# Things that pull you out of a movie or book **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 27, 2005, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-pull-you-out-of-a-movie-or-book/301320 "2005-04-27T04:43:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-pull-you-out-of-a-movie-or-book/301320/21 "2005-04-27T21:40:32Z")
> [@Rich Mann](#): > > Other users of Miracle-Zoom[sup]TM[/sup] have been Columbo (at least three case solutions _rely_ on it) and CSI. I hear [_Enemy of the State_](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0120660/) features Miracle-Zoom™ as well. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-pull-you-out-of-a-movie-or-book/301320/22 "2005-04-27T21:52:04Z")
> [@Duderdude2](#): > > However, as Roeper suggested on his show once, movie studios could still purchase a non-555 number to use in various movies. Or they could just not show the # altogther. To the countless number of reasons Roeper is an idiot, I can now add another. Did it ever occur to him that, uh, there are different area codes in the United States and the only way to insure that nobody pranks a movie-number is to (a) perform the impossible–have the studio secure the same number in every single area code, (b) use the 555 prefix? No, I didn’t think so. Moron. ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-pull-you-out-of-a-movie-or-book/301320/23 "2005-04-27T21:58:07Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > It always annoys me that in a drama set in, say, the 3rd century BC, the leading ladies always have contemporary hairstyles. This was particularly noticable during the '50s (check out, say, Jean Simmons in Sparticus), but the trend carries through to today, unless the director is VERY picky. > > Look at the spaghetti Westerns of the '60s, where the heroine, with long straight flowing hair, generally under a flat-brimmed hat and an Indian-print poncho. Rachel Welch did a couple of these. What bothers me more about 50’s and 60’s period films is the make-up: thick pancake foundation and heavy eyeliner with false eyelashes. And those bullet bra foundation garments. ---
**Author:** ![Duderdude2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@Duderdude2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duderdude2)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-pull-you-out-of-a-movie-or-book/301320/24 "2005-04-27T21:58:41Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > To the countless number of reasons Roeper is an idiot, I can now add another. Did it ever occur to him that, uh, there are different area codes in the United States and the only way to insure that nobody pranks a movie-number is to (a) perform the impossible–have the studio secure the same number in every single area code, (b) use the 555 prefix? No, I didn’t think so. > > Moron. That’s why you would show the number with the area code in the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-pull-you-out-of-a-movie-or-book/301320/25 "2005-04-27T22:02:06Z")
> [@Duderdude2](#): > > I don’t know if it’s a legal requirement, but I know Bruce Almight used a non 555 #, and received many complaints because of it. People are apparently calling asking for God. Since was amended on the DVD. > > However, as Roeper suggested on his show once, movie studios could still purchase a non-555 number to use in various movies. Or they could just not show the # altogther. I know some studios purchased actual toll-free numbers to use in movies but I can’t think of any at the moment. _Sneakers_ is another fairly recent movie that featured a non-555 number. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-pull-you-out-of-a-movie-or-book/301320/26 "2005-04-27T22:24:46Z")
Casting. Sometimes an actor will pop up that is so recognizable in a “Hey it’s THAT GUY!” way and introduced in a “Hey it’s THAT GUY!” way I will be taken out of the movie. An example of this is David Mamet’s ‘Spartan’. A major goverment official is walking down a hallway. The camera is from his point of view. His attendants walk in front of him. One of them turns briefly toward the camera. Hey it’s William H Macy! Great movie otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-pull-you-out-of-a-movie-or-book/301320/27 "2005-04-27T22:31:51Z")
You mean like when Natalie Portman cameoed in ‘Zoolander’ _as_ Natalie Portman? ---
**Author:** ![Duderdude2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@Duderdude2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duderdude2)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-pull-you-out-of-a-movie-or-book/301320/28 "2005-04-27T22:47:03Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > You mean like when Natalie Portman cameoed in ‘Zoolander’ _as_ Natalie Portman? That’s got nothing on David Bowie’s appearance, as DAVID BOWIE flashes across the screen. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-pull-you-out-of-a-movie-or-book/301320/29 "2005-04-27T23:01:09Z")
> [@Duderdude2](#): > > That’s why you would show the number with the area code in the movie. Yeah, but when a character gives his number out, the context usually doesn’t require an area code, so the area code is usually unspoken. And anyway, most people who are going to “try” that number in real life aren’t going to fuss with an area code in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Duderdude2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@Duderdude2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duderdude2)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-pull-you-out-of-a-movie-or-book/301320/30 "2005-04-27T23:07:32Z")
Well, if Lute Skywatcher is correct, then it’s already been done in movies. However, assuming he’s not, I know that Scrubs (the TV show) recently had Turk read off a phone number as part of the show. That phone number belonged to a cell phone that was kept on the set of the show so that the cast could answer it from time to time. So it has been done, as far as TV Shows go. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-pull-you-out-of-a-movie-or-book/301320/31 "2005-04-27T23:11:53Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > But the winner is the eight-year-old girl in _Jurassic Park_ who quips, “This is Unix! I know this!” Sure you do, dear. :rolleyes: Actually, that’s about the _least_ egregious use of HollywoodOS I’ve ever seen. The system shown in _Jurassic Park_ is running a real filesystem visualization tool called **fsn** (pronounced “fusion”) that runs on IRIX (some flavor of Unix supported by SGI). You can download it [here](http://www.sgi.com/fun/freeware/3d_navigator.html) And, IIRC, there were actually reasonable \*nix directories scrolling by in the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-pull-you-out-of-a-movie-or-book/301320/32 "2005-04-27T23:24:12Z")
_The Incredibles_ had a real 800 number (or at least, a plausible one), but I don’t know what it’s the number for (I don’t have the DVD, and didn’t have a pencil and paper in the theater). I would imagine, though, that the line leads to some sort of promotional or marketing gimmick. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-pull-you-out-of-a-movie-or-book/301320/33 "2005-04-27T23:45:19Z")
Another problem with using real phone numbers is that even if the company buys the phone number, they’re probably not going to want to staff it in perpetuity. Ten years from now, I seriously doubt that the _Incredibles_ phone number will still be spouting marketing glurge. It will have been reassigned to someone else. Yet they’ll still be happily pumping out DVDs with the number on them. People will call the number. This is normally a small problem with phone number changeovers, but in any other case, the original owner of the number _stops publishing it_ after they no longer use it. If it’s in a movie, it’s there for good. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-pull-you-out-of-a-movie-or-book/301320/34 "2005-04-27T23:58:31Z")
> [@Duderdude2](#): > > That’s got nothing on David Bowie’s appearance, as DAVID BOWIE flashes across the screen. Is this kinda like in Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back where Mark Hamil shows up, and then there’s a freeze frame and the words “HEY KIDS! IT’S MARK HAMIL!” shows up on the screen? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-pull-you-out-of-a-movie-or-book/301320/35 "2005-04-28T00:10:26Z")
> [@iamthewalrus(:3=](#): > > The system shown in _Jurassic Park_ is running a real filesystem visualization tool called **fsn** (pronounced “fusion”) that runs on IRIX (some flavor of Unix supported by SGI). > You can download it [here](http://www.sgi.com/fun/freeware/3d_navigator.html) > > And, IIRC, there were actually reasonable \*nix directories scrolling by in the movie. Yeah, I know – I was just miffed at the idea of a pre-teen gal being a Grade-A Unix junkie more than anything else, especially since she showed no signs of computer geekery anywhere earlier in the film. It’s like watching the _Star Trek: The Next Generation_ crew get into some unstoppable dilemna, and then a runny-nosed teenage ensign on the bridge throws out some technobabble, taps a few buttons on the console, and… oh, nevermind. 😉 And don’t get me started on _JP_ having the geek programmer, Dennis Nedry, claiming he wrote all 2 million(!) lines of the Park’s automation software code by himself… ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-pull-you-out-of-a-movie-or-book/301320/36 "2005-04-28T00:12:26Z")
Movies with “old” cars, but all the “old” cars are shiny and undented. So you know they got the local Classic Cars Club to bring their lovingly restored '48 Studebakers or '57 Chevies for this movie, cuz they all look brand new. I can tell ya, cuz I was there – in 1955 everybody didn’t drive a 1955 auto, and there were a lot of old rust buckets on the street. They could at least throw some dirt on those cars, and pace the drive-bys, so it doesn’t look like a parade. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-pull-you-out-of-a-movie-or-book/301320/37 "2005-04-28T00:13:09Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > _The Incredibles_ had a real 800 number (or at least, a plausible one), but I don’t know what it’s the number for (I don’t have the DVD, and didn’t have a pencil and paper in the theater). I believe someone reverse-engineered the digits and discovered it was (888) SUPR-HRO. > [@Chronos](#): > > I would imagine, though, that the line leads to some sort of promotional or marketing gimmick. As far as I know, it was just a line that went nowhere. Certainly no easter eggs when I dialed it… ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-pull-you-out-of-a-movie-or-book/301320/38 "2005-04-28T00:20:23Z")
I heard that Douglas Adams did it a lot. for example, someone would mention a improbability of 2 to the power of 1234567 to 1. so if you dialled 01 123 4567 you got Adams’ favourite pub. Of course, the numbers are long since obsolete, don’t bother trying them. ---
**Author:** ![Duderdude2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@Duderdude2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duderdude2)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-pull-you-out-of-a-movie-or-book/301320/39 "2005-04-28T01:01:34Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > Is this kinda like in Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back where Mark Hamil shows up, and then there’s a freeze frame and the words “HEY KIDS! IT’S MARK HAMIL!” shows up on the screen? 😃 Haha, exactly, except in Zoolander there’s even a musical interluide that accompanies it. Both scenes are equally hilarious though. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-pull-you-out-of-a-movie-or-book/301320/40 "2005-04-28T01:13:00Z")
> [@zagloba](#): > > Hitchcock’s little appearances are mildly distracting if you know what he looks like and are looking for them. But they’re never obtrusive. For example in Strangers on a Train, he’s just in the background hauling a string bass up the steps into the train – he could be any extra. I’ve always enjoyed the game of trying to spot him. Novel author Patricia Highsmith also appears briefly at the bus stop (IIRC). In his cameo in _Rear Window_ (one of my favorite films) he’s the clockwinder in the mucisian’s apartment, which strikes me as quite appropriate. There are a lot of things that bug me about films (and I see a lot of them) but the worst in both film and literature is when a character exists strictly as an expositor of things that would be best described by images. The most common example is the totally unnecessary and obtrusive voiceovers tacked onto _Blade Runner_, but it’s even worse a lot of science fiction films where the director clearly doesn’t think the audience is bright enough to pound sand. Note that VO is okay when used appropriately and/or sparingly (_Out Of The Past_ comes to mind) but running _Wonder Years_-type commentaries bug the hell out of me, as does the scientist’s assistant who is there only to ask dumb questions, as in _Earth vs the Flying Saucers_ (though admittedly that film is so cheesy it becomes laughable rather than distracting.) _Monty Python’s Flying Circus_ did a great riff on this in one episode (the one with the aliens shaped like blancmanges) in which the scientist ends up beaning his assistance because she’s such a twit. This is also the case, most notably, with Larry Niven’s novels; the characters end up having long expository and badly misguided discussions about evolutionary biology or cosmology nominally to describe some development but actually to disguise the fact that the plot is going nowhere. Ditto with pretty much everything Clarke and Asimov ever wrote after 1960. Stranger [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-pull-you-out-of-a-movie-or-book/301320.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-pull-you-out-of-a-movie-or-book/301320.md?page=3)