# Stupid stupid stuff in an otherwise okay movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 22, 2000, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-stuff-in-an-otherwise-okay-movie/30279 "2000-08-22T07:00:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2001, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-stuff-in-an-otherwise-okay-movie/30279/101 "2001-08-07T22:29:48Z")
Bad scene in a good movie? I liked “Unbreakable” but: 1. you just DON’T HAVE train accidents where everyone dies! That’s two doors down in the “aviation” section. 😉 2. the first sign that the train was going to derail was shaking, making the passengers visibly nervous. WTF?! That very kind of shaking happens a couple of times each time I ride the train to and from work, when the train changes tracks or goes through a switch at speed. And nobody looks around nervously or grabs the armrests like the “Unbreakable” passengers! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2001, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-stuff-in-an-otherwise-okay-movie/30279/102 "2001-08-08T10:32:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by John Bredin \* > \*\*Bad scene in a good movie? I liked “Unbreakable” but: > > 1. you just DON’T HAVE train accidents where everyone dies! That’s two doors down in the “aviation” section. 😉 > \*\* This bothered me, too, until I saw the DVD deleted scenes. One of the scenes has a news report on it that explains the horrendous death toll. After the train derails, the two passenger cars ends up on a parallel track and are then rammed by a freight train going the opposite direction, They are buried and most of the passengers die due to injuries and fire while waiting to be rescued. By the way, if you rent the DVD, check out the carnival scene in the deleted scenes section. Yeesh! Easily the most unsettling thing on the disc. ---
**Author:** ![Skijumper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3e96dc/32.png) [@Skijumper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skijumper)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2001, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-stuff-in-an-otherwise-okay-movie/30279/103 "2001-08-08T15:19:40Z")
Two things came immediately to my mind when I spotted this thread: 1. Ewoks. That. Song. And dance. At the end. WTF? 2. Gwyneth Paltrow. Who has this knack of appearing in movies I would otherwise have enjoyed fully. ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2001, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-stuff-in-an-otherwise-okay-movie/30279/104 "2001-08-08T16:11:13Z")
No one seems to have mentioned Aliens. This is one of my all-time favorite movies, and I think it’s nigh-perfect, but there’s one scene that always bugs me. It’s the scene when the Colonial Marines are talking about their adventures having sex with alien beings. It’s a strange scene and adds nothing and I think detracts from the whole “alien” nature of the “Aliens”. I also don’t know any Star Wars fans that don’t wince at the “laser brain” line. ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2001, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-stuff-in-an-otherwise-okay-movie/30279/105 "2001-08-09T00:26:18Z")
That line never bothered me. What bothered me was Han Solo referring to a _parsec_ as a unit of time. ---
**Author:** ![Tyklfe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3e96dc/32.png) [@Tyklfe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tyklfe)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2001, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-stuff-in-an-otherwise-okay-movie/30279/106 "2001-08-09T00:52:53Z")
The love triangle in _ **Pearl Harbor** _. ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2001, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-stuff-in-an-otherwise-okay-movie/30279/107 "2001-08-09T01:08:46Z")
As soon as the girl said she was pregnant, I knew the father would be killed and his buddy would marry her and raise the kid as one of his own. ---
**Author:** ![Katisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2001, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-stuff-in-an-otherwise-okay-movie/30279/108 "2001-08-09T01:38:26Z")
For the most part, I love Kenneth Branagh’s _Hamlet,_ but I didn’t at all like the handling of the Ghost scene. Branagh goes for a horror-movie effect here, delivering the “Angels and ministers of grace defend us” speech while running through the woods, and shooting the thing with a hand-held camera. Fine. But then we get some cheesy shots of the earth opening up – shots which are not at all helped by the fact that in them, said earth resembles nothing so much as a brownie with powdered sugar. Mmmmm…brownie… Brian Blessed plays the Ghost. This is great casting – and Blessed has the perfect _voice_ for the role. So why are all his lines electronically distorted? Also, he wears these creepy light blue contact lenses, which is fine…except that we see a few flashbacks of Hamlet senior in life, and he’s wearing the same contacts there, which is a bit jarring. Actually, there are a few other missteps in _Hamlet_ – dropping a chandelier on Claudius at the end was a _wee_ bit excessive, and some of the flashbacks (but not all) could have been left on the cutting-room floor. Particularly the flashback of evil-clown Yorick and a strange, pudgy child with white hair who somehow grew up to be Kenneth Branagh. Oh, and the casting of Robin Williams. Despite its flaws though, I still love this movie to bits, which goes to show how strong the good parts of it are. (And after a lot of viewings – believe me, I’ve watched it many times – you even start to appreciate the bad ones for their cheesiness… ;)) ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2001, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-stuff-in-an-otherwise-okay-movie/30279/109 "2001-08-09T03:14:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Atreyu \* > > **The Sixth Sense** does not have any narration. I think you missed this part of Outrider’s post: > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Outrider \* > If you want to see excellent examples of narration **and/or flashbacks** [bolding mine] ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Creant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b487fb/32.png) [@Miss\_Creant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Creant)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2001, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-stuff-in-an-otherwise-okay-movie/30279/110 "2001-08-09T03:42:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hunsecker \* > \*\*The bookends in Saving Private Ryan are the worst thing ever. As if we wouldn’t care about the characters unless we see one as a crying old guy. > > And on that theme, let me add: > The end of Schindlers List > The end of A League of Their Own \*\* I must disagree on the end of Schindlers list I don’t know if you’re Jewish, but I am and the scene everyone laying a stone on Schindler’s grave was to me the most moving part of the film ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2001, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-stuff-in-an-otherwise-okay-movie/30279/111 "2001-08-09T04:53:10Z")
I love **Pleasantville** , and don’t mind the courtroom scene (I like my movies to beat you over the head with their meaning), but I hate the scene where Toby McGuire gets back to his own time, and his mother is crying in the kitchen, and he goes in and comforts her, and she uses the f-word (nasty), and winds up saying “When did you so smart?”. It’s just such a cheesy scene. ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2001, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-stuff-in-an-otherwise-okay-movie/30279/112 "2001-08-11T19:35:28Z")
And how did he explain to his mother what happened to his sister? “Uh, Mom, she’s in a TV show and doesn’t want to return to the real world…” ---
**Author:** ![Drastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Drastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drastic)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2001, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-stuff-in-an-otherwise-okay-movie/30279/113 "2001-08-11T21:51:33Z")
I was pleasantly surprised on renting the dvd of the King miniseries “Storm of the Century”. The multiple scenes that aggravated me, though, was every once in awhile, the demon playing with the town would open his mouth and do a little snarly hiss showing off his nasty sharp pointy vampire teeth. Highly groan-worthy, as it was already made clear, and much more skillfully so, that he was certainly not really human. ---
**Author:** ![AwSnappity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@AwSnappity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AwSnappity)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2001, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-stuff-in-an-otherwise-okay-movie/30279/114 "2001-08-11T22:11:37Z")
More about **The Cell** : The second time (I think) that J.Lo goes into the killer’s mind starts out like they are having a power failure and J.Lo needs to get up to check on something in the room. Something happens then (I forgot what), and then we realise that we are in the killer’s mind now. However, the killer has been in a coma for a good part of the film, and he has never seen the room. Therefore, it couldn’t be in his mind and J.Lo wouldn’t have had to check on the power outage. ---
**Author:** ![Crunchy\_Frog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ebca7d/32.png) [@Crunchy\_Frog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crunchy_Frog)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2001, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-stuff-in-an-otherwise-okay-movie/30279/115 "2001-08-11T22:26:06Z")
I recently saw _The Gift_, which didn’t suck, but why bother with the whole main character being psychic? I thought it would have worked much better as a thriller and a mystery if the main character was just faking it instead of really being psychic. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2001, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-stuff-in-an-otherwise-okay-movie/30279/116 "2001-08-11T23:11:49Z")
Alien. The scene in which John Hurt captures the baby alien by swallowing it is totally unrealistic. Superman. Clark Kent getting changed in a telephone box. How realistic is that? ---
**Author:** ![Crunchy\_Frog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ebca7d/32.png) [@Crunchy\_Frog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crunchy_Frog)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2001, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-stuff-in-an-otherwise-okay-movie/30279/117 "2001-08-11T23:37:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dr. Schadenfreude \* > \*\*Superman. Clark Kent getting changed in a telephone box. How realistic is that? \*\* Um, dude, it’s Superman. It’s about a man from another planet that flies and has X-ray vision. How much realism were you expecting? What ruined Superman for me though was… _ **Superman spoiler for anyone who hasn’t seen it** _ He flies around the planet really really fast a bunch of times and reverses time so he can save Lois Lane? What is that? If he can reverse time, why not go all the back to before getting tricked by Lex Luthor and not getting tricked at all in the first place? He knows Luthor’s plan, why not go _even further_ back in time and stop Luthor from ever getting a chance to carry out his plan? And besides all _that_, at the fortress of solitude, IIRC, Clark Kent has the whole of human knowledge at his fingertips. What does he do with all this information? **He becomes a newspaper reporter!** What the hell? This is how he figures he can best serve mankind? Nice move Clark, brilliant. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2001, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-stuff-in-an-otherwise-okay-movie/30279/118 "2001-08-11T23:46:08Z")
Pardon my irony. ---
**Author:** ![Crunchy\_Frog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ebca7d/32.png) [@Crunchy\_Frog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crunchy_Frog)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2001, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-stuff-in-an-otherwise-okay-movie/30279/119 "2001-08-11T23:50:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dr. Schadenfreude \* > \*\*Pardon my irony. \*\* I am irony impaired. Besides, that was basically just a lead-in for my Superman diatribe. Should’ve put a winky smiley there I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Myrnalene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@Myrnalene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myrnalene)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2001, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-stuff-in-an-otherwise-okay-movie/30279/120 "2001-08-12T00:23:31Z")
Yes, I know the Keanu thing has been beaten to death, but I must humbly submit his “performance” in _Dangerous Liasons_. This is an excellent movie with some fine, fine actors at the top of the game, but when he is onscreen the movie just STOPS. It’s like an old Warner Brothers cartoon I saw once where Elmer Fudd was chasing Bugs Bunny through the woods, and out of nowhere this half-crippled old man (or turtle, or something, fuck, I’m fuzzy on the details, 'kay?) appears, and Bugs and Elmer stop what they’re doing and watch in startled horror as he sloooooooooly limps across the screen. God, what an insult to John Malkovich and Glenn Close to have to play opposite this moron! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-stuff-in-an-otherwise-okay-movie/30279.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-stupid-stuff-in-an-otherwise-okay-movie/30279.md?page=7)