Getting it right (or not)
April 23, 2020 5:14 AM Subscribe
On Wired's Technique Critique, topical experts examine TV and movie clips and analyze their realism and accuracy: NASA astronaut Nicole Stott looks at 16 space scenes, then some more. Pro driver Wyatt Knox breaks down 16 driving scenes, then 18 more. Lawyer Lucy Lang breaks down 17 courtroom scenes. Surgical resident Annie Onishi breaks down 36 medical scenes, then another 22. Disease expert Brian Amman breaks down pandemic scenes. Movie accent expert Erik Singer breaks down 6 fictional languages, 28 actors playing presidents, and 17 actors playing real people. Hacker Samy Kamkar breaks down 26 hacking scenes. Robotics expert Chris Atkeson breaks down robot scenes. Former CIA Chief of Disguise Jonna Mendez breaks down 30 spy scenes. Forensics expert Matthew Steiner examines 20 crime scene investigations.
Lucy Lang previously. Annie Onishi previously. Erik Singer previously (twice).
Lucy Lang previously. Annie Onishi previously. Erik Singer previously (twice).
I realize that we also just featured the Vanity Fair career retro/breakdown video series a couple of days ago, but if you want a companion to Wired’s Professionals Drop the Knowledge on Pop Culture series then I think Vanity Fair getting Chris Hadfield to give hot takes on space movies is pretty great.
Though also I am wondering why Wired, VF, GQ or any of the other magazines who’ve pivoted to this video format haven’t gotten an archaeologist to deconstruct Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider. Maybe it’s too easy, but I have also liked how the best of these series convey how the lived reality of these professions is actually pretty awesome and an “archaeology as the greatest jigsaw puzzle” talk could be wonderful.
Also on my wishlist for the Condé Nast video studio treatment, “Medieval Scholars Dunk On All of King Arthurs and Also Talk About Why A Knight’s Tale is actually Low Key Amazing”
posted by bl1nk at 5:48 AM on April 23, 2020 [5 favorites]
Though also I am wondering why Wired, VF, GQ or any of the other magazines who’ve pivoted to this video format haven’t gotten an archaeologist to deconstruct Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider. Maybe it’s too easy, but I have also liked how the best of these series convey how the lived reality of these professions is actually pretty awesome and an “archaeology as the greatest jigsaw puzzle” talk could be wonderful.
Also on my wishlist for the Condé Nast video studio treatment, “Medieval Scholars Dunk On All of King Arthurs and Also Talk About Why A Knight’s Tale is actually Low Key Amazing”
posted by bl1nk at 5:48 AM on April 23, 2020 [5 favorites]
Jinx, bl1nk!
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:49 AM on April 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:49 AM on April 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
I feel like Office Space would survive one of these breakdown analysis treatments rather well.
posted by RolandOfEld at 5:53 AM on April 23, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by RolandOfEld at 5:53 AM on April 23, 2020 [5 favorites]
This is a great post, thanks!
PS, bl1nk: As a former field archeologist in Illinois vis-a-vis Dr. Jones, they rejected my bullwhip credit compensation, the snakes were more interesting than the dig, and the Nazis won.
posted by Chitownfats at 6:13 AM on April 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
PS, bl1nk: As a former field archeologist in Illinois vis-a-vis Dr. Jones, they rejected my bullwhip credit compensation, the snakes were more interesting than the dig, and the Nazis won.
posted by Chitownfats at 6:13 AM on April 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
Love this series, especially the movie accent miniseries.
posted by ellieBOA at 6:49 AM on April 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by ellieBOA at 6:49 AM on April 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
Legal procedures aside, courtrooms are almost all windowless, dreary, fluorescent-lit places where you would never want to set a movie or teevee show.
Right?
posted by SoberHighland at 6:53 AM on April 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
Right?
posted by SoberHighland at 6:53 AM on April 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
NotMyselfRightNow this is so very my jam. Thank you for the post!
posted by brainwane at 7:40 AM on April 23, 2020
posted by brainwane at 7:40 AM on April 23, 2020
this is a pretty great rabbit hole.. I can't help but feel that the internet has produced a lot of people who just live for, and indulge in, that 'gotcha' moment: showing why someone else is wrong, inaccurate, inauthentic, etc.
a lot of the time--most of the time--I watch films, I am not looking for explicit instructions. I suppose having a play-by-play from the experts after the fact is also entertaining, but there's something about this that seems very now, also.
posted by elkevelvet at 7:41 AM on April 23, 2020
a lot of the time--most of the time--I watch films, I am not looking for explicit instructions. I suppose having a play-by-play from the experts after the fact is also entertaining, but there's something about this that seems very now, also.
posted by elkevelvet at 7:41 AM on April 23, 2020
Thanks for reminding me of my internet crush on Erik Singer.
posted by Ruki at 7:46 AM on April 23, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by Ruki at 7:46 AM on April 23, 2020 [4 favorites]
I can't help but feel that the internet has produced a lot of people who just live for, and indulge in, that 'gotcha' moment: showing why someone else is wrong, inaccurate, inauthentic, etc.
Some people may be motivated by malice or ill will, but for some of us it's literally impossible not to notice details. If the details are wrong, they'll throw us out of the experience.
I mean... if there's a dinner scene among Americans (nationality stated to set up the expectations) and someone uses a knife and spoon to eat a steak, that'd be weird, right? You'd notice that. Is it impossible for an American to eat a steak with a knife and spoon? No, not at all. Has an American eaten a steak with a knife and spoon? Maybe. Would it be weird and noticeable if this happened onscreen? Yes, definitely. People would notice and would probably comment.
For some people, that's what it's like to see a character who's a "ballet dancer" but can't actually manage proper ballet posture, or a character who's a "cello player" who's upbowing when it should be a downbow, or similar things.
posted by Lexica at 8:28 AM on April 23, 2020 [7 favorites]
Some people may be motivated by malice or ill will, but for some of us it's literally impossible not to notice details. If the details are wrong, they'll throw us out of the experience.
I mean... if there's a dinner scene among Americans (nationality stated to set up the expectations) and someone uses a knife and spoon to eat a steak, that'd be weird, right? You'd notice that. Is it impossible for an American to eat a steak with a knife and spoon? No, not at all. Has an American eaten a steak with a knife and spoon? Maybe. Would it be weird and noticeable if this happened onscreen? Yes, definitely. People would notice and would probably comment.
For some people, that's what it's like to see a character who's a "ballet dancer" but can't actually manage proper ballet posture, or a character who's a "cello player" who's upbowing when it should be a downbow, or similar things.
posted by Lexica at 8:28 AM on April 23, 2020 [7 favorites]
haven’t gotten an archaeologist to deconstruct Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider.
Archeologist breaks down 10 treasure hunting scenes in movies
posted by nubs at 8:59 AM on April 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
Archeologist breaks down 10 treasure hunting scenes in movies
posted by nubs at 8:59 AM on April 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
Another one of my favourites in this vein is Alex Honnold's (you know, the climber in Free Solo) breakdown of climbing in Hollywood movies. I had always watched on YouTube before today so I didn't know about the rest of the series!
posted by invokeuse at 9:07 AM on April 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by invokeuse at 9:07 AM on April 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
[rubs hands together] Oh this should be fun.
Most of the time I assume that "the computer" in modern media takes the place of the couriers running from off-stage and/or the Greek Chorus, in that it's something used to periodically drop knowledge when the piece requires it.
posted by rmd1023 at 9:16 AM on April 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
Most of the time I assume that "the computer" in modern media takes the place of the couriers running from off-stage and/or the Greek Chorus, in that it's something used to periodically drop knowledge when the piece requires it.
posted by rmd1023 at 9:16 AM on April 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
I'll just assume that hackers type "SDFGHJKL" repeatedly.
posted by ovvl at 9:20 AM on April 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by ovvl at 9:20 AM on April 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
This is similar to a technique used in Cognitive Task Analysis (specifically Knowledge Elicitation) to understand the nature and challenges of the cognitive work in a particular area.
Let's say we want to understand some aspects of what zoo veterinarians have to deal with. We might show an experienced zoo vet a video of a less experienced zoo vet treating a chimpanzee. She will comment on what the less experienced zoo vet is doing well and doing not so well.
Because it involves looking at a real (or simulated) procedure, it elicits more information than just asking the zoo vet about things. It can give us a picture of which steps are important and which are not as critical, which aspects are really hard and which are not as difficult.
posted by neutralmojo at 9:30 AM on April 23, 2020 [16 favorites]
Let's say we want to understand some aspects of what zoo veterinarians have to deal with. We might show an experienced zoo vet a video of a less experienced zoo vet treating a chimpanzee. She will comment on what the less experienced zoo vet is doing well and doing not so well.
Because it involves looking at a real (or simulated) procedure, it elicits more information than just asking the zoo vet about things. It can give us a picture of which steps are important and which are not as critical, which aspects are really hard and which are not as difficult.
posted by neutralmojo at 9:30 AM on April 23, 2020 [16 favorites]
People who have used a telephone watch scenes of people conversing on a telephone.
People who have had sex watch sex scenes.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 10:42 AM on April 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
People who have had sex watch sex scenes.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 10:42 AM on April 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
People who have used a telephone watch scenes of people conversing on a telephone.
But they don't really get that right either most of the time. We just live with it.
posted by The_Vegetables at 10:52 AM on April 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
But they don't really get that right either most of the time. We just live with it.
posted by The_Vegetables at 10:52 AM on April 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
People who have used a telephone watch scenes of people conversing on a telephone.
But they don't really get that right either most of the time. We just live with it.
I persist in saying "goodbye" although everyone in Hollywoodworld just hangs up as soon as the plot-crucial bit of info has been delivered.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 10:54 AM on April 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
But they don't really get that right either most of the time. We just live with it.
I persist in saying "goodbye" although everyone in Hollywoodworld just hangs up as soon as the plot-crucial bit of info has been delivered.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 10:54 AM on April 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
People who have used a telephone watch scenes of people conversing on a telephone
Select problems from list below:
-didn't say hello
-no introductions done
-not enough time elapsed for information to be shared (It's Patrick. He took out life insurance!)
-meeting or date agreed to without details like date, time, location
-no goodbyes
People who have had sex watch sex scenes.
"I don't like sand. It gets everywhere and it itches."
posted by nubs at 11:34 AM on April 23, 2020 [6 favorites]
Select problems from list below:
-didn't say hello
-no introductions done
-not enough time elapsed for information to be shared (It's Patrick. He took out life insurance!)
-meeting or date agreed to without details like date, time, location
-no goodbyes
People who have had sex watch sex scenes.
"I don't like sand. It gets everywhere and it itches."
posted by nubs at 11:34 AM on April 23, 2020 [6 favorites]
"I don't like sand. It gets everywhere and it itches."
Can confirm.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 11:47 AM on April 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
Can confirm.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 11:47 AM on April 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
Some people may be motivated by malice or ill will, but for some of us it's literally impossible not to notice details. If the details are wrong, they'll throw us out of the experience.
If you wanna get me going sometime, ask me about some of the old Hollywood movies that depict "backstage at a show" kinds of scenes; there's one classic film I watched where I all but started screaming at the screen when "the director" did something particularly bone-headed.
By the same token, too, it's kinda neat when they get it right (and the experts in these clips point that out too). I'm not that keen on the film 42nd Street, but the stagecraft in the "Shuffle Off To Buffalo" show-within-a-show sequence was really damn cool, to the point that I was trying to puzzle out the necessary mechanics.
But they don't really get [talking on the phone] right either most of the time. We just live with it.
Why live with it? Why not expect more? Look at it this way - if an artist hasn't developed a keen enough eye to realistically convey "people talking on the phone", or at least give a credible enough impression of it, then how can we trust that they've developed a keen enough eye to convey deeper emotional things?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:16 PM on April 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
If you wanna get me going sometime, ask me about some of the old Hollywood movies that depict "backstage at a show" kinds of scenes; there's one classic film I watched where I all but started screaming at the screen when "the director" did something particularly bone-headed.
By the same token, too, it's kinda neat when they get it right (and the experts in these clips point that out too). I'm not that keen on the film 42nd Street, but the stagecraft in the "Shuffle Off To Buffalo" show-within-a-show sequence was really damn cool, to the point that I was trying to puzzle out the necessary mechanics.
But they don't really get [talking on the phone] right either most of the time. We just live with it.
Why live with it? Why not expect more? Look at it this way - if an artist hasn't developed a keen enough eye to realistically convey "people talking on the phone", or at least give a credible enough impression of it, then how can we trust that they've developed a keen enough eye to convey deeper emotional things?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:16 PM on April 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
how can we trust that they've developed a keen enough eye to convey deeper emotional things?
I personally don't really think those two are well connected. I personally watch movies to hear 'deeper emotional ideas', not to job-shadow, and the emotional ideas have to be earned through the movie - that's how they build trust. I could really care less if hacking, the finer points of epidemiology, or investigations, or spying is done accurately as long at it conveys the facts well enough for it's world.
Movies that build worlds and then drop them for the sake of plot in the final acts I find more unrealistic.
On the 'telephone' thing specifically, I find most modern movies to be entirely too long, and any cuts that I can fill in (hello, small talk, goodbye) in my head are fine with me.
Not that I don't find 'expert reviews' of movie craft interesting (often more interesting than some shows), it just doesn't have any effect on my opinion of the quality of the movie.
posted by The_Vegetables at 1:36 PM on April 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
I personally don't really think those two are well connected. I personally watch movies to hear 'deeper emotional ideas', not to job-shadow, and the emotional ideas have to be earned through the movie - that's how they build trust. I could really care less if hacking, the finer points of epidemiology, or investigations, or spying is done accurately as long at it conveys the facts well enough for it's world.
Movies that build worlds and then drop them for the sake of plot in the final acts I find more unrealistic.
On the 'telephone' thing specifically, I find most modern movies to be entirely too long, and any cuts that I can fill in (hello, small talk, goodbye) in my head are fine with me.
Not that I don't find 'expert reviews' of movie craft interesting (often more interesting than some shows), it just doesn't have any effect on my opinion of the quality of the movie.
posted by The_Vegetables at 1:36 PM on April 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
A (gaffer) friend of mine pretty drily commented during Thelma & Louise 'lotta light in that car' and it's almost ruined my ability to watch car interiors shot at night. And don't get me started on wet streets.
My personal peeve is continunity issues around lenghty plots that don't seem to be that hard to resolve (honestly, someday I'm going to build a G/L for the Crowder Enterprises LLC on Justified - one week Boyd can't make payroll and the next he's carrying $250K in a briefcase) or maintain. I assume it's the problem of asynchronous writing teams and other external issues, and somewhat the assumption that certain elements of conflict resonate widely (ITS A LOT OF MONEY / ITS A TINY BIT OF MONEY) and the subset of people like me that are thinking 'but last week, they had plenty of money' isn't the thing that needs to most readily be solved.
But people like Michael Connelly, who is fastidious about time and distance in Bosch (books and television) makes a subtle but positive difference for me (and the production staff of Bosch is amazing - in six seasons, every scene that is supposed to be near his house is impressively proximate). I get that this can't always be the case.
I didn't watch most of these but if you are thinking it's just lazy takes, watch the driving ones - they spend as much time explaining why something is correct, which is gratifying (hearing a professional driver explain what practical effects are doable is pretty cool).
I'd argue that being fussy about phonecalls is just taking the piss, but for genre or procedurals, things are definitely improved when there is credibility for the performers in their jobs. Heist is a great heist movie because it spends the right amount of detail on the score (well, that an Ricky Jay. And Delroy Lindo. And Sam Rockwell) itself, and the detail is plausible.
posted by 99_ at 2:34 PM on April 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
My personal peeve is continunity issues around lenghty plots that don't seem to be that hard to resolve (honestly, someday I'm going to build a G/L for the Crowder Enterprises LLC on Justified - one week Boyd can't make payroll and the next he's carrying $250K in a briefcase) or maintain. I assume it's the problem of asynchronous writing teams and other external issues, and somewhat the assumption that certain elements of conflict resonate widely (ITS A LOT OF MONEY / ITS A TINY BIT OF MONEY) and the subset of people like me that are thinking 'but last week, they had plenty of money' isn't the thing that needs to most readily be solved.
But people like Michael Connelly, who is fastidious about time and distance in Bosch (books and television) makes a subtle but positive difference for me (and the production staff of Bosch is amazing - in six seasons, every scene that is supposed to be near his house is impressively proximate). I get that this can't always be the case.
I didn't watch most of these but if you are thinking it's just lazy takes, watch the driving ones - they spend as much time explaining why something is correct, which is gratifying (hearing a professional driver explain what practical effects are doable is pretty cool).
I'd argue that being fussy about phonecalls is just taking the piss, but for genre or procedurals, things are definitely improved when there is credibility for the performers in their jobs. Heist is a great heist movie because it spends the right amount of detail on the score (well, that an Ricky Jay. And Delroy Lindo. And Sam Rockwell) itself, and the detail is plausible.
posted by 99_ at 2:34 PM on April 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
Why live with it? Why not expect more? Look at it this way - if an artist hasn't developed a keen enough eye to realistically convey "people talking on the phone", or at least give a credible enough impression of it, then how can we trust that they've developed a keen enough eye to convey deeper emotional things?
This presupposes that verisimiltude is necessary for emotional conveyance and I don't think that idea holds up very well. Part of what makes some art great is its ability to shed the parts of reality not intrinsic to conveying its message. Even just simple escapism often benefits from such disconnection. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure is a fun movie even though time travel isn't real, you know?
posted by axiom at 2:41 PM on April 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
This presupposes that verisimiltude is necessary for emotional conveyance and I don't think that idea holds up very well. Part of what makes some art great is its ability to shed the parts of reality not intrinsic to conveying its message. Even just simple escapism often benefits from such disconnection. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure is a fun movie even though time travel isn't real, you know?
posted by axiom at 2:41 PM on April 23, 2020 [2 favorites]
Whiplash (as reviewed by a jazz musician)
posted by RobotHero at 3:01 PM on April 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by RobotHero at 3:01 PM on April 23, 2020 [3 favorites]
Which is maybe a good example of where it gets closer to the emotional core of the story instead of pedantry. When it's a movie about people who love jazz music, does getting jazz music right become that much more central?
posted by RobotHero at 3:13 PM on April 23, 2020
posted by RobotHero at 3:13 PM on April 23, 2020
This presupposes that verisimiltude is necessary for emotional conveyance and I don't think that idea holds up very well. Part of what makes some art great is its ability to shed the parts of reality not intrinsic to conveying its message.
Indeed. I can enjoy a good courtroom drama even if every courtroom I have ever been in is a low-ceilinged pale grey room with fluorescent fixtures overhead. I occasionally find myself browsing the "Goofs" section of IMDb movie entries and am reminded that S. John Ross once wrote, "Geeks use their own knowledge to spoil their own fun." Indifferent 2010 runaway train movie Unstoppable was seemingly derailed, as it were, for at least one viewer by this:
Indeed. I can enjoy a good courtroom drama even if every courtroom I have ever been in is a low-ceilinged pale grey room with fluorescent fixtures overhead. I occasionally find myself browsing the "Goofs" section of IMDb movie entries and am reminded that S. John Ross once wrote, "Geeks use their own knowledge to spoil their own fun." Indifferent 2010 runaway train movie Unstoppable was seemingly derailed, as it were, for at least one viewer by this:
As Dewey is preparing to move 777 from D-16 to D-10 at Fuller yard near the beginning of the film, the sound of 777 starting up is from an EMD 645-E3, a two-stroke diesel engine found in a number of EMD locomotives, most notably the SD40 (locos like 1206). 777 is an AC4400CW built by EMD's rival GE and uses the GE 7FDL-16, a four-stroke diesel engine which make a completely different noise.posted by ricochet biscuit at 3:39 PM on April 23, 2020 [7 favorites]
Boy, I really hope someone got fired for that blunder.
posted by RobotHero at 3:46 PM on April 23, 2020 [8 favorites]
posted by RobotHero at 3:46 PM on April 23, 2020 [8 favorites]
To be fair that is a pretty big difference. I was a dabbling train fan decades ago and even I can tell the difference, not that you see many SD40s anymore.
someday I'm going to build a G/L for the Crowder Enterprises LLC on Justified - one week Boyd can't make payroll and the next he's carrying $250K in a briefcase
This seems completely believable to me. CE LLC is a typical poorly run small business with lots of intermittent cash flow that works on a cash on hand basis. Things that require money get done when they have money, however foolish, and then when they blow thru all their cash it's back to being broke.
I love the Fast and the Furious car movies. Of course they have basically zero relation to reality. But for me some of the reality warp is just fun and some of it is something I have to work to ignore. So 60 speed transmissions, 2 minute 1/4 miles, "competitive" races where a 10 second car should just walk away from a 16 second car, even the goofy NOS thing is just part of the fun. But things like the floor boards being blown off really pull me out of the movie. That being said the flames out of the tail pipes is completely realistic to me. The F&F scene is exactly the sort of people that would rig up injectors to dump fuel into the exhaust to make cool flames. There are kits and instructions to roll your own all over the internet for this and it goes back at least to the 50s hot rod scene.
posted by Mitheral at 7:55 PM on April 23, 2020
someday I'm going to build a G/L for the Crowder Enterprises LLC on Justified - one week Boyd can't make payroll and the next he's carrying $250K in a briefcase
This seems completely believable to me. CE LLC is a typical poorly run small business with lots of intermittent cash flow that works on a cash on hand basis. Things that require money get done when they have money, however foolish, and then when they blow thru all their cash it's back to being broke.
I love the Fast and the Furious car movies. Of course they have basically zero relation to reality. But for me some of the reality warp is just fun and some of it is something I have to work to ignore. So 60 speed transmissions, 2 minute 1/4 miles, "competitive" races where a 10 second car should just walk away from a 16 second car, even the goofy NOS thing is just part of the fun. But things like the floor boards being blown off really pull me out of the movie. That being said the flames out of the tail pipes is completely realistic to me. The F&F scene is exactly the sort of people that would rig up injectors to dump fuel into the exhaust to make cool flames. There are kits and instructions to roll your own all over the internet for this and it goes back at least to the 50s hot rod scene.
posted by Mitheral at 7:55 PM on April 23, 2020
Mover Ruins Movies - Ex Air Force and Navy fighter pilot critiques movie air combat scenes.
posted by ctmf at 8:00 PM on April 23, 2020
posted by ctmf at 8:00 PM on April 23, 2020
If the details are wrong, they'll throw us out of the experience.
Hear hear. I can watch any kind of implausible hollywood-i-tude and pretty much ignore all the stuff that's probably wrong, but I cannot watch a submarine movie. Because I know it's wrong and start thinking about that and not the story. Like, hm, what if missile compartment upper level was open-grate decks, uh. That would suck because x, y, z, and man that would have been nice if it was open enough to run laps and... wait I missed that conversation can we replay it?
posted by ctmf at 8:05 PM on April 23, 2020
Hear hear. I can watch any kind of implausible hollywood-i-tude and pretty much ignore all the stuff that's probably wrong, but I cannot watch a submarine movie. Because I know it's wrong and start thinking about that and not the story. Like, hm, what if missile compartment upper level was open-grate decks, uh. That would suck because x, y, z, and man that would have been nice if it was open enough to run laps and... wait I missed that conversation can we replay it?
posted by ctmf at 8:05 PM on April 23, 2020
I saw the Disease Expert breaking down Pandemic scenes video last night. It was released last fall and has already aged poorly. Many of his comments that were, "that would never happen" sadly proved false.
posted by acidnova at 8:12 PM on April 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by acidnova at 8:12 PM on April 23, 2020 [1 favorite]
"Ron Jeremy critiques sex scenes"
posted by boilermonster at 11:37 PM on April 23, 2020
posted by boilermonster at 11:37 PM on April 23, 2020
As a medical person I have to say there are few medical shows/movies that I can watch for all the reasons mentioned above. I'm not above yelling at the screen to tell them the right way to do things, which tends to annoy anyone watching with me. Dr. Onishi does a good job, but did make a few mistakes. (Hey, don't dish it out if you can't take it!). For one thing M*A*S*H takes place in Korea, not Vietnam. Also, there are absolutely pump runs during heart surgery that last 6 hours or more. Not very often fortunately, and usually a bad sign for the patient, but far from unheard of in complex or repeat operations. And there are people in the OR who talk about patients (or their families) in a gossipy way. In fact, this was kind of a plot point of the 1991 movie The Doctor. The callous surgeon played by William Hurt becomes a patient himself, and to care for him in the operating room he chooses a physician that he had previously ridiculed for treating anesthetized patients as thought they were awake. Things have gotten better in the last 30 years, but some people are still not as appropriate as they could be.
posted by TedW at 3:23 PM on April 24, 2020
posted by TedW at 3:23 PM on April 24, 2020
My wife was just reminding me of an afternoon when we were still in our engagement and doing wedding planning. We were hanging out with her brother and our sister-in-law in LA. SIL has a professional side hustle as a seamstress and cosplay costume designer (like, she gets booked up often by Comic-Con attendees who want her to help create custom Final Fantasy Azeroth and Kassandra from Assassins Creed outfits), and my then fiancée was hiring her to design her wedding dress. My fiancée didn’t have a strong idea at the time of what her wedding dress should look like, but we decided to spend a part of that afternoon watching some Downton Abbey, because my fiancée and Michelle Dockery (Lady Mary) have relatively similar builds, and we figured we could trawl Mary’s gowns for some inspiration.
So we’re sitting there, watching one of a bazillion Downton dinner parties from the first season, and watching SIL start sketching on her notebook as she’s intensely studying Mary’s wardrobe and doing draft ideas of how this particular gown works, and we can second hand observe our SIL erasing and retrying and getting a bit frustrated. Then SIL asks to rewind the episode and start the dinner scene over, and she watches Mary walking around and simply says, “that’s not a gown.” She pauses the scene and points out how weird the fabric draping is and essentially shows us that Michelle Dockery is wearing something that isn’t constructed as clothing.
“This is the first season so maybe they didn’t have the budget for a gown for each episode. This looks like a curtain with bobby pins.”
And ever since then, in the few times that Downton shows up in my life, I can’t help but imagine that alll the dinner table scenes involve guys who aren’t wearing pants, and women essentially wearing bedsheets pinned around their bodies,
posted by bl1nk at 1:43 PM on April 25, 2020 [3 favorites]
So we’re sitting there, watching one of a bazillion Downton dinner parties from the first season, and watching SIL start sketching on her notebook as she’s intensely studying Mary’s wardrobe and doing draft ideas of how this particular gown works, and we can second hand observe our SIL erasing and retrying and getting a bit frustrated. Then SIL asks to rewind the episode and start the dinner scene over, and she watches Mary walking around and simply says, “that’s not a gown.” She pauses the scene and points out how weird the fabric draping is and essentially shows us that Michelle Dockery is wearing something that isn’t constructed as clothing.
“This is the first season so maybe they didn’t have the budget for a gown for each episode. This looks like a curtain with bobby pins.”
And ever since then, in the few times that Downton shows up in my life, I can’t help but imagine that alll the dinner table scenes involve guys who aren’t wearing pants, and women essentially wearing bedsheets pinned around their bodies,
posted by bl1nk at 1:43 PM on April 25, 2020 [3 favorites]
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Every time they began a clip and he began by sighing heavily or facepalming, I knew it was gonna be good.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:47 AM on April 23, 2020 [7 favorites]