The one with the train

INT. STUDY – LATE AFTERNOON

The mood is light. A film magazine is folded open on the table.  
Joanna is in mid-thought, half-reclined.

                         JOANNA
           I think *Back to the Future* is nearly perfect.

                         GYLES
           Oh yes! The one with the train—I absolutely love it.  
           All the Western bits. Clara. That beautiful wide shot 
           of the clock tower being built.  
           It’s just so—satisfying.

[Joanna turns her head.]

                         JOANNA
           That’s the third one.

                         GYLES
           Is it?

                         JOANNA
           Yes. The third film.

                         GYLES
           Well, I loved it. Especially the hats.

                         JOANNA
           You loved the hats.

                         GYLES
           And the ice machine.

[She sits up slightly.]

                         JOANNA (CONT’D)
           The first film is a closed loop.  
           Cause, effect, consequence.  
           It’s beautifully done.  
           The chaps at UCLA teach it as a model screenplay.

                         GYLES
           But the horse-drawn Delorean!

                         JOANNA
           (firmly)  
           That was nonsense.

                         GYLES
           What about the flying time-travel train?

                         JOANNA
           Even worse.

                         GYLES
           It had character.

                         JOANNA
           It had a chimney.

                         GYLES
           It was charming.

                         JOANNA
           It was fan fiction.

                         GYLES
           I love a Western.

                         JOANNA
           Then watch a Western.  
           A real one.  
           There are hundreds.  
           You don’t have to choose the one with the flying train.

                         GYLES
           I think you’re being a bit severe.

                         JOANNA
           And you’re being sentimental about steam.

FADE OUT.