# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/141 "2019-08-10T17:25:46Z")
Names that make zero cultural sense. Mind you, this requires me to recognize that the name makes zero cultural sense, but Baby Jesus on an electric scooter: if you cast a Spaniard to play a character who’s a Spaniard, or an Italian to play an Italian, would it be so difficult to ask them if the name makes sense? From what I know of how movies are made, it’s quite likely that an actor with a small role won’t know the role’s name at all: they may get only the parts of the script where the character appears, and the character’s name is never mentioned with the character present. Situations where a bunch of people are supposed to have lived in the same place their whole life, but they all have radically different accents. For Spanish media, situations where a character would have a strong regional accent given their brackground, yet speaks in accents that would make the Dictionary of the Academies of the Spanish Language swooooooon. Yes, with extra o’s. I haven’t encountered it in Englis, but I can’t promise nobody ever did it. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/142 "2019-08-10T18:06:54Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > Another car chase related one: When they dub in the sound of squealing tires, but the cars are on a dirt road. I can assure you, when operating a motor vehicle with the proper amount of enthusiasm, tires _ **will squeal** _ on dirt roads. ---
**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 10, 2019, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/143 "2019-08-10T18:23:43Z")
Actors being given musical instruments they clearly don’t know how to play, or even hold. Like Steve McQueen and his fife in _ **The Great Escape** _. Or the trombone player in a marching band who swings his horn back-and-forth and up-and-down while pumping the slide in-and out, in-and-out, in-and-out. Sir, I know the trombone. I used to play the trombone.\* And you, sir, are no trombonist. As for Napoleonic-era soldiers marching to brass bands, I saw this once in a German (Nazi-era) movie set during the reign of Frederick the Great. Most of the instruments they were playing hadn’t even been invented yet. And yes, the Prussian army would charge headlong across the battlefield with fixed bayonets, as would the ones they were facing. Talk about disappointment! Of all people, you’d expect the Nazis at least to know how to make good war movies! ☹ \*I used to play the fife, too. And the bagpipe, which actors also don’t know how to hold, much less play. ---
**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 10, 2019, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/144 "2019-08-10T18:45:57Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > First, most of the pictures I find of her show her as a brunette. > > Second, even if she was blonde, she was not an especially important character… Yes, but did Mohandas dip his bald head in oil and rub it all over her body? :dubious: 😕 (Sorry, I just couldn’t resist any more! 😃🙂😛 ) ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/145 "2019-08-10T20:15:05Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > 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. People whose lives depend on the health of their horses will ostentatiously make a point of taking care of the horses first, themselves second. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/146 "2019-08-10T22:38:00Z")
In _Casablanca_, the door of the German Legation in the French Moroccan city is lettered, naturally, in English. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/147 "2019-08-10T23:12:06Z")
Character A comes upon Character B, who is staring in the distance with a look of utter horror or surprise on his face. Does A turn to see what B finds so horrifying? No, not at first. A stares at B’s horrified face until B slowly raises a pointed finger instructing A where to look. Only then does A avert his gaze to see what is troubling B so. mmm ---
**Author:** ![TaoPilot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TaoPilot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TaoPilot)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2019, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/148 "2019-08-11T02:38:18Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > The no-look look. > > Detective arrives on the scene to find that the FBI investigator is already there. FBI-guy is not looking at the detective because he is already looking at the crime scene. Detective approaches the FBI guy and FBI guy says(without looking), “Thank you, officer. We’ll take it from here. This is our case now.” Unless it’s Batman. It’s okay when Batman does it. ---
**Author:** ![Courk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@Courk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Courk)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2019, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/149 "2019-08-11T03:20:16Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > This one probably applies more to TV than movies, but older special effects that may have looked convincing enough on a small screen in standard definition, but look obviously fake when you see them on a bigger screen and in HD. For example I rewatched the Stephen King miniseries _The Langoliers_ (1995) on Netflix a few years ago, and the CGI effects looked like something out of a 1990s video game. I saw this on a regular-sized 4:3 ratio TV. The CGI effects looked like that then, too. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2019, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/150 "2019-08-11T04:05:40Z")
Tough Hero Guy doesn’t flinch, doesn’t react, doesn’t look back when something explodes right behind him, but just keeps striding purposefully towards the camera. C’mon. Nobody is _that_ focused. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2019, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/151 "2019-08-11T13:15:55Z")
> [@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. And, in fact, the horse probably found the water in the first place. They require upwards of ten gallons a day and can smell a water hole a lot further off than Cowboy Bob can. For me it’s the Hollywood Disease, the one where someone is in their last hours dying from some dread disease and still looks great. ---
**Author:** ![wanderer2575](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/2acd7d/32.png) [@wanderer2575](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wanderer2575)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2019, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/152 "2019-08-11T13:58:20Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Added sound effects that are 1) predictable and 2) over the top. > > Examples: > > Added whooshing noises, such as when some karate dude is slicing his hands through the air - _whoosh, whoosh_. > > (cut) > > mmm This alone makes _Iron Chef America_ unwatchable. Among other godawful cliches. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2019, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/153 "2019-08-11T14:31:13Z")
Just saw the new film _Hobbs and Shaw_ last night and for a movie that was completely over the top ridiculous and implausible (a motorcycle that can break down into multiple sections for the sole purpose to limbo under things) you’d think you’d be able to roll with it and nothing they could put on the screen would take you out of the moment. Except… before one of the final battle scenes the good guys are in formation in a large field in Hawaii in the middle of the night. Bad guys arrive in the dark and trigger a bunch of fireworks to launch into the night sky. Still the dead of night they face off and exchange monologues before a good guy ignites a firewall ala Game of Thrones to surround the baddies. Good guys holler and charge and as they clash… it suddenly becomes the middle of the afternoon? Suns out, blue skies, etc. It was so jarring I totally lost focus of the action and was just watching the background light change. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2019, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/154 "2019-08-11T14:37:58Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Just saw the new film _Hobbs and Shaw_ last night and for a movie that was completely over the top ridiculous and implausible (a motorcycle that can break down into multiple sections for the sole purpose to limbo under things) you’d think you’d be able to roll with it and nothing they could put on the screen would take you out of the moment. > Except… before one of the final battle scenes the good guys are in formation in a large field in Hawaii in the middle of the night. Bad guys arrive in the dark and trigger a bunch of fireworks to launch into the night sky. Still the dead of night they face off and exchange monologues before a good guy ignites a firewall ala Game of Thrones to surround the baddies. Good guys holler and charge and as they clash… > it suddenly becomes the middle of the afternoon? Suns out, blue skies, etc. > It was so jarring I totally lost focus of the action and was just watching the background light change. In a previous scene, Hobbs & Shaw are discussing how to prepare for the Bad Guy attack, and one of them mentions that it’s most likely to come just before dawn. The impression I got was that they Bad Guys indeed show up just before dawn, and the sun rises during the fight, so that by the end they are in bright daylight. But even given that…yeah, I was also taken out of the movie by just how abrupt and extreme the lighting change was. IIRC, it was totally dark for quite a while - then one shot lasting a couple of seconds of somewhat subdued ambient light - then bright, full daylight. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2019, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/155 "2019-08-11T15:41:26Z")
Something that drives me crazy is a non-speaking bit part that should be a speaking part, but they’re too cheap to pay the actor or actress more to speak one or two short lines. This happens a lot with characters like a waiter in a restaurant who will walk up to a table, one of the speaking actors will say something to him, and then he just silently nods and walks away. ---
**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 11, 2019, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/156 "2019-08-11T16:18:05Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Something that drives me crazy is a non-speaking bit part that should be a speaking part, but they’re too cheap to pay the actor or actress more to speak one or two short lines. This happens a lot with characters like a waiter in a restaurant who will walk up to a table, one of the speaking actors will say something to him, and then he just silently nods and walks away. Or an officer will give an order to an enlisted man who just nods and shuffles the papers on his desk. :rolleyes: ---
**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 11, 2019, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/157 "2019-08-11T16:23:37Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Tough Hero Guy doesn’t flinch, doesn’t react, doesn’t look back when something explodes right behind him, but just keeps striding purposefully towards the camera. C’mon. Nobody is _that_ focused. Or that blast-resistant. Maybe he’s one of those guys who can’t hear a helicopter hovering just over the hill. ---
**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 11, 2019, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/158 "2019-08-11T18:57:28Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Just saw the new film _Hobbs and Shaw_ last night and for a movie that was completely over the top ridiculous and implausible (a motorcycle that can break down into multiple sections for the sole purpose to limbo under things) you’d think you’d be able to roll with it and nothing they could put on the screen would take you out of the moment. > Except… before one of the final battle scenes the good guys are in formation in a large field in Hawaii in the middle of the night. Bad guys arrive in the dark and trigger a bunch of fireworks to launch into the night sky. Still the dead of night they face off and exchange monologues before a good guy ignites a firewall ala Game of Thrones to surround the baddies. Good guys holler and charge and as they clash… > it suddenly becomes the middle of the afternoon? Suns out, blue skies, etc. > It was so jarring I totally lost focus of the action and was just watching the background light change. The setting was Samoa, though the movie was filmed in Hawaii. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2019, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/159 "2019-08-11T20:52:33Z")
> [@Brayne\_Ded](#): > > The armor often looks too clean and too complete. And too consistent. It was all hand-made then, fer chrissake. Seeing a line of soldiers kitted out identically … nope. Soldiers might well have had a grab bag of armor from different sources and times, but there are still limits. Actually, mass-produced identical modular suits of armour were [totally](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munition_armour)[a thing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almain_rivet). ---
**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 12, 2019, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319/160 "2019-08-12T00:31:18Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Actually, mass-produced identical modular suits of armour were [totally](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munition_armour)[a thing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almain_rivet). Actually, there were experiments in lighter, mass-produced armor much earlier in Europe and elsewhere (e.g., China and ancient Greece). These employed leather, bone, quilted or laminated fabric, and even laminated paper. Not all metal armor was plate or mail, either. Scale armor was widely used, and could be produced much more easily and quickly. (Scales could be made of materials other than metal, too.) If you can find a copy, I highly recommend a booklet titled _ **Arms and Armour in England** _, published by HM stationers, IIRC. It’s a brilliant little work by a true expert on the subject. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-briefly-take-you-out-of-a-movie/838319.md?page=9)