Movies that Insult the Viewer with Shortcuts

[Pushkin]

@NDP

In Mel Brooks’ remake of To Be or Not to Be, most of the characters were Polish so the dialogue was in Polish during the first few minutes. That was quickly abandoned however.

I appreciated the translators in the courtroom scene in Star Trek VI. As the camera moves around the set, Christopher Plummer speaking in Klingon changes to Plummer speaking in English as we pass by the Klingon translators. Which all breaks down when Plummer demands of Kirk “don’t wait for the translation” :o

We don’t get to see either Walter or The Dude bowl in The Big Lebowski, but we do get to see Donny get a split, so it might be a joke at the film goers’ expense.

[Baldwin]

@Trunk

Rome did a lot of that.

When things were building up to the “Friends, Romans, Countrymen” moment, I was anticipating how they’d handle that. Maybe Shakespeare made the speech more momentous than it actually was in history, but I thought that they’d give it a run.

Nothing. As I recall, he was ascending a stage, and next scene, he’s emperor.

Emperor? What Emperor? Do you mean Octavian?

As for Antony’s speech – I was wondering how they’d do that. I don’t suppose we have a record of what he actually said. Any speech they wrote would have people mentally comparing it to Shakespeare, so they could have some fun with that. But they dealt with it by having other characters discuss his speech in terms that showed how they viewed such things; that probably served the story better.

In any case, a legitimate artistic decision, not an audience-insulting shortcut.

[Freudian_Slit]

@Baldwin

Emperor? What Emperor? Do you mean Octavian?

As for Antony’s speech – I was wondering how they’d do that. I don’t suppose we have a record of what he actually said. Any speech they wrote would have people mentally comparing it to Shakespeare, so they could have some fun with that. But they dealt with it by having other characters discuss his speech in terms that showed how they viewed such things; that probably served the story better.

Yes, I agree…it would’ve been just tacky to have shown the speech. Having the lower classes discuss it felt more real.

I also liked their take on the Caesar stabbing–he never says anything to Brutus out loud…but he does say it all with his eyes.

[Sublight]

@Raza

But as far as cheating, I’m thinking more along the lines of, say, someone “fake dialing” a phone (stabbing the air) rather than taking the extra effort to actually push buttons. I haven’t seen it in a movie, but to me that’s the level of in-your-face insult that I felt with Lady in Cement.

A fake dialing scene that really jumped out was in Love Story. As Ali MacGraw is about to make a phone call, O’Neal reminds her to dial “1” for long distance. It adds nothing, but it draws your eyes to the phone to see that she’s dialing 5-555-5555.

[Sublight]

@Miller

Huh? I wasn’t trying to be harsh, or funny. He turns off the computer with out saving the story for the same reason none of them reported that they’d found the body or collected the reward. What happened was a private thing between the four of them, not to be shared with other people. As I recall (it’s been a while since I’ve seen the movie) the narrator explicitly states this a few minutes before the final scene, explaining why they didn’t collect the reward. Thirty years later, the reasoning still applies. He doesn’t save the story, because he’s never going to share the story: he wrote it for himself, to remember and reexperience the events of that summer, but the purpose was in the writing, not in the story. Having finished it, he doesn’t need to keep a copy of it, and simply turns off the computer and walks away.

That was how I always interpreted the ending, although if what Onday says is correct, then it was just a director’s mistake that coincidentally added to the scene.

[Ranchoth]

@Raza

But as far as cheating, I’m thinking more along the lines of, say, someone “fake dialing” a phone (stabbing the air) rather than taking the extra effort to actually push buttons. I haven’t seen it in a movie, but to me that’s the level of in-your-face insult that I felt with Lady in Cement.

Well, another MST3k classic, Monster A-Go-Go (which is rife with these moments, admittedly), featured a scene with someone getting a phone call. So, naturally, it starts with a shot of the telephone…and an off-screen someone saying the words “ring-ring!”

[nofloyd]

Fake breakfasts always catch my eye. The whole family sits down and all the fixings are on the table. The only point is to get some exposition in there. They talk about something, kids sip juice and jumps up, “gotta get to school.” Or “gotta get to work”. Pretty much nothing gets eaten. They can’t eat a few things for verisimilitude? This is mostly TV.

Movies … I understand in old movies the need for cars on a set pretend driving with a fake backdrop. But some actors spend so much time looking at the passenger they’d crash. I’d think a director would keep reminding them to look forwards and only glance to the side.

[Justin_Bailey]

@sqweels

In the original Star Wars they never refer to units of currency, not even in a cosmopolitan spaceport, and when Owen Lars pays the jawas for the droids, he’s clearly play-acting.

But Obi Wan throws the bartender some money for the mess.

And Jabba talks about the price on Han’s head.

And Han takes payment from Leia after bring them to the Rebel Alliance base.

There’s lots of money in Star Wars.

[KneadToKnow]

@Justin_Bailey

But Obi Wan throws the bartender some money for the mess.

Nitpick: Han, not Obi-Wan.

[UncleRojelio]

@nofloyd

Movies … I understand in old movies the need for cars on a set pretend driving with a fake backdrop. But some actors spend so much time looking at the passenger they’d crash. I’d think a director would keep reminding them to look forwards and only glance to the side.

Having recently sat through Fast Food Nation, there was one scene that took me right out of the movie. Chris Christopherson is driving a truck down the road and bouncing the wheel back and forth like a child playing with a fake steering wheel. A real vehicle would have been going from ditch to ditch and the passengers would end up seasick.

[AHunter3]

@Annie-Xmas

At the end of Stand By Me the writer stands up and closes out the computer. He does not hit “SAVE.” The story is not saved. It’s gone forever.

Couldn’t show the writer clicking the save icon before closing the computer out, heh Rob?

Someone may have already mentioned this but… what makes you so damn sure the guy didn’t hit ⌘-S just before closing the window? In fact wouldn’t it have popped up the “Save changes before closing? / OK / Cancel” dialog if that were not the case?

[postcards]

@sishoch

In “The Front Page” the actor doing the typing is just pushing the same two keys over and over on the typewriter. I suppose that typing was not a skill that most actors had at the time.

Nor most reporters of the time, or cops, either. Watching the two-finger typing in shows like NYPD Blue is one of my guilty pleasures.

[Icerigger]

In Smokey and the Bandit Snowman uses a unisonic calculator with no display to compute their timetable. Could they not afford a few batteries?

[vetbridge]

@UncleRojelio

Chris Christopherson is driving a truck down the road and bouncing the wheel back and forth like a child playing with a fake steering wheel.

Um, Kris Kristofferson. I only mention it because his birthday was this week and I sorta/kinda know him.

[ivylass]

@Tamerlane

60,000-80,000 extras, all precisely coordinated on the field? Yes, yes it would :p.

Phooey. *The Patriot * filmed battle scenes with CG-generated characters…they could have done it.

Regarding the speech after Caesar’s assassination…it’s my understand there was no speech, apologies to the Bard. The assassins were so horrified at what they’d done that they bolted.

[Freudian_Slit]

@ivylass

Phooey. *The Patriot * filmed battle scenes with CG-generated characters…they could have done it.

Regarding the speech after Caesar’s assassination…it’s my understand there was no speech, apologies to the Bard. The assassins were so horrified at what they’d done that they bolted.

Not the speech by the Assassins, but the funeral speech by Marc Antony.

[UncleRojelio]

@vetbridge

Um, Kris Kristofferson. I only mention it because his birthday was this week and I sorta/kinda know him.

Ooops. After I typed my post I looked at the name and wondered why it looked funny but for the life of me … Please extend my apologies to Mr. Kristofferson next time you see him.

[Hypno-Toad]

Yet another MST-ied movie was **Agent From H.A.R.M. ** In it, a scientist leaves his house and very obviously mimes that he is locking the door. No key in his hand, no lock on the door frame where he puts his hand, and done poorly to boot.

[Manduck]

@AHunter3

Someone may have already mentioned this but… what makes you so damn sure the guy didn’t hit ⌘-S just before closing the window? In fact wouldn’t it have popped up the “Save changes before closing? / OK / Cancel” dialog if that were not the case?

It was 1986. In 1986, when you turned off your computer, that computer didn’t ask you questions - that computer was OFF.

One thing that works against the idea that it was a deliberate choice is that it would have been lost on the majority of the audience. In 1986, the average guy woulnd’t have any experience with computers and wouldn’t know what the result of turning it off like that would be. They would probably think it was just like turning off an electric typewriter. All the computer-experienced people I knew at the time, on the other hand, noticed that he forgot to save. It wasn’t an uncommon mistake to make at the time; we’ve all done it. So the movie ended on an unintentional laugh.

[Morbo]

In Trading Places, there’s a scene where Louis is strangling Billy Ray. In one camera shot, Louis has his hands around Bill Ray and says “You’re a dead man, Valentine!” The camera POV is facing Louis, and he’s just holding his hands on either side of the frame, strangling nothing. More of an artistic decision, but it’s pretty obvious.

Smoking is a pretty good one too. Glenn Close’s character in Jagged Edge is supposed to smoke, but Glenn Close doesn’t so it’s a fake cigarette and they studiously never show her actually taking a drag. It can get a little distracting once you’re aware of it.

Car crashes are another good one. Low budget movies will show the car go past the camera, then play car crash sounds and have a hubcap roll past the camera, but not show the actual car crashing.

I’m also amused by movie cell phones. They play a dial tone when the other party hangs up, they work in underground parking garages, they have flawless reception at all times, etc.