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NebraskaRed
07-26-2014, 08:38 AM
What are some things in movies/tv shows that bother you, distract you, or just annoy you in general?

I'll start with one of mine: When a character is on the phone, the audience doesn't hear/see the person they're talking to, and the actor doesn't pause long enough for the other person to reasonably have time to respond.

Something along the lines of this: "Hello? Speaking. Is that right? Well, I'll be...No, no don't do that. I'll be right over" with hardly a fraction of a second pause for the other person to speak.

KittyDuran
07-26-2014, 09:07 AM
Disney finally got it right!

7637

7638

Chip R
07-26-2014, 10:38 AM
My two pet peeves is how someone can park in front of a big city office building and the space is always open.

Another one is how you can go great distances in small amounts of time. Justified is a huge offender here. I am not intimately familiar with the geography of eastern Kentucky but I do know it doesn't take just a few minutes to go from Lexington to Harlan and vice versa.

RichRed
07-26-2014, 11:19 AM
Every time there's a scene where someone meets another person for a drink, they have a 30-second conversation, then one of them says they have to go, leaving a full drink on the bar or table.

Why did you even order that drink if you knew you weren't staying long enough to take more than a sip? (Also, I hate to see even a fake drink go to waste.)

Raisor
07-26-2014, 11:45 AM
Biggest pet peeve:

That every show isn't as good as the first four seasons of The West Wing

cumberlandreds
07-26-2014, 08:30 PM
My two pet peeves is how someone can park in front of a big city office building and the space is always open.

Another one is how you can go great distances in small amounts of time. Justified is a huge offender here. I am not intimately familiar with the geography of eastern Kentucky but I do know it doesn't take just a few minutes to go from Lexington to Harlan and vice versa.

It takes about three hours to go from Harlan to Lexington. I know I grew up in that area. That's a big reason I quit watching that show was that the things they portrayed that go on in Harlan never happen there.

Dom Heffner
07-26-2014, 08:53 PM
Whenever a character utters the line, "You just don't get it do you," I'm done.

That is an example of lazy writing, storytelling, and you can find it in a TON of films and shows.

Awful.

Dom Heffner
07-26-2014, 08:54 PM
My two pet peeves is how someone can park in front of a big city office building and the space is always open.

Another one is how you can go great distances in small amounts of time. Justified is a huge offender here. I am not intimately familiar with the geography of eastern Kentucky but I do know it doesn't take just a few minutes to go from Lexington to Harlan and vice versa.

Would you want to watch a show where the characters search for parking spaces?

Dom Heffner
07-26-2014, 08:56 PM
What are some things in movies/tv shows that bother you, distract you, or just annoy you in general?

I'll start with one of mine: When a character is on the phone, the audience doesn't hear/see the person they're talking to, and the actor doesn't pause long enough for the other person to reasonably have time to respond.

Something along the lines of this: "Hello? Speaking. Is that right? Well, I'll be...No, no don't do that. I'll be right over" with hardly a fraction of a second pause for the other person to speak.

I'm beating a dead horse but you wouldn't want to sit and wait for dialog you never hear.

klw
07-26-2014, 08:56 PM
When a character opens a door and enters the room and immediately responds to something being discussed before they came in. Ex. Annette Bening at the end of The American President " (aka The West Wing pilot)

Chip R
07-26-2014, 10:49 PM
Would you want to watch a show where the characters search for parking spaces?

Course not but most major companies in big cities don't have open parking spaces directly in front of the building.

Here's another one: Someone calls someone else and tells them to turn on the TV and watch something. When they turn the TV on the thing they are supposed to watch is magically on that channel that was turned on.

jojo
07-26-2014, 10:56 PM
Urinal scenes. Literally unless it's about some one pooing in the urinal, it's not a valid plot device.

kaldaniels
07-26-2014, 11:10 PM
Urinal scenes. Literally unless it's about some one pooing in the urinal, it's not a valid plot device.

http://popcultureninja.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Kingpin_2.jpg

Roy Tucker
07-26-2014, 11:20 PM
A whole gang of bad guys blasting away with machine guns and not hitting anyone and 1 good guy with a pistol mows down a platoon and a couple jet fighters for good measure.

westofyou
07-27-2014, 12:02 AM
Superhero movies

Meh, so tired if bending reality to accept their existence but we the viewer must somehow become connected to their personal relationships and foibles

Y A W N

RichRed
07-27-2014, 09:17 AM
Biggest pet peeve:

That every show isn't as good as the first four seasons of The West Wing

I was actually watching an episode from season two when I read this post. Great show. But since we're talking pet peeves, the dialogue could get a little too cute and precious at times.

moewan
07-27-2014, 10:05 AM
One of mine is when the actor either whispers or shouts to prove their ACTING

klw
07-27-2014, 11:09 AM
Course not but most major companies in big cities don't have open parking spaces directly in front of the building.

Here's another one: Someone calls someone else and tells them to turn on the TV and watch something. When they turn the TV on the thing they are supposed to watch is magically on that channel that was turned on.
And the news story they are never being told to watch is never over and is always about to provide the critical moment or information.

Dom Heffner
07-27-2014, 11:41 AM
Superhero movies

Meh, so tired if bending reality to accept their existence but we the viewer must somehow become connected to their personal relationships and foibles

Y A W N

You would think being Batman was miserable.

Raisor
07-27-2014, 11:42 AM
You would think being Batman was miserable.

Make mine marvel.

Hoosier Red
07-27-2014, 12:15 PM
Biggest pet peeve:

That every show isn't as good as the first four seasons of The West Wing

Just finishing up the show beginning to end. You're right. First four seasons were really impressive. This last season is fun, but not nearly as well done.

vaticanplum
07-27-2014, 01:36 PM
Boy, you guys are real sticklers for realism :)

There's a reason TV shows are TV shows: they're not real. Many of the things you mention are things that writers and directors have considered the facts of and adjusted or altered in the name of storytelling. If the places of Lexington and Harlan are rich for storytelling, but it throws a wrench into the storytelling to have them be so far apart, they adjust. It's not supposed to be "real", it's supposed to be a story.

There's a subtle difference between this and a character continually ordering a drink that he doesn't touch, because that's an indication of character. The obvious conclusion of buying a drink is to drink it, so if a character bucks this convention, there has to be a reason for it -- the character gets mad, the character is deliberately buying a drink as an excuse, etc. This is problematic, especially it if happens over and over, because it goes to the heart of a character's motives and thereby can even affect a plot, in a way that altering distance between places does not. The difference is that the former is distracting for any human watching and trying to ingest the story, whereas the second is just a trivia (and trivial!) distraction for anyone who happens to know the place and doesn't really affect the story itself.

Dom Heffner
07-27-2014, 01:39 PM
Boy, you guys are real sticklers for realism :)

There's a reason TV shows are TV shows: they're not real. Many of the things you mention are things that writers and directors have considered the facts of and adjusted or altered in the name of storytelling. If the places of Lexington and Harlan are rich for storytelling, but it throws a wrench into the storytelling to have them be so far apart, they adjust. It's not supposed to be "real", it's supposed to be a story.

There's a subtle difference between this and a character continually ordering a drink that he doesn't touch, because that's an indication of character. The obvious conclusion of buying a drink is to drink it, so if a character bucks this convention, there has to be a reason for it -- the character gets mad, the character is deliberately buying a drink as an excuse, etc. This is problematic, especially it if happens over and over, because it goes to the heart of a character's motives and thereby can even affect a plot, in a way that altering distance between places does not. The difference is that the former is distracting for any human watching and trying to ingest the story, whereas the second is just a trivia (and trivial!) distraction for anyone who happens to know the place and doesn't really affect the story itself.

Yes. You don't want to sit through the characters searching for parking spaces.

Dom Heffner
07-27-2014, 01:41 PM
"You just don't get it, do you?"

I'm sorry that is the worst line of dialogue, just ever.

westofyou
07-27-2014, 01:42 PM
Yes. You don't want to sit through the characters searching for parking spaces.

Exactly, making assumptions that the viewer is aware that one has red lights, parking, bathroom visits in their life helps move the narrative. If I have to watch someone work on that piece of spinach in their teeth for 5 minutes I'd go and visit my dad.

vaticanplum
07-27-2014, 01:47 PM
"You just don't get it, do you?"

I'm sorry that is the worst line of dialogue, just ever.

See also: "What do you want from me?" "What is it that you want?"

And this is an example of something that IS realistic; people do say these things. But it's the laziest writing ever. Every character exists in every story to want something and to try to get it. It's the basis of acting. To have them state it outright is basically coming right out and saying "we are incapable of telling this story in an interesting way."

757690
07-27-2014, 02:06 PM
30 year olds playing teenagers in High school.

Over the top stereotypes. Even with characters like nerds, or popular girls, or gym rats, or soccer moms. They make it so we can spot them as soon as they enter the room, before they say anything. Zero subtlety.

Dom Heffner
07-27-2014, 02:07 PM
See also: "What do you want from me?" "What is it that you want?"

And this is an example of something that IS realistic; people do say these things. But it's the laziest writing ever. Every character exists in every story to want something and to try to get it. It's the basis of acting. To have them state it outright is basically coming right out and saying "we are incapable of telling this story in an interesting way."

Yes, it's the writers telling, not showing.

To Chip's and others' point, perhaps writers should just find a way around some of these details, that's a possibility.

Whenver I hear a character say "Yes, my number is 5-5-5..." I get tossed out of the story for a few seconds.

There's a dictionary with thousands of words in it, pick a few out that get us around this.

757690
07-27-2014, 02:08 PM
Yes. You don't want to sit through the characters searching for parking spaces.

Then don't show the characters parking. Cut from them driving, to them getting out of a parked car. The audience will understand what happened in between.

Dom Heffner
07-27-2014, 02:11 PM
Then don't show the characters parking. Cut from them driving, to them getting out of a parked car. The audience will understand what happened in between.

Sure. But also don't complain that they didn't park in the last parking space and walk up for five minutes.

Nobody cares....well, except three of you lol...

757690
07-27-2014, 02:23 PM
Sure. But also don't complain that they didn't park in the last parking space and walk up for five minutes.

Nobody cares....well, except three of you lol...

To be honest, there is little utility in showing people entering or exiting buildings in the first place. Good writers focus on the action and dialogue, not the pragmatics.

One side point. It's not always the writers fault. Directors producers, executives have much more say about what goes into a script than the writer does. And most of them have no idea how to write.

The most common note I get on scripts I write is "can you make this easier for the audience to understand?" I once got a note, "can you make the subtext in this scene more obvious?"

So, even if the dialogue is horrible, filled with lines like, "you just don't get it, do you?" Or "What you want from me?" Don't always blame the writer. Good chance he got overruled on those.

vaticanplum
07-27-2014, 04:55 PM
To be honest, there is little utility in showing people entering or exiting buildings in the first place. Good writers focus on the action and dialogue, not the pragmatics.

One side point. It's not always the writers fault. Directors producers, executives have much more say about what goes into a script than the writer does. And most of them have no idea how to write.

The most common note I get on scripts I write is "can you make this easier for the audience to understand?" I once got a note, "can you make the subtext in this scene more obvious?"

So, even if the dialogue is horrible, filled with lines like, "you just don't get it, do you?" Or "What you want from me?" Don't always blame the writer. Good chance he got overruled on those.

When I blame "lazy writing", especially for something like television, believe me, it's not a given that I'm blaming the writer.

Dom Heffner
07-27-2014, 05:02 PM
To be honest, there is little utility in showing people entering or exiting buildings in the first place. Good writers focus on the action and dialogue, not the pragmatics.

One side point. It's not always the writers fault. Directors producers, executives have much more say about what goes into a script than the writer does. And most of them have no idea how to write.

The most common note I get on scripts I write is "can you make this easier for the audience to understand?" I once got a note, "can you make the subtext in this scene more obvious?"

So, even if the dialogue is horrible, filled with lines like, "you just don't get it, do you?" Or "What you want from me?" Don't always blame the writer. Good chance he got overruled on those.

If someone said it, someone wrote it. That person is the writer....if it's a director that added it, fine. Point taken, of course.

NebraskaRed
07-27-2014, 06:05 PM
"You just don't get it, do you?"

I'm sorry that is the worst line of dialogue, just ever.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KoKWf6pLs8

Dom Heffner
07-27-2014, 06:45 PM
Yes!

919191
07-28-2014, 02:09 AM
I hate it that the right number of pills always comes out of the bottle.

klw
07-28-2014, 12:16 PM
Urinal scenes. Literally unless it's about some one pooing in the urinal, it's not a valid plot device.

Did Jack Bauer go to the Bathroom once in 9 seasons of 24 being in "real time?" Dude must have had an bladder the size of Pittsburgh.

*BaseClogger*
07-28-2014, 01:34 PM
edit: NebraskaRed beat me to it

Stray
07-28-2014, 01:45 PM
Pretty much any scene with a computer, especially a scene where someone just randomly guesses the password to log on

*BaseClogger*
07-28-2014, 01:47 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiqkclCJsZs

LoganBuck
07-28-2014, 01:56 PM
Transformers, robots with the ability to perform insanely intricate shape shifting, yet with the marksmanship of a toddler holding his first water pistol.

improbus
07-28-2014, 06:25 PM
When someone says the movie title in dialogue, I laugh hysterically.

For comedies sake, I do wish that EVERY movie did this. Imagine during Jack's cross examination, he said, "You want me, and a FEW GOOD MEN, on that Wall."

Tony Cloninger
07-28-2014, 08:09 PM
When a character opens a door and enters the room and immediately responds to something being discussed before they came in. Ex. Annette Bening at the end of The American President " (aka The West Wing pilot)

Oh....that happens so much in Law & order: SVU. This over the top show is beyond stupid in how bad it became somewhere in the mid 2000's.

Every episode someone got shot in the courtroom or the police precinct. That show dumbed itself down worse than CSI Miami.

So naturally I spell SVU....SUV and have to edit this.

Dom Heffner
07-28-2014, 08:27 PM
Don 't get me started on Law and Order.

"Did he do or say something suspicious?"

"No. Though he did go on a drug bender and talk about killing the victim in question. I have no idea where he is but check 4257 Maple St..."

That show is awful.

klw
07-28-2014, 09:05 PM
The thing that amazed me about Law and Order is that Lenny or another cop messed up badly enough that once a month a murder weapon or other key evidence would get tossed yet he kept getting these homicide cases. How was he not demoted down to emptying parking meters is beyond me.

*BaseClogger*
07-28-2014, 09:39 PM
Y'all just ain't doing it right:

7663

Dom Heffner
07-28-2014, 09:49 PM
"Did Mr. Smith touch you, Timmy? He did? Where?"

Cue that grinding suspense music.

Then bring in that dude from "The Cell..."

"Mr Smith, did you touch Timmy?"

"No."

"Maybe you did it because your Mom dressed you in girl's clothing and your hatred of her caused you to blah blah blah."

"Oh- yes, then. I did it."

Then that little partner comes up and handcuffs him. She always adds the smartbutt comment like,

"You won't be touching little boys where you're headed."

Dun-dun!

- - - Updated - - -

Pulled from the headlines.

sonny
08-01-2014, 10:25 AM
http://youtu.be/0DpxwN1o43E

John mulaney's take on Law and Order.

sonny
08-01-2014, 10:26 AM
The thing that bugs me in movies and television is when no one says "goodbye" when they hang up the phone. Rude.

Tony Cloninger
08-01-2014, 11:01 AM
Law & order was at least good especially the 1992-1999 seasons, after that it got stale until Anderson and Lupo showed up.

NebraskaRed
08-01-2014, 02:38 PM
The thing that bugs me in movies and television is when no one says "goodbye" when they hang up the phone. Rude.

Related to that is when they will say something like, "Okay, I'll be by tonight to pick you up" then hang up without giving a time.

OldRightHander
08-01-2014, 07:30 PM
High speed chases in cities where I've never seen the traffic clear enough to get over 20 mph.

OldRightHander
08-01-2014, 07:32 PM
Speaking of not having enough time to get somewhere, like Lexington to Harlan. I read a book recently where someone made it from Newark to JFK in 45 minutes. That will never happen except maybe at 2 am. I routinely took nearly two hours to make that little jaunt. Most likely an author who just looked up the miles.

CoachBombay
08-04-2014, 01:20 PM
When using a computer 2 people will share the keyboard, each getting half, to crack a code or type faster.....no, just no

cumberlandreds
08-04-2014, 01:40 PM
Did the one's on Gilligan's Island ever go to the bathroom? That was never mentioned.

On a lot of older shows the driver of a car would always enter the car by going through the passenger side first. Why did they do that?

Hoosier Red
08-04-2014, 01:43 PM
I hate it when they add sports details to storyline/dialogue but then that is wrong.

For instance, there's a line in "Mr. Baseball" about a Dodgers scout who was coming to see him that night but needed to get back for a series starting on Saturday. It took me out for a good 5 minutes while I pondered, "No major league teams start their series on Saturday."

I then reconciled that they just added one day of the week in the script and Saturday made as much sense as any other day. But the problem is that if you're going to take the time add a detail like that, why not actually make it make sense?
Even if it's only going to bother .0005% of people, why not just get it right?

Reds Freak
08-10-2014, 11:09 PM
The thing that bugs me in movies and television is when no one says "goodbye" when they hang up the phone. Rude.

On a similar note, I'm peeved at how many people in TV and movies walk away from face-to-face conversations without a proper ending. I understand it increases the drama of the situation to leave the room mid-conversation but I don't see this happening in every day life too much.

foxfire123
08-11-2014, 12:31 AM
Any show with a horse. A herd of clydesdales makes less noise than your average single movie horse. Horses usually don't whinney while galloping. And just because the lead character's horse is grey does not mean you can continually swap out 3 different grey horses and make us think they're all the same horse... Trust me, we can see that that one has dapples, that one has a darker mane and tail, or the one over there is a gelding and the other two were mares...