Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Plot Points: This Isn't a Movie...

PLOT POINTS: THIS ISN'T A MOVIE....

Since I'll be reviewing Boondock Saints 2 in a few days, I thought it high time I roll back down memory lane and talk about another pet peeve I have in movies. If you remember I've done it once before with the Character Lie, and how it irks me to no end. Well now, I'm going to be tackling another, and I hope you enjoy.

The original Boondock Saints ranks high among my guilty pleasure. I love it for the same reasons I guiltlessly enjoyed Shoot 'Em Up. It's over the top, amusingly fun, and riddled with intriguing characters and unique style. Yet, Boondock Saints suffers from one simple, painfully overused, plot point.

The ever emphatic line: That Only Happens in Movies!

No kidding... you're in a movie, let's move on already. The first time I saw this I thought it was an amusing play on the over the top action scenarios often presented in movies. A bit of self jabbing if you will. Now a days it's everywhere. In romance, horror, sci-fi, you name it, it's been there! And why!? For the love of Christ, we didn't go to watch a movie to be educated on what only happens in movies, we went to see what only happens in movies!!!

For me it's the equivalent of those Do Not Try This At Home messages in the front of Mythbusters, but instead of being there it's thrown in every single time they do anything, at all! It's repetitive, not really all the funny, and should only be used sparingly by those who recognize they have no originality!

Please Hollywood. Please everyone behind movies, tv, or any platform! Hear my plea:

STOP IT ALREADY.

You've gotten to the point where, not only are you mocking your own unoriginality. You're mocking your own unoriginality, unoriginally! My head can't take that much.

*deep breaths*

Whew, what I need right now is a good bath in some Hitchcock creativity, whose with me?

5 better thoughts:

Andrew K. said...

Speaking of Shoot Em Up...I watched it for the first time on Saturday - missed the credits and decided I'd just stay until I realised what was going on. It was 1:00 in the morning and I ended up watching the entire thing, riveted. That movie is just so much fun. Clive Owen is one cool mother******.

Okay, end of off topic rant.

Alex said...

Hear, hear!

Also hell yes for Shoot Em Up, it's the best.

The Taxi Driver said...

First Repo: The genetic Opera and now Boondock Saints, man a lot of people are revisiting movies that a truely despise today. Regardless, I agree with you about the whole self-reflexive thing about movies knowing they are movies and recently wrote about it in a mini review I posted of Dead Snow which did exactly the same thing and bugged me in exactly the same way.

Snipes said...

...huh, this isn't the obligatory DVD release post...

Univarn said...

@Andrew I concur

@Alex Hmmm apparently I should just do Shoot 'Em Up instead

@Mike I understand, hence guilty pleasures :)

@MVP your powers of observation astound :). I only had time to do this or that, so I opted for this since there are so many DVD posts.

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