Things you're tired of seeing in movies

[vader45]

I can't stand it when someone asks about an item they asked someone else to get. That someone else says it's right there and it is conveniently right next to the guy who asked. That never happens in real life!

Batman(1989) does this. Alfred gets the file on the Wayne's. It's so conveniently on the table right next to Bruce when he asked Alfred. Bruce is freaking Batman. How does he not see the giant ass folder stuffed with news paper right next to him?

 

[AJK001]

I can't speak about the entire U.S., but in California there has been an ongoing push to ban smoking in pretty much all public places for several years now, and the most vehement of non-smokers can really work themselves into a frenzy over their dislike of smoking and cigarettes. I've had red-faced strangers yell angrily at me while I was smoking in a designated smoking area because they apparently felt the need to vent their feelings at that moment and I was a convenient target; it seemed to really bother one guy that I didn't return his anger and/or yell back, but merely stood silently smoking (careful to blow my exhaled smoke away from him) while he ranted. That being said, after 30 years of smoking I haven't had a cigarette in the last six months.

I've noticed that some of the worst people are the ones who used to smoke. For some reason they seem to think that since they stopped smoking everyone else should too and are not shy about telling you. I smoked for 25 years before I finally quit about 10 years ago and I love telling people I did not stop for health reasons but because it was getting too expensive and it drives them nuts. I also don't have any problems with people smoking around me as long as we are in an area that allows smoking.

 

[p51]

Extras or actors who walk in and out of traffic and the driver don't even react in any way. When they film it, everyone knows where everyone is, but I've seen movies and shows where people step right into traffic without looking and the drivers just stop for no seeming reason. In the context of the movie, it looks very silly.

 

[p51]

When you've written your premise to where there can't be a sequel, then there later is. Terminator was simple, the humans had won, they've destroyed the time machine, and the T800 was sent back as the machine's last chance to win after all. Reece was sent back to stop him and nobody else was coming.
Of course, that was later ignored in the interest of making more movies/money.

 

[AJK001]

Extras or actors who walk in and out of traffic and the driver don't even react in any way. When they film it, everyone knows where everyone is, but I've seen movies and shows where people step right into traffic without looking and the drivers just stop for no seeming reason. In the context of the movie, it looks very silly.

Whenever I see something like that I'm reminded of the scene in Midnight Cowboy where Dustin Hoffman is crossing a street and is almost hit by a taxi. It turned out they were filming without closing off the street and is was a real taxi that almost hit him not knowing they were filming. They left the scene in the movie because the way he reacted by banging on the hood and yelling 'I'm working here' fit his character.

 

[somerset fox]

has anyone noticed when a character is beaten up and has blood on their face, carefully applied by the make up department before shooting, that the same line of blood is always still in place, several scenes later, often portrayed as hours later in the story? its as if the character hasn’t bothered to wipe the wound, check themselves for cuts, treated their injuries etc.

(in reality I know it’s just the make up dept who have taken original photos of the injury and have to reapply the blood throughout the shot, and don’t want to worry about the continuity of a scene. It just strikes me as odd, that’s all)

 

[PoopaPapaPalps]

I'm really beginning to hate the amount of useless color grading in modern movies. The pointless over-saturation of orange and blues, hospitals and bathrooms are tinted green, Mexico is always rust colored, etc. Most of the time it's never used creatively to create a mood or add texture; it's just slapped on "because." It makes the movie look...synthetic.

 

[dascoyne]

Two "bad" actors in a scene aren't as painful to watch as a seasoned, strong actor playing against a weak one. e.g. every scene of Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen just shows he's waaaay out of his league.

 

[The Brahma Bull]

Two "bad" actors in a scene aren't as painful to watch as a seasoned, strong actor playing against a weak one. e.g. every scene of Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen just shows he's waaaay out of his league.

This makes me think of things i want to see more in movies. Two strong characters just talking. Always have De Niro and Pacino in my mind talking about there professions like two regular guys in heat.

One thing I'm absolutely annoyed of is to get told by a movie that an not so attractive actress is the most attractive woman in the world. Every movie involving Reese Witherspoon. I've nothing against her, but she just isn't that pretty.

Or the opposite, quite popular in the late 90s putting glasses on a beautiful girl to make her "ugly" when she, of course, is still beautiful.

 

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

They made fun of that in Not Another Teen Movie where the popular girl said she was going to give the "ugly" girl a makeover and she just pulled her glasses off and said "Done!".

What annoys me is that no one in tv or movies close the door when they come into the house. I'm guessing is because it takes longer than the director wants to let them do it, but it's just not realistic.

 

[modelcitizen]

Natalie is a "strong" actor....?

 

[vader45]

When you've written your premise to where there can't be a sequel, then there later is. Terminator was simple, the humans had won, they've destroyed the time machine, and the T800 was sent back as the machine's last chance to win after all. Reece was sent back to stop him and nobody else was coming.
Of course, that was later ignored in the interest of making more movies/money.

They destroyed Skynet in T2. That is a door cemented shut for a closure yet they made more sequels. They continued by pretending T2 never happened. Ugh.....what people would do for $$$$.

As the biggest Halloween fan on this site, I don't want to see another Halloween film again. Yet we have 2 more on the way. 2018 was a good film but enough is enough with oversaturation of a story that barely stood on its own for it's first sequel. And Terminator is in the same boat.

 

[p51]

One thing I'm absolutely annoyed of is to get told by a movie that an not so attractive actress is the most attractive woman in the world.

Maya Rudolph is a great example of this. For me, she's not even a "She's not that pretty" reaction as for me I think she's quite homely by movie standards (and at best, just so-so for real life). Yet, Hollywood wants to thing she's a cover model in many of her roles. I wonder if most of her casting was done over the phone?

They destroyed Skynet in T2. That is a door cemented shut for a closure yet they made more sequels. They continued by pretending T2 never happened. Ugh.....what people would do for $$$$.

Yeah, and now you just have the "jump back in time and re-do the whole thing" that got just crazy. Avengers End Game, I think, is probably the only version of that which worked for me.

 

[Bigdaddy]

Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen just shows he's waaaay out of his league.

Of course he is, SHE'S a Senator after all...

What annoys me is that no one in tv or movies close the door when they come into the house. I'm guessing is because it takes longer than the director wants to let them do it, but it's just not realistic.

I had written a scene in a fanfilm that had my kid's character leaving an apartment door open. After we shot it she looked at the footage and insisted we do it again, taking the time to see the door getting shut because her character (Hit-Girl) wouldn't be that careless.

 

[jarroth]

Seen quite a lot of cgi helicopters in movies the last years. Not realy a problem but what bugs me about it is that the almost never get the rotorblades right. If a chopper wants to take off the bladetips wil lift making it look from the sides as if the chopper hangs from a bowl shape.
Quite some times you see the rotor spinning and that's it. The blades keep hanging down as if in rest.

Guess it is my authistic view on stuff like that.

 

[Riceball]

Seen quite a lot of cgi helicopters in movies the last years. Not realy a problem but what bugs me about it is that the almost never get the rotorblades right. If a chopper wants to take off the bladetips wil lift making it look from the sides as if the chopper hangs from a bowl shape.
Quite some times you see the rotor spinning and that's it. The blades keep hanging down as if in rest.

Guess it is my authistic view on stuff like that.

This is most likely because the effects people don't know this, all they know is that the rotor spins and that's what makes a helo fly. So, as a result, the rotors are set up so that all they do is spin around their axis with not tilt capability in either the rotor blades, or the rotor head. While it would be a nice touch to do it just adds to the animation time and it's something that most people won't notice or care about.

 

[AJK001]

It seems like directors are so in love with CGI that they forgot or don't even think about sometimes it is just easier, quicker and cheaper to do it live. How much can it cost to rent a chopper and have it take off, land and so some fly byes? Of course if they need it to do some weird things or explode then go with the CGI.

Remember the old days when they wanted to do a plane or chopper crash they would have it fly behind a hill and then have a big explosion come out from behind the hill? The biggest problem with that is they never got the timing correct and the explosion came as soon as it went behind the hill instead of waiting a second or so.

 

[Riceball]

It seems like directors are so in love with CGI that they forgot or don't even think about sometimes it is just easier, quicker and cheaper to do it live. How much can it cost to rent a chopper and have it take off, land and so some fly byes? Of course if they need it to do some weird things or explode then go with the CGI.

Not necessarily. Doing aircraft in CG can be cheaper depending on the scene and the length of the scene. I don't know what all is involved in getting real aircraft for filming but I'd imagine that there's a lot of paper work and liability involved, then there's the cost of renting the plane, paying a pilot, and fuel. Doing it in CG means no insurance, no getting clearance/permits from the city, potentially talking to the FAA, and depending on the cost of fuel at the time of production, that could mean a lot saved right there. Also, CG allows the director full control of the action and if the aircraft doesn't perform the exact way they want the first time, they can go back and change it for a whole lot less than it would to get multiple takes from the real thing.

However, having said all that, I also feel that it would depend a lot on the context of the scene. If it's for just one quick shot where you're not going to see it for very long and/or closely then CG is absolutely the best way to go. In the old days they would have just used a model or toy plane/helo and it wouldn't have looked quite as convincing as a CG model would today. But the idea is the same, even if the exact methodology has changed.

If we're talking a big action sequence where the aircraft is featured heavily and in close ups like in the Mission Impossible movies, then it might be worth the cost and of the headache in getting a real aircraft and doing it in camera. For those sorts of scenes the real thing still (generally) looks better and can be easier to do practically than in post. This is esp. true for when you need close ups, this is still an area where practical beats CG since it takes a lot of time and effort to get CG models to look real close up, it's doable but it's time consuming which means expensive.

 

[Marv]

Can I simply say Star Wars with the exception of Rogue One. Not been a decent release since Return of the Jedi.

 

[modelcitizen]

ask john landis how expensive a live helicopter can cost....