# Phrases or words that switch off your intrest (films) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 19, 2004, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-that-switch-off-your-intrest-films/275730 "2004-11-19T21:44:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-that-switch-off-your-intrest-films/275730/41 "2004-11-22T22:00:07Z")
**Timeless**. It’s a rather lazy hype buzzword, used when the guy scripting the ad can’t think of any actual redeeming feature of the movie. **Funniest of the year**. Movies do sometimes get released at very different times of the year in different territories. Sometimes, here in the UK, we’ll get a trailer yelling that some movie is the _funniest of the year_ when it’s early January, which is, in itself, funnier than anything about the movie itself. \*\*…and introducing… \*\* . We offered the part to everyone in Tinsel Town and they _all_ passed, hence this unknown non-star getting a role way bigger than anything they can handle. ---
**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-that-switch-off-your-intrest-films/275730/42 "2004-11-23T00:12:28Z")
Am I the first to throw in “Based on a true story”? There was some trailer lately whose reviewer quotes all contained the word “Oscar,” so I’ve decided not to see that movie. ---
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-that-switch-off-your-intrest-films/275730/43 "2004-11-23T00:27:47Z")
_They went looking for \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ … and found themselves._ ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-that-switch-off-your-intrest-films/275730/44 "2004-11-23T00:54:40Z")
Heh. You got mine in the OP. As soon as I saw the thread title, I thought, “Thriller”. Any movie that advertises that it is likely to or intended to scare me is a non-starter. Scared isn’t a feeling I like or try to stimulate. Also I generally won’t see a movie in which something blows up in the trailer, although there are exceptions. ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-that-switch-off-your-intrest-films/275730/45 "2004-11-23T00:57:53Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > Also I generally won’t see a movie in which something blows up in the trailer, although there are exceptions. So…you’re saying you’re not looking forward to the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy movie? For shame. Unless, of course, that was one of the exceptions you were talking about. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-that-switch-off-your-intrest-films/275730/46 "2004-11-23T01:32:59Z")
> [@Kaspar Hauser](#): > > “Pixar” Bite your tongue! As for me, either Susan Sarandon or Sean Penn. Eh. ---
**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:** [November 23, 2004, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-that-switch-off-your-intrest-films/275730/47 "2004-11-23T01:37:22Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > No, no, I got you all beat. **Zany**. I don’t believe I have ever willingly gone to see a movie that anybody at any time ever called “zany”. In a similar vein, \*_Rollicking_. I haven’t seen it used much lately, but I don’t remember particularly like anything described as such when it came up more often in the past. DD ---
**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:** [November 23, 2004, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-that-switch-off-your-intrest-films/275730/48 "2004-11-23T01:39:55Z")
That’s **rollicking**. Always preview; always preview; always preview. . . . Just how to you rollick, anyway? ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-that-switch-off-your-intrest-films/275730/49 "2004-11-23T02:08:52Z")
**Director’s Fucking Pretentious Asswipe Cut** I have yet to see a director’s cut that improved a film’s watchability. Generally they’re just a vehicle for the smarmy dung smoker of a director to say, “Oooh, lookkit how artsy and oh so special I think I am. My way is the superior way, you peasants.” (Don’t mind me, i’m not here…) ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-that-switch-off-your-intrest-films/275730/50 "2004-11-23T02:23:40Z")
Haunting, lyrical, sensitive and/or touching. I do not want films to touch me with their cold, clammy hads. Compelling I can handle if the story is compelling. If the characters are compelling, no. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-that-switch-off-your-intrest-films/275730/51 "2004-11-23T02:26:39Z")
“Jerry Bruckheimer” “Brett Ratner” “Adam Sandler” ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-that-switch-off-your-intrest-films/275730/52 "2004-11-23T02:43:43Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > “Featuring songs by [currently big popular artists]” – not that there’s anything wrong with using songs by them, but when that’s what’s stressed in the ads, something is wrong. _That_ is a really good one. Very true. If they seem to be promoting the soundtrack more than the movie, you’ve got a big problem. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-that-switch-off-your-intrest-films/275730/53 "2004-11-23T02:54:36Z")
“European art house cinema.” “IV” and “V” and “VI” and “VII”… etc. Even many “III’s” aren’t worth seeing. “Executive Producer Lorne Michaels…” “Directed by Peter Verhoeven.” “MTV Productions presents…” “A View Askew Production…” “… starring Don Cheadle.” “Owen Wilson and Jackie Chan…” “…with DMX…” “… with Ben Affleck.” Marlon Wayans. Shawn Wayans. Any teen sex comedy marketed in the summer. Any “epics” launched immediately after the summer season but before the release of Veteran’s Day/Christmas serious Oscar considerations from the studios. ANY movies released in February/March. Blech. And I’ve sworn off the Ernest, Chucky, Freddy, Jason, Bond, Trek and Star Wars franchises forever. Whatcha got?? HUH?? WHATCHA GOT??? ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-that-switch-off-your-intrest-films/275730/54 "2004-11-23T03:35:20Z")
I’ll second Pauli Shore. The most overrated, unfunny comic actor in Hollywood. Seeing him in an ad will immediately kill any desire I have to see that film. I can’t stand Jim Carey either, although I liked him in that one Batman movie. ---
**Author:** ![mrunlucky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7993a0/32.png) [@mrunlucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrunlucky)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-that-switch-off-your-intrest-films/275730/55 "2004-11-23T06:51:27Z")
Mesmerizing Non-stop action Thrill ride The best (insert genre here) since (insert mediocre title here) This holiday season Romantic comedy Michael Bay Nicolas Cage Tim Allen Eddie Murphy John Travolta Ben Affleck Wayans brothers Meg Ryan Tom Hanks Jim Carrey (typically though not always) Trailers in which a curse word is cut off by “clever” editing and replaced with a zany sound or silly action. From the producers of… ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-that-switch-off-your-intrest-films/275730/56 "2004-11-23T06:58:06Z")
Michelle Yeoh. She and her nose should have stuck to dancing. ---
**Author:** ![Tikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5daacb/32.png) [@Tikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tikki)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-that-switch-off-your-intrest-films/275730/57 "2004-11-23T11:06:15Z")
I agree with many of you. I’d like to add: \ \*\*IS \*\* \ The emphasis on the word “is” is a sure giveaway to a mediocre movie. ---
**Author:** ![paulberserker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@paulberserker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paulberserker)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-that-switch-off-your-intrest-films/275730/58 "2004-11-23T11:54:26Z")
“Riproaring” “Jane Austens…or her timeless classic etc” “Nicole Kidman in her Oscar nominated role…” Owt with Tom Cruises massively smug head staring back out at me. A romantic comedy from the makers of 4 Weddings and a Funeral. I hate Working Title films. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-that-switch-off-your-intrest-films/275730/59 "2004-11-23T12:59:53Z")
Unfortunately, these days, it’s _Coming Soon To A Theater Near You!_ ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-that-switch-off-your-intrest-films/275730/60 "2004-11-23T13:52:14Z")
1. Samuel L Jackson, Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan or Ben Affleck 2. ‘A feel-good family (anything)’ 3. Not a phrase or word, but any theatrical trailer showing kids being precocious little smart-asses. 4. The words ‘Quentin Tarantino’ appearing anywhere in any relation to the movie. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-that-switch-off-your-intrest-films/275730.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/phrases-or-words-that-switch-off-your-intrest-films/275730.md?page=4)