Few things are as dissatisfying as a bad movie.
It's even worse when you can tell the movie will be bad, when you can see it coming but you're already on a train with no signs of stopping.
Or maybe you're just one of those suckers who feels a need to stick it out until the end (much to your repeated regret).
Bad acting and bad writing are two of my pet peeves, by the way.
But there's plenty out there that annoys the average filmgoer, as we were reminded once Redditor Thats_What_She_Said asked the online community:
"What's a sign that a movie is going to be bad?"
"If it isn't strong enough..."
"Showing what is obviously the best part/climax in the trailer. If it isn't strong enough to catch my interest with the lead-up, it's likely gonna suck."
So frustrating! The worst. This is why I don't watch trailers. Ever.
"An exposition..."
"An exposition in which one character explains everything that's going on to another character that should already know what is going on."
Don't you love that?
"I know we drove for what might have been 40 minutes and that I had plenty of time, but I won't tell you what's going on until 20 seconds before we rob this bank!"
"If it's being released..."
"If it's being released in January. That isn't the case every time, just most of the time."
[deleted]
Ah, yes. The dumping ground after Oscar season.Typically, the worst of the worst comes out at this time.
"If you are a fantasy movie..."
"Whenever they start promoting their movie by constantly comparing it to one of the all-time greats in the genre. If you are a fantasy movie and you have to state in the advertising that you are great just like Lord of the Rings, it makes me think your movie is probably crap. Because you are not LOTR."
Everyone wants to present another Lord of the Rings but there hasn't been anyone able to match Tolkien... at least not yet.
"It means the studio..."
"Critics did not receive an advance screening in order to write a review. It means the studio is hoping to at least recover an opening weekend of ticket sales before word gets out."
This is a big one. If the critics don't even get a chance to see it, then that typically doesn't bode well.
"The preview shows a girl..."
"The preview shows a girl who's Just Too Focused On Career to find love going back to her small hometown for whatever reason."
But don't worry, she'll leave everything she cares about for this scruffy man's man wearing flannel and she'll learn the true meaning of Christmas!
"Usually..."
"The near-constant advertising. Usually the exact same spot played before every video on YouTube."
Excessive advertising will absolutely make not want to watch your movie. EVER.
"It just screams desperation..."
"If it opens with a narration starting with, "I know what you're thinking..."
It just screams desperation from a crowded writer's room."
Some people probably need to go back to screenwriting class. We hate cliches.
"When you've basically seen..."
"When you've basically seen the entire plot of the movie and all main scenes in the trailer."
Again: Don't watch trailers! You'll set yourself up for disappointment!
"When the trailer..."
"When the trailer just has a bunch of random shots of things going on and has the characters saying really vague cliche lines like "Everything you've ever known is about to change" or "This is only the beginning" or "It all comes down to this" and the trailer concludes with you not knowing a single damn thing about the premise.
You guys can absolutely agree with all of these, right? Face it––you've sat through more bad movies out there than you've ever cared to. All that wasted time; you're an expert at picking out bad movies now! Well done!
Have some observations of your own? Feel free to tell us about them in the comments below!
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