# This movie is not what I expected it to be **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 21, 2019, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298 "2019-05-21T16:03:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/81 "2019-05-23T16:06:58Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …the Movie Angel Eyes, starring Jennifer Lopez and Jesus. (AKA Reese) Oh, yes. I remember watching that one and being totally surprised the movie was not what was advertised. I think I liked the actual movie more than I would have if it had been the one I was expecting. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/82 "2019-05-23T17:04:55Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Since the movie was actually about both things, I can’t say the trailers were purely deceptive, but it really made me aware of how[a trailer can use only footage from the film and yet completely misrepresent it if it wants to.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T5_0AGdFic) This isn’t one that mislead _me_, since it came out almost a decade before I was born, but I came across the [theatrical trailer](https://youtu.be/5MtAMc4i8OA) for Spielberg’s _Duel_ on YouTube a while back. This makes it out to be an action movie packed with car chases and whatnot, and not the more psychological suspenseful film it actually is. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/83 "2019-05-23T17:31:57Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > My sister is a fan of somewhat obscure indie movies, so one year when we got together for Christmas she brought along a DVD of a movie called _Raghead_ for us all to watch. I think I’m remembering the title correctly, because I remember having to explain to my parents that it was a slur directed towards Arabs, but I can’t even find it on IMDB now (There’s a short film listed with that title, but that’s definitely not the movie we watched). . The movie you are thinking of is called _ **Towelhead** _. Which is probably why you could not find it… For me, it was probably The Paperboy. I don’t know what I expected, but that was not quite it. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/84 "2019-05-23T17:39:27Z")
My local library kept misfiling the dvd “A Boy And His Dog” in the Children’s section. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/85 "2019-05-23T18:18:41Z")
[QUOTE=Just Asking Questions;21656690 Since the movie was actually about both things, I can’t say the trailers were purely deceptive, but it really made me aware of how [a trailer can use only footage from the film and yet completely misrepresent it if it wants to.] ([THE ORIGINAL Scary 'Mary Poppins' Recut Trailer - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T5_0AGdFic)) [/QUOTE] Who else was expecting the link to go to [this trailer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-e6d_gzaDgk) instead? ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/86 "2019-05-23T19:17:28Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > _Dead Poets Society_ was advertised as a Robin Williams comedy, with the trailer showing the 5 funny lines Robin has in the whole movie. So I rented it expecting to laugh. > A great movie to be sure, but definitely not a comedy. _Dogma_ was the first Jay and Silent Bob movie i saw. I expected a comedy. I didn’t think it was funny (except for one scene) but it is a fairly good fantasy movie. ---
**Author:** ![squidfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@squidfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squidfood)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/87 "2019-05-23T19:25:12Z")
_The Princess Bride_ was famously mis-marketed on first release and I was along with that. As a 16-year old geek I was expecting some kind of high swords & sorcery, or (when some of the posters suggested “humor”) I was thinking some kind of Monty Python style full genre sendup. The gentle and brilliant thing it turned out to be was completely lost on young me (it wasn’t until I read the book that I “got” what it was going for and now it’s on my all-time favorites list). ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/88 "2019-05-23T19:33:25Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > _Dogma_ was the first Jay and Silent Bob movie i saw. I expected a comedy. I didn’t think it was funny (except for one scene) but it is a fairly good fantasy movie. Are you guys watching the same versions of movies as me? First Bad Santa. Now, Dogma? Those are funny, funny movies. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/89 "2019-05-23T19:42:23Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Are you guys watching the same versions of movies as me? First Bad Santa. Now, Dogma? Those are funny, funny movies. Dogma, and Bad Santa are in my top five funniest movies ever. Ironically, I’ll take a hard pass at anything else Jay and Bob have done. I’m guessing J&B didn’t write any of the material for Dogma. Either that, or they’re a one hit wonder. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/90 "2019-05-23T19:45:16Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > Dogma, and Bad Santa are in my top five funniest movies ever. > > Ironically, I’ll take a hard pass at anything else Jay and Bob have done. I’m guessing J&B didn’t write any of the material for Dogma. Either that, or they’re a one hit wonder. “Bob” wrote and directed Dogma. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/91 "2019-05-23T19:56:30Z")
As God is my witness I went into “Little Shop of Horrors” not knowing it was a musical. I just assumed it was a straightforward comedy. It was fun either way. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/92 "2019-05-23T20:27:34Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > Dogma, and Bad Santa are in my top five funniest movies ever. > > Ironically, I’ll take a hard pass at anything else Jay and Bob have done. I’m guessing J&B didn’t write any of the material for Dogma. Either that, or they’re a one hit wonder. I think Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is a great “so stupid it’s funny” road trip movie with a lot of cool cameos. George Carlin, Carrie Fisher, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Tracey Morgan, Will Ferrel, Eliza Dushku, and more. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/93 "2019-05-23T20:32:24Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > As God is my witness I went into “Little Shop of Horrors” not knowing it was a musical. I just assumed it was a straightforward comedy. It was fun either way. I went to see it on a first date. My date had been expecting a horror movie, and when he discovered it was a musical, we left and snuck into a different movie down the hall. Wanker. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/94 "2019-05-23T20:51:06Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > As God is my witness I went into “Little Shop of Horrors” not knowing it was a musical. I just assumed it was a straightforward comedy. It was fun either way. Tangentially related, I knew _Hamilton_ was a musical, but I didn’t realize that it was 100% singing the whole time. I got through the end of the third song before I thought, “Aren’t they going to stop and say something now?” ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/95 "2019-05-23T23:48:38Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > Who else was expecting the link to go to [this trailer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-e6d_gzaDgk) instead? I’d never seen that one. That’s pretty good. Almost “as good as it gets”, so to speak. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/96 "2019-05-24T00:45:22Z")
well, the original little shop of horrors was a horror movie … ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/97 "2019-05-24T04:16:34Z")
Here’s what I posted in a similar thread a few years ago (slightly edited): The trailers for _Bicentennial Man_ (1999) made it look like a stupid futuristic comedy with Robin Williams as a robot. I gave it a miss in theaters and it wasn’t until I saw it on cable years later that I realized it was based on an Isaac Asimov story\* I had read\*. I hadn’t made the connection to the title. In fact, the film was a fairly accurate and thoughtful adaptation of the story, about the struggle of a robot to understand what being human means, and ultimately to become human. It was nicely written and acted, and the ending was quite moving. But the moron marketing people positioned it as a comedy by excerpting just about the only 30 seconds of the film with any laughs. In so doing they drew in people looking for a comedy and undoubtedly disappointed most of them, since they probably weren’t expecting a 130-minute inquiry on human nature. At the same time, the marketing also kept away the Asimov fans and others interested in the serious theme of the film. Thus, many of the people who saw the film didn’t like it, and many who would have liked it didn’t see it. Brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/98 "2019-05-24T04:39:39Z")
> [@digs](#): > > If you’re taking kids to a movie, wouldn’t _Even Minimal Parenting_ mean you watch a trailer or read a review or at least tell someone you’re going, so they can talk you out of it? You would hope, yes. Though one of my first movies my mom took me to was The Blue Lagoon, so whattreyougonnado? > [@BeagleJesus](#): > > I know it’s significantly more lowbrow than many of the movies listed by others but Scott Pilgrim vs The World caught me completely off guard. > > I had never heard of Scott Pilgrim and I was sitting around bored one night so I decided to rent the movie on a whim. I spent the first 15-20min scratching my head trying to figure out where the movie was trying to go and then this Indian guy dressed like a pirate came crashing through the roof and challenged Scott to a video game fight…and I didn’t stop laughing until the credits rolled. One of like 5 comic book movies I absolutely love to death! Saw a screening of it at the Egyptian in Hollywood with a meet n great with edgar Wright and cast. My friend n I had polished off a fifth of cheap whiskey during the movie. They were…unresponsive…to my request to smell Ramona Flowers’ hair afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![Snake\_Plissken\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Snake\_Plissken\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snake_Plissken_1)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/99 "2019-05-24T14:15:24Z")
“If only I had been raped as a child! _Then_ I would know authenticity!” I kid you not. Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Lara Flynn Boyle, Ben Gazzara, Jon Lovitz. 1998 ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2019, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298/100 "2019-05-24T15:11:57Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > My local library kept misfiling the dvd “A Boy And His Dog” in the Children’s section. OMG!! That was one of the first videos we rented. We didn’t even have a VCR yet. It was a big event in 1989 - Friday night, a trip to the one and only video store in town, rent a VCR and pick out a family movie from about 25 movies that were available. I spotted A Boy & His Dog and thought that’s something we can all watch. (The kids were 4 & 10) Nope! :eek: I can’t even remember what happened that caused me to turn it off. The kids were so disappointed. It must not have had a rating and the box description must have looked good. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-movie-is-not-what-i-expected-it-to-be/834298.md?page=6)