Title Drops
June 7, 2017 5:48 AM Subscribe
Title Drops, a supercut of characters saying the name of the film they're in.
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posted by leotrotsky at 6:08 AM on June 7, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by leotrotsky at 6:08 AM on June 7, 2017 [4 favorites]
This is unbelievably satisfying.
posted by uncleozzy at 6:24 AM on June 7, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by uncleozzy at 6:24 AM on June 7, 2017 [4 favorites]
QUANTUM OF SOLACE! I'm saying the name of the film over the music
QUANTUM OF SOLACE (I did it again, right then)
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 6:24 AM on June 7, 2017 [4 favorites]
QUANTUM OF SOLACE (I did it again, right then)
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 6:24 AM on June 7, 2017 [4 favorites]
My friend has a thing called the name of the play which is ... what it sounds like. When they say the name of the play during the play, you whisper in your companion's ear, "the name of the play!". Less satisfying for, say, Hamilton, than for something with a more abstract title like Six Degrees of Separation. So this right here is gravy.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 6:28 AM on June 7, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 6:28 AM on June 7, 2017 [1 favorite]
"Didja know I had the title line in Star Wars?"
posted by Strange Interlude at 6:33 AM on June 7, 2017 [16 favorites]
posted by Strange Interlude at 6:33 AM on June 7, 2017 [16 favorites]
Damn, Strange Interlude, you beat me to it
posted by gc at 6:37 AM on June 7, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by gc at 6:37 AM on June 7, 2017 [3 favorites]
My friend has a thing called the name of the play which is ... what it sounds like. When they say the name of the play during the play, you whisper in your companion's ear, "the name of the play!". Less satisfying for, say, Hamilton, than for something with a more abstract title like Six Degrees of Separation. So this right here is gravy.
Penn Jillette suggests that audience members should applaud politely when the title of a movie is mentioned in the dialogue. We observe this rule faithfully in this house. Typically this requires zero (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2) to one (Get Out) applause breaks. Sometimes it involves a lot more (John Wick). I expect this year's It is going to be an endurance test.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:48 AM on June 7, 2017 [7 favorites]
Penn Jillette suggests that audience members should applaud politely when the title of a movie is mentioned in the dialogue. We observe this rule faithfully in this house. Typically this requires zero (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2) to one (Get Out) applause breaks. Sometimes it involves a lot more (John Wick). I expect this year's It is going to be an endurance test.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:48 AM on June 7, 2017 [7 favorites]
"I'm just so tired of all these star wars."
posted by msbrauer at 7:10 AM on June 7, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by msbrauer at 7:10 AM on June 7, 2017 [3 favorites]
At least one of these was renamed from dialogue inside the film. Eight-Legged Freaks — David Arquette literally improvised that line while shooting and they liked it enough to rename the film. It was originally called Arac Attack, and I think we can all agree that Arquette did the film a solid.
Ace in the Hole was called The Big Carnival when it was released, but Ace in the Hole was the original title and it sort of reverted back.
posted by maxsparber at 7:14 AM on June 7, 2017 [3 favorites]
Ace in the Hole was called The Big Carnival when it was released, but Ace in the Hole was the original title and it sort of reverted back.
posted by maxsparber at 7:14 AM on June 7, 2017 [3 favorites]
They cut away too soon from the initial Hot Tub Time Machine clip.
posted by CaseyB at 7:31 AM on June 7, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by CaseyB at 7:31 AM on June 7, 2017 [5 favorites]
Fun! But I was waiting and waiting for "Shane!"... and it never came.
posted by languagehat at 7:48 AM on June 7, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by languagehat at 7:48 AM on June 7, 2017 [1 favorite]
When this happens, my friends and I always say "hey, that's the name of the show!"
posted by daniel striped tiger at 8:10 AM on June 7, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by daniel striped tiger at 8:10 AM on June 7, 2017 [5 favorites]
What, no "I Accuse My Parents?"
posted by praemunire at 8:21 AM on June 7, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by praemunire at 8:21 AM on June 7, 2017 [1 favorite]
If Movies Ended when Someone Said the Title (2, 3)
posted by Navelgazer at 8:23 AM on June 7, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by Navelgazer at 8:23 AM on June 7, 2017 [4 favorites]
Missing Gene Wilder's "Silver Streak". #MEDIOCRE
posted by hanov3r at 8:24 AM on June 7, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by hanov3r at 8:24 AM on June 7, 2017 [1 favorite]
A few years ago I put together an audio round for pub trivia of bits of movie dialogue that included someone saying the name of the movie, but with that part beeped out, and you had to name the movie (using the context from the rest of the dialogue included in the clip). Only three of the ten I used are included in this supercut...I'm trying to think of the rest, but I do remember that the last one was the entire John Larroquette opening narration from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (minus those words of course).
Oh, just remembered: Love, Actually was another. Both of these that I remember are from narration though, might not have counted for the supercut creator's criteria.
posted by doctornecessiter at 10:27 AM on June 7, 2017 [3 favorites]
Oh, just remembered: Love, Actually was another. Both of these that I remember are from narration though, might not have counted for the supercut creator's criteria.
posted by doctornecessiter at 10:27 AM on June 7, 2017 [3 favorites]
There are several I can think of that aren't in there, but I still loved that. I am a huge fan of title drops. Some time ago, I came across a list of screenwriters who try to put title drops in movies, there are several.
TV Tropes has a page on title drops [caution, link goes to TV Tropes].
posted by sleeping bear at 10:45 AM on June 7, 2017 [1 favorite]
TV Tropes has a page on title drops [caution, link goes to TV Tropes].
posted by sleeping bear at 10:45 AM on June 7, 2017 [1 favorite]
No "Breakfast Club"?
Also, one of my favorite things about "Wonder Woman" was that no character said, "Wow, she's some kind of.... Wonder Woman!"
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 10:54 AM on June 7, 2017 [4 favorites]
Also, one of my favorite things about "Wonder Woman" was that no character said, "Wow, she's some kind of.... Wonder Woman!"
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 10:54 AM on June 7, 2017 [4 favorites]
I like how Scarecrow puts the emphasis wrong on Bat Man in the first Nolan film.
Like nobody is quite sure how to pronounce it.
posted by maxsparber at 11:13 AM on June 7, 2017 [2 favorites]
Like nobody is quite sure how to pronounce it.
posted by maxsparber at 11:13 AM on June 7, 2017 [2 favorites]
Penn Jillette suggests that audience members should applaud politely when the title of a movie is mentioned in the dialogue.
Funny you should say that. Was just coming in here to relate the story of going out to dinner with him at the Howard Johnson in Times Square on Friday nights when he was in town (as a big group, I was dating a guy who did stage crew for him, he prob would not know my name) when I was in high school. After dinner we'd always go see the worst non-porn movie showing in Times Square and we'd all do the golf clap when a character name-dropped the title. Good times.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 11:13 AM on June 7, 2017 [2 favorites]
Funny you should say that. Was just coming in here to relate the story of going out to dinner with him at the Howard Johnson in Times Square on Friday nights when he was in town (as a big group, I was dating a guy who did stage crew for him, he prob would not know my name) when I was in high school. After dinner we'd always go see the worst non-porn movie showing in Times Square and we'd all do the golf clap when a character name-dropped the title. Good times.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 11:13 AM on June 7, 2017 [2 favorites]
I'd love to see movies where characters portentously drop the titles of other movies.
"Forget it, Jake. It's... *looks into camera* Big Trouble In Little China."
posted by phooky at 1:58 PM on June 7, 2017 [5 favorites]
"Forget it, Jake. It's... *looks into camera* Big Trouble In Little China."
posted by phooky at 1:58 PM on June 7, 2017 [5 favorites]
came for "face.... offfff", satisfied.
Also, I'm much more impressed when said title is a phrase that has to be worked into the dialog rather than name of person/thing that's primary to the plot. Like you know they had to work for "Clear and Present Danger", but like maxsparber said, they could've changed the title after getting it from the script.
posted by numaner at 4:06 PM on June 7, 2017
Also, I'm much more impressed when said title is a phrase that has to be worked into the dialog rather than name of person/thing that's primary to the plot. Like you know they had to work for "Clear and Present Danger", but like maxsparber said, they could've changed the title after getting it from the script.
posted by numaner at 4:06 PM on June 7, 2017
My favorite title drops:
- Airplane!
- Hancock
- Dracula
- Titanic
- Hook
- Speed
- Tron
- Push
- Pi
- It
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 7:08 PM on June 7, 2017
- Airplane!
- Hancock
- Dracula
- Titanic
- Hook
- Speed
- Tron
- Push
- Pi
- It
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 7:08 PM on June 7, 2017
Also, I'm much more impressed when said title is a phrase that has to be worked into the dialog rather than name of person/thing that's primary to the plot.
There are a few different categories of title drops, each with their own sorts of rules for use, in a sense.
The most basic is simply a title as description of some sort, like Batman for the main character or Jurassic Park for the setting. The title is mostly an indication of the main hook to the film, but with perhaps some added twist in expression when first mentioned in dialogue as a bit of fun for the audience. Hot Tub Time Machine plays it for a knowing laugh based on this kind of convention, where other movies might follow something of Max's mention of Batman, where the expected mention of the title is slightly subverted as a way to generate some amusement.
A similar use is one where the title refers to a basic idea or important plot point in the movie, like The Third Man and Vertigo. The thing being highlighted is of significant importance to the movie, but in itself is fairly straight forward, without direct need of secondary reference or attachment to larger themes or meaning, though that can certainly sometimes be found.
Another way seems to be where there is some theme or more literary conceit involved in the title that either may be felt to need explanation or will be mentioned in a moment of summary or climax, like Clear and Present Danger, A Bridge too Far, or even True Grit. These uses generally align with the expectations of the film and just provide a moment of emphasis and/or are used for tonal effect in establishing the conceptual language of the film.
As numaner suggested though, there can be more interesting and meaningful ways to use the title drop, where the title does more than just announce a basic element of the movie or provide a more literary theme, but where it's mention actually adds ambiguity or provides a moment of epiphany in coalescing opposing elements of the movie into a mention that shifts the title from what it may first appear to be.
Chinatown does this in a way, where the title isn't, perhaps as one who knew nothing about the movie might expect, announcing the importance of the setting as such, but a moral perspective which will have deeper resonance once the reference is fully made clear at the end of the movie.
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is much the same, where the title seems to announce a clear descriptive relationship, but the entire story of the movie seeks to undermine that clarity about the title as its central metaphor. When the title is finally dropped at the end of the film, it carries a weight that summarizes all that came before it and leaves its use as much a question over itself as a description.
There are others in this line, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, being one that is less determined in the clarity of its reference to the events preceding it, but which still adds a strong moment of ambiguity and shift in weight to those events that is hard to shake off. The title resonating far beyond its literal meaning. Moonrise Kingdom, those its "title drop" is visual instead of vocal works in much the same way, where the use of the title both summarizes what came before and shifts its tone as the delay in its use and manner of presentation returns the viewer to an earlier moment in the movie with a new perspective that now has a different emotional value than when it initially occurred.
posted by gusottertrout at 12:31 AM on June 8, 2017 [3 favorites]
There are a few different categories of title drops, each with their own sorts of rules for use, in a sense.
The most basic is simply a title as description of some sort, like Batman for the main character or Jurassic Park for the setting. The title is mostly an indication of the main hook to the film, but with perhaps some added twist in expression when first mentioned in dialogue as a bit of fun for the audience. Hot Tub Time Machine plays it for a knowing laugh based on this kind of convention, where other movies might follow something of Max's mention of Batman, where the expected mention of the title is slightly subverted as a way to generate some amusement.
A similar use is one where the title refers to a basic idea or important plot point in the movie, like The Third Man and Vertigo. The thing being highlighted is of significant importance to the movie, but in itself is fairly straight forward, without direct need of secondary reference or attachment to larger themes or meaning, though that can certainly sometimes be found.
Another way seems to be where there is some theme or more literary conceit involved in the title that either may be felt to need explanation or will be mentioned in a moment of summary or climax, like Clear and Present Danger, A Bridge too Far, or even True Grit. These uses generally align with the expectations of the film and just provide a moment of emphasis and/or are used for tonal effect in establishing the conceptual language of the film.
As numaner suggested though, there can be more interesting and meaningful ways to use the title drop, where the title does more than just announce a basic element of the movie or provide a more literary theme, but where it's mention actually adds ambiguity or provides a moment of epiphany in coalescing opposing elements of the movie into a mention that shifts the title from what it may first appear to be.
Chinatown does this in a way, where the title isn't, perhaps as one who knew nothing about the movie might expect, announcing the importance of the setting as such, but a moral perspective which will have deeper resonance once the reference is fully made clear at the end of the movie.
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is much the same, where the title seems to announce a clear descriptive relationship, but the entire story of the movie seeks to undermine that clarity about the title as its central metaphor. When the title is finally dropped at the end of the film, it carries a weight that summarizes all that came before it and leaves its use as much a question over itself as a description.
There are others in this line, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, being one that is less determined in the clarity of its reference to the events preceding it, but which still adds a strong moment of ambiguity and shift in weight to those events that is hard to shake off. The title resonating far beyond its literal meaning. Moonrise Kingdom, those its "title drop" is visual instead of vocal works in much the same way, where the use of the title both summarizes what came before and shifts its tone as the delay in its use and manner of presentation returns the viewer to an earlier moment in the movie with a new perspective that now has a different emotional value than when it initially occurred.
posted by gusottertrout at 12:31 AM on June 8, 2017 [3 favorites]
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