# Red flag partial movie titles! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 2, 2008, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-flag-partial-movie-titles/432035 "2008-01-02T21:08:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-flag-partial-movie-titles/432035/1 "2008-01-02T21:08:15Z")
**"… a true story" “… my daughter …” “Danielle Steel’s …” “… com/net” "the … code/enigma/secret/whatever"** Any title containing u$eless!? punctuation. A special place in hell is reserved for **"What the #$\*! Do We (K)now!?"** Which did I miss? ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-flag-partial-movie-titles/432035/2 "2008-01-02T21:09:54Z")
III (or any higher number) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-flag-partial-movie-titles/432035/3 "2008-01-02T21:18:06Z")
It used to be \*\*Stephen King’s . . . \*\*, but Frank Darabout has rehabilitated things somewhat. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-flag-partial-movie-titles/432035/4 "2008-01-02T21:57:05Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] III (or any higher number) [/QUOTE] Actually, **I** in a movie title may be an even worse sign. **vs.** **Wedding** (with a few exceptions, this screams Chick Flick) ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-flag-partial-movie-titles/432035/5 "2008-01-02T22:38:07Z")
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] Actually, **I** in a movie title may be an even worse sign. [/QUOTE] **The King and I** was awesome! (Also, I really liked **[Startup.com](http://Startup.com)**, but I think that one is an exception to the trend). Any movie title that includes the director’s cut is like a man wearing a rubber duck and a tutu. And yes, What the &^\*()! Do We Know [does indeed have a special place in hell](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=363991). Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-flag-partial-movie-titles/432035/6 "2008-01-02T22:46:45Z")
Actually, any movie that starts with **Author’s Name’s** is guaranteed to not only suck, but have almost nothing to do with the author’s actual work, although sometimes they get some pretty production design. Exhibit A: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein Exhibit B: Bram Stoker’s Dracula ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-flag-partial-movie-titles/432035/7 "2008-01-02T22:52:32Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] III (or any higher number) [/QUOTE] So much for _Henry V_, then. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2008, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-flag-partial-movie-titles/432035/8 "2008-01-02T23:08:18Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] So much for _Henry V_, then. [/QUOTE] but “V” isn’t a number… 😉 Generally a colon ( **:** )in the middle of a title is a bad sign. Combine it with “ **vs.** ” and you get _Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever_. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-flag-partial-movie-titles/432035/9 "2008-01-03T00:39:33Z")
[QUOTE=Left Hand of Dorkness] And yes, What the &^\*()! Do We Know [does indeed have a special place in hell](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=363991). [/QUOTE] Hah, I hadn’t read that thread, but I was aware of the general view of that film here 🙂 It’s the only film I can remember that made me run the gamut from amused via bemused to pure bile-spitting outrage. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-flag-partial-movie-titles/432035/10 "2008-01-03T01:08:08Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] So much for _Henry V_, then. [/QUOTE] or Malcom X. ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-flag-partial-movie-titles/432035/11 "2008-01-03T01:30:13Z")
[QUOTE=Larry Borgia] or Malcom X. [/QUOTE] And awful _American History X_. I guess _American History 101_ would be way worse than X. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-flag-partial-movie-titles/432035/12 "2008-01-03T03:27:47Z")
_It came from…_ ---
**Author:** ![feppytweed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/feppytweed/32/4280_2.png) [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-flag-partial-movie-titles/432035/13 "2008-01-03T03:33:00Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] III (or any higher number) [/QUOTE] Ocean’s 11 is out? I thought it was alright. 12 and 13, however, are a different story. ---
**Author:** ![ArizonaTeach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@ArizonaTeach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArizonaTeach)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-flag-partial-movie-titles/432035/14 "2008-01-03T04:00:48Z")
Call it \*\*Seven \*\* and I might be interested. Call it \*\*Se7en \*\* and I’ll wonder when the studios decided to get their titles from emo MySpace users. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-flag-partial-movie-titles/432035/15 "2008-01-03T04:48:00Z")
**Revenge** in the title is an ill omen: Jaws: The Revenge Porky’s Revenge Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers ---
**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:** [January 3, 2008, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-flag-partial-movie-titles/432035/16 "2008-01-03T06:02:19Z")
_Return of \_\_\_\_\_\__, or _\_\_\_\_\_ Returns_, are both red flags. That’s not a hard-and-fast rule, mind you, but far more often than not it’s a tipoff to the craptacular. But any movie with the word _Boogaloo_ in the title is guaranteed gold, baby, gold! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-flag-partial-movie-titles/432035/17 "2008-01-03T06:58:01Z")
[QUOTE=ArizonaTeach] Call it \*\*Seven \*\* and I might be interested. Call it \*\*Se7en \*\* and I’ll wonder when the studios decided to get their titles from emo MySpace users. [/QUOTE] Yeah, David Fincher was a MySpace fiend back in 1995. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2008, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-flag-partial-movie-titles/432035/18 "2008-01-03T07:30:25Z")
[QUOTE=Mrs. Cake] Actually, any movie that starts with **Author’s Name’s** is guaranteed to not only suck, but have almost nothing to do with the author’s actual work, although sometimes they get some pretty production design. Exhibit A: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein Exhibit B: Bram Stoker’s Dracula [/QUOTE] This is exactly what I was going to say. It’s a pretty blatant admission that the distributors don’t think the film is good enough to draw audiences on its own, so they hang a famous name on the title. Compare: _Carrie_ _The Shining_ _The Shawshank Redemption_ _Stephen King’s Dreamcatcher_ _Stephen King’s Storm of the Century_ _Stephen King’s Tommyknockers_