Lampshade Hanging/Film: Difference between revisions

{{worktrope}}

[[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshades hung]] in live-action filmfilms.

{{quote| Ferrari is the ultimate capitalist and crook who never does anything except for money. Yet at one point Ferrari helps Victor Lazlo find the precious letters of transit and wants nothing in return. That's out of character, illogical. Knowing this, the writers gave Ferrari the line: "Why I'm doing this, I don't know, because it can't possible profit me..." Rather than hiding the hole, the writers admitted it with the bold lie that Ferrari might be impulsively generous. The audience knows we often do things for reasons we can't explain. Complimented, it nods, thinking, "Even Ferrari doesn't get it. Fine. On with the film."}}

* A Double-Lampshade Hanging happens in a single scene of the [[No Fourth Wall|fourth wall-less]] biopic ''[[Twenty Four24 Hour Party People (Film)|Twenty Four Hour Party People]]'': Factory Records owner Tony Wilson is caught red-handed by his wife while he is receiving fellatio from a prostitute. His wife then retaliates by immediately seducing Howard Devoto, the lead singer of the band The Buzzcocks. Tony catches the pair having sex in a toilet stall. The real Howard Devoto, portraying a janitor cleaning the bathroom sink, then turns to the camera and says "I definitely don't remember this happening." There is then a disclaimer read by the actor playing Tony Wilson, stating that this incident indeed never actually happened.

* In ''[[Snakes Onon a Plane]]'', after [[Samuel L. Jackson]]'s character explains to his superiors that the bad guy has filled the plane with deadly snakes, the superior comments, "What kind of insane plan is that?"

{{quote| '''Austin:''' So, Basil, if I travel back to 1969 and I was frozen in 1967, presumably I could go back and look at my frozen self. But, if I'm still frozen in 1967, how could I have been unthawed in the nineties and traveled back to the--oh no, I've gone cross-eyed.<br />

'''Basil:''' I suggest [[BellisariosBellisario's Maxim|you don't worry about those things]] [[MST3K Mantra|and just enjoy yourself.]] ''(to camera)'' [[No Fourth Wall|That goes for you all, too.]]<br />

{{quote| '''Austin:''' You know what's remarkable? [[California Doubling|Is how much England looks in no way like Southern California.]]}}

** Jason Tripitakas' last name is a lampshade hanging of his role as well as the story's roots in ''[[Journey to Thethe West]]'' (Tripitaka is a title of the monk Xuanzang, and as in the novel it's the other leads [[[Jet Li]] and [[Jackie Chan]]] that really make this story). For laughs, his being one of the only non-Chinese in the whole cast is lampshaded by Jet Li.

{{quote| '''Jet Li:''' He's the Seeker? He's not even Chinese!}}

* In the 2008 ''[[Iron Man (Filmfilm)|Iron Man]]'' film, once Tony has come to accept that he's become a superhero, he proceeds to go on a little spiel describing in detail all of the trials he'll have to go through now, particularly identity crises and having to let the woman he loves in on it so she'll be up all night worrying about him. In short, all of the comic book movie clichés. {{spoiler|And then magnificently subverts them by straight-out announcing his secret identity at a press conference.}}

* In ''[[Star Trek (Filmfilm)|Star Trek]]'', discussing what to do about Nero brings about a lengthy explanation that Nero's actions, beginning with his attack on the ''USS <s>Calvin</s> Kelvin'' decades ago have altered the timeline and created an [[Alternate Universe|alternate reality]], thereby justifying why the film is so [[Continuity Reboot|radically different from the canon.]] Spock even says so himself: "Whatever our lives might have been if the time continuum was disrupted -- our destinies have changed." He might as well have just looked right at the camera while saying it.

* ''[[Galaxy Quest (Film)|Galaxy Quest]]''

{{quote| '''Gwen DeMarco:''' What is this thing? I mean, it serves no useful purpose for there to be a bunch of chompy, crushy things in the middle of a hallway. No, I mean we shouldn't have to do this, it makes no logical sense, why is it here?<br />

'''Jason Nesmith:''' 'Cause it's on the television show.<br />

'''Gwen DeMarco:''' Well forget it! I'm not doing it! [[Who Writes This Crap?|This episode was badly written!]] }}

** This is far from the only lampshade hanging in ''[[Galaxy Quest (Film)|Galaxy Quest]]'', since it's about sci-fi actors living out a real version of their fictional adventures.

{{quote| '''Willenholly:''' Why are you shooting at me? I'm just a Federal Wildlife Marshall.<br />

'''Chrissy:''' Two reasons. One: we're walking, talking, bad girl clichés.<br />

** Also:

{{quote| "I mean, a movie about two stoners who spout catch phrases? Who'd want to see that?" All three actors then look at the camera, and Silent Bob smiles.}}

* ''[[The Mummy Trilogy (Film)|The Mummy Trilogy]]'':

** In ''[[The Mummy 1999 (Film)Trilogy|The Mummy 1999]]'', when the [[Dramatic Wind]] blows through for about the eleventeenth time, Brendan Fraser's character remarks, "That happens a lot around here."

** In ''[[The Mummy Returns (Film)Trilogy|The Mummy Returns]]'':

{{quote| '''Jonathan:''' Tell me more about this gold pyramid.<br />

'''Ardeth Bey:''' It is written that since ancient times, no man who has laid eyes upon it has ever returned to tell the tale.<br />

** In the third movie, ''[[The Mummy Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (Film)Trilogy|The Mummy Tomb of the Dragon Emperor]]'', an audience member asks Evelyn if the fictional character in the book she wrote is [[Author Avatar|based on herself]]. She responds, "Honestly, I can say she's a completely different person." And that's when you realize that the character of Evelyn is being played by a different actress than in the first two ''Mummy'' movies.

* In the deliberately (and lovingly) trope-ridden action-fest ''[[Shoot 'Em Up (Filmfilm)|Shoot Em Up]]'', Paul Giamatti's villain Hertz points out exactly what the audience has been thinking, as Clive Owen's gun-toting action hero Mr. Smith takes down hundreds of bad guys without suffering a single wound himself, saying, "Do we really suck, or is this guy really that good?"

* In ''[[I, Robot (Filmfilm)|I Robot]]'', Spooner, who has an intense fear of heights, comments on the "messed up" building design that forces the characters to walk out over an incredible drop, across very thin walkways, [[No OSHA Compliance|'''without safety rails''']], in order to access the only service terminal to a giant computerbrain.

* Played straight in ''[[The Core]]''. After discovering that [[The End of the World Asas We Know It|the Earth is doomed]], the protagonist is summoned to a meeting at the Pentagon to explain the problem to the military. When asked what can be done about it, he dives into a passionate, in-depth explanation of why ''the plot of the movie they're in'' is impossible. ([[Writer Revolt]] might be involved, specially because [[Executive Meddling]] tried to make the movie [[Up to Eleven|even dumber]])

** Which was also done by James Cameron in ''[[Avatar (Filmfilm)|Avatar]]'' for similar purposes.

* In the sequel to ''[[George of the Jungle (Filmfilm)|George of the Jungle]]'', they just say outright that George is being played by a different actor. George himself tells the narrator: "Me new George. [[Poor MansMan's Substitute|Studio too cheap to pay Brendan Fraser]]". (actually it was because Fraser was doing ''[[Looney Tunes: Back in Action]]''... yeah). And amends with the character's [[Catch Phrase]] ("New George just lucky, I guess").

* In the film version of ''[[The HitchhikersHitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy (Filmfilm)|The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy]]'', Ford Prefect is played in an American accent by American actor Mos Def; his mentioning having come "not from Guildford after all" takes on a slightly surreal edge presumably unintended by Douglas Adams. Later, Arthur mentions wondering about Ford's atypical accent.

* This is all over ''[[Monty Python and Thethe Holy Grail]]''.

* There's a scene in the ''[[Fantastic Four (Filmfilm)|Fantastic Four]]'' movie where [[Jessica Alba]]'s character comments on the the fact that, from a scientific point of view, she should be unable to turn invisible and still see since the cones in her eyes would also be invisible and utterly incapable of reflecting light. In this case, it seems less of a [[Breaking the Fourth Wall|fourth wall breakage]], and more an attempt to take the wind out of the sails of any internet nerds likely to bring it up on a blog.

* ''[[Rear Window]]'': More than one character points out [[What an Idiot!|what an idiot]] Thorwald would have to be to leave his blinds open all the time he was covering up his wife's murder.

* In the 1990 ''[[Captain America (comics)]]'' [[Captain America (1990 film)|film]], the impracticality of Cap's outfit is lampshaded by the man himself saying that Dr. Vaselli -- the same woman who created the super soldier process, the shield, and yes, even the fire-proof costume -- "didn't know much about camouflage," to which another character replies "but she sure did love the red, white, and blue!"

* In the 1st ''[[X-Men (Filmfilm)|X-Men]]'' film, during the scene in which [[Wolverine]] becomes acquainted with the X-Men team and their adversaries, he repeatedly draws attention to their goofy code names. Later in the film, Cyclops heads off fanboy criticism by remarking on the film's deviation from classic X-Men outfits: "Well, what would you prefer? Yellow spandex?" (In ''First Class'', the uniforms ''are'' yellow, and the reaction is "Do we actually have to wear these?") Magneto takes the opportunity to subtly lampshade Wolverine's [[Spot Light Spotlight-Stealing Squad]] nature in each movie of the trilogy:

{{quote| "Once again, you think it's all about you."}}

* ''[[Barbarella]]''. "What's that screaming? (pensively) Dramatic situations often start with screaming." This lamp needed a shade, because what she finds is some mooks tormenting Pygar the angel: they've got nothing to scream about, and Pygar is too angelically dignified to scream. So it looks like nobody screamed, it really was just a dramatic device.

** For purposes of secrecy Lana Ravine and her mechanic lover [[Yiddish Asas a Second Language|speak in Yiddish to each other]], with subtitles for the audience. A man tells them he understands what they're saying, not because he can speak Yiddish but because he read the subtitles.

* In ''[[Halloween (Filmfilm)|Halloween]]'', when Michael has hijacked a car, there is the question of whether he can drive - he's been institutionalized since he was a little boy

{{quote| '''Wynn:''' Sam, Haddonfield is a hundred and fifty miles from here. How could he get there, he can't drive?<br />

* ''[[Nuns Onon the Run]]'' hung one about the silliness of the plot.

{{quote| '''Sister Superior:''' My Lord, thou hast always moved in mysterious ways thy wonders to perform, but this latest wonder takes some beating even from you.}}

{{quote| "We got robots, we got cavemen, we got kung fu. What is this anyway, some kinda damn comic book?"}}

* In ''[[Muppet Treasure Island]]'', Rizzo notes "He died? [[Never Say "Die"|But this is supposed to be a kid's movie!]]"

{{quote| '''Lord Cutler Beckett:''' [Jack is about to light a cannon that's pointed at the mast] You're mad.<br />

'''Jack Sparrow:''' Thank goodness for that, 'cause if I wasn't this would probably never work. [fires the cannon, which catapults him onto his ship, landing safely on his feet behind his crew]<br />

* Ian's [[Genre Savvy]] line in the second ''[[Jurassic Park]]'' movie: "Oooh, ahhh. That's how it always starts. Then later there's [[Oh God, Withwith the Verbing!|the running, and the screaming]]."

* In the [[Johnny Depp]] [[The Movie|version]] of ''[[Charlie and Thethe Chocolate Factory (Filmfilm)|Charlie and The Chocolate Factory]]'', Charlie asks Willie Wonka, "Do you remember the first candy you ever ate?", prompting a [[Flash Back|flashback scene]] to Willie's childhood. When the scene returns to the present, the factory visitors are staring at Wonka, who shrugs and says "Sorry, I was having a flashback."

* From ''[[Harry Potter and Thethe Half-Blood Prince (film)|Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince]]'':

{{quote| '''Mcgonagall:''' Why is it that when something happens it is always you three?<br />

{{quote| He's covered in blood again. Why is he always covered in blood?}}

* ''[[Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade (Film)|Indiana Jones and Thethe Last Crusade]]''. Henry Jones (Indy's father) directly calls out how the film treats his profession with "You call this archaeology?"

{{quote| '''Obi-Wan''': Wait a minute! How did this happen? We're smarter than this!<br />

{{quote| This never happened to the other fellow!}}