People starting sentences with "*Look *. . . " . I guess it’s supposed to show that they’re really earnest. My mom pointed it out to me when I was a kid and we made fun of it for the rest of her days.
Mine is silly, but absolutely infuriating to me: paper coffee cups are always empty and it is so obvious. Fill the damn thing with water to give it the proper weight! Or hell, rocks, for all I care. You don’t have to drink it, but at least it will look realistic when you pick it up and wave it around for emphasis.
My “can’t un-see it” one is this: no matter how filthy and/or the car is, seven times out of ten, its windshield and other glass will be pristine. Goes up to nine times out of ten on movies/shows made before, say, 1995.
This completely put me off Boston Legal and The Office. I’ve never been able to sit through an episode of either with the camera bobbing around in every shot.
It ain’t funny or artsy, it’s just annoying as hell. :mad:
Two things I’ve never been able to un-notice ever since they were pointed out to me: Gary Burghoff’s malformed hand and Frank Sinatra’s missing earlobe.
Did you know, BTW, that Cary Grant was missing an incisor and had a canine tooth moved forward to fill the gap? :dubious:
Stock footage used as original footage. You know, like:
“Get down! Their bombers are coming back around!”
[cut to grainy, colorized WW2 footage of bombs falling out of planes]
“Get to cover!” [everyone ducks under tables while the camera shakes, cut to more grainy footage of The Blitz]
I haven’t seen this in too many movies, but it was all over TV a while back:
A character is looking directly into the camera, as in being interviewed. All of a sudden, the camera is three feet to either the interviewee’s left or right, while the interviewee is still looking at the spot where the camera was. Then, to make it worse, the camera jumps back to where it was, as if nothing happened. What is the point of this “technique”?
Pregnant woman goes into labor and delivers the baby two minutes later, usually in an elevator or some such place. And five minutes later, both she and the baby look “Hollywood fresh.” No sweat or goo on either of them. And no baby fat on the actress, who is totally at her original weight and body look the next day.
Yeah, firearm use is a real peeve of mine. Okay, you’re holding someone at gunpoint. “Give me the information.” “No.” Gun holder jacks in a round. So you were threatening someone with an unloaded gun?
Firearm noises that are just wrong. I saw one were there was a racking noise inserted for someone with a double-barreled shotgun. Guns that make cocking/racking noises whenever someone moves the weapon.
There was a war movie where M-16s were used. One guy is firing like mad. Then the camera angle reveals that the bolt is locked back. Yet he continues firing.
The worst one was where someone was supposed to kill a bunch of horses, all standing side by side. The guy pulls out his 1911A1 (a semi-auto for those who don’t know), jacks the slide and shoots the first horse; moves over, jacks the slide and shoots the second horse; moves over, jacks the slide and shoots the third horse; moves over, repeats.
Another trite usage: “Look at me!” “I SAID LOOK AT ME!!”
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.
Sound related things for some reason tend to take me out of movies more than visual things. A poor choice on the part of a music editor leaves me feeling like, okay, I guess I’m supposed to be feeling sad right now. Abrupt changes in sound levels will take me out quickly as well.
And cops who beg with people: “Drop the gun. C’mon, drop the gun. Please drop the gun. Drop the gun or I will have to shoot. I don’t want to shoot you. Please drop the gun. You don’t want to shoot an innocent person, so drop the gun.”
I know from a real life experience it’s’ “Drop the gun or I will shoot” and the guy has about 10 seconds to comply.