View Full Version : Pet Peeves When Talking About Cinema, Vol. II
Benny Profane
08-28-2009, 01:04 PM
Pet Peeve: Dismissal of the adjective "boring" as an effective way to descibe a film.
BuffaloWilder
08-28-2009, 08:24 PM
But it really isn't, though. Boring - okay, fine. But why is it boring - that's what needed to be gotten at.
Pet Peeve: Dismissal of the adjective "boring" as an effective way to descibe a film.
It is too vague to be effective. HOW is something boring? That's what should be addressed. Otherwise, it's more effective as a dismissal rather than a descriptor.
SirNewt
08-28-2009, 08:37 PM
It is too vague to be effective. HOW is something boring? That's what should be addressed. Otherwise, it's more effective as a dismissal rather than a descriptor.
Agreed. Too often I bring up an older or foreign film (or a combination) to have people's main complaint be "oh that's boring." And then when I reply that I find the Hollywood action crap that's always booming at the box office boring because nothing actually happens in those movies, they're puzzled.
Also, I find that often I find a film boring only when I'm trying to be lazy. If on a tired weeknight I put in a movie expecting some snappy entertainment and end up with a movie I have to work to enjoy I get bored.
snob clause:
I often enjoy Hollywood movies but straight big budget Hollywood flicks often do leave me unsatisfied.
Winston*
08-28-2009, 09:49 PM
When people use first person plural pronouns when describing subjective experience. "We as the audience feel frustrated". No you as the audience feel frustrated, don't bring me into it.
When people use first person plural pronouns when describing subjective experience. "We as the audience feel frustrated". No you as the audience feel frustrated, don't bring me into it.
What about just saying "the audience feels frustrated that..."?
Winston*
08-28-2009, 10:28 PM
What about just saying "the audience feels frustrated that..."?
Only if you've interviewed the audience,
Only if you've interviewed the audience,
You don't believe one could justify using a majority response as descriptive of the audience as a whole?
Spun Lepton
08-28-2009, 11:04 PM
You don't believe one could justify using a majority response as descriptive of the audience as a whole?
It's too easy to make that kind of stuff up to justify your own position, so unless the people you're talking with were at the theater with you and also experienced the good/bad response from the audience as a whole, you're probably better off not even mentioning them.
It's too easy to make that kind of stuff up to justify your own position, so unless the people you're talking with were at the theater with you and also experienced the good/bad response from the audience as a whole, you're probably better off not even mentioning them.
What about "the audience booed"?
Ezee E
08-28-2009, 11:53 PM
The audience gasped and cheered. Yes, you can use that if you want.
Spinal
08-29-2009, 12:00 AM
I do not think that using 'we' that way indicates that everyone in the audience felt the way you did. I think it means that you as a reviewer are making an informed guess about how others are likely to respond if they were to watch the movie. I don't see any problem with it.
transmogrifier
08-29-2009, 01:32 AM
I always use "you" as a substitute for the viewer, as well as "us" to represent the viewing audience: "you can't help but be sucked into the dense atmosphere of the film, and at times that can leave you lost......but in the end, the films knows where it's taking us..."
It never means to speak for the audience; it's a simple rhetorical device that adds flavour to the writing. Worrying about pronouns is pretty much a waste of time.
Ivan Drago
08-12-2011, 05:13 AM
Reviving this thread to add something that may or may not have already been said: Insulting about another person's opinion on a film, even going so far as to tell lies about it. Spoilered for length:
When I saw The Tree of Life with three of my friends, one of them who is a real film snob, so much that he claims his opinion is fact. As we left the theater after it was over, he said he hated the film because it had no point, that Malick had no clue what he was doing, had some of the worst cinematography ever because of how the shots were designed to be cut together through jump cuts, said the music was public domain, and even said that the relationship between the brothers was "completely unrealistic, and felt the relationship between the kids in Stand By Me." In the past he said that "films like The Tree of Life have no meaning and are for idiots and retards who make up their own meaning for it in order to sound smart."
Of course I was too floored by the film at the time to even argue with him, but as we did later, he would go so far as to disprove every reason I had for loving it. Completely disrespectful.
Spinal
08-12-2011, 05:21 AM
He sounds very insecure.
B-side
08-12-2011, 05:35 AM
He sounds very insecure.
Not to mention he sounds like an idiot.
Winston*
08-12-2011, 05:36 AM
In the past he said that "films like The Tree of Life have no meaning and are for idiots and retards who make up their own meaning for it in order to sound smart."
He said this, and then went to see the movie?
transmogrifier
08-12-2011, 05:47 AM
He said this, and then went to see the movie?
Thoughts on Melancholia?
Ivan Drago
08-12-2011, 05:08 PM
He said this, and then went to see the movie?
Well, he said that, then a couple weeks later texted me while we were in our respective hometowns and said that he saw it around his area, and that it was bad, and the music sounded like a man slamming his head repeatedly on a keyboard. Knowing where he lived, I looked at Fox Searchlight’s list of release dates, and he had told me he saw it before it even came to his area, so when I saw him next, after we moved down to Nashville, he was bitching about it like in the text and I called his bullshit. A week or so later he said ‘I want to see it again' and from there came more of his crap.
number8
08-12-2011, 07:10 PM
Well, he said that, then a couple weeks later texted me while we were in our respective hometowns and said that he saw it around his area, and that it was bad, and the music sounded like a man slamming his head repeatedly on a keyboard. Knowing where he lived, I looked at Fox Searchlight’s list of release dates, and he had told me he saw it before it even came to his area, so when I saw him next, after we moved down to Nashville, he was bitching about it like in the text and I called his bullshit. A week or so later he said ‘I want to see it again' and from there came more of his crap.
So what you are saying is that there is absolutely no reason for anyone to take anything he says with any credibility whatsoever.
Bosco B Thug
08-12-2011, 09:03 PM
Poor guy's a clown.
megladon8
08-13-2011, 12:25 AM
There's a guy at work named Greg who's a pretty nice guy, funny to talk to, is known as one of the "store clowns" (not in diminutive way - he's just very funny) but when it comes to discussing anything with regards to film or music, it's best to not even bother trying.
Basically, he gauges everything on how popular it is. He likes or dislikes things depending on whether or not others like it.
That is, if it's popular, he dislikes it.
And he quite openly says it, too.
This is something he would say:
ME: Did you see Inception?
GREG: Yeah, it was neat, but when it got so popular I couldn't help hating it.
ME: So...you liked it? Then disliked it when others liked it?
GREG: Pretty much.
I find that kind of contrarianism quite absurd.
Ezee E
08-13-2011, 03:05 AM
There's a guy at work named Greg who's a pretty nice guy, funny to talk to, is known as one of the "store clowns" (not in diminutive way - he's just very funny) but when it comes to discussing anything with regards to film or music, it's best to not even bother trying.
Basically, he gauges everything on how popular it is. He likes or dislikes things depending on whether or not others like it.
That is, if it's popular, he dislikes it.
And he quite openly says it, too.
This is something he would say:
ME: Did you see Inception?
GREG: Yeah, it was neat, but when it got so popular I couldn't help hating it.
ME: So...you liked it? Then disliked it when others liked it?
GREG: Pretty much.
I find that kind of contrarianism quite absurd.
Boner M?
Boner M
08-13-2011, 03:06 AM
Boner M?
:|
Fezzik
08-13-2011, 03:15 AM
I think unconventional (or is it pretentious?) word use irks everyone but a lot of those same irked people like to employ 'fancy words' themselves. It's just kind of annoying to see someone else tap into some really purple prose because one just tends to get irritated with such overt showiness for one reason or another.
It reminds me of a humorous list I saw in college entitled "How to annoy a Poet"
#1 was "Be a poet too"
Derek
08-13-2011, 04:02 AM
Poor guy's a clown.
Ezee E?
Skitch
08-13-2011, 01:40 PM
I find that kind of contrarianism quite absurd.
I hate these people with a passion.
number8
08-13-2011, 05:20 PM
I hate these people with a passion.
I used to, too. But then everybody started hating on contrarians and I started to like them.
Thirdmango
08-13-2011, 09:40 PM
One of my biggest pet peeves is when I state my like or dislike for a movie and quickly before I can tell my reasons I am told by the other person what my so called reasons are. For instance:
Me: I hate Brokeback Mountain.
Person: So you hate gay people.
Me: No, I hate the movie because it's incredibly long and boring.
Dukefrukem
08-14-2011, 08:10 PM
One of my biggest pet peeves is when I state my like or dislike for a movie and quickly before I can tell my reasons I am told by the other person what my so called reasons are. For instance:
Me: I hate Brokeback Mountain.
Person: So you hate gay people.
Me: No, I hate the movie because it's incredibly long and boring.
I hate this too.
How about this one...
People who refuse to say an actor's name and just say a character from a movie they are known for because they are too lazy to learn a new name. Example, I bought the new Beastie Boys CD which comes with the music video with Seth Rogan, Danny McBride and Elijah Wood.
ME: God that video is such a riot.
GUY: Yeh even Froto was funny.
ME: :|
Winston*
08-14-2011, 10:03 PM
I'm not annoyed by that, but I am annoyed by his mispronounciation of "Frodo". Have some respect.
Spinal
08-14-2011, 10:08 PM
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/joel_harmon/frodo.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/joel_harmon/fredo.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v696/joel_harmon/fritos.jpg
number8
08-14-2011, 10:13 PM
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/76/SethRogen_7_2007.JPG/220px-SethRogen_7_2007.JPG
http://www.gacksports.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/rogan1.jpg
http://www.freesamplesfromheaven.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/rogaine-080508-lg-735742482.jpg
Spinal
08-14-2011, 10:20 PM
I think we invented a whole new thread.
Dukefrukem
08-14-2011, 10:40 PM
Yeh the Duke doesn't know how to spell thread.
Bosco B Thug
08-14-2011, 11:12 PM
ME: God that video is such a riot.
GUY: Yeh even Froto was funny.
ME: :| This annoys me... Not because it's demeaning to the actor or such, but because it's such a weirdly nuanced mixture of mental laziness, passive-aggression, and unintentionality.
They probably don't even feel this way or that about the actor, they just feel like being indiscriminately condescending.
MadMan
08-15-2011, 03:15 AM
I think we invented a whole new thread.I'd rather read that thread than this one.
Boner M
08-15-2011, 03:33 AM
In lieu of recent developments, another pet peeve:
NOT BEING ALLOWED TO THINK LESS OF A POPULAR RECENT FILM OVER TIME, CUZ THAT AUTOMATICALLY CONSTITUTES EMPTY CONTRARIANISM/BACKLASH-RIDING, DUH
B-side
08-15-2011, 03:38 AM
Boner's just being a contrarian about contrarianism.
Mysterious Dude
08-15-2011, 04:55 AM
Is it okay if I use the actor's name instead of the character's?
transmogrifier
08-15-2011, 05:08 AM
In lieu of recent developments, another pet peeve:
NOT BEING ALLOWED TO THINK LESS OF A POPULAR RECENT FILM OVER TIME, CUZ THAT AUTOMATICALLY CONSTITUTES EMPTY CONTRARIANISM/BACKLASH-RIDING, DUH
It actually makes sense, in a way, considering a more popular film is likely to be discussed more. If you initially walk away from it feeling iffy, it's not unreasonable to expect that reading/listening to the supporters and their reasons for liking it will cause you to move even further away if you think those reasons are laughable.
I was kind of like that with Super 8 - I was mild nay at first, but then people started going on about the firecracker kid for example being funny, and I was like "What the hell, he was a total plot contrivance!" despite not really conciously thinking one way or the other about him at the time (and in fact I walked out focusing mainly on what it did right). So thanks to all the people who listed its supposed "qualities", and me crinkling my brow and thinking them crazy, I like it a lot less now.
I'm sure if I sat down and really thought about The Man from Nowhere, I would see even more flaws, but I'm not gonna do that, and no threads exist to do it for me, so my opinion hasn't changed much.
Don't know. Just a thought.
Is it okay if I use the actor's name instead of the character's?
This is a good one. I say no.
That is, unless the discussion extends to the fimmaking level. Then, if exploring something like Harrison Ford's performance, you can address him as himself. "Ford utters the line etc etc."
Spinal
08-15-2011, 06:25 AM
I don't really feel like large font and boldface, but ...
Bitching about a film being 'formulaic' just because you, as an experienced filmgoer, recognize familiar plot machinations.
B-side
08-15-2011, 06:28 AM
Bitching about a film being 'formulaic' just because you, as an experienced filmgoer, recognize familiar plot machinations.
I... don't see the problem?
Spinal
08-15-2011, 06:40 AM
I... don't see the problem?
It is absurd to expect a writer to reinvent the wheel with every film. Whether or not a film tells a familiar story or takes a character on a familiar journey should have little to do with a film's value.
B-side
08-15-2011, 06:44 AM
It is absurd to expect a writer to reinvent the wheel with every film. Whether or not a film tells a familiar story or takes a character on a familiar journey should have little to do with a film's value.
Right, but to me formulaic implies the film does little or nothing to differentiate itself from the other films that approach similar territory.
Bosco B Thug
08-15-2011, 07:23 AM
Is it okay if I use the actor's name instead of the character's? It's definitely never as smug... I could see how it could be in the service of smug, but I feel usually the speaker won't mean any posing by doing that.
And it's a common (and useful) thing when speaking academically, as Sven mentions.
Raiders
08-15-2011, 01:20 PM
It is absurd to expect a writer to reinvent the wheel with every film. Whether or not a film tells a familiar story or takes a character on a familiar journey should have little to do with a film's value.
I don't really think the term is used solely for narrative criticism.
MadMan
08-15-2011, 05:54 PM
I think that just because you like a lot of the movies you watch, doesn't mean you enjoy everything that you've ever viewed. Look, these days I aim to view movies that I'm more likely to enjoy than others due to time and money constraints. What, I'm supposed to give the Smerfs movie a chance just so I can go and say "Hey I saw it, and guess what: I confirmed what I previously suspected: its terrible." That's ridiculous.
And I'm already starting to see that as I get older, I try and look for what's good in a movie and focus on that. If the good is clearly outweighed by the bad, then the movie gets a bad rating and a review that's rather negative. I'd say this has happened to Ebert, but I'd say surviving cancer has left him with a different outlook on things. Even though I'd say I've disagreed with him on different and numerous occasions. Dead Man, Blue Velvet, and Day of the Dead (1985) are bad movies? I don't think so.
SirNewt
08-17-2011, 07:26 AM
So almost all of these pet peeves are triggered by a dislike of laziness. That, or a dislike of using generalized and widely accepted language ( usually cliche ) to mask a smug, self righteous, or condescending outlook.
Fezzik
08-17-2011, 07:51 PM
This annoys me... Not because it's demeaning to the actor or such, but because it's such a weirdly nuanced mixture of mental laziness, passive-aggression, and unintentionality.
They probably don't even feel this way or that about the actor, they just feel like being indiscriminately condescending.
I know a LOT of people like this. They go out of their way, it seems, to make it appear like they're above caring. They'll even make a point of it.
They'll make it their mission to make sure everyone knows they don't care about/don't like something even if nobody was talking about it.
I had a friend who did this with sports. Whenever they were on (even if we were in a restaurant with TVs), he'd look up, say something like "What's on? Oh, sports. SOOO don't care." Even if (strike that, especially if) nobody asked or commented on it in the first place.
I call this "active disinterest." And it annoys the hell out of me.
number8
08-17-2011, 07:59 PM
I sometimes do it out of well-meaning condescension. When I'm talking to people who I know full well that if I say the actor's name (which I of course know), they're not going to know who I'm talking about. So instead of saying "Michael C. Hall," I'll just say, "the guy who plays Dexter" and save all of us two minutes of extra conversation.
Dukefrukem
08-17-2011, 08:07 PM
I sometimes do it out of well-meaning condescension. When I'm talking to people who I know full well that if I say the actor's name (which I of course know), they're not going to know who I'm talking about. So instead of saying "Michael C. Hall," I'll just say, "the guy who plays Dexter" and save all of us two minutes of extra conversation.
Unacceptable. Say his full name next time. Fuck anyone who doesn't know who the guy from Dexter is.
number8
08-17-2011, 08:13 PM
Unacceptable. Say his full name next time. Fuck anyone who doesn't know who the guy from Dexter is.
I have, like, scones to grab from coffee bars, man. I'm not wasting two minutes of my day educating people on how to use IMDB.
Bosco B Thug
08-17-2011, 08:30 PM
I sometimes do it out of well-meaning condescension. When I'm talking to people who I know full well that if I say the actor's name (which I of course know), they're not going to know who I'm talking about. So instead of saying "Michael C. Hall," I'll just say, "the guy who plays Dexter" and save all of us two minutes of extra conversation. Well, that's acceptable, saying "the guy who plays Dexter," as opposed to saying, "There's Dexter! Har!".
Though that's a bad example because calling Elijah Wood "Frodo the Diminutive Fantasy Creature With a Funny Name" is condescending while calling Michael C. Hall "Dexter, charismatic dark hero" is less so...
Ezee E
08-17-2011, 08:43 PM
I'm like 8.
Although I figure everyone knows Elijah Wood.
Qrazy
08-17-2011, 08:58 PM
The above pet peeve makes me picture some chemistry forum somewhere with a bunch of chemists up in arms because people don't refer to everyday items by their chemical formula.
'Man this food is too salty.'
'Are you trying to say there's too much Sodium Chloride in your food? Fucking moron.'
Spinal
08-17-2011, 09:39 PM
The above pet peeve makes me picture some chemistry forum somewhere with a bunch of chemists up in arms because people don't refer to everyday items by their chemical formula.
'Man this food is too salty.'
'Are you trying to say there's too much Sodium Chloride in your food? Fucking moron.'
It seems like every couple of months someone finally gets around to experiencing argon and we get an avalanche of posts ranking all the noble gases.
megladon8
08-19-2011, 10:02 PM
I sometimes do it out of well-meaning condescension. When I'm talking to people who I know full well that if I say the actor's name (which I of course know), they're not going to know who I'm talking about. So instead of saying "Michael C. Hall," I'll just say, "the guy who plays Dexter" and save all of us two minutes of extra conversation.
Yeah, this is pretty much what I do.
And it's totally acceptable.
IRL I know maybe 2 people who would actually know who I was talking about if I mentioned Idris Elba, so I refer to him as "String Bell from 'The Wire'" or something like that.
Fezzik
08-19-2011, 11:51 PM
Yeah, this is pretty much what I do.
And it's totally acceptable.
IRL I know maybe 2 people who would actually know who I was talking about if I mentioned Idris Elba, so I refer to him as "String Bell from 'The Wire'" or something like that.
I usually say something like "yeah, Michael C. Hall..." and if anyone gives me a questioning look, I'll immediately follow this "the guy who plays Dexter."
It doesn't sound condescending and satisfies both sides of the argument.
Dukefrukem
08-25-2011, 05:44 PM
He did it again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!
Me: Hey have you seen the remake of 3:10 to Yuma?
Dude at work: Yeh
Me: Any good?
Dude at work: It's alright. Who's in that again?
Me: Crowe?
Dude at work: Yeh and Batman.
Me: ...
Dude at work: Right?
Me: Say his real name
Dude at work": The NEW Batman.
Irish
08-25-2011, 06:03 PM
:lol: perfect
number8
08-25-2011, 06:38 PM
I would turn it into a game.
"Batman is in it?"
"John Connor is. From Terminator."
"The whiny little kid?"
"In Newsies? That was years ago."
"So who are you talking about?"
"You know, Pocahontas' husband."
"Who the hell is that?"
"Pretty sure it's Bob Dylan."
"Bob Dylan married Pocahontas?"
"In the movie, yeah."
"The cartoon?"
"What cartoon? Oh you mean, the one with the walking castle?"
"Walking castle? In Pocahontas?"
"No, no. The Pocahontas that's not a cartoon. Pocahontas' husband is the guy from your favorite movie."
"My favorite movie?"
"The one where he's a crazy rich guy."
"Batman?"
"No."
"I have no idea what movie this is."
"Yes, you do. He was Jesus. You know him."
"Mel Gibson?"
"Mel Gibson wasn't even Jesus in his own Jesus movie. No."
"So which Jesus movie?"
"I'm not talking about a Jesus movie. It's a movie with the guy who played Jesus in a Jesus movie."
"What movie?!"
"The fucking movie with the guy from fucking Shaft!"
"Snakes on a Plane?"
"No!"
"What?!"
"3:10 to Yuma!"
"Yes! Okay! Same guy!"
"What guy?"
"Well, who's in 3:10 to Yuma?!"
"Batman!!!"
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