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movie Glossary
Carmen Coincidence
Whenever a movie shows a scene from an opera, it must have some creepy resonance within the film's own plot.

Ian Waldron-Mantgani, Liverpool, England
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Ebert's Little Movie Glossary
Any time guns are shown in a movie, they invariably make endless 'clicky' noises as they are handed out and moved from character to character. Anyone with gun experience knows guns are just like rocks. Unless you do something to them, they are silent.
Joe Coulter, Manchester, NH

To prove how aware/crazy/focused a movie character is, a friend will wake the sleeping character. The character will instantly, ferociously, leap up from a deep sleep and pull a knife/gun or kung-fu chokehold on his friend, before apologizing for almost killing him. As seen in "Lethal Weapon," "Gladiator," etc.
Joe Coulter, Manchester, N.H.

When dates are made in movies, the guy will say, "How about Friday night"? Girl: "OK." Then they part. But when are they going to meet? Does he know where she lives? What should she wear? Do they even have each other's phone numbers?
Geoff Stacks, Aurora, Colo.

When the driver of a car receives a phone call requiring him or her to be somewhere urgently (such as a cop contacted by a dispatcher, or a husband learning his wife is in labor), the driver always turns the car around 180 degrees. There is no exception to this rule.
Alberto Diamante, Toronto

Characters that psychically enter simulated worlds ("The Matrix," "The Thirteenth Floor") or dreams ("Dreamscape," "A Nightmare on Elm Street") will die in real life if they die in the simulation. Although this would seem a severe design shortcoming in simulations and against the normal rules of dreaming, there will not be any reasonable explanation given for why this is so.
Andy Hutton, Fremont, CA

No actor is allowed to be awake at the moment Oscar nominations are announced. All performers must be sleeping, and be awakened by phone calls from their publicists. This includes performers who live on the East Coast, who therefore must remain unconscious until well after 9am. The only exception to this rule is when a performer is overseas on a location shoot. In this case, the news must come to the performer just prior to filming an important scene. More research is required to determine whether actors who are NOT nominated are awakened with the bad news, or are allowed to continue sleeping.
Mark Woodward, Chicago, IL

If a horror movie periodically cuts to a lesser character slowly making his way to the scene of the crime with the hope that he alone can save the day, he will instead get killed abruptly upon arrival. (See "The Shining," "Friday the 13th," "Misery," etc.).
David VanCouvering, Davis, CA


movie glossary archives

How pleasant to meet Mr. Lear!
The limerick's a form metronomical,

I'd like you to meet your best friend
It was the opening day of the Disney-MGM studios in Orlando. The stars were there with their children. There was an official luncheon at the Brown Derby, modeled after the legendary Hollywood eatery. I was beside myself. I was in a booth sitting next to Jack Brickhouse, the voice of the Chicago Cubs. A man walked over and introduced himself. "Bob Elliott." Oh. My. God. Bob, of Bob and Ray.

The great American documentary
Today, fifteen years after I first saw it, I believe "Hoop Dreams" is the great American documentary. No other documentary has ever touched me more deeply. It was relevant then, and today, as inner city neighborhoods sink deeper into the despair of children murdering children, it is more relevant.
thumbs
recent Two Thumbs Up® reviews
Linked here are reviews in recent months for which I wrote either 4 star or 3.5 star reviews. What does Two Thumbs Up mean in this context? It signifies that I believe these films are worth going out of your way to see, or that you might rent them, add them to your Netflix, Blockbuster or TiVo queues, or if they are telecast record them.

the Your Movie Sucks™ files
Gathered here in one convenient place are my recent reviews that awarded films Zero Stars, One-half Star, One Star, and One-and-a-half Stars. These are, generally speaking to be avoided. Sometimes I hear from readers who confess they are in the mood to watch a really bad movie on some form of video. If you are sincere, be sure to know what you're getting: A really bad movie.
in theaters
9
on dvd
Thirst  (11/17)
Star Trek  (11/17)
The Limits of Control  (11/17)
Humpday  (11/17)
The Exiles  (11/17)
Downhill Racer  (11/17)
Bruno  (11/17)
Up  (11/10)
Orphan  (10/27)
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs  (10/27)
Angels and Demons  (11/24)
Four Christmases  (11/24)
Funny People  (11/24)
A Christmas Tale  (12/1)
The Cove  (12/8)
ebert's dvd commentaries






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