# not a mistake but it takes you out of the movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 23, 2009, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-a-mistake-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie/482629 "2009-01-23T13:34:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**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 3, 2009, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-a-mistake-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie/482629/261 "2009-02-03T01:45:26Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Ooh, I thought of another one, in the vein of “just because it’s a fantasy movie anything goes”. In _Prince Caspian_, I have no problem with the minotaurs or the swashbuckling mouse or the liqueur which instantly heals any wound-- Those are part of the premise. But those rapid-fire catapults the Telmarines were using? It doesn’t do much good to put a counterweight on _both_ ends of a trebuchet arm. And were the drive chains and cogs on them made out of wood? Yeah, that’d work really well. Granted, they’re hardly worth the digital bits they’re stored on, but I thought the same thing about the ‘tripleguns’ in Pirates of the Carribean: Way to ruin a ride. ---
**Author:** ![Yumblie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/76d3ee/32.png) [@Yumblie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yumblie)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-a-mistake-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie/482629/262 "2009-02-03T02:37:27Z")
It’s always a little jarring in a movie when some supernatural disaster befalls modern civilization, and so the dramatic tension isn’t undercut, the characters can’t ironically recognize that they are part of a movie plot that’s become real to them. Like, in the modern world, if zombies attacked, people would be frightened, but it wouldn’t be that much of a shock because of the familiarity our culture has with them from zombie movies. I’d like to see more movies with typical disasters like zombies, alien invasion, monsters trashing cities, and so on, but take place in a past time when people weren’t desensitized to such events. A _War of the Worlds_ movie taking place in 19th century London…or [Pride and Prejudice and Zombies](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=504802). ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-a-mistake-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie/482629/263 "2009-02-03T03:51:49Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Yes, Magneto said that, but I think that was a misread line or a flaw in the script. There was no reason for him to cock and fire a weapon and then halt the bullet. Xavier glances at Jean when Magneto says that, and her look says “I can’t stop them all.” It’s not very clear in that scene if Jean or Magneto is stopping the bullet, but Magneto can stop bullets if he wants to. He’s a master of magnetism _and_ metal. A metal doesn’t have to be ferrous for him to control it. He can make aluminum do loop-de-loops in the air if he wants to. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-a-mistake-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie/482629/264 "2009-02-03T03:54:42Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > It’s not very clear in that scene if Jean or Magneto is stopping the bullet, but Magneto can stop bullets if he wants to. He’s a master of magnetism _and_ metal. A metal doesn’t have to be ferrous for him to control it. He can make aluminum do loop-de-loops in the air if he wants to. Ah. I thought, given his mutant name, that his power was over ferrous (magnetic) metals. I guess I’m not fanboy enough to know these things. ---
**Author:** ![runcible\_spoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc29f/32.png) [@runcible\_spoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runcible_spoon)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-a-mistake-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie/482629/265 "2009-02-03T06:40:55Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > As I’ve mentioned in a couple of recent threads, I’m in the process of watching the entire Sherlock Holmes television series starring Jeremy Brett. Included in the boxed set of episodes are three or four television movies. > > We just watched _The Master Blackmailer_. There’s a scene which was mildly touched upon in the book, but in the movie it is expanded: > > [spoiler]Holmes, disguised as a plumber, gets romantic with a housemaid in order to learn the goings-on within the villain’s household. Things get a lot steamier than he plans and he finds himself rolling around on the ground with her. This scene is played well by Brett, for the plumber character is clumsy and stammering and awkward when trying to get intimate with the girl; is this part of the plumber disguise or is Holmes’s own asexuality showing itself? Well done, Brett. > > However, it’s very uncomfortable to see Holmes having anything to do with a woman, and it does indeed bring you out of the film.[/spoiler] Which reminds me - I hate, hate, HATE plot-induced romances. _Prince Caspian_ suffered from this, but the one I’m thinking of is MacGyver, mostly because the episodes take place over such a short time (usually a few hours) and he still manages to rig up crazy devices, foil the bad guys, AND seduce the woman-of-the-week. Pretty much every time, I’m just thinking ‘You met like half an hour ago, the only thing you’ve said to her is list of ingredients in a thermite cutting torch, and you’re gonna KISS her? And she’s gonna kiss back?’ Really throws me. I mean, yeah, people do hook up on short notice, but usually they get more than two sentences in first. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-a-mistake-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie/482629/266 "2009-02-03T06:46:23Z")
> [@runcible\_spoon](#): > > Which reminds me - I hate, hate, HATE plot-induced romances. _Prince Caspian_ suffered from this, but the one I’m thinking of is MacGyver, mostly because the episodes take place over such a short time (usually a few hours) and he still manages to rig up crazy devices, foil the bad guys, AND seduce the woman-of-the-week. Pretty much every time, I’m just thinking ‘You met like half an hour ago, the only thing you’ve said to her is list of ingredients in a thermite cutting torch, and you’re gonna KISS her? And she’s gonna kiss back?’ Really throws me. I mean, yeah, people do hook up on short notice, but usually they get more than two sentences in first. Oh comon, he’s _MacGyver_! He’s always ready for action!🆒 ---
**Author:** ![runcible\_spoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc29f/32.png) [@runcible\_spoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runcible_spoon)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-a-mistake-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie/482629/267 "2009-02-03T07:30:05Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > Oh comon, he’s _MacGyver_! He’s always ready for action!🆒 I’m sorry, but you can NOT make romance out of gum wrappers, a clothespin, potassium nitrate and an aluminum bike frame. Well, not on primetime TV, anyways. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-a-mistake-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie/482629/268 "2009-02-03T07:51:29Z")
> [@runcible\_spoon](#): > > I’m sorry, but you can NOT make romance out of gum wrappers, a clothespin, potassium nitrate and an aluminum bike frame. Well, not on primetime TV, anyways. What if you can construct some sort of rudimentary lathe? ---
**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 3, 2009, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-a-mistake-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie/482629/269 "2009-02-03T12:21:53Z")
> [@runcible\_spoon](#): > > I’m sorry, but you can NOT make romance out of gum wrappers, a clothespin, potassium nitrate and an aluminum bike frame. Well, not on primetime TV, anyways. You can if you do it _right_. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-a-mistake-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie/482629/270 "2009-02-03T12:29:41Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > That reminds me … in _Rockstar_, there is a scene where the lead character and his girlfriend (Marky Mark and Rachel) are at a Steel Dragon concert, front row. In the middle of a number – a heavy metal number, in the front row, right next to the speakers, in the middle of 10,000 screaming metal heads – he excuses himself, walks … nay, ambles … ten feet away, and holds a conversation with two chicks as though they were standing in the middle of a library. > > Anyone who has evern been in a front row for a metal concert will tell you, 1) you ain’t fucking ambling anywhere. If you need to move 10 feet way, it will take you 30 minutes of shouldering your way through the throng and you will be punched in the face at least 5 times. And 2) do I really need to spell it out? Front row? You can’t hear yourself scream let alone hold a conversation. In last night’s episode of _Chuck_, there’s a scene in which Chuck and the rock-star character played by Dominc Monahan go crowd-surfing during a rock concert – and hold a conversation while doing so! Made me think of this thread. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-a-mistake-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie/482629/271 "2009-02-03T12:34:06Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > Have you ever seen _Airplane_? That movie has a hilariously subtle thing that took me a while to clue in on: The sound effect for the plane flying is a droning hum… the sound made by propeller-driven airplanes, but _not_ by turbine-driven jets.😃 Why is this funny? ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-a-mistake-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie/482629/272 "2009-02-03T13:07:25Z")
> [@mr.jp](#): > > Why is this funny? Because it’s an intentional mistake to poke fun at all the movies (and there are many) that use the wrong engine sound effect unintentionally. Anyway, my own non-mistake came from **Titus Andronicus** when two Germanic princes are presented with the incontrovertible evidence that their mother was knocked up by her Moorish servant. Chiron: Thou hast undone our mother. Aaron: Villain, I have done thy mother. Which was so jarringly un-Shakespearean (when the rest of the film seemed to be following the original lines) that I actually stopped the video to go look up the actual words. Turns out, that’s exactly the way old Will wrote it. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-a-mistake-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie/482629/273 "2009-02-03T15:03:30Z")
Shakespeare is _way_ dirtier than the average modern viewer is aware. > [@runcible\_spoon](#): > > I’m sorry, but you can NOT make romance out of gum wrappers, a clothespin, potassium nitrate and an aluminum bike frame. Well, not on primetime TV, anyways. Well, but you can make an IUD out of a gum wrapper, a cigarette lighter, and a paper clip. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-a-mistake-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie/482629/274 "2009-02-03T15:13:20Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > As I’ve mentioned in a couple of recent threads, I’m in the process of watching the entire Sherlock Holmes television series starring Jeremy Brett. Included in the boxed set of episodes are three or four television movies. > > We just watched _The Master Blackmailer_. There’s a scene which was mildly touched upon in the book, but in the movie it is expanded: > > [spoiler]Holmes, disguised as a plumber, gets romantic with a housemaid in order to learn the goings-on within the villain’s household. Things get a lot steamier than he plans and he finds himself rolling around on the ground with her. This scene is played well by Brett, for the plumber character is clumsy and stammering and awkward when trying to get intimate with the girl; is this part of the plumber disguise or is Holmes’s own asexuality showing itself? Well done, Brett. > > However, it’s very uncomfortable to see Holmes having anything to do with a woman, and it does indeed bring you out of the film.[/spoiler] I must admit, I loved that scene. The cold repression he displays afterwards (“you will be delighted to know I have a hated rival …”), and the look on the face when the housemaid thinks she recognizes him afterwards as himself, were masterful. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-a-mistake-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie/482629/275 "2009-02-03T15:34:23Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > It was a mistake, and it took me out of the movie: > > the first X-Men movie, outside the train station. Magneto uses his magnetic control powers to snatch the guns out of all the cop’s hands and then point them back at the cops. So far, okay. > > But he shoots one of the cops and stops the _lead_ bullet right at the man’s forehead. Perhaps they were jacketed slugs. ---
**Author:** ![ProfessorX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@ProfessorX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ProfessorX)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-a-mistake-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie/482629/276 "2009-02-03T16:00:39Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Shakespeare is _way_ dirtier than the average modern viewer is aware. > > Well, but you can make an IUD out of a gum wrapper, a cigarette lighter, and a paper clip. Oh, I’m sure that’s somewhere in here: [http://www.macgyveronline.com/pages/macgyverisms.html](http://www.macgyveronline.com/pages/macgyverisms.html) ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-a-mistake-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie/482629/277 "2009-02-03T16:56:41Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > Perhaps they were jacketed slugs. Most jacketed bullets are typically jacketed in copper (some are steel jacketed), and most industrial processed ferromagnetic materials are either iron, nickel, or cobalt (or some alloy of same). To the best of my knowledge, there are no iron-, nickel-, or cobalt-jacketed pistol rounds. I’ll accept **bouv’s** explanation and retract my complaint. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-a-mistake-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie/482629/278 "2009-02-03T17:01:12Z")
Imported eastern European ammo, especially the military surplus stuff, often has a copper-washed mild steel jacket. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-a-mistake-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie/482629/279 "2009-02-03T17:02:46Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > I must admit, I loved that scene. The cold repression he displays afterwards (“you will be delighted to know I have a hated rival …”), and the look on the face when the housemaid thinks she recognizes him afterwards as himself, were masterful. Now that I’ve had a couple of days to digest it, I love it too. I thought of another twist on it to explain the Holmes/plumber dismay in this scene: he’s taken on this case to protect women from a man (the blackmailer) who’s out to exploit them, yet he realizes that here he is in the guise of a workman, deceiving a girl so he can pump her for information. Damn, that guy could act. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-a-mistake-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie/482629/280 "2009-02-03T18:50:24Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > Now that I’ve had a couple of days to digest it, I love it too. I thought of another twist on it to explain the Holmes/plumber dismay in this scene: he’s taken on this case to protect women from a man (the blackmailer) who’s out to exploit them, yet he realizes that here he is in the guise of a workman, deceiving a girl so he can pump her for information. > > Damn, that guy could act. Very good point - and there is a class angle of course as well: the girl he was deceiving was servant class, and he was doing it to protect the romantic reputations of upper-class ladies. It has been a while since I’ve seen it, but I believe he himself understands he’s gone too far (I seem to remember Watson saying as much). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-a-mistake-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie/482629.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-a-mistake-but-it-takes-you-out-of-the-movie/482629.md?page=15)