Film titles which have no relation to the content. (list / game)

[wizekrak]

He has a scar across his eyebrow. They ask him about it during the first interrogation "How you get a scar like that, eating pussy?".

 

[goatofthenever]

De Palma's "Scarface'' was a remake of the 1932 "Scarface" directed by Howard Hawks. The 1932 version's main character was based off Al capone who's nickname was scarface.

 

[SA]

I guess that settlles that then. Thanks, spoilsports. [raspy voice]Every time I feel like I'm up, they pull me back down again.[/raspy voice]

Thanks for the breakdown though, wizekrak and goatofthenever, seriously.

 

[alasdairm]

i guess the extent to which film titles bear no relation to the content o fthe movie depends on how loosely you interpret the question. how about:

american history x
apocalypse now
brazil
eternal sunshine of the spotless mind
one flew over the cuckoo's nest
requiem for a dream
the return of the king
the shining

ok, i'm joking about the return of the king. that was just to keep you on your toes

alasdair

 

[AmorRoark]

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

merely a joke in the film that really has very little to do with the content

 

[goatofthenever]

one flew over the cuckoo's nest
requiem for a dream

Those describe the movies.

 

[Pander Bear]

Let's start with....

Reservoir Dogs.

Or is that a euphemism for something I don't know about?

The title for the film comes from a combination of two other movies. Tarantino, not very good at speaking French, always referred to _Au revoir les enfants (1987)_ simply as "that Reservoir movie". He also is a big Sam Peckinpah fan, and likes his film Straw Dogs (1971). So he combined the two titles to get "Reservoir Dogs".

eternal sunshine of the spotless mind
brazil

"eternal sunshine of the spotless mind" is a direct quote from Pope (Eloisa to Abelard). I think that's covered in the movie (the girl quotes him as "Pope Alexander"). In the poem, the eternal sunshine of the spotless mind is that of a vestal virgin's. In the screenplay, it's the spotless mind of Jim carrey's character after it's been erased.

As for Brazil, I always imagined it was the whole purpose of the movie. Its where he dreams to escape to when he flies. A green, clear world where there aren't any ducts or old ladies with flabby faces.

Naked Lunch

I don't have my copy on hand, but in the preface of the book, written I think, by either Ginsberg or Kerouac, said that Burrough's intent was to depict modern western life as it really was, to strip it bare. I think The lunch part was just an imagined occaision for the stripping.

 

[SardonicNihilist]

^ nice clarification of Reservoir Dogs

i guess the extent to which film titles bear no relation to the content o fthe movie depends on how loosely you interpret the question. how about:

american history x
apocalypse now
brazil
eternal sunshine of the spotless mind
one flew over the cuckoo's nest
requiem for a dream
the return of the king
the shining

ok, i'm joking about the return of the king. that was just to keep you on your toes

alasdair

There have been some good ones
But…
'American History X' was the name given to the ad hoc class by that influential teacher who takes that troubled child under his wing. It's been a while since I've seen that film, but I'm not paying that

The 'shining' was name given to the ESP type thing the boy has, as mentioned by that groundskeeper Willy character, played by Scatman Crothers, who incidentally has the coolest name ever.

I'm not sure about the cuckoo being associated with mental illness, i.e. whether the cliché of someone who is ‘cuckoo’ being less than sane spawns from the movie itself, or was already a phrase to begin with. This is interesting in itself, as I always thought of cuckoos as rather sly and cunning. There must be some truth to the story that they lay their eggs in the nests of other birds. The eggs being tended to, protected and incubated through the labour of the other species, totally oblivious that some of those eggs aren’t theirs, thus leaving the cuckoo more time to frolic and play. And why put the poor bastard in a clock??


Apocalypse Now and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind I think can easily be interpreted to fit the story line. And The Silence of the Lambs is also quite obvious, remember something about that haunting, traumatic childhood memory of lambs being slaughtered?

I too, don’t know about Brazil. It was one of those movies I’ve never watched in a coherent enough mental state to properly understand or remember.

I’m with Goat on Requiem for a Dream, but ultimately it’s a cool title that can be interpreted in different ways. I consider it the lost, sorely missed dream of a well-slept life that is being bereaved through staccato churchy songs.


My last edition, Gummo- that movie by Harmony Korine, which incidentally is the least cool name for a guy, with that bunny ears character on the cover. I never quite figured that one out.

And ‘Innocence’ the English title to the sequel to Ghost in the Shell. My argument being robots, ok, cyborgs are not real people, therefore are amoral, above responsibility for their actions, and thus labels of ‘innocent’ or ‘guilty’ are inappropriate. They aren’t real people so it’s the overseer who should be held responsible for their actions…. Enter Nat Turner

 

[alasdairm]

Elephant - Gus Van Sant - watch it goddamnit!

dude! that movie totally has an elephant in it...

alasdair

 

[SardonicNihilist]

Thought I'd revisit.

I somehow got to thinking about Clint Eastwood movies. One sure thing (I think) would be Mystic River. There were various references to wolves and fireflies, the tortured ramblings of the adult abused child, but as far as I recall there were no such references to any sort of river. The body of the girl was found in an old bear cage, again, no river nearby. So what gives? Why that title?

Titles such as The Rookie, Million Dollar Baby, A perfect World, Where Eagles DAre, Dirty Harry etc. can all be interpreted to have at least some relation to the film.

Possibly Rain Man, which is currently on TV, but I just can't watch a Tom Cruise movie and take him seriously anymore.

The term 'rain man' has colloquially become synonymous with the 'idiot savant', or anyone who's lovable, but also a bit slow. There must be some reference to his 'special' long lost brother or whatever played by Dustin Hoffman, being referred to as 'rain man', but I can't be sure. His name is Ray, maybe that has something to do with it... (must exercise attention span)

 

[SardonicNihilist]

edit: Raymond, the idiot savant, refuses to go outside when it is raining, hence Rain Man. There are probably other reasons.

I hate Tom Cruise so much, his arrogant, selfish, exploitative character in this film just seems so fitting.

I am on a media binge,

 

[Raz]

X-Men....I didn't see a single trannie in any of those movies!!

 

[tambourine-man]

The Butterfly Effect is the idea that every action, no matter how small, affects every other future action.

I think it's based on the pop-science premise that if it was possible to accurately predict every weather system in the world, the simple beating of a butterfly's wings would effect that model and as time went by, that 'error' would become larger and larger (which is the premise of the film - small actions change things on a macro level).

How about the John Woo film, "Hard Boiled"?

 

[mariacallas]

Gas, Food, Lodging. A Cool Dry Place.