Movie gimmicks you can really do without

[dixiegrrrrl]

Mine are:
The glare of car headlights or flashlights shining directly into my eyeballs. It is actually painful.

Blurred screen effects...it takes a few minutes for my poor eyes to uncross from the middle of my nose after one of those shots.
The opening scene of Skyfall is an example.

"natural" acting where the character (s) mumble....a lot.

What's yours?

[PoliticAverse]

1. Flashbacks every 5 minutes... n/t

[NYC_SKP]

2. Sound effects that make the dialogue incomprehensible.

And thus make me use the closed caption feature.

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. Movie WITHOUT a closed caption feature

when dialogue is incomprehensible.

[sakabatou]

16. They'll usually do that on home video editions.

[Dash87]

4. Shaking the camera to create intensity

Another terrible gimmick is the overabundance of swearing to try and make characters look tough. Nobody ever swears that much naturally (F-bombs every sentence, multiple times). It's really campy.

Cliché endings like riding off into the sunset, watching a car drive away, a wedding, etc. that have been done a million times.

[Auggie]

43. YES!

[Neoma]

56. "Nobody ever swears that much naturally (F-bombs every sentence, multiple times)."

Depends on which part of the country you are.

[Dash87]

58. I'm from the New York area.

Nobody ever talks like that. lol. To me they don't, at least.

It's not just the swearing, though. It's the entire cheesy, overboard persona. It's so corny. This also fits in well with the "wise-cracking cops" cliché, with the movie usually set in Boston or New York.

[Neoma]

61. I was thinking of a friend's childhood that she mentioned.

Maybe cussing is just worse in Chicago? lol.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

5. so dark you can't see what the hell is happening. I get it The lights are out or it is at night but,

damn! I can't see a fucking thing!

[Flaxbee]

42. I hate that. Huge parts of the movie Prometheus were dark/black and it just

pissed me off. Why the hell do I want to strain to see the movie? I'd think they could get the same 'ominous' effect without completely removing contrast, for pity's sake.

Not that Prometheus was worth it, in the end, but still. I'd have liked to see what I didn't like!

[Tuesday Afternoon]

45. exactly - dark is such a cliche for omnious. we get it, dude. Now, put a little light on the subject

forchrissakes!

[dixiegrrrrl]

91. That is one of the many reasons I like watching dvds in my computer.

VLC is a great free dvd playing program( also for music)
and I can adjust the controls for brightness and contrast and also control the pitch of the sound.
Makes a ton of difference.

[dixiegrrrrl]

55. The new Lincoln film is that way.

In an effort to be more "authentic" perhaps, there is little artificial lighting. All indoor scenes are gloomy.

[MrScorpio]

6. Lens flares

All it says to me is "bad cinematography".

[dixiegrrrrl]

8. Good example, that pic.

Makes me want to clean my screen....or eyes.

[Major Nikon]

15. Sometimes they can be used creatively

But sometimes they are used in the failing attempt at creativity.

[Dr. Strange]

32. Yep.

?v=1

#5 in http://www.cracked.com/photoplasty_179_if-movie-posters-were-honest_p2/.

[Rob H.]

52. I watched that again last weekend

...and Abrams has single-handedly made me never want to watch a movie with lens flares in it ever again. I saw it in the theater, but something about watching it at home made them way more noticeable. I really hope he's moved away from that in Star Trek Into Darkness.

[kentauros]

7. Over-dynamic voice and sound tracks

[font size="1"]Extra-super soft talking followed immediately by[/font]
[font size="6"]ultra-super-duper loud music!!!!!11![/font]
[font size="1"]and back to below-a-natural-whisper voices.[/font]

Also, Welsh actors talking normally

[WhoIsNumberNone]

9. Stunts which are so utterly impossible they insult my intelligence

example: James Bond escapes from a disintegrating cargo plane (disintegrating because it's been getting hit by a gigantic heat beam for the last 3-4 minutes) by bailing out the back cargo door in a folded up mini-helicopter (which just happened to be there- yes I spotted it immediately as Jimmy's escape route as he was being brought on board- just once I'd like to see a folded up mini-helicopter in the background that doesn't end up being part of the story...) while the plane is in flight (did I mention that the plane is breaking up and in the middle of a giant heat beam?) unfolds the helicopter while in free fall, starts it up and escapes.


...


AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!



DIE HOLLYWOOD, DIE!!!!!

[dixiegrrrrl]

24. I just watched the opening scenes of Skyfall

and am amazed at the physical stamina of the characters, in the first long long long chase and fight scene.
I also learned that you can duck bullets if someone is shooting at you.
and that you can drive real fast thru crowded Middle East narrow lane market bazaars without hitting a single person.

See?
Movies CAN be educational.

[Aristus]

10. Bio-pics where the actors are substantially better-looking than the subjects they portray.

I mean, sure, it's Hollywood, but come on. Warren Beatty and Fay Dunaway as Bonnie and Clyde? Ever see pics of the real Bonnie and Clyde? Couple of ug-monkeys...

[WhoIsNumberNone]

11. Or how about "Based on a true story"?

I wonder how many people out there think the Germans almost won the Battle of the Bulge?...

[Archae]

12. But then Robert Shaw got that drum of gasoline up his nose...

[OriginalGeek]

30. My brother and I have had a long-running joke

that every movie is based on a true story.

"Hey did you see Alien vs Predator?"
"Yep! It was based on a true story."

EVERY time. We each know it's coming. It still cracks us up. It is better when we say this in front of people who are not in on the joke but it is not required that other people be there for us to laugh our asses off.

It's quite possible we are easily amused but whatcha gonna do? Brothers is brothers.

It started when our dad took us to see Pippi Longstocking as kids. He told us that and we believed it and at some point we decided he was pulling our legs but it was funny so we keep doing it.


This post is based on a true story.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

22. They always use better looking people or we wouldn't watch.

Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein became Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman.

That is what Julia Cameron calls your Cinema Self. She worked at the Washington Post and knew the real Woodstein. She has written several books about creativity. She was married to Martin Scorcese once upon a time, and her brother is a guy you may have heard of named James Cameron.

[dixiegrrrrl]

34. Interesting that Brit movies/tv use more "ordinary" looking people

in fact some of them might be termed "not attractive" ( Timopthy Spall, Clarian Hinds, tho he does look better in a beard)
who are quite good actors.
I find often that "star power" and hadnsome looks detract from a film. Clooney as an example. He is so good looking I can't get past his big brown eyes to fall into the story.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

41. Compare and contrast:

Helen Mirren in the original British Prime Suspect:



Maria Bello in the short-lived American remake:



Or, if the British soap opera Eastenders is on your local PBS station, check out some of the decidedly unattractive actors.

[Orrex]

67. Can't remember the reviewer's name, but...

he's a regular on NPR, and when he reviewed The Descendants, he referred to Clooney's "ridiculous handsomeness," identifying it as a real obstacle in appreciating his skill as an actor.

[nolabear]

13. The Explication Guy.

You know, the best friend/doctor/wingman whose main purpose is not to actually BE anybody but to fill in the background or plot by engaging the star in conversation or talking about his sad, sad life to someone else.

Also, the less attractive friend. They're often one and the same.

[Incitatus]

14. That's required as a plot device ,though.

Unless they can be replaced by narration by the protagonist.

[sakabatou]

17. Cool guys walking away from explosions

[siligut]

25. Such a classic

And everything in movies explodes. Once saw a guy on the freeway, he had pulled over and there was a blue flame coming from his gas tank. My first reaction was fear of an explosion, then logic prevailed.

[TwilightGardener]

18. Snappy-dialogue scenes (usually in newspaper offices and police stations)

where the actors talk while walking around the office quickly, not looking at each other, just too busy and distracted with papers and stalking up and down corridors, and you're getting a little woozy from the camera trying to keep up, and then all of a sudden: one of them says something SERIOUS and there's a pregnant pause and they finally stand still and face each other meaningfully.

I also don't like movie trailers. Words COMIN' AT YA on the screen, very loud soundtrack:
"IT...(flashbulb) WILL...(explosion) BLOW...(sexy embrace) YOU...(car flips over) AWAY!!! (explosion)"

[JoeyT]

19. Horror movies that instead of

actually managing to be creepy or scary or shocking or creative in any way just get really quiet then REALLY FUCKING LOUD ALL THE SUDDEN! in an attempt to make you jump. Which is most of them from the last decade or two.

People that screw up a franchise then reboot, then wreck it again, then reboot it again. Superman has been rebooted more often than a computer running Windows ME. Cameras that bounce all over the place to the point of causing motion sickness. I'm looking at you, Blair Witch. Torture porn that has no other redeeming features and no real plot, like Saw.

[OriginalGeek]

31. That is sadly true about Superman

but have you seen the trailer for Man of Steel? I have faith!

[Manifestor_of_Light]

21. Inaudible dialogue, made worse by background music.

Just about all commercials and lots of TV shows always have music over dialogue. I am very auditory so it covers what the actors are saying.

I think it means that the producers don't care what the actors are saying.

I was a court stenographer for 20 years. I listened to people talk for a living and translated it into shorthand. I stopped them if they mumbled and made them repeat themselves.

I cannot understand most movies and TV shows without captioning.

And I have extremely good hearing.

[monmouth3]

27. I swear I thought it was me. Thanks for posting that..

[Auggie]

44. Mumbling is the new way of speaking

[NV Whino]

23. Absolutely agree with all the music vs dialog comments

I also hate when the sound for the next scene starts in the present scene. You know, when the telephone rings out in the middle of the desert. Or when the door opens or closes when there is no door in sight.

Somebody at some time decided that was a clever transition, but I find it totally annoying.

[Kingofalldems]

26. Streets that are always wet

[kentauros]

36. Any rain scene,

i.e., the rain is falling between the camera and the actors so that no one truly gets wet. Their hair is still perfect and dry!

And the sun is usually shining, brightly, sometimes even with no clouds visible. Why doesn't one of the characters notice that and say something?

[dixiegrrrrl]

76. The USA version of The Killing is such a nice exception to that.

It is supposed to take place in Seattle, but was actually filmed in British Columbia, and it is almost always raining
( so true of both places, I know for a fact) and the characters get soaked, dripping wet.
In fact, I caught a chill just watching the series!

altho there was an overuse of thunder sound, I don't remember it thundering almost daily during the 10 month rainy season.

[kentauros]

78. I'm not familiar with that, other than the Kubrick movie, "The Killing"

And I guess with regards to the thunder, movies have to add something for audiences. People want added "realism" even if it's not natural. Personally, I could not watch Saving Private Ryan more than once because it was simply too real.

[kwassa]

87. The streets are wet for reasons of cinematography

Night time scenes.

Wet streets give cool reflections from any light source. Non-wet streets are almost invisible photographically.

It was the norm in the film industry to wet all nighttime street scenes. It often still is.

[sakabatou]

28. Using science and/or terms that aren't correct or false.

[Dash87]

29. Maybe I'm a cynic, but I can't stand "inspirational" movies.

They're so disgustingly saccharine and excruciating.

[LeftinOH]

33. I have a few, starting with opening credits that drag on for several minutes

into the action of the film.

Also:

Gunshots. The sound of movie and TV gunshots are "sexed up" for dramatic effect. Real gunshots sound "like firecrackers". In fact, the first thing witnesses say after a gun rampage is often "at first I thought it was firecrackers".. and it's probably because most of the gunshots we ever hear are fake sound effects.

[RedCloud]

35. Monkey sounds during the jungle scene

They are usually quiet when shit is about to happen.

[Initech]

37. Morgan Freeman as the wise guy who knows everything about everybody.

Don't get me wrong - I like Morgan Freeman but he definitely has a wider range of characters he could be playing. As seen in: The Dark Knight trilogy, The Bucket List, Deep Impact, the list goes on and on.

[tblue]

38. Keira Knightly as every lovely European woman who ever lived.

I like her and I think she is a great actor. But is she the only one? Thank God she wasn't in Les Mis!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

39. Sort of like Graham Greene playing every Native American who ever lived

starting in Dances with Wolves.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

40. I hate previews that tell you the whole plot of the movie and movies with

clichéd plots and characters.

One of the reasons I enjoy foreign films is that they show stories and characters that I haven't seen before.

[HeiressofBickworth]

59. I so totally AGREE!

I love foreign movies for the same reason -- characters, scenery, plot devices, endings that Hollywood still hasn't invented. Seems to me that too many Hollywood movies are remakes or sequels to other financially successful Hollywood movies. Rather than coming up with something new and innovative, the investors want a guarantee on their return on investment. It just doesn't make for good movies, however.

Fortunately for me, here in Seattle we have a several theaters that show foreign or independent films. I go to the movies at least once, if not more, every weekend.

[Liberal Veteran]

46. All of these...

[Arctic Dave]

47. What kind of movies are we talking about?

[dixiegrrrrl]

49. any kind that has the gimmicks that are annoying..

up to you.

[Ava]

48. When characters tell you things instead of the director showing them

it's a cheap way out

[WolverineDG]

50. 2 boys meet girl, fall in love with girl

both boys go off to war, the one she's most in love with dies, the survivor marries her.

[LynneSin]

51. Rain at Funerals

If someone's being buried there is a 100% chance of a heavy rain downfall during the funeral

[SfromCanada]

53. Quarrelling Couple reunited over the course of the movie

Why does this plot device have to be in every single bleeping film?

[NV Whino]

54. One more

The gratuitous chirping of sirens when police cars arrive or leave a scene. Give it a rest, guys.

[frogmarch]

57. Whoosh! Bang! Crash! Thud!

The sudden loud, annoying sound effects - especially at scene changes - in some documentaries, especially in some true crime documentaries.

[mokawanis]

60. No serious injuries from fist fights

Guy gets punched in the head 14 times and the only sign of injury is a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth.

[TeamPooka]

79. or fist ights that go on way too long after such damage would have incapacitated a person

[SEMOVoter]

62. POV home video style Blair Witch type movies

I throw up. Every. Time.

I love scary movies. I hate being sick to my stomach.

[eppur_se_muova]

63. That sweeping Steadicam shot with the subject at the center ...

it used to be impossible to make such a shot. Five minutes after it became possible, it was tediously overused.

[dixiegrrrrl]

65. So, I am not the only one who gets vertigo from that?

[Pretzel_Warrior]

64. Time lapse of clouds flying overhead and sped up 10x the speed

Always, always, ALWAYS having protagonist escape the car/buildind/plane the instant it explodes in a fireball

Squealing tires on a dirt road. Really?

Protagonist and his/her opponent somehow able to hold a conversation while both ate yelling out the windows of their side by side cars speeding along at 70 m.p.h.

Shall I continue?

[Orrex]

66. Most scenes in which characters recite another character's resume

It can be done effectively, but most often it comes across like this:

First guy: "Why do we need him?"

Second guy: "You know he's the only one who can crack the code. He has an IQ of 200 and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard at 15."

First guy: "I still don't like it."

Second guy: "If you know anyone else who has experience reprogramming the launch codes by hand, I'd like to know who it is."


Obvious and conspicuous character background. If it's done right, then it flows seamlessly in the dialogue, but if it's done wrong--as it usually is--then the dialogue clangs to a halt while the characters bring us up to speed.

[dogknob]

69. Agreed, but there are rare occasions when it works.

Sheriff Truman: Morning, Leo.
Leo Johnson: [hostile and beligerent tone] Who the hell is he?
Sheriff Truman: This is Special Agent Cooper, FBI. He's investigating the murder of Laura Palmer. He'd like to ask you a couple of questions.
Leo Johnson: So ask!
Dale Cooper: Leo... is that short for Leonard?
Leo Johnson: That's a question?

Dale Cooper: Did you know Laura Palmer?
Leo Johnson: No.
Dale Cooper: Really? How well did you know her?
Leo Johnson: I said I didn't!
Dale Cooper: You're lying.
Leo Johnson: I knew who she was. Everybody did, all right?
Dale Cooper: Do you have a criminal record?
Leo Johnson: Nothing. You can look it up.
Dale Cooper: I have. Illegal U-turn... April 1986. Drunk and disorderly... November 1987. September 1988, aggravated assult. Charges dropped.
Leo Johnson: I paid my debt to society.

[Orrex]

71. Great example! And see how it flows as part of the natural dialogue?

Even when you get past the fact that Leo's acting was terrible, like a low-rent porn extra.


Another fine example is in Unforgiven, shortly before the deputies confront English Bob, and they're discussing Little Bill's qualifications.

"He worked them tough towns," says one of the deputies.

It's a simple, subtle moment, but the reactions of the characters conveys a great deal beyond the words themselves. It's a great use of dialogue serving to establish character--sharp writing and sharp direction.

[dogknob]

73. Eric Da Re was crew on Wild At Heart

I think it was all about the look.

[TeamPooka]

81. Yes! Exposition and explanation are dialogue killers nt

[dogknob]

68. Pirates and Mobsters having their motivations fed to us until they become mainstream thinking.

...and Zombies used to illustrate how violence is necessary to end a "serious" dispute. In case you haven't figured it out yet, Zombies are intended as a metaphor for us. We here on DU and all progressives. No point talking to us cuz we'll just start working that fact-based mumbo-jumbo -- better to shoot first and never ask questions.

[dixiegrrrrl]

75. I thought zombies and vampires were metaphors for

the banksters and huge corporations which are basically hollow bankrupt shells unless they continue the infusion of derivatives, debt and free money.

But, what do I know....

[TeamPooka]

82. Film Analogies. Great scene in an episode of Entourage with James Cameron:

Counter Girl: Was the sinking of the ship an attempt to foreshadow the forthcoming sinking of the tech market of 2000?
James Cameron: Uh, no. Actually, I just wanted to make young girls cry.

[dixiegrrrrl]

86. Sometimes a Titantic is just a Titantic, eh?

[pink-o]

70. Music scores that are obviously manipulative

Talk about a lazy plot device! You get the ominous dramatic minor notes when you're supposed to feel the tension, or else the saccharine melodies when 2 characters are realizing they have romantic feelings. Just loathsome.

Scoring a film is really important: the music must find a precarious balance of staying enough in the background, yet enhancing the pacing and not getting lost. Another feature done far better in foreign films than in those from the US.

as an example: I have always HATED John Williams. From ET and all the other Spielberg films, he's just set my teeth on edge. I tolerated him during Lincoln because I loved the film so much, but it would've been far better with another scorer.

[Populist_Prole]

74. I hate that too

I can't stand corny-ness or cheap unearned emotion as it is, and so we don't need schmaltzy music to further manipulate us.

[Pretzel_Warrior]

72. Close up of person's eyeballs as they shift nervously

Movies with sound tracks shoe horned in merely as a way to get more back end revenue. (very common in baby boomer movies).

The time sweep vignette showing a friendship or romance budding (walk in the park, laughing at a movie in a theater, some slight spat, making up) all set to some cheesy music.

[nuxvomica]

77. Strobe lights

I can't watch them because they give me migraines. Is there any surer sign that the director doesn't know how to make the scene exciting?

[dixiegrrrrl]

84. sets off seizures, too, I have been told.

Makes my eyes ache.

[NewJeffCT]

80. People entering a dark house, and not turning on the lights

as their first action.

[PassingFair]

83. Gratuitous scene in the strip club.

Sometimes they just run THROUGH a strip club.

Gotta flash female flesh, even though it has NO PLACE in the plot.

[dixiegrrrrl]

85. You are right..when is the last time someone was chased thru a Petco

or Sam's club?

[kwassa]

88. CGI has really ruined movies.

Why? because any "reality" can be created on a computer, which tempts filmmakers to envision casts of many thousands all created on the computer and rather artificial looking. Directors go for the big look rather than creating what they need to do dramatically.

[dixiegrrrrl]

89. I noticed it in explosions and fires.

Esp. when there is a BIG explosion yet no nearby cars/buildings/trees/and even people are affected.

[lost-in-nj]

90. I have never understood

why they always get a parking spot in front of where ever they had to go into.....
and for what it's worth I have a problem with all the "wet or rain" scenes also every friggen episode or scene??

lost