# Little mistakes that take you out of the movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 22, 2009, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969 "2009-02-22T19:43:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/1 "2009-02-22T19:43:36Z")
Part XXXIV I’m sure, and an easy thread as long as doctors watch medical dramas, Forensic Investigators watch the CSI network and Lawyers watch law stuff. I’m watching Iron Man and one is specific to the movie, but another is pretty much de rigeur where action meets cars: -Tony Stark is working on his flat-head ford, the computer mentions low compression on cylinder 3…which is on the OTHER bank of cylinders from what he’s taking apart. -You have folks driving around in VERY expensive cars, and the SECOND an auto insurance claim is created, all the cars involved are 8-12 years old. (From Audi A8 to 96 Dodge Intrepid in three frames flat) ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/2 "2009-02-22T19:50:53Z")
In _Robin Hood: Men In Tights_, there’s a continuity error in the final sword fight scene between Robin and the Sherriff. Robin, sword in his right hand, pins the Sherriff’s sword against a pillar. The camera cuts and Robin quickly transfers his sword from his left hand back to his right. At no point did the sword ever move from right to left. Bugs me every time. ---
**Author:** ![Taenia\_spp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5e925/32.png) [@Taenia\_spp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taenia_spp)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/3 "2009-02-22T20:14:33Z")
For me it’s all the little technical errors and misrepresentations that add up to a whole lot of bullshit: - In _Jurassic Park_, they little girl “hacker” sees these fancy graphics on the computer screen and exclaims “I know this! This is UNIX!”. Similarly, I could not imagine a more un-hackerish movie than _Hackers_. -Because I have an academic background in biology and biotechnology, complete bullshit leaks out of the collective anuses of _The Andromeda Strain_ and Hollywood in general. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/4 "2009-02-22T20:35:46Z")
I already bitched about this in another current thread, but for me it’s chess sets and boards. Having them at all is supposed to convey that whoever has one lying about is way more than just smart, they’re strategy experts and geeky and may know more than anybody else in the cast. But when the board is set up with a dark square on the bottom right, or when the King and Queen are on the wrong colors or when the pieces are set up in some impossible arrangement, the exact opposite effect is achieved: these dipshits don’t know chess from cheesecake. It’s an order of magnitude worse when chess terminology is tossed in gratuitously with bogus opening names, fictitious champions and even master players, and all the other trappings that even club players know to be bogus. I mean, if they can’t fool the basic chess amateur, how do they expect to fool anybody who really knows what’s going on? That leaves people who haven’t the foggiest about chess, and I guess they deserve to think chess players are really all that much smarter then the average domino player. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/5 "2009-02-22T20:37:43Z")
> [@Taenia\_spp](#): > > -Because I have an academic background in biology and biotechnology, complete bullshit leaks out of the collective anuses of _The Andromeda Strain_ and Hollywood in general. How can you say that? It was written and researched by Michael Crichton! Oh…I see…based on reading his ‘I.T.’ based stuff…I can see where you’re coming from. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/6 "2009-02-22T20:37:49Z")
It’s not a movie, but are there NO NURSES at Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital? No techs? Frankly, are there no doctors who aren’t in the opening credits? Say what you want about _Scrubs_, at least they have nurses at Sacred Heart. I’d crap my pants in terror if the Head of Oncology came at me with a needle to draw blood for tests. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/7 "2009-02-22T20:53:15Z")
Actually, I’m wondering if we shouldn’t just state up front that computer interactions are off limits…That’s one of those things that hollywood rarely gets right. Just after I run this cellphone picture through the computer…I wanna see that girl’s blood type. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/8 "2009-02-22T21:03:38Z")
> [@Taenia\_spp](#): > > In _Jurassic Park_, they little girl “hacker” sees these fancy graphics on the computer screen and exclaims “I know this! This is UNIX!”. You mean that scene where they showed a [real Unix application](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fsn) running on a [real Unix machine](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_Graphics,_Inc.) displaying a [real Unix directory tree](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRIX)? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/9 "2009-02-22T21:27:39Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > It’s not a movie, but are there NO NURSES at Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital? No techs? Frankly, are there no doctors who aren’t in the opening credits? Say what you want about _Scrubs_, at least they have nurses at Sacred Heart. I’d crap my pants in terror if the Head of Oncology came at me with a needle to draw blood for tests. I haven’t seen Wilson drawing blood. That said, it wouldn’t surprise me that, when the nursing staff at Princeton Plainsboro ended their strike, one of the conditions is that none of them have to associate with House or his staff except in emergencies. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Creaky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e68b1a/32.png) [@Creaky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Creaky)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/10 "2009-02-22T21:44:44Z")
The only thing that comes to mind worth mentioning is actually from a TV show. I was watching an episode of “Cold Case” and one of the cops was talking to a Holocaust survivor. The person showed a tattoo on their wrist. The number “one” in the series of numbers was done like an American number one;, that is, a straight line. I have seen pictures of real camp tattoos like that and the number “ones” were done like European “ones”; that is, the ones looked like upside-down “Vs”. That made me nuts to the point where I remember it. ---
**Author:** ![Taenia\_spp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5e925/32.png) [@Taenia\_spp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taenia_spp)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/11 "2009-02-22T22:04:46Z")
> [@Terminus\_Est](#): > > You mean that scene where they showed a [real Unix application](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fsn) running on a [real Unix machine](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_Graphics,_Inc.) displaying a [real Unix directory tree](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRIX)? Consider my ignorance cured, **Terminus Est**. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/12 "2009-02-22T22:07:38Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I haven’t seen Wilson drawing blood. That said, it wouldn’t surprise me that, when the nursing staff at Princeton Plainsboro ended their strike, one of the conditions is that none of them have to associate with House or his staff except in emergencies. 😃 I’ve seen House ordering around nurses a couple of times. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/13 "2009-02-22T22:09:21Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > I’ve seen House ordering around nurses a couple of times. Don’t bother me with facts. Anyway, if you check the deleted scenes on the DVDs, you’ll find this is always followed by the nurses plotting his death, and then Cuddy having to give them raises or extra time off or access to her swimming pool to get them to put down the knife. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/14 "2009-02-22T22:29:55Z")
In **House** , nurses are in the background of various scenes in places like the clinic, and always are called for when someone is having a seizure (but don’t get there until they break for commercial). But this is a story about House and the other doctors… The nurses rarely have anything to do with the plot, so there’s no dramatic reason to show them. Drama _always_ trumps “realism.” ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/15 "2009-02-22T22:41:47Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > In **House** , nurses are in the background of various scenes in places like the clinic, and always are called for when someone is having a seizure (but don’t get there until they break for commercial). > > But this is a story about House and the other doctors.. The nurses rarely have anything to do with the plot, so there’s no dramatic reason to show them. Drama _always_ trumps “realism.” Yeah, but it doesn’t drive you nuts when the doctors go around drawing blood and running tests? That’s necessary for the plot? Anybody who’s ever, say, _had blood drawn_ knows damned well your doctor never does it. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/16 "2009-02-22T22:53:07Z")
> [@Unintentionally\_Blank](#): > > Actually, I’m wondering if we shouldn’t just state up front that computer interactions are off limits…That’s one of those things that hollywood rarely gets right. > > Just after I run this cellphone picture through the computer…I wanna see that girl’s blood type. If you blow up the picture 700% and renormalize the pixels, you’ll be able to read the three words showing on her suicide note… and notice that it’s _not her handwriting_. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/17 "2009-02-22T22:54:44Z")
I’ve watched the last few episodes of Nip/tuck. My god, what a terrible show. I’m watching because an acquaintance of mine is a co-star in an upcoming episode and I want to see her but I don’t know which episode it’s going to be. I can’t wait until she shows up so I can banish the show from my DVR forever. Anyway, there is usually a surgery scene or two in each episode and the doctors never wear masks. I realize that it’s because they want their face on camera but it is annoying to me. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/18 "2009-02-22T23:09:45Z")
Any scene where a corpse is seen to be breathing. I know nothing about movie making. I’m sure back in the good old days your best bet for showing a dead person on screen was to have an actor remain _perfectly_ still and apply the appropriate makeup. You would think something a tad more precise exists today, but maybe it doesn’t. Anyway, two instances that really stand out: _Mystic River_ - When Sean Penn is at the morgue you can see his daughter’s chest rise and fall as he identifies the body. _Fargo_ - When Marge is investigating the murders in Brainerd, the murdered Minnesota State Trooper’s face visually changes its expression, that _really_ throws you when you see it for the first time. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Superhero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Superhero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Superhero)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/19 "2009-02-22T23:20:51Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > It’s an order of magnitude worse when chess terminology is tossed in gratuitously with bogus opening names, fictitious champions and even master players, and all the other trappings that even club players know to be bogus. I mean, if they can’t fool the basic chess amateur, how do they expect to fool anybody who really knows what’s going on? That leaves people who haven’t the foggiest about chess, and I guess they deserve to think chess players are really all that much smarter then the average domino player. My favorite is when they have their supposedly-brilliant chess players saying “Queen to Queen’s Bishop Six” and the like. Yeah, descriptive notation sounds better as dialogue, I suppose, but nobody’s really used it in thirty years. ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969/20 "2009-02-22T23:59:40Z")
There’s a scene of him making espresso with one of those aluminum stovetop dealies. And the sound of a kettle whistle.:rolleyes: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-mistakes-that-take-you-out-of-the-movie/486969.md?page=2)