# Summarize a fantastical plot as mundanely as possible **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 22, 2016, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summarize-a-fantastical-plot-as-mundanely-as-possible/760623 "2016-07-22T20:32:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summarize-a-fantastical-plot-as-mundanely-as-possible/760623/61 "2016-07-27T03:59:12Z")
> [@Eddie The Horrible](#): > > I gave it try, and this happened > > [noparse][/noparse]name of film[noparse][/noparse] > > I’m not really good at this shit Just use the [noparse] and [/noparse] tag for spoilers. Like this: name of film The code is just [noparse]name of film[/noparse]. The [noparse][noparse][/noparse] tag is the trick that allows me to actually write [noparse][spoiler][/noparse] without it being interpreted by vB as being an actual spoiler tag. It’s analogous to an escape character, if you have any programming experience. You will not need to use the noparse tag except in explanatory situations like this one. ---
**Author:** ![Barking\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Barking\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barking_Dog)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summarize-a-fantastical-plot-as-mundanely-as-possible/760623/62 "2016-07-27T04:15:20Z")
Civil engineering in South Asia Bridge Over the River Kwai ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summarize-a-fantastical-plot-as-mundanely-as-possible/760623/63 "2016-07-27T07:47:45Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > The code is just name of film not sure what I did different from the previous time, but thanks again… A reporter talks to people who were close to a recently-passed news publisher. Citizen Kane 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mikewil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7cd45c/32.png) [@mikewil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikewil)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summarize-a-fantastical-plot-as-mundanely-as-possible/760623/64 "2016-07-27T08:17:30Z")
A group of men spend a day at the beach The Longest Day ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summarize-a-fantastical-plot-as-mundanely-as-possible/760623/65 "2016-07-27T08:30:06Z")
A weatherman gets delayed while stopping over on a business trip. Groundhog Day ---
**Author:** ![Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_Arachnid_Laser_1)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summarize-a-fantastical-plot-as-mundanely-as-possible/760623/66 "2016-07-27T08:41:53Z")
Kid makes friends with a foreigner unable to communicate with his people. E.T. ---
**Author:** ![Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_Arachnid_Laser_1)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summarize-a-fantastical-plot-as-mundanely-as-possible/760623/67 "2016-07-27T08:44:44Z")
New Yorker travels to California during Christmas in order to restore his marriage. Sadly, his wife’s work-related troubles make the reunion difficult. Die Hard ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summarize-a-fantastical-plot-as-mundanely-as-possible/760623/68 "2016-07-27T11:48:03Z")
> [@Waltzes\_with\_Cacti](#): > > A ghost and a prince meet and everyone ends as mincemeat. > > I can’t take credit for this; it’s a line from the song “That’s Entertainment” by Schwartz and Dietz. Another one from the same song: “A boy kills his father, and causes a lot of bother”. Oedipus Rex ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summarize-a-fantastical-plot-as-mundanely-as-possible/760623/69 "2016-07-27T11:51:11Z")
Here’s another: Elder care divides a family. King Lear ---
**Author:** ![davey77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90ced4/32.png) [@davey77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davey77)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summarize-a-fantastical-plot-as-mundanely-as-possible/760623/70 "2016-07-27T12:10:23Z")
Extremely homely man moves to London. A neighbor proves unneighborly. Elvis-loving ex-con and girlfriend drive car through desert, have misadventures. A lawnmower is pushed to its limits. While investigating a policeman’s disappearance, another policeman experiences strange visions. A trade war erupts over vermiculture. I can NOT figure out spoiler boxes, but crack the code and these are easy… ---
**Author:** ![Waltzes\_with\_Cacti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90ced4/32.png) [@Waltzes\_with\_Cacti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waltzes_with_Cacti)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summarize-a-fantastical-plot-as-mundanely-as-possible/760623/71 "2016-07-27T13:57:08Z")
If our OP, **Martian Bigfoot,** will permit, I’d like to offer this brilliantly succinct gem of a headline pertaining to an historical event, not a movie (although movies have been made about the story): “King’s Moll Reno’d in Wolsey’s Home Town.” It was a real headline published in an American newspaper in the 1930’s when Wallis Simpson (the king’s moll) was divorced (Reno’d) from Mr. Simpson in the birthplace (Ipswich) of Wolsey, the Cardinal who failed to obtain a divorce for Henry VIII. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summarize-a-fantastical-plot-as-mundanely-as-possible/760623/72 "2016-07-27T14:04:52Z")
Kidnapped women show signs of Stockholm Syndrome. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summarize-a-fantastical-plot-as-mundanely-as-possible/760623/73 "2016-07-27T14:24:30Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Kidnapped women show signs of Stockholm Syndrome. > > Seven Brides for Seven Brothers This is funny: I’d never heard of this particular work, but the description made me think of the Rape of the Sabines, from Roman legend. Then I look it up in [Wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Brides_for_Seven_Brothers), and sure enough: > [@](#): > > The screenplay, by Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich, and Dorothy Kingsley, is based on the short story “The Sobbin’ Women”, by Stephen Vincent Benét, which was based in turn on the Ancient Roman legend of The Rape of the Sabine Women. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summarize-a-fantastical-plot-as-mundanely-as-possible/760623/74 "2016-07-27T14:33:08Z")
> [@Eddie The Horrible](#): > > An inconvenient bug spreads…_28 Days_ Or: The Andromeda Strain Twelve Monkeys The Stand ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summarize-a-fantastical-plot-as-mundanely-as-possible/760623/75 "2016-07-27T14:37:28Z")
> [@davey77](#): > > I can NOT figure out spoiler boxes, but crack the code and these are easy… Easiest way is to quote someone else, and substitute your text for their’s. ---
**Author:** ![Waltzes\_with\_Cacti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90ced4/32.png) [@Waltzes\_with\_Cacti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waltzes_with_Cacti)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summarize-a-fantastical-plot-as-mundanely-as-possible/760623/76 "2016-07-27T15:12:09Z")
The curse of the cursive medal. _The Bad Seed_ Postulant meets sexy sailor, forsakes vow of chastity. _The Sound of Music_ In 2016, refugees from northern Africa seek asylum in Europe. In 1942, it was the other way around. _Casablanca_ Decades before air guitar is born, city slicker shows rubes how to play air trombone. _The Music Man_ ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summarize-a-fantastical-plot-as-mundanely-as-possible/760623/77 "2016-07-27T15:55:58Z")
_The Road Warrior_ – during a gasoline shortage, drivers squabble over the supply. ---
**Author:** ![oft\_wears\_hats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7993a0/32.png) [@oft\_wears\_hats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oft_wears_hats)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summarize-a-fantastical-plot-as-mundanely-as-possible/760623/78 "2016-07-27T16:09:08Z")
Government installation destroyed by terrorists and local wildlife. Return of the Jedi Man wearing makeup plays elaborate pranks on city residents. The Dark Knight ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summarize-a-fantastical-plot-as-mundanely-as-possible/760623/79 "2016-07-27T17:04:38Z")
Students go on field trip without permission slips. (Every Xmen movie) ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2016, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summarize-a-fantastical-plot-as-mundanely-as-possible/760623/80 "2016-07-27T17:08:06Z")
> [@Waltzes\_with\_Cacti](#): > > Postulant meets sexy sailor, forsakes vow of chastity. > > _The Sound of Music_ Nope. That one is a fail. Your description is rather more enticing than the movie itself. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summarize-a-fantastical-plot-as-mundanely-as-possible/760623.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/summarize-a-fantastical-plot-as-mundanely-as-possible/760623.md?page=5)