October 26, 2006
Disturbing movie trend of the week
Posted by Jess in
Day to Day
It's interesting how movie dynamics, plot, and predictability change according to real-life technologies and idioms. Well, sometimes it's just plain annoying.
Is it just me, or is it becoming far too easy for screenwriters to give us convenient tension by creating cell phone problems? A cell phone that has worked without problem the entire movie will lose its signal at a crucial moment when there is no time to lose. The "low battery" signal flashes, only to have the hero or heroine mutter "damn", before throwing it aside and moving on to the next idea - at a time in the film when a simple call could have fixed everything.
We're coming up on the cold weather season, when evening walks are replaced with evening features on the couch with a nice glass of wine, and movie similarities will stand out much more obviously now that I have time to scrutinize them. Not that I'm a critic, no one understands the meaning of "escapism" more than I do, but really. This is getting ridiculous!
The only real effective use I've seen of this technique is the movie "Cellular", in which our hero discovers he is about to drive under a bridge and will lose his signal, which means death to the woman on the other line, who he does not know. What makes this scene effective (and original) is that the tension comes from him realizing the impending loss of signal, rather than use the signal loss as the tension itself (in fact, it's one of the better scenes of the movie, in which he does a 360 180 in the middle of busy downtown traffic).
Another reason Cellular stands out is creating an entire scene revolving around a dying (not dead) battery, in which he robs a cellular store to buy a new battery (which he pays for!).
For most other movies, this tactic of reception or batteries dying at the worst possible time seems to be a warning sign of lazy screenwriting… or is it just me?
Art imitates life; what a sign of the times, in which cell phones that annoy us so much in real life now can annoy me just as much in film?
Permalink
Comments
Is it just me or is "is it just me" as over used as cell phones... oh... and isnt a 360 gonna put you in the same direction you were going to begin with? DAMN TUNNELS!
Matt
No, these are magical tunnels, in which when you turn around all the way and go back in, you're really going out.
Is it just me, or is there a smartypants in the house tonight? :-)
Is it just me, or are you two geeks talking to each other on the comments of your own blog!??!?!
Matt, she's in the next room, dude. ;-)
Bah! After 5 years it has just become a new way to communicate. Gotta keep things fresh :-p
LOL, in all fairness, Matt was at work at the time.
Though we do occasionally chat via IM in the house - it's usually Matt saying "STOP WORKING." :-)
Mainly because I am on the couch watching poker and playing online and multipe "Hey Jess" calls have gone unanswered because her music is too loud. IM is the only thing I am 100% sure she will pay attention to :-P
Don't forget "Messenger Reboot".
Attaching a note with "Go find mommy/daddy" was one of the most useful things we've ever taught her!
Afterthought: Is it just me, or is that a little sad for two people that only live on one floor?
Wait - don't answer that.
LOL. Very funny comments.
I'm one who can't stand cell phones and their users. A good movie scene would be if he rolled the car in the tunnel while on his cell phone. That I would cheer.
My favorite annoying moment occurred in line at Disney's Animal Kingdom at the Safari. A woman conducted and directed her office staff for a half hour in line. When I'm on vacation, I don't care to be reminded of work like a Chinese water torture.
All too true. It also made me think of this recent entry at McSweeney's: "Stories That Would Have Turned Out Differentily if the Protagonists had had Cell Phones:" http://mcsweeneys.net/2006/10/6norvig.html
Most interesting cell moment happened this morning. I was driving my daughter to school and almost got side-swiped by a guy next to me zig-zagging in his lane. I turned to look and, sure enough, the guy was on his cell phone. We pulled to a 4-way stop and I checked out all of the other drivers at the intersection. Every single one of them had a phone stuck to their ear. I pointed it out to my daughter (12 yrs. old), who looked up and laughingly asked me if I felt left out.
Re: talking to the spousal unit via e-mail...I actually am in favour of the approach. Especially when arguing. When people are angry with each other, their ears tend to close down as each tries to get their own point of view across to the other. But when we read, especially those people who are fairly analytical, we tend to want to read and respond to each point. It almost forces us to really listen to each other. Hubby and I can't take the emotion out of the mix as easily when we're face-to-face. When we write, though, finding and addressing the root problem becomes easier.
I had friends who took it a step farther. They couldn't write to each other until they had come up with a humourous way to phrase the issue.
