a call to a place
A 186-minute phone call to California at prime rates?American Movie · 1999 — 第 3 / 19 章 · 4'25" · B2
Family Fights Over the Phone Bill, Explained：in their right mind
An enormous long-distance call to California turns a household bill into a shouting match. The complaint isn't really about money: "They're making a mockery out of my words." What starts as a fight over 186 minutes on prime time becomes a fight about being listened to and taken seriously.
あらすじ
At home, a 186-minute call to California at prime rates sets off an argument about the phone bill. A voice fires back that the brother has psychological problems, and then the talk turns to work: a cast meeting, a scramble to meet the deadline, and Mark grinding out the third draft of Northwestern at the airport.
注目の表現
make a mockery out oftake a wild guessscrape togetherin their right mind
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いま
このシーンの表現
in their right mind
sane or rational
Mark wonders aloud who would announce a film dream to the world; it is self-mockery and nerve at once.
No one in their right mind would sign that contract.
このシーンの他の表現
- make a mockery out of
treat as a joke
- take a wild guess
guess at random
- scrape together
gather with effort
- so to speak
in a manner of speaking
- tough shit
too bad for you
このシーンのメモ一覧
70 行のセリフに 27 件のメモ
guess at random
Bill refuses to explain and throws the question back: you guess.
Take a motherfucking wild guess.vulgar intensifier — Vulgar emphasis; avoid in polite company.
Take a motherfucking wild guess.treat something as a joke
They're making a mockery out of my words.become something else
This whole thing is turning into a theatrical mockery. Understand?tell someone
I'm calling you to let you know that there is a cast meeting tomorrow night.gather with effort
The call is about rounding up people and gear before the shoot, bit by bit.
Looks like there's a lot of work we have to scrape together.Slide the p into together without a pause.
Looks like there's a lot of work we have to scrape together.constantly
I come to the airport all the time when I want to work.the only option
You gotta be in this car. You have no other choice.Flap the t in gotta; it lands between vowels like a soft d.
You gotta be in this car. You have no other choice.hand out
I've got to get it so it's not embarrassing to give out, you know?in a manner of speaking
Mark talks about reviving stale dialogue, then adds so to speak to soften the bold verb.
and I've got to resurrect that, so to speak.quit school
Since high school. She dropped out. I graduated.something unexplainable
"I don't know. I guess it's just one of those things."sane or rational
Mark wonders aloud who would announce a film dream to the world; it is self-mockery and nerve at once.
Who the hell in their right mind would tell the world, "I'm gonna do this"?guy — Casual word for a guy; too loose for formal use.
and dude's talking about making a feature film, shit."earn money
'cause for the first time in your life, you're gonna make a profit.going to — Everyday speech for going to; keep it out of writing.
'cause for the first time in your life, you're gonna make a profit.force something free
and it's quite a challenge to pry anything loose from him, money-wise.regarding
Tom, why don't you show us what you got in the way of breakdown.review
I've gone over the script on a scene-by-scene basis...non-defining relative clause: The which-clause adds detail about locations without changing the main statement.
The location type, which would be interior day/night, exterior night/day.as for
As far as where Mark's film stands now...failure to communicate
Asked about Mark's film, Tom hedges, then admits their communication has failed lately.
I know that we kind of have-- We sort of have had a breakdown in communication lately.object clause: The that-clause is the object of know; the speaker restarts it mid-sentence.
I know that we kind of have-- We sort of have had a breakdown in communication lately.piling up there
You know how many phone calls there are sitting there?「Family Fights Over the Phone Bill」を読み解く
What's really going on
The bill is the trigger, not the subject. The 186-minute call to California is really about a family that has been carrying the brother's troubles and now sees the cost in black and white. "Not on my phone bill, he doesn't" is the whole argument in one line: sympathy has a limit when it shows up as a charge. From there the film keeps cutting back to the work the anger is supposed to fund, the cast meeting and the deadline Mark and his crew have to "scrape together." What makes the scene land is the gap between the shouting at home and the patient, unglamorous labor of getting a movie made with no money.
Theme
MoneyA phone bill becomes the family's scoreboard, turning a brother's crisis into a number someone has to pay.
DreamsMark keeps pushing the film forward, scraping together cast and crew and rewriting the script so it isn't embarrassing to show.
このチャプターで学べること
- The phone number is the argument; one fact beats a rant.
- High-level negotiations is deadpan for splitting petty cash.
- In their right mind quietly calls the whole dream insane.
- Scrape together admits the plan is held by string.
発音のポイント
- scrape together — Slide the p into together without a pause.
- gotta be — Flap the t in gotta; it lands between vowels like a soft d.
Who the hell in their right mind would tell the world, "I'm gonna do this"?Why announce a film before it exists? The line captures the fear that declaring the dream out loud invites everyone to laugh at it.
You gotta be in this car. You have no other choice.Part encouragement, part self-discipline: by holing up at the airport he cuts off every distraction and forces himself to write.
One's more primeval and one's more textbook.Two filmmakers, two instincts: one works on gut feeling, the other by the book, and the clash shapes how the production runs.
Now we're gonna talk about high-level negotiations...A dry joke as he and Bill start haggling over money, dressing up a squeeze for cash as serious business.
このシーンについての質問
Why is the family so angry about the phone bill?
It's a 186-minute call to California at prime rates, so it's wildly expensive. The fight isn't only about money, though: it's about someone running up a huge charge while the household is already stretched.
What does "take a wild guess" mean here?
It's a blunt way of telling someone to work it out themselves. In the argument it means the answer is obvious and the speaker is too annoyed to spell it out.
Who is Mark making the movie with?
His crew and friends, including Bill, who is traditionally very careful with money; Mark is the one said to be able to pry it loose from him when funds are needed.
Does the movie ever get finished?
The scene keeps pointing at the deadline and the third draft of Northwestern. Whether it lands is the running pressure of the whole documentary, and the shouting at home is part of what it costs.
American Movie · 全 19 章
すべて見る →
次のチャプター · 第 4 章ready to rollMark Runs Out of Money
第 1 章idle handsMark's Twelfth Hour Deadline
第 2 章have something under your beltMark Pitches Northwestern
再生中 · 第 3 章in their right mindFamily Fights Over the Phone Bill
第 4 章ready to rollMark Runs Out of Money
第 5 章kosherMark Pitches Bill for 45 Grand
第 6 章down and outMark Shoots Coven in the Snow
第 7 章the bottom lineMark Pitches 3,000 Units to Bill
第 8 章lessen the blowShooting Coven in the Graveyard
第 9 章go out of their wayMark Lists His Debts
第 10 章have your cake and eat it tooMark Fears Losing His Kids
第 11 章face up toMark Confesses at Thanksgiving Dinner
第 12 章let a day go byMark Watches His Old Footage
第 13 章the ship is sinkingMark Shoots the Last Take of Coven
第 14 章on the moneyMark Records the Film's First Line
第 15 章for the birdsMark Pushes Bill Through 31 Takes
第 16 章just like youMark's Drunken Rant
第 17 章twist your armMark Picks Kenny Up From Jail
第 18 章catharticMark Smashes Cars on Set
第 19 章hot off the pressesMark Finishes the Last Splice第 3 / 19 章 · 残り約 73 分