Hollywood Inaccuracies

What things bug you about TV and Hollywood's portrayal of life?

It annoys me, for example, when a show is theoretically set in Boston, but then they show "Harvard" university, and it's a yellow/grey stone building - it's red brick, folks, and pretty well known for that!

I am sure those of you who live in other places have similar examples.

Another thing that bugs me is when they have a character wear glasses that the actor obviously does not need. Do they think no one notices the distortion that happens with either near-sighted, or far-sighted glasses? Yes, it's subtle, but it exists! And I'm guessing with the frequency it happens, some of the actors may be wearing contacts, then plain "window glass" glasses. Why bother?

And how many shows cast extremely attractive actors to play the "plain" girl or guy, and just put "glasses" and drab clothing on them. Are there no plain-looking people who would like the role? Hello?

Hospital shows! The patient is in bed but the side rails are down; or the patient is this close to death but has no tubes or lines; or they cardiac arrest and are awake and responsive moments later after a successful resuscitation attempt. And nurses are always portrayed as either ditzy and scatter-brained, in relationships with the doctors, or Nurse Ratched. We're really not like that! We're not mean, or dumb, or looking to pair up with the nearest doc. And the way the interns overlap with the attendings on Grey's Anatomy -- doesn't happen that way in a real teaching hospital. They're not on obstetrics service one day and neurosurgery the next. I liked Grey's Anatomy when it first came on and the patient situations were interesting (remember the "pregnant" man?) but now I don't watch it because the portrayal is so inaccurate.

Edited to add: And they can get DNA and pathology reports back in a matter of minutes. Doesn't happen that way! Path reports take a couple of days.

Oh, yes - and where someone is almost dead, given CPR, and walking around a short time later - like CPR is the magic bullet that cures everything - just pound on his chest a few times - notice no one ever establishes a proper airway first? - and tada! All better!

Even I, not a medical professional, know that's just wrong.

And why does every "good guy" lately who gets shot get shot in the same upper right quadrant of the chest, it's not like that's the only "safe" place on the body that's survivable if you get shot there!

I laugh at the scenes filmed here in Lost Angeles.

They start with a car chase in the city, race into the wash and come out on the high desert about 20 miles away.

In the last Die Hard movie, set in New York?

Bruce Willis takes a semi truck to follow the terrorists back to some lair....he makes a turn, then rides down a street for a few seconds.

I had to stop the movie and rewind it because the street looked so familiar.

The scene edited in is right up the street from my house, the street runs under the Ronald Reagan freeway, next to the Golden State freeway.

So, BW travels from New York to the San Fernando Valley, back to NY in about 30 seconds?;)

It's a lot better now tho, than it used to be.
I can remember laughing my head off when watching Tony Curtis in Spartacus years ago......"The Roymans are comein"...hee hee

Whats been bothering me lately is the extent of blue screen usage. They don't go on location AT ALL anymore (or so it seems.) Its SO obvious the actors are not in front of a building, at the shore, etc.

Speaking of TV and being on location, I made my TV debut on Telemundo last week. I was walking Callie and walked past the announcer doing a show. All I understood was "Reading, Pennsylvania" and "Telemundo!" The woman hostess was GORGEOUS (the man not so bad either ;))

There are many that bug me but the one that I hate the worst is when the one writer they have between Hollywood and New York, will not let old southern Sterotypes die. I have lived from one end of this great nation to another and I find there is less difference in all America than you will find in a 100 mile radius in Europe.

Weall are even allowed to wear shoes and live in regular houses now.:D;)

It bugs my husband like crazy when they use the wrong plane in a movie or use landing noises to take off!! I probably wouldnt notice but after years working on aircraft he certainly does!:rolleyes:

I hate when they do CPR wrong or when they do obvious medical procedures wrong. My mom always gets on all the people on medical shows when they call out doses. They gave 100cc of something that would be lethal in that amount and she said "THAT WOULD KILL THEM, NOT SAVE THEM!!!"

I think TV tries a little too hard. Make things more realistic, guys, seriously.

This is more of a nitpick. On the CSI:Whatnot shows they often show a lab scene. There is always only one vial in the autosampler (no calibration standards? Blanks?). Another one is showing an infrared spectrum and calling it a mass spectrum!:p (yeah, I'm a nerd.;))

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Originally Posted by RICHARD

I had to stop the movie and rewind it because the street looked so familiar.

The scene edited in is right up the street from my house, the street runs under the Ronald Reagan freeway, next to the Golden State freeway.

So, BW travels from New York to the San Fernando Valley, back to NY in about 30 seconds?;)

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I bet you see a lot of that, living in California. Living near Boston, it's always a mystery where they are shooting some of the footage, but we KNOW where it isn't!

It also amuses me how many times the desert and hills outside of LA are supposed to stand in for other places all over the world. If we can recognize the particular set of hill, I'm pretty sure it's not in Serbia, folks ...

This is a long tradition, of course, as in the old days, many of the different "planets" Dr. Who visited looked suspiciously like yet another English quarry!

Wrong instrument to fit the picture. . .the sound is an oboe and they are playing a clarinet - that kind of thing.

And fake NY accents. . .you CANNOT fake a NY accent. Believe me. I have never heard a fake NY accent that sounded authentic.

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Originally Posted by RICHARD

I laugh at the scenes filmed here in Lost Angeles.

They start with a car chase in the city, race into the wash and come out on the high desert about 20 miles away.

In the last Die Hard movie, set in New York?

Bruce Willis takes a semi truck to follow the terrorists back to some lair....he makes a turn, then rides down a street for a few seconds.

I had to stop the movie and rewind it because the street looked so familiar.

The scene edited in is right up the street from my house, the street runs under the Ronald Reagan freeway, next to the Golden State freeway.

So, BW travels from New York to the San Fernando Valley, back to NY in about 30 seconds?;)

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In the movie "About Last Night", some of which was filmed in Chicago - the characters are up in Wrigleyville, and then a short bike ride later they're at Grant Park for a softball game. You can't get from Wrigleyville to Grant Park by bicycle in five minutes! In "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", on the other hand, the kids drive the Ferrari from the North Shore to the Loop via Lake Shore Drive, which is totally plausible.

yeah...it kind of bothers me the way that Detroit always gets portrayed. -_- not in a very flattering way.

Clothing disparities. 99 of the people are in winter wear, and then there is someone in summer clothes. Different scenes that show the exact same time on the clock.

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Originally Posted by Catherinedana

Wrong instrument to fit the picture. . .the sound is an oboe and they are playing a clarinet - that kind of thing.

And fake NY accents. . .you CANNOT fake a NY accent. Believe me. I have never heard a fake NY accent that sounded authentic.

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The same for Boston accents - horrible things happen when people try. Only people who grew up here - Matt Damon and Ben Affleck and siblings - do it plausibly, and everyone else seems to think that either everyone in Massachusetts sounds like a Kennedy, or like a combination of New York City and Downeast Maine ... yuck!

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Originally Posted by smokey the elder

This is more of a nitpick. On the CSI:Whatnot shows they often show a lab scene. There is always only one vial in the autosampler (no calibration standards? Blanks?). Another one is showing an infrared spectrum and calling it a mass spectrum!:p (yeah, I'm a nerd.;))

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Those are the same ones that bother me. Of course how quick they run, and the exact match they always have in their libraries. Or when they are looking at an inorganic and use GC/MS or IR....wouldn't ICP or AA be better?

WHY are there always street parking places open right in front of where the main characters are going; hotels, restaurants, major office buildings? Especially in big cities :mad: The inaccuracies when filming what should be Washington DC are amazing. Granted "It's JUST a movie" but they could at least try harder :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by lbaker

WHY are there always street parking places open right in front of where the main characters are going; hotels, restaurants, major office buildings? Especially in big cities :mad:

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That's funny, I never notice that, but now that you mention it, I will of course! And for bank robbers - there's always a spot just across the street for the getaway car to park! NOT!

What always gets me is when they just wake up and they look beautiful. I don't know about you I usually look like I just came out of a wind tunnel when I wake up. Hair everywhere! While they wake up with not ONE hair out of place! Drives me CRAZY! Also when they have dogs that are supposedly supposed to be vishous and they are wagging their tail while they play growling noises.

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Originally Posted by Crayons09

What always gets me is when they just wake up and they look beautiful. I don't know about you I usually look like I just came out of a wind tunnel when I wake up. Hair everywhere! While they wake up with not ONE hair out of place! Drives me CRAZY! Also when they have dogs that are supposedly supposed to be vishous and they are wagging their tail while they play growling noises.

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Oh, and that every woman sleeps in full makeup, and wearing a tank top or two, and is instantly awake and presentable - and no make-up on the pillowcase!

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Originally Posted by Karen

Oh, and that every woman sleeps in full makeup...

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Oh yes, I noticed that too - and isn't it amazing how their hair stay in shape!

http://www.santaclaritaguide.com/VasquezRocks.html

Captain Kirk fought the guy in with the frog/lizard head there.

We would watch TV when we were kids and when a movie scene filmed at VR would pop up on the screeen my dad would yell out, "LOOK! Vasquez Rocks!":)

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I hate it when photos are 'fixed'.

In beginning of The Right Stuff, Tommy Lee Jones and Clint Eastwood's faces are 'photoshopped' into old pictures and it looks so fake.

Oh and I hate dubbed voices, too!

When you watch a movie and they dub the voice in when there is a line of dialogue that includes cursing.

I also hate when Foley (sound effects dubbing) doesn't quite match the action on the screen.

The Andy Griffin show is my standard, "put me to sleep", watching every night.
The scenes of Mayberry North Carolina are reasonable but when they go out of Mayberry to county roads or lakes it becomes very obvious that they are shooting in California. Most rural roads are filmed in orange groves with no signs of an Oak tree anywhere. it is true that North Carolina had some dirt road back in the 50's and 60's but I have yet to see a rural paved road in a single episode.

One editing thing that bugs me is when the sound isn't in sync with the lip movements. That can be really distracting, especially if it's a fraction of a second out-of-phase.

I enable closed captions while watching most movies because of a hearing lose that dates back to my Navy days and living on an Aircraft carrier for 3 years. I have made an observation about speech patterns over the years. Today there is a lot of mumbling, with woman leading the way. When I watch older movies i do not need closed captions because most dialog is understandable. i hate the current trend of having dialog muddled or muffled by background noise. Whisper and crying dialog is also annoying.:(

I need to recalibrate my home theater because the soundtrack drowns out the dialog! I've noticed that more in regular theaters, too.

@ Smokey the elder: I can't stand most surround sound set ups as I hear WAY too much non dialogue noise.

Timing!

You have a countdown to something exploding or being underwater, or the characters trying to avoid a tidal wave, lava, car wreck (take your pick) and they ALWAYS seem to have time to have a romantic moment, or have some serious dialoge, stop and grab a purse/child/laptop, whatever and the time never runs out on them, or they always avoid the catastrophe.

I don't know why, but that drives me nuts!

Another thing. Back when I used to watch soap operas (Santa Barbara) I always found it odd that one day could be stretched to last a week in real time, but strangely enough the holiday's ALWAYS matched up with the real life calendar. Go figure.

My favorite site for movie flaws..... http://www.nitpickers.com/

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Originally Posted by kokopup

The Andy Griffin show is my standard, "put me to sleep", watching every night.
The scenes of Mayberry North Carolina are reasonable but when they go out of Mayberry to county roads or lakes it becomes very obvious that they are shooting in California. Most rural roads are filmed in orange groves with no signs of an Oak tree anywhere. it is true that North Carolina had some dirt road back in the 50's and 60's but I have yet to see a rural paved road in a single episode.

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Yeah, California stands in for just about every place on the planet, I guess.

An oldie "North to Alaska" staring John Wayne -- 1960 I think, has a bunch of prospectors going to Nome to strike it rich. They mill around boulders and huge pine trees. Uhh, like there aren't any trees anywhere near Nome.

In one scene they take a midnight stroll to see the stars. :rolleyes: Quite problematic since Alaska is called The Land of the Midnight Sun for good reason. We don't see stars all summer long because the sun doesn't really set.

The movie the Jungle Book was filmed partly in the Fall Creek Falls park in Tennessee. Since I've been there several times myself I can tell you exactly which scenes are filmed there. The trees are TOTALLY different than the ones they actually filmed in the jungle, and they made the mistake of filming most of the scenes in TN from major tourist viewing areas rather than other lesser known areas of the park.

http://ic2.pbase.com/v3/69/386469/1/...9.fcfalls2.jpg

http://www.radiotimes.com/shows/term.../photo_lrg.jpg

Oh - another. When they cast people of the completely wrong ethnicity from what they are supposed to be. Current example, on the new show "Nikita," one of the main characters is a young girl who is theoretically from Ukraine, I think it is. Not only does the character have absolutely no accent, she looks not even remotely Slavic or Russian, never mind Ukrainian. She's got cheekbones no broader than mine, for goodness sake! Are there no actresses from anywhere in Eastern Europe who could have been more credibly cast?

And when they cast a "family" and the kids look not one bit like each other, or the parents. Not in coloring, build or any details whatsoever. And when they cast the younger version of a character with a totally different bone structure, never mind looks, as the adult version, and just color the hair to match.

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Originally Posted by Karen

Oh - another. When they cast people of the completely wrong ethnicity from what they are supposed to be. Current example, on the new show "Nikita," one of the main characters is a young girl who is theoretically from Ukraine, I think it is. Not only does the character have absolutely no accent, she looks not even remotely Slavic or Russian, never mind Ukrainian. She's got cheekbones no broader than mine, for goodness sake! Are there no actresses from anywhere in Eastern Europe who could have been more credibly cast?

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The 70's TV show Kung Fu comes to mind. Am I the only one who wanted to shout "Hey, that guy is NOT Chinese!"

Sean Connery as the Russian sub commander in Hunt for Red October, anyone?:p

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Originally Posted by smokey the elder

Sean Connery as the Russian sub commander in Hunt for Red October, anyone?:p

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Come on, Tovarisch.....the Motherland frowns on cynicism.;)

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Originally Posted by kokopup

The Andy Griffin show is my standard, "put me to sleep", watching every night.
The scenes of Mayberry North Carolina are reasonable but when they go out of Mayberry to county roads or lakes it becomes very obvious that they are shooting in California.

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I tuned into the AGS this afternoon and remembered the episode where Aunt Bea wins some flying lessons?

That was filmed at a airport/airpark three blocks away from my house here in So Cal.

My dad would park at the end of the runway to watch the planes land and it wasn't hard to figure out it was the same place in the episode.

Watch for the three smoke stacks in the background, they belong to the local power plant!