# Little things that briefly take you out of a movie: **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 7, 2019, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319 "2019-08-07T22:04:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/81 "2019-08-08T20:27:59Z")
> [@Marine\_One](#): > > “Captain! Here come the Panzer tanks!!” > > Except they’re Sherman tanks with German crosses. I hope the swastikas at least were right side 'round. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/82 "2019-08-08T20:32:28Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Added sound effects that are 1) predictable and 2) over the top. > > Examples: > Another one - the extremely loud ker-chunk when someone turns on the lights in a stadium, warehouse, or similar structure - _ker-chunk_! > mmm What sound do you think they make? ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/83 "2019-08-08T20:35:12Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > When characters traveling in a vehicle have an intense conversation, and the driver spends _minutes_ at a time looking at the person in the passenger seat, with nary a glance at the road ahead. > > Yeah, I know you’re on a process trailer and not actually driving. Fake! LOOK AT THE DANG ROAD!!! Or when they don’t even have a rear view mirror in the middle of the windshield. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/84 "2019-08-08T20:42:46Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Guns that make cocking/racking noises whenever someone moves the weapon. In _ **Hell is for Heroes** _, Steve McQueen is constantly fiddling with the ejection port on his M3 for no apparent reason: _Click-clack! Click-clack! Click-clack!_ From what I’ve read, he was railroaded into doing the movie; maybe this was his way of showing dissatisfaction. While I sympathize fully, it’s still annoying as, uh, hell. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/85 "2019-08-08T21:16:52Z")
Two characters having a conversation about something they both already know, solely so that information can be given to the audience. Bonus points if one of them says “As you know…” It’s so inorganic. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/86 "2019-08-08T21:21:00Z")
> [@Dingbang](#): > > Obviously empty suitcases. People pick up even large suitcases with ease and swing them around. Just put some bricks or old books in there so the actors handle them realistically. Same goes for people wearing obviously empty backpacks. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/87 "2019-08-08T21:22:24Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Speaking of adjuncts, in _Bull Durham_, Crash Davis asks Annie Savoy what she does for a living. She replies that she’s a part-time professor at a community college. > > An actual adjunct professor at a community college in NC might’ve made about $1000 per course back then. I don’t get the point you’re making. Annie doesn’t make a lot of money? ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_McQwark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@Steve\_McQwark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_McQwark)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/88 "2019-08-08T21:36:09Z")
Any western where the cowboys are crossing the desert and come across some water. The parched cowboys jump off their horses and start drinking greedily while the horses just stand there. Seems like the horses should be as thirsty as the cowboys. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/89 "2019-08-08T22:07:31Z")
One thing that bugs the living shit out of me. A character lights a cigarette (often times, bummed), lights it, takes _ONE_ puff, says something dramatic, then puts it out. They either stamp it out or drop it in a beverage. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/90 "2019-08-08T22:17:03Z")
> [@Steve\_McQwark](#): > > Any western where the cowboys are crossing the desert and come across some water. The parched cowboys jump off their horses and start drinking greedily while the horses just stand there. Seems like the horses should be as thirsty as the cowboys. I can’t speak for its historical accuracy, but if I were to regularly find myself wandering the desert on horseback without my own water supply, one thing I’d definitely do is train my horse not to drink until I tell it to. Nobody wants to be the guy who gets to the water trough after Trigger and all his friends are finished. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/91 "2019-08-08T22:33:05Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > I don’t get the point you’re making. Annie doesn’t make a lot of money? $1000 **per course** would be $1000 spread over several months. So no, not a lot of money. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/92 "2019-08-08T22:36:28Z")
My pet peeve in movies and TV shows is microphones being used wrong. The worst recent example of this is the movie _Late Night_. Emma Thompson plays a late night TV show host who, in the decades she has hosted her show, has apparently _never noticed that [her microphone in pointed the wrong way!](https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/late-night-2.jpg?w=1000)_ The microphone is a classic [Shure Super 55](https://media.guitarcenter.com/is/image/MMGS7/Super-55-Dynamic-Microphone/620524000000000-00-290x290.jpg), also known as the “Potato masher” and is [the microphone most closely associated with Elvis Presley](https://timedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2017/08/elvis-in-heart-america.jpg), so much so that it [co-starred with Elvis on his stamp](https://media2.fdncms.com/memphisflyer/imager/u/blog/3937529/imgres.jpg?cb=1454760610). The thing about the Super 55 is that it has a little stylized “S” on the front grill. That’s the part you sing into. Not the top which, to clue you in, is made of solid metal! Half of the stock photos [out there](https://d2gg9evh47fn9z.cloudfront.net/800px_COLOURBOX1758915.jpg) feature models [singing into](https://ak7.picdn.net/shutterstock/videos/10070177/thumb/1.jpg) the[solid top](https://videohive.img.customer.envatousercontent.com/files/9ef0b42a-3490-4b20-a9c6-1b8d7adc3e9f/inline_image_preview.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=crop&crop=top&max-h=8000&max-w=590&)! Sorry, but this is as stupid as someone picking up a 35mm camera and putting the lens to their eye rather than the viewfinder! ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/93 "2019-08-08T22:55:08Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > My pet peeve in movies and TV shows is microphones being used wrong. > > The worst recent example of this is the movie _Late Night_. Emma Thompson plays a late night TV show host who, in the decades she has hosted her show, has apparently _never noticed that [her microphone in pointed the wrong way!](https://pmcvariety.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/late-night-2.jpg?w=1000)_ The microphone is a classic [Shure Super 55](https://media.guitarcenter.com/is/image/MMGS7/Super-55-Dynamic-Microphone/620524000000000-00-290x290.jpg), also known as the “Potato masher” and is [the microphone most closely associated with Elvis Presley](https://timedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2017/08/elvis-in-heart-america.jpg), so much so that it [co-starred with Elvis on his stamp](https://media2.fdncms.com/memphisflyer/imager/u/blog/3937529/imgres.jpg?cb=1454760610). As I remember, David Letterman had a microphone like that on his desk when he hosted a late-night show. I assumed he either wore a lapel microphone or a boom microphone was above his head and the old-timey desk mic was a prop. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/94 "2019-08-08T23:39:55Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > My pet peeve in movies and TV shows is microphones being used wrong. When I worked in radio back in the '90s, the first thing I was taught was _ **NEVER TOUCH THE MICROPHONE!** _ It’ll pick up and greatly magnify the least little nudge and tap. Oddly, this never seems to deter actors from doing so in the movies and TV. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/95 "2019-08-08T23:52:25Z")
Someone mentioned empty suitcases. Something that really bugs me more than it really should is empty coffee containers and the like. I know they’re props, but put some liquid in them so they’re not obviously empty. Anyone who has had a coffee or a soft drink out of a disposable cup knows how it moves when full and how it sounds when you put it down on a table. If it make a hollow plok! noise, _it’s empty_. Also, the scenes where one person brings another person a container of coffee and they immediately take a big ol’ swig instead of first seeing whether or not it’s going to melt their tongue. On top of that, they tip it back so far, they’d be wearing the contents. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2019, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/96 "2019-08-09T00:24:16Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > As I remember, David Letterman had a microphone like that on his desk when he hosted a late-night show. I assumed he either wore a lapel microphone or a boom microphone was above his head and the old-timey desk mic was a prop. If I recall correctly, he had an [RCA 77](https://www.gearslutz.com/board/attachments/product-image-container/610852-product-images-rca-type-77-dx-ribbon-microphone.jpg) when he was on NBC. On CBS he used a [Neumann m147](https://www.gearslutz.com/board/attachments/product-image-container/440765-product-images-neumann_m147tube.jpg). Both are perfectly respectable, well-loved microphones. He did wear a body pack and a lapel mic, may well have been covered with a boom as well. But my point is - if you’re going to have a microphone visible, you should have it aimed how it normally works. Otherwise you look like an idiot to anyone who has ever used one. ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2019, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/97 "2019-08-09T00:24:35Z")
In the new Tarantino movie DiCaprio and Pacino are sitting at a restaurant table with just two full glass of water. Cut to a different angle, one of the glasses is 3/4 full. Next angle, two full glasses of water. Next, they each have a drink - one’s finishing something in a rocks glass, one a glass of wine or something. Next angle, back to two full glasses of water only. All of this happens in about 60 seconds with some of the switches taking place mid-sentence. At first I thought it was a setup for something, but then I figured that that didn’t make any sense so it had to be continuity errors. It took me out of the scene to the point that I had to replay in my mind what they were talking about and how it fit in the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2019, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/98 "2019-08-09T01:12:03Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Guys like Jack Bauer being able to survive being stabbed, shot, beaten, blown up, _et cetera_, and still go on for hours without eating, drinking, sleeping, or taking a whiz and a dump. There was at least one episode where they showed Jack eating a frozen dinner. Besides, it’s only 24 hours, and Jack is a bad ass. No time for pissing. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2019, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/99 "2019-08-09T02:17:08Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > There was at least one episode where they showed Jack eating a frozen dinner. > > Besides, it’s only 24 hours, and Jack is a bad ass. No time for pissing. Not denying that Jack could clench his cheeks for 24 hours (probably doesn’t get enough fibre in his diet), but the show was “real-time”, and JB wasn’t on camera the entire 24 hours. He could have been refilling the empty bottle of Mountain Dew in his car while magically missing all traffic in LA when getting from point A to point B. Is it really necessary to show that? No answer for JB’s, or any action star’s, ability to continue after what should be debilitating wounds. My peeves relate mostly to the superhero genre, and includes the original medium. First peeve is lifting stuff - for me the most recent worst offender was when Supergirl lifted a submarine out of the water. There is no point on a submarine structurally sound enough to be supported by two hands. The second is the case of the fluctuating power level - Flash is the most egregious but they are all guilty. I can and do forgive so much for this genre because I’ve loved it for nearly 5 decades. It’s just that these 2, more than any other shortcoming, can break my suspension of disbelief. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2019, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/100 "2019-08-09T03:26:24Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > More important: Characters are served drinks (and food) and never touch them. This happens all the time in soaps, where a man and a woman sit down at the table, talk for two or three minutes, and then the woman gets up and puts the dishes in the sink without either actor taking a bite. Now on the old tv show “All in the Family” they did all sit down and actually eat. It actually seemed entertaining watching everyone eat and I dont know why. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319.md?page=6)