# And the award for clunkiest movie title goes to.... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 16, 2010, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-award-for-clunkiest-movie-title-goes-to/553930 "2010-09-16T02:36:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-award-for-clunkiest-movie-title-goes-to/553930/41 "2010-09-16T23:51:05Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > > [@Tethered\_Kite](#): > > > > A couple more which come to mind: > > > > “The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-moon Marigolds.” > > What? I thought that one was pure genius! I’ll give you that. But it’s still clunky! As far as Twickster’s correction it’s understandable. If she was around in the Seventies she’s not supposed to remember it anyway. And unless she reads the entertainment news now and then she may have missed the new production of “Marigolds.” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-award-for-clunkiest-movie-title-goes-to/553930/42 "2010-09-16T23:52:57Z")
_Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life_ or _LCTRTCOL_ for short. ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-award-for-clunkiest-movie-title-goes-to/553930/43 "2010-09-16T23:55:47Z")
If comedies are allowed, then one obvious one is **Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan**. ---
**Author:** ![jordanr2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@jordanr2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jordanr2)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-award-for-clunkiest-movie-title-goes-to/553930/44 "2010-09-17T00:21:44Z")
At what point does a title go from being imaginative to just awkward and clunky? Here are some I find very graceful: _We Spin Around the Night Consumed by Fire As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty Elle a Passe Tant D’Heures Sous Les Sunlights…_ but paradoxically, sometimes it’s one-word titles that are the least compelling: _Saw_, _Salt_, _Milk_. Were it not for the subject matter, who would see movies like these? On the other hand I’ve wanted to see _Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?_ for years just because of that title. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-award-for-clunkiest-movie-title-goes-to/553930/45 "2010-09-17T00:27:10Z")
> [@winterhawk11](#): > > How about “The Man Who Fell from Grace with the Sea”? Never did figure out what that one was about, either. That was no ordinary man, that was a sailor. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-award-for-clunkiest-movie-title-goes-to/553930/46 "2010-09-17T00:39:23Z")
**Willow** was not a great name for any movie, especially one that was supposed to be a fantasy epic. The title **Wilder Napalm** put me off that movie. Was it any good? ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-award-for-clunkiest-movie-title-goes-to/553930/47 "2010-09-17T00:47:30Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > **Willow** was not a great name for any movie, especially one that was supposed to be a fantasy epic. The full title is Willow [del]the Hobbit, or There and Back Again, a Completely Original Film by George Lucas[/del], but it’s often abbreviated for conciseness or to limit litigation. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-award-for-clunkiest-movie-title-goes-to/553930/48 "2010-09-17T01:22:52Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > The title **Wilder Napalm** put me off that movie. Was it any good? Yeah, actually, if you like comedies about pyrokinesis. Or comedies in general. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-award-for-clunkiest-movie-title-goes-to/553930/49 "2010-09-17T01:26:17Z")
There’s also _Swept Away by an Unusual Destiny in the Blue Sea of August_ (Travolti da un insolito destino nell’azzurro mare d’agosto), by Lina Wertmuller (Full name: Arcangela Felice Assunta Wertmüller von Elgg Español von Braueich). Wertmuller’s other movies include: [Summer Night, with Greek Profile, Almond Eyes and Scent of Basil](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093650/) [The Blue Collar Worker and the Hairdresser in a Whirl of Sex and Politics](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117030/) [Too Much Romance… It’s Time for Stuffed Peppers](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0418590/) ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-award-for-clunkiest-movie-title-goes-to/553930/50 "2010-09-18T01:28:31Z")
> [@Cheez\_Whia](#): > > > [@twickster](#): > > > > [nitpick]Both plays, not movies[/nitpick] > > Well, [one](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068528/) was made into a movie in 1972, and the [other](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0788110/) will be released next month. > > I saw a college production of “Gamma Rays”. It was really good. Huh. Well, as **Tethered Kite** suggested, my memories of the '70s are a wee bit, um, altered. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-award-for-clunkiest-movie-title-goes-to/553930/51 "2010-09-18T02:54:35Z")
> [@Jenaroph](#): > > _Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire_ I seem to recall that there is also the novelization of the movie: [http://www.amazon.com/Precious-Push-Movie-Vintage-Contemporaries/dp/0307474844/ref=sr\_1\_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1284778318&sr=8-6](http://www.amazon.com/Precious-Push-Movie-Vintage-Contemporaries/dp/0307474844/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1284778318&sr=8-6) So it could almost be called _Precious: The official novelization of Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire_. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-award-for-clunkiest-movie-title-goes-to/553930/52 "2010-09-18T05:29:49Z")
I’ll start by acknowledging that I’ve not yet read through this thread, but it I’m the first to mention **Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones** then I’ll eat my proverbial hat. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-award-for-clunkiest-movie-title-goes-to/553930/53 "2010-09-18T06:44:59Z")
And from the Sixties: **Who is Harry Kellerman and Why is He Saying those Terrible Things about Me?** It’s about as interesting as it sounds. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-award-for-clunkiest-movie-title-goes-to/553930.md?page=2)