Troperiffic Tuesday: Lampshade Hanging

Chick 1 says:

What does this week’s trope have in common with your crazy Uncle Irwin?  Both wear a lampshade!  The trope this week is a trope about tropes.  Confused yet?  Then let’s learn about Lampshade Hanging.

Lampshade Hanging is sometimes used when a particular trope is glaringly obvious and threatens to distract from the story.  A trope is standing in the middle of the room in all it’s naked glory and the writer thinks that if he puts a lampshade on it, the audience will simply think it’s part of the scenery.  How does he do this?  By addressing the trope directly and calling it out.  Does it work?  If done correctly it does. Read more

Posted on May 29, 2012 by Chick 1 in Tropes 81 Comments

Quote of the Week

My plan was to kiss her with every lip on my face.

Rigby Reardon (Steve Martin)

Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid (1982)

Posted on May 28, 2012 by Chick 1 in Movie Quotes Leave a comment

Troperiffic Tuesday: Suspiciously Specific Denial

Chick 1 say:

Thanks for checking in again on Troperiffic Tuesday.  This week’s trope is another fun one, the Suspiciously Specific Denial.

A Suspiciously Specific Denial is pretty much exactly what it sounds like.  A character denies something but perhaps they add just a little too much detail to make it believable.  It’s a step beyond a character jumping when someone walks into a room and yelling, “Nothing!”.   And it is somewhat akin to a trope often used in detective shows called I Never Said It Was Poison, where the suspect throws in a detail that only the killer could know. Read more

Posted on May 22, 2012 by Chick 1 in Tropes 101 Comments

Trailer Trash: Skyfall

Chick 1 says:

Yippee!  And yummy!

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Chick 1 in Trailer Trash 18 Comments

Troperiffic Tuesday: The Noodle Incident

Chick 1 says:

OK, so it’s really Troperiffic Wednesday; I’m a bit late.  But this week’s trope is one of my favorites.  It’s called The Noodle Incident and we all have a few in our past.  Ready to remember yours?

(If you don’t know what a trope is you can find out here.)

The Noodle Incident refers to an occurance in a character’s past or a shared occurence in multiple characters’ past that remains unknown to the audience.  It can be silly, shameful, illegal, outrageous, traumatic, ridiculous, or a combination of any of the above.  It’s named after the Calvin and Hobbes cartoon pictured here.  (Just what did Calvin do?) Read more

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Chick 1 in Tropes 15 Comments

Beat Sheet: Pride and Prejudice

Chick 1 says:

I thought for our second beat sheet we’d look at a story as far from Hot Fuzz as possible.  So I chose Pride and Prejudice, the 2005 version starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen and directed by Joe Wright.  How will a movie that’s based on a 200-year-old novel line up against our list of beats?

I admit it was more difficult to pick out the beats in this than Hot Fuzz and sometimes I’m not completely sure they were there at all.  Tell me what you think of the scenes I’ve picked out. Read more

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Chick 1 in Beat Sheets 1,428 Comments

Troperiffic Tuesday: The Wilhelm Scream

Chick 1 says:

Welcome to Troperiffic Tuesday!  This week we delve into the world of audio and look at a scream that has been the last sound uttered by nazis and stormtroopers, cowboys and orcs.  This week’s trope is the Wilhelm Scream.

(If you don’t know what a trope is you can check out the first article in this series, Manic Pixie Dream Girl.)

The Wilhelm Scream is a stock sound effect that has become unbelievably popular in movies of the last few decades to the point where it has become a Hollywood in-joke.  Read more

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Chick 1 in Tropes 1 Comment

Quote of the Week

“Punch me in the face!  Didn’t you hear me?”

“I always hear ‘punch me in the face’ when you’re talking but it’s usually subtext.”

Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch)/Dr. John Watson (Martin Freeman)

Sherlock (2010)

Posted on May 6, 2012 by Chick 1 in Movie Quotes 1 Comment

Review: The Avengers

Chick 1 says:

When the Avengers was announced way back in 2008, I wasn’t really sold on the concept.  I just didn’t think that it would be possible to successfully combine the different universes in which each of these heroes live.  There was no way that the world that Jon Favreau so lovingly created around Tony Stark contained a Norse God, maybe a hulk, definitely not a 1940s style do-gooder super soldier.  No.  And as each individual movie (Thor, The Incredible Hulk, Captain America, Iron Man 2) came out with varying success, I became even less convinced.

I am very happy to be very wrong. Read more

Posted on May 6, 2012 by Chick 1 in Reviews, The 2010s 6 Comments

Troperiffic Tuesday: No OSHA Compliance

Chick 1 says:

Because most spaceships have rickety walkways over their nuclear core.

Welcome back to Trope of the Week or as it shall henceforth be called, Troperiffic Tuesday! 

Ever seen a movie where the cap is knocked off a pipe joint with very little effort and blinding hot steam comes spraying out?  Or someone has to cross a narrow walkway high above some flesh-grinding machinery with no guardrails?  Or a character falls into an easily accessible vat of acid?  Then you, my friend, are familiar with this week’s trope, No OSHA Compliance.  As always, SPOILERS FOLLOW. Read more

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Chick 1 in Tropes 20 Comments
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