “and the Oscar goes to…” was told instead of “and the winner is…”
62nd Academy Awards: 1989s Driving Miss Daisy-the first and, so far, only off-Broadway play based film to win Best Picture.
63rd Academy Awards: 1990s Dances with Wolves-The Godfather, Part III's Best Picture nomination marks the first time a trilogy was nominated in the category.
64th Academy Awards: 1991s The Silence of the Lambs-the first horror film to win Best Picture.
65th Academy Awards: 1992s Unforgiven-the last western, so far, to win Best Picture.
66th Academy Awards: 1993s Schindler’s List-Holly Hunter and Emma Thompson being nominated for both Leading and Supporting Oscars marks the first, and so far, only time two actors were double nominated.
67th Academy Awards: 1994s Forrest Gump-Dianne Wiest became the first person to win a second acting Oscar from the same director as the first win.
68th Academy Awards: 1995s Braveheart-the last year, so far, in which all acting wins were for films not nominated for Best Picture.
69th Academy Awards: 1996s The English Patient-Frances McDormand's Best Actress win marks the first time any actor won an Oscar for a movie directed by their spouse.
70th Academy Awards: 1997s Titanic-the highest-grossing film to ever win Best Picture and the first to make over a billion dollars.
71st Academy Awards: 1998s Shakespeare in Love-Judi Dench's Supporting Actress win for Shakespeare in Love and Cate Blanchett's Leading nomination for Elizabeth marks the first time a pair of actors were nominated for portraying the same character in different films.
72nd Academy Awards: 1999s American Beauty-the first DreamWorks film to win Best Picture.
73rd Academy Awards: 2000s Gladiator-Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon's nomination for Best Picture marks the first martial arts film to be nominated.
74th Academy Awards: 2001s A Beautiful Mind-the first year of the Best Animated Film category, given to Shrek.
75th Academy Awards: 2002s Chicago-at 29, Adrien Brody's Best Actor win for The Pianist makes him the youngest to win in the category.
76th Academy Awards: 2003s The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King-the first fantasy film to win Best Picture.
77th Academy Awards: 2004s Million Dollar Baby-Eastwood’s win for Best Director at 74 made him the oldest director to win it.
78th Academy Awards: 2004s Crash-Ang Lee's Best Director win for Brokeback Mountain marks the first time a non-Caucasian won in the category.
79th Academy Awards: 2006s The Departed-the first remake of a foreign film to win Best Picture.
80th Academy Awards: 2007s No Country for Old Men-Javier Bardem’s Best Supporting Actor win marked the first time a Spanish actor won an Oscar.
81st Academy Awards: 2008s Slumdog Millionaire-Heath Ledger’s posthumous Best Supporting Oscar win for the Joker in The Dark Knight, was the first time any actor won an Oscar for a role in a comic book superhero film.
82nd Academy Awards: 2008s The Hurt Locker-the first Best Picture winning film to be directed by a woman.
83rd Academy Awards: 2010s The King’s Speech-the first Australian film to win Best Picture.
84th Academy Awards: 2011s The Artist-Christopher Plummer's Best Supporting Oscar win for Beginners at 82 makes him the oldest winner of any acting category.
85th Academy Awards: 2012s Argo-Seth MacFarlane is the first solo host to be nominated for a song.
86th Academy Awards: 2013s 12 Years A Slave-first film by a black director to win Best Picture.
87th Academy Awards: 2014s Birdman-first year since the expansion of Best Picture nominees in 2010 that all films nominated won an Oscar.
88th Academy Awards: 2015s Spotlight-Ex Machina winning for Best Visual Effects made it the least expensive film to win the award since 1979s Alien.
89th Academy Awards: 2016s Moonlight-Mahershala Ali's win for Best Supporting Actor marks the first win for a Muslim actor.
90th Academy Awards: 2017s The Shape of Water-With Icarus winning for Best Documentary Feature, Netflix has nabbed its first Oscar win.
91st Academy Awards: 2018s Green Book-Black Panther's Best Picture nomination marks the first comic book superhero film to be nominated in that category.
92nd Academy Awards: 2019s Parasite-The first foreign film in a language other than English to win Best Picture.
93rd Academy Awards: 2020s Nomadland-Frances McDormand's wins for Best Actress and as a producer of the film marks the first time anyone in one year won for a performance and producer for the same film.
94th Academy Awards: 2021s CODA-The first movie to be released through a streaming service, that being Apple TV+, to win Best Picture.
95th Academy Awards: 2022s Everything Everywhere All at Once-The first sci-fi film to win Best Picture.
96th Academy Awards: 2023s Oppenheimer-Robert Downey Jr.'s win for Best Supporting Actor marks the first time that someone from Saturday Night Live won any kind of Oscar.
Thursday, May 2, 2013
A Different Job screenplay
1 EXT. PARK-AFTERNOON 1
FADE IN
A MAN IN A big sweater is walking outside of a park. He’s wearing sunglasses and gloves.
2 EXT. PARK-NEXT DAY 2
FADE IN
MIKE, LIKE THE DAY before, is wearing a big sweater, sunglasses, and gloves. He’s also holding the same suitcase that his boss left for him yesterday.
FADE IN
A MAN IN A big sweater is walking outside of a park. He’s wearing sunglasses and gloves.
MAN (narrating)
My name? Not important. You can call me Mike Where I’m from? Anywhere. What I do? Death.
Mike enters the small park by a small entrance.
MIKE (narrating)
As for what I do, well that’s tough to explain in any normal dinner conversation.
Mike sees a letter taped underneath one of the benches and sits down on the bench with the taped letter. He opens the letter, removes his sunglasses and reads it.
LETTER
I’ll be there in a few minutes.
After reading the letter, Mike folds it and puts it in his shirt pocket.
MIKE (narrating)
I’m a hired assassin. Although I like to call myself a professional cleaner. I take out the guys my boss doesn’t like. I may not like it, but there’s no other offer coming my way. My biggest wish is to leave this business, but I made a promise to my boss. And there’s only five rules. One is make sure they’re dead. Two is never leave any evidence. The third rule is...
A man in a business suit and carrying a briefcase sits next to Mike.
MIKE (narrating)
Never meet the boss. Somehow I don’t know if I broke the rule or he did.
The man opens the briefcase and takes out a folder and hands it to Mike. Mike opens the folder, checks the contents, and grabs one of the pictures.
MAN
You’re not going to ask?
MIKE
Rule #4: Don’t ask.
The man smiles.
MAN
Were you surprised?
Mike looks at the man who then looks at Mike back.
MIKE
Yeah, boss. Actually I was. Why---
BOSS
Meet now? After this job, you’ll find out.
Mike’s boss takes out a handkerchief and coughs really hard for about ten seconds. He then places the handkerchief back into his pocket.
BOSS
I’ll answer everything once you’ve done this job.
Mike looks at his boss, then at the folder and looks it over again.
MIKE
All right.
Mike’s boss gets up and walks away, leaving Mike all alone with the folder and suitcase next to him.
MIKE (narrating)
Usually, when I get a job, no matter who it is or what they did, It’s all by encoded email messages. I only met him a few times. First, when he got me out of prison because he was interested in my skills. Skills that I can’t really talk about.
Mike puts everything back into the suitcase.
MIKE (naratting)
The other time was on my first hit. He showed me the ropes and how to do it carefully. After that, I didn’t see him for five years and over forty hits he hired me for. Until now.
Mike stands up and starts walking out of the park.
MIKE (naratting)
I’m very much tempted to get information on this person. Especially since the job in this one is pretty clean and quick, the opposite of what I usually do. But then again, that would mean breaking rule number five: Don’t see a name, but a target. I hate this job, I don’t know if my boss does so too, but we all have to make a living somehow.
FADE OUT2 EXT. PARK-NEXT DAY 2
FADE IN
MIKE, LIKE THE DAY before, is wearing a big sweater, sunglasses, and gloves. He’s also holding the same suitcase that his boss left for him yesterday.
MIKE (naratting)
Sometimes when you finish a job, you wonder how it would impact the world. Maybe the guy found the cure for some disease that millions of people were dying from. He could’ve found a planet no one else could find. Or even just be a nobody that no one actually cared about.
Mike enters the park.
MIKE (naratting)
Usually when you kill a target, you don’t get sentimental. But this one felt, different. Enough to make me remember many of the people I killed, something that doesn’t usually happen. Maybe now it’s time to break rule number four.
Just like the day before, Mike finds the bench with another letter taped underneath. He opens the letter.
LETTER
Wait for me here. I might be there in a moment or it might take minutes. Remember, the questions you ask yourselves will be answered.
After finishing reading the letter, Mike continues to look at it for a few more seconds. Mike rips the letter into pieces and throws them into the garbage can that is near him.
MIKE (naratting)
In all the time I’ve known him he’s never been late. Always the first one.
After two minutes, Mike looks at his watch.
MIKE (naratting)
This job last night must have been important. Usually I torture them first, then I kill them. But there was no torture with this one. I know that sounds pretty sadistic, but it’s one of the few things I knew how to do. I may not like it, but what other choice do I have.
Mike spots his boss entering the park. The boss stops for a moment, gets a handkerchief from his pocket and coughs on it.
MIKE (naratting)
Sometimes I wonder of the little time people have. They could die any day. Sometimes after a job is done, I feel like I want to find my boss and kill him and then me for what he had me do.
After Mike’s boss finishes coughing on the handkerchief, he throws it out into a garbage can. He then grabs onto the fence as if he is falling down. Mike is about to stand up until his boss sees him and waves to keep sitting.
BOSS (yelling)
I’ll be right there.
His boss lets go of the fence, stands straight again, and walks to Mike. When he sits down, it sounds like he’s out of breath.
MIKE (worried)
You...
Mike looks at his boss who looks at him back.
MIKE (worried)
...okay?
BOSS (raspy and sickly)
You want to know, don’t you?
MIKE
Rule #4---
BOSS (raspy and sickly)
Right now, there are no more rules.
Mike’s boss coughs on his sleeve.
BOSS
If you’re wondering, yes I am sick. There’s no cure for what I have.
Mike looks at his boss in surprise.
MIKE
You mean---
BOSS
I’m dying? Yes.
MIKE
And the man you had me kill yesterday?
BOSS
Why? Is it eating away at you, wanting to know who he was? What he could have done with his life? Did he do anything wrong?
All Mike does is stare at him in anger and confusion.
BOSS
Let me ask you. Do you enjoy what you do?
MIKE
Not in the slightest.
BOSS
How do you feel about this kill? It seems strange right? Kept you up at night? The mystery surrounding a man who lived in a small house. Not a lot of money. Living alone.
MIKE (in anger)
Get to the point!
The boss coughs once again for ten seconds.
BOSS
The point is this was your last straw. Right?
MIKE
And? It’s not like you could just let me leave all this? Trust me I want to, I really do!
Mike’s boss stares at him and smiles.
BOSS
You really want to leave? How long have you thought about it?
MIKE
From the very beginning!
Mike and his boss just stare at each other for a moment. The boss coughs hard onto his sleeve.
BOSS
I always knew you wanted to leave. I saw it in your eyes when I freed you from that prison. You were hours from being executed, desperate for anything. I met you, knew you had the skills I was looking for, and you worked for me because of your loyalty, no matter what you did.
Mike looks at his boss then at the ground.
MIKE
So, what now?
BOSS
You’re free.
MIKE (surprised)
Free?
BOSS
Free to live the life you want.
MIKE
How? What happened to finally make you realize this?
BOSS
First, the why. When I first got sick, I thought it was nothing. Then, as I learned from my doctor, I had a rare disease, with one of the symptoms being continuous nightmares. I kept seeing the relatives of those I ordered to kill. The pain I caused. My doctor said he had made a cure for what I had. As for the how you can escape from this, well I have a huge fortune, but I have no heir.
MIKE
Heir to what? And what about the cure?
Mike’s boss smiles again.
BOSS
Sadly, as it turns out my doctor was apparently killed last night.
Mike looks at his boss in shock.
BOSS
Anyway, I recently built a corporation specializing in helping victims of violence, anywhere and everywhere.
MIKE
Wait, why did you have me kill the one guy that could have cured you?
BOSS
Two birds. One stone. Your freedom. My punishment.
MIKE
And this organization?
BOSS
I want you to take over when I’m gone.
MIKE
Why me?
BOSS
You have true heart. Something I lacked for so long. Once I’m gone, the business we were both in will no longer exist, and in its place is something new and better.
MIKE
How will they know that I’m your heir?
BOSS
They don’t. I have no real identity anywhere. Basically, I don’t exist. A man who doesn’t exist can’t run an organization. I started it using the identity of someone younger, healthier.
MIKE
Me?
BOSS
That’s right. Instead of taking lives, you help them.
MIKE
So that’s it then?
BOSS
Pretty much.
Mike’s boss gets up.
MIKE
When’s your funeral?
The boss smiles.
BOSS
A man who never existed can’t have a funeral.
FADE OUT
End.
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