Things you're tired of seeing in movies

[Richard Baker]

I had an idea for an interesting film- "The Bystanders". They are the unfortunate couple sitting at the next table during all those over the top restaurant antics. You could recycle existing footage from different films and digitally insert them into the shot.
When they go home they are in the car next to the one that explodes. When they go shopping they are at the store during the robbery. They arrive at the park just before the UFO lands.
It all begins with a Gypsy Curse when they lament that nothing interesting ever happens to them...

 

[DiggsBarklightr]

I'm pretty tired of the anticipation music leading to someones head being chopped off etc. Just let things happen organically and don't give the audience time to react before it happens.

 

[p51]

I'm pretty tired of the anticipation music leading to someones head being chopped off etc. Just let things happen organically and don't give the audience time to react before it happens.

Now that you mention it, in an era of good CGI, why do we still rarely see someone get the chop? You still see the reactions of those who showed up (who have clearly seen it before yet act like they haven't) and the split-second before the blade meets neck. I REALLY don't need to see it personally (having seen something similar in real life) but I've always wondered this.

 

[DiggsBarklightr]

Now that you mention it, in an era of good CGI, why do we still rarely see someone get the chop? You still see the reactions of those who showed up (who have clearly seen it before yet act like they haven't) and the split-second before the blade meets neck. I REALLY don't need to see it personally (having seen something similar in real life) but I've always wondered this.

Same here. Not a pretty sight.

I think the best version of no anticipation in recent years was in Pulp Fiction when Vincent shot Marvin by accident in the car. Came out of left field.

 

[Ron]

When something goofy, silly, or unexpected happens which prompts a character to say "Seriously?".

C'mon writers, it's such a tired expression in movies and in real life for that matter.

 

[dascoyne]

“If We/you/I don’t do something millions of people will die.”

 

[p51]

Maybe I wrote this before, but someone grabbing a stranger on the street, saying, "I HAVE to use your cell phone," then making off with it, and the person with the phone never does anything or even says anything. You never even see them again after that.

 

[mattycsi]

Maybe I wrote this before, but someone grabbing a stranger on the street, saying, "I HAVE to use your cell phone," then making off with it, and the person with the phone never does anything or even says anything. You never even see them again after that.

That would make a great movie, hero takes a guys phone to "save the world" and sets off on the heroic quest, but the whole side plot is the random guy following him at every turn to get his stuff back. Or even just heroic finale, then whack, random dude comes outa nowhere to lay the guy out, grabs his phone and wanders off into the sunset.

 

[Richard Baker]

IIRC Neo stole a cell phone in the Matrix, the theft victim said "Hey!- that's my phone", then morphed into an Agent to pursue...

 

[p51]

That would make a great movie, hero takes a guys phone to "save the world" and sets off on the heroic quest, but the whole side plot is the random guy following him at every turn to get his stuff back. Or even just heroic finale, then whack, random dude comes outa nowhere to lay the guy out, grabs his phone and wanders off into the sunset.

Great idea! Better still, the person who sets off to get the phone back knocks the 'hero' off a cliff or something just before the public discovers they were just saved.
The owner of the phone somehow is proven to be that guy, and the real hero is somehow suggested to be the bad guy, ensuring the phone owner never is questioned as the hero.
Any good screen writer could wrap that up with a bow.
Neat idea, I'd never thought of that before. You should write it!

 

[mattycsi]

Great idea! Better still, the person who sets off to get the phone back knocks the 'hero' off a cliff or something just before the public discovers they were just saved.
The owner of the phone somehow is proven to be that guy, and the real hero is somehow suggested to be the bad guy, ensuring the phone owner never is questioned as the hero.
Any good screen writer could wrap that up with a bow.
Neat idea, I'd never thought of that before. You should write it!

Nice twist on it.
Another option would be, the guy gets his phone back after the hero used it, and now the bad guys are tracking this guys phone tginking he is the hero. Through the whole movie, he is completely unaware of the whole plot. When the hero saves the day, the random guy gets the credit because of the phone. It would be like The Life of Brian.

 

[DiggsBarklightr]

During a stakeout in movies and tv shows, I hate when people use binoculars, see something of interest and then pull away from the binoculars and look at what they were just looking at close up. It’s as if they are now getting a better look from far away and then they have some stupid commentary about it with themselves, then they immediately look back into the binoculars as if they never missed anything the person was doing.

 

[Zombie_61]

...I think the best version of no anticipation in recent years was in Pulp Fiction when Vincent shot Marvin by accident in the car. Came out of left field.

"Recent" years? Pulp Fiction is a 25-year-old movie. And I'm only mentioning it because I do the same thing regularly.

 

[DiggsBarklightr]

"Recent" years? Pulp Fiction is a 25-year-old movie. And I'm only mentioning it because I do the same thing regularly.

Crap!! When did I get old?!

 

[Strikerkc]

Now that you mention it, in an era of good CGI, why do we still rarely see someone get the chop? You still see the reactions of those who showed up (who have clearly seen it before yet act like they haven't) and the split-second before the blade meets neck. I REALLY don't need to see it personally (having seen something similar in real life) but I've always wondered this.

If I'm not mistaken, it's for ratings purposes. We're all kind of comfy with the idea that "you can be as violent as you want" and still just get an R rating; but we're used to seeing cartoonish violence, or the most horrendous violence done towards aliens, zombies, etc. But I'm pretty sure actually SHOWING certain types of violence committed in realistic ways, on HUMANS can land you an nc17; or whatever the current "no studio will release this in theaters" rating is.

 

[p51]

If I'm not mistaken, it's for ratings purposes. We're all kind of comfy with the idea that "you can be as violent as you want" and still just get an R rating; but we're used to seeing cartoonish violence, or the most horrendous violence done towards aliens, zombies, etc. But I'm pretty sure actually SHOWING certain types of violence committed in realistic ways, on HUMANS can land you an nc17; or whatever the current "no studio will release this in theaters" rating is.

Yeah, that makes sense. If I recall correctly, the first cut of "Robocop" earned an NC17, didn't it? They had to edit Murphy literally getting blasted to bits by the bad guys at the start of the movie to get a R rating.

 

[Strikerkc]

Huh. Turns out that it took RoboCop 11 tries to go from "X"/"NC-17" to R.

RoboCop (Comparison: Theatrical Version - Unrated Director's Cut) - Movie-Censorship.com

Comparison: Theatrical Version - Unrated Director's Cut

www.movie-censorship.com

Also turns out, that I may have only SEEN the X rated directors cut, because I remember ALL the things this article is saying had to be cut.

 

[DiggsBarklightr]

Which one did he shoot the dingaling off the bad guy again?

 

[robn1]

Also turns out, that I may have only SEEN the X rated directors cut, because I remember ALL the things this article is saying had to be cut.

I don't think they were all cut out, more like cut down. I remember that the scene of ED-209 shooting the executive in the office demo was a longer more drawn out scene, with ED continuously blasting away at the dead body while everyone else tried to stop it. It had to be cut down to pass, which made it more horrific than the original cut which was more comical.

 

[p51]

I remember that the scene of ED-209 shooting the executive in the office demo was a longer more drawn out scene, with ED continuously blasting away at the dead body while everyone else tried to stop it. It had to be cut down to pass, which made it more horrific than the original cut which was more comical.

Not long ago, I bought a Blu-ray set of all the Robocop movies (and fell asleep while watching the 3rd one... twice!) and the first one had the option of each version. I watched the original cut and yes, the ED209 demo sequence is totally different in its original as it's no longer cartoony to watch Mr Kinney turned into hamburger by what appears to be 20MM guns. It even makes the main character reactions afterward seem even more insane (as if it happens every other day at OCP).