Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Share Tell-Tale Signs That A Movie Is Going To Be Terrible

Unspooled film reels
Denise Jans/Unsplash

Trailers are misleading on purpose, and if they did their job, you shelled out your hard-earned cash at the box office to go see the movie.

Once you're seated in the auditorium, the succession of previews is over, and the lights dim, the anticipation runs high.

How disappointing then, that a certain element in the film that you dedicated time away from home to go see turns out to be underwhelming.

What is it that indicates you're in for a non-refundable time of entertainment?


Moviegoers online shared their thoughts when Redditor Snoo_19146 asked:

"What’s the first sign that a movie is going to be bad?"

Pandering to the audience with lame humor is such a turn-off.

This Speaks Volumes

"Characters think they are funny because they speak loudly."

– drod3333

Soph-moronic Humor

"Also references to farts or weed. (Not jokes: references.)"

'Hey guys who wants to smoke some weeeeed?'

"Pause for laughter"

Beingabummer

Premature Review

"It's advertised as one of the best movies of the year."

"And it's late January."

– M-Test24

The Poster Says It All

"There’s someone shrugging whimsically on the poster. 🤷"

– findlestick

Trailers alone can be a red flag.

Cliff's Notes Version

"When the trailer already tells you the entire movie."

– JAR_Melethril

"I've scratched titles off my watch list because I feel I've already seen the important parts of the film through the trailer, why bother?"

– butter00pecan

Recycling One-Liners

"If there are multiple trailers for a comedy movie, but they use the same joke in all of them."

– jelecel865

"And then you sit in the movie or on netflix and you're like. Oh, the joke from the trailer, I think that's where the movie starts to get funny, but it just transitions into the serious end arc and then is over."

– candybomberz

Familiar Jokes From Deadpool

"Something that always bugged me was the first Deadpool movie and it’s trailers. Don’t get me wrong, I love the movie, but here you have a character wearing a mask, played by an actor known for comedy in a movie that probably had a ton of jokes and multiple takes left on the cutting room floor."

"They could have EASILY dubbed different jokes into the trailer and used the final ones in the movie for an extra surprise. But nope, trailer jokes -> movie jokes. Kind of a bummer."

– LegendaryOutlaw

Some movies are destined for failure.

If It Ain't Broke

"It’s a remake of something that didn’t suck."

– Diesel07012012

"I hate that there’s so many remakes of decent/good movies. Feels like it’s just a safe money-grab. It would be cool if movies that didn’t do so hot, get reworked into good movie remakes, but I guess that’s too much of a risk for studios to bother with."

– AnEpicHibiscus

A Very Telling Intro

"An exposition in which one character explains everything that's going on to another character that should already know what is going on."

– rohawe8491

Familiar Setup

'Stacy sweetie, you know I haven’t been the same since your brother disappeared 4 years ago at the creek, & then we moved here to get away from the bad memories but it didn’t change anything & now you’re moving to college & I’ve been finding it hard to accept, & I’m struggling to hold down my job at the diner & that new guy I’m seeing is acting really shady & disappears for days, & completely unrelated to all that there’s mysterious murders happening since he arrived in town. You know all this Stacy..'

"whilst unpacking the shopping in the first scene."

– bluerain80

We Need A Reset

"Doctor: what we have here is a case of transcranial temporal reinforcement. If the patient is not restored to his original nacency the Einstein Bozeman condensate will reseed throughout the multiverse and congeal with unfortold consequences!"

"Other doctor: in English please!"

"Doctor: we need to send him back in time so his brain can restart the universe."

– ActorMonkey

Multiple Cooks

"Not always the case but when there are more than 3 writers a movie tends to lack vision. It can also occur due to rewrites. Not A Bomb Podcast reviews movies that bombed financially or critically and this is a subject often discussed if anyone is interested."

– earball1996

Maybe it's all about the journey.

Trailers do have to entice you with the best parts of a film promising audiences they'll be in for a good time.

However, movies just have to deliver on that promise by not revealing all the best bits in the trailer.

One movie I thought was going to be a succession of cheap one-liners with nothing but action was Disney's animated film Big Hero 6. The trailer was never appealing to me.

But after reading many positive reviews, I decided to give it a chance and I'm so glad I did.

It ended up being a very intelligent, emotionally mature film dealing with grief and an internal struggle about doing the right thing. While those are common tropes, it was all the more impactful watching animated characters dealing with serious themes and issues.

The bottom line is don't be quick to dismiss every movie based on its trailer.

You might be pleasantly surprised.


More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Christina Pushaw; Gavin Newsom and Jennifer Siebel Newsom
Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images; Gabrielle Lurie/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images

MAGA Influencer Gets Blunt Wakeup Call After Wondering How The Newsoms Can Champion Liberal Causes While In 'Heterosexual Marriage'

California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom and his spouse, filmmaker and activist Jennifer Siebel Newsom, were married in July 2008. They share four children: a daughter born in 2009, a son born in 2011, a daughter born in 2013, and a son born in 2016.

According to a former staffer for Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, Christina Pushaw, there is a serious problem with that.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Pope Leo
Radio Genoa

MAGA Melts Down After 'Woke' Pope Leo Urges The World To 'Search Always For Peace'

MAGA followers were not happy with Pope Leo XIV and accused him of being "woke" after he, in remarks to reporters, implored "people of good will" to "search always for peace."

The Pope spoke out after President Donald Trump insisted that God supports his war on Iran and declared—before a provisional ceasefire was announced—that "a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again" ahead of a deadline to bomb Iran’s power plants and bridges that legal scholars and world leaders have said would constitute war crimes.

Keep ReadingShow less
CNN Airs Montage Of Trump Praising Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens And Alex Jones After He Calls Them 'Losers' In Viral Rant
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images; Olivier Touron/AFP via Getty Images; Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images

CNN Airs Montage Of Trump Praising Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens And Alex Jones After He Calls Them 'Losers' In Viral Rant

CNN aired a fitting montage after President Donald Trump launched a broad attack on several conservative media figures—Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens, and Alex Jones—accusing them of being “stupid,” attention-seeking, and out of step with his political movement.

Carlson urged U.S. military aides to refuse any orders involving the killing of Iranian civilians. Owens, formerly of Turning Point USA, condemned the administration as “satanic” and called on Congress to remove what she described as the “Mad King Trump.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @melissaannmariee's TikTok video
@melissaannmariee/TikTok

Woman Calls Out Company Over $300 Fee To Keep Photos And Videos Of Kitchen Renovation Off Internet

Social media has not only made information more accessible, but it's made it so much harder to preserve privacy.

For social media influencers, it's important for them to be as discreet as they can be about their living location and frequent places that they visit, because otherwise their followers and viewers could begin to piece together where they go and where they live.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @crystelmontenegrohome's Tiktok video
@crystelmontenegrohome/TikTok

Mom's Genie Wish For Disney Vacation Hilariously Backfires Once Kids Realize The Surprise Is A Cruise

It is a rite of passage in every parent's life to plan out every detail of a special surprise for their children, only for that surprise to totally fall flat at the time of the reveal. Sometimes, that surprise could even involve Disney!

Mom and TikToker @crystelmontenegrohome purchased a toy replica of the genie lamp from Aladdin and proceeded to tell her children that she received three wishes, which she wanted to spend on a special trip for her family.

Keep ReadingShow less