Media Research Failure/Film: Difference between revisions

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** A newspaper reviewer of ''The Return of the King'' made a complaint that the movie included a giant spider and wondered why Peter Jackson felt it was needed. Shelob appears in the series, though her appearance was moved to the third installment for the films.

** A newspaper synopsis of ''The Lord of the Rings'' read "Frodo and friends go on a quest to find a magic ring." Some quest that would have been, given that one of the first things that happens in the story is Frodo getting the ring from Bilbo.

* A (positive) review of ''[[The View ~~Askew Niverse~~|Chasing Amy]]'' by [[Roger Ebert]] switched the male [[Heterosexual Life Partners]]' personalities and quotes (but not roles in the movie) around, rendering poor Ebert confused and disappointed.

* A (positive) review of ''[[The View Askewniverse|Chasing Amy]]'' by [[Roger Ebert]] switched the male [[Heterosexual Life Partners]]' personalities and quotes (but not roles in the movie) around, rendering poor Ebert confused and disappointed.

* Ebert mixed up the characters of Brodie and Banky in his review of ''Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back''. However, as they are both played by Jason Lee, have similar names, appeared as snarky sidekicks in previous Kevin Smith films, and have a comparatively minor role in this one, it is probably understandable.

* ''[[Star Wars]]''

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* David Edelstein, reviewing the ''[[Bewitched (Film)|Bewitched]]'' movie in ''Slate'': "Using R.E.M.'s impassioned "Everybody Hurts" -- written by Michael Stipe after the suicide of Kurt Cobain -- to underscore shots of Kidman and Ferrell feeling blue about their inability to pair off is an aesthetic crime." Take Th... uh, wait a minute, that song was recorded in 1992, while Cobain died in 1994. In fact, the album that "Everybody Hurts" is on, ''Automatic for the People'', was found in Cobain's stereo and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Kurt_Cobain#Discovery_of_Cobain.27s_body was apparently the last album he ever listened to]. To his credit, [http://www.slate.com/id/2121389/ Edelstein quickly issued a (very snotty) retraction.] "I don't like having to change something after it's published." Dude, then don't make a mistake on an easily checkable fact.

** Not to mention that that's not even the right song. The song about Kurt Cobain was "Let Me In", a less well-known song off the album ''Monster''. When Cobain died, Stipe had already been mourning friend River Phoenix. He had been reluctant to write about grief and retread the ground of previous album ''Automatic for the People''. Cobain's death convinced him to get his feelings out. The song is unmistakable because it's such a departure from the rest of the album. Also unmistakable is ''Everybody Hurts'', a comfort anthem with suicidal teenagers in mind. It's intentionally simple, as personal crises may not be the best time for complicated literary interpretation. This stands in stark contrast to the rest of R.E.M.'s entire body of work. Confusing these two songs is no small error from a fan's point of view.

* One particularly scathing movie review for ''[[Silent Hill (Film)|Silent Hill]]'' derided the film for being based on a video game series, but praised the movie's composer for at least writing a unique cinematic score instead of relying on the video game's "[[Pac Man Fever|beeps and whistles]]". The music in the movie, of course, was taken directly from the games. Coming at this from another angle, a newspaper blurb on the game ''[[Silent Hill Homecoming]]'' described it as being based on the movie. There were in fact several [[Shout Out|Shout-Outs]] to the movie in ''Silent Hill: Homecoming'', so it's easy to see how they got confused. For example, The Boogeyman/Pyramid Head's design is based off his movie design, and the introduction of the Smog enemy looks almost identical to the introduction of the Armless Man in the movie.

* One particularly scathing movie review for ''[[Silent Hill (Film)|Silent Hill]]'' derided the film for being based on a video game series, but praised the movie's composer for at least writing a unique cinematic score instead of relying on the video game's "[[Pac-Man Fever|beeps and whistles]]". The music in the movie, of course, was taken directly from the games. Coming at this from another angle, a newspaper blurb on the game ''[[Silent Hill Homecoming]]'' described it as being based on the movie. There were in fact several [[Shout Out|Shout-Outs]] to the movie in ''Silent Hill: Homecoming'', so it's easy to see how they got confused. For example, The Boogeyman/Pyramid Head's design is based off his movie design, and the introduction of the Smog enemy looks almost identical to the introduction of the Armless Man in the movie.

* ''[[Iron Man (Film)|Iron Man]]'', starring Robert Downey Jr. as [http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/57/1210171758386fy6.png Tony] [http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=%22iron+man%22+%22tony+spark%22&rlz=1R2GGLL_en-GBGB376&aq=f&aqi=g-sx10&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai= Spark]. If you think that's bad, Swedish ''Metro'' called him [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Frost Robert Frost].

* A ''History's Mysteries'' episode on zombies has somebody say that the North American image of zombies was something like "Freddy from ''Friday the 13th''..." Freddy's in ''[[A Nightmare On Elm Street]]''. Jason Voorhees is in ''[[Friday the ~~13 th~~ (Film)|Friday the 13th]]''. At least they could both be considered [[Our Zombies Are Different|zombies]], [[Our Monsters Are Different|depending on who you ask]].

* A ''History's Mysteries'' episode on zombies has somebody say that the North American image of zombies was something like "Freddy from ''Friday the 13th''..." Freddy's in ''[[A Nightmare On Elm Street]]''. Jason Voorhees is in ''[[Friday the 13th (Film)|Friday the 13th]]''. At least they could both be considered [[Our Zombies Are Different|zombies]], [[Our Monsters Are Different|depending on who you ask]].

* An article on a magazine about ''[[Quantum of Solace (Film)|Quantum of Solace]]'' stated that [[James Bond]] allied with the exiled General Medrano from Chile to destroy the Quantum Organization. Medrano is actually a [[Complete Monster]] and part of Quantum's plan (he's to be installed as dictator). It's also set in Bolivia, not Chile, though it was shot in Chile.

* Australian newspaper ''The Age'' had a still from the movie ''[[Watchmen (Film)|Watchmen]]'' and credited it as being from the upcoming movie ''[[The Spirit (Film)|The Spirit]]''.

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*** Virtually all anarchism after well, Marx, has been at least quasi-Marxist (several writers have called Marxism "Fabian anarchism", given its idea that the state will fade away). Moore's ''definitely'' is Marx-influenced.

**** It gets funnier for people living in socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, as the actions of Norsefire closely resemble the communist regime. Some would say that save for engineering a plague, the severity of regime has been downplayed.

* A "[[What Do You Mean ~~Its~~ Not for Kids|parent's review]]" of the ''[[Watchmen (Comic Book)|Watchmen]]'' [[Watchmen (Film)|movie adaptation]], instead of reviewing the actual film, listed every single instance of violence or sexual content without mentioning anything else, then concluded that the ultimate message of the story was that "humankind is inherently savage". What? Even more hilarious, another blurb stated the movie's premise as: "After the death of one of his colleagues, the masked vigilante Rorschach sets out on a mission to kill all superheroes."

* A "[[What Do You Mean It's Not for Kids?|parent's review]]" of the ''[[Watchmen (Comic Book)|Watchmen]]'' [[Watchmen (Film)|movie adaptation]], instead of reviewing the actual film, listed every single instance of violence or sexual content without mentioning anything else, then concluded that the ultimate message of the story was that "humankind is inherently savage". What? Even more hilarious, another blurb stated the movie's premise as: "After the death of one of his colleagues, the masked vigilante Rorschach sets out on a mission to kill all superheroes."

** ** In defense of [http://www.kids-in-mind.com/ kids-in-mind.com], the site isn't geared toward "parent reviews", but "parent guides". The entire purpose of the site is to list every instance of even remotely offensive material, along with severity ratings in those categories. They don't even do traditional reviews.

*** That could be forgiven if they didn't have the "Message" section at the end, where they are in fact interpreting (in this case wrongly) what the movie is trying to say. There were many things Watchmen was trying to say, but "humandkind is inherently savage" was not one of them.

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* A book about the [[Academy Awards]] completely screws up the plot of ''[[Unforgiven]]'': "After the death of his wife, ex-outlaw ([[Clint Eastwood]]) returns to violence to punish corrupt sheriff ([[Gene Hackman]]) with the support of two companions ([[Morgan Freeman]] and [[Richard Harris]])". He leaves retirement for bounty, offered by a prostitute (who lives in said sheriff's city) on the guys who slashed a colleague's face. The second companion is Jaimz Woolvett, and Richard Harris doesn't even share a scene with Eastwood!

* A review of ''[[Return to Oz]]'' criticized the movie for having "unimaginative" characters, such as a man with the head of a pumpkin and a yellow hen. Problem was, those characters -- Jack Pumpkinhead and Billina -- are [[Adaptation Displacement|straight out of L. Frank Baum's]] ''The Land of Oz'' and ''Ozma of Oz'', which ''Return to Oz'' was based on.

** This is, in a way, partially the fault of whomever decided to title and market this film based on the original, printed page, [[What Do You Mean It Wasn't Made On Drugs|very weird]] ''OZ'' series in such a way that audiences were doomed to assume it was a sequel to the beloved musical version.

** This is, in a way, partially the fault of whomever decided to title and market this film based on the original, printed page, [[What Do You Mean It Wasn't Made On Drugs?|very weird]] ''OZ'' series in such a way that audiences were doomed to assume it was a sequel to the beloved musical version.

* P.M. (a popular science magazine) ran a small article about nanotech "liquid metal", citing the [[Terminator]] as example of the principle. ''A'' terminator did it, but it wasn't Ahnold's character. On top of that, the illustration they used certainly showed [[Robo Cop]] instead.

* And here's a kicker: Ted Baehr's [[Movie Guide]] did its review of the 2007 ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Film)|TMNT]]'' film shortly after its release, and did an utterly atrocious job explaining the film's content factually. For starters:

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** The thing with those stars aligning to unleash a beam of energy on Earth that [[Sealed Evil in A Can|unlocks monsters from another world]] is merely modification of a common plot device. A similar theme was used in the first [[Fantastic Four (Comic Book)|Fantastic Four]] [[Fantastic Four (Film)|movie]], with the cosmic beam storm. But somehow, this is an ''evil'' tactic by ''Satan'' to get us addicted to looking for answers in -'astrology''! Never mind that not one single constellation in the Zodiac ([[Eastern Zodiac|Eastern]] or [[Western Zodiac|Western]]) was even once mentioned on screen.

** "Calm yourself" is not simple advice, according to Baher. It's an "evil and false Buddhist doctrine." What???

** Contrary to Baher's assessment of "a confused view," the movie actually has no problem with vigilantism ''per se''. What it does have a problem with is [[If You Kill Him You Will Be Just Like Him|Punisher-style vigilantism]]. The Foot Clan and monsters [[What Measure Is a Non Human|are what they are]] and are deemed as "[[What Measure Is a Mook|worthy to die]]." Yet, ordinary criminals [[Humans Are Special|are not to be killed]]. They are to only be subdued and left for the police. That is the code of battle honor the Turtles fight with, and is very similar to [[Batman]]'s.

** Contrary to Baher's assessment of "a confused view," the movie actually has no problem with vigilantism ''per se''. What it does have a problem with is [[If You Kill Him You Will Be Just Like Him|Punisher-style vigilantism]]. The Foot Clan and monsters [[What Measure Is a Non-Human?|are what they are]] and are deemed as "[[What Measure Is a Mook?|worthy to die]]." Yet, ordinary criminals [[Humans Are Special|are not to be killed]]. They are to only be subdued and left for the police. That is the code of battle honor the Turtles fight with, and is very similar to [[Batman]]'s.

*** The problem Leonardo has with the "Night Watcher" is because the news has led him to believe that this vigilante actually kills the criminals, making this an '''in-universe''' example of [[Cowboy Bebop At His Computer]]. Those who know the [[Backstory]] will know that the Turtles once believed this about Casey, before befriending him. They know of Splinter's code of honor, similar in some ways to Bushido, and they don't trust vigilantes who are not trained in any known code of honor. Not that this matters to MovieGuide, which believes that "bushido" is just a buzzword for "[[Everyone Is Satan in Hell|a lie from Satan designed to drag you to Hell]]."

** The movie goes to great lengths to explain that without a strong family dynamic, one may never feel at home anywhere, even if they do get everything they originally thought they wanted. '''Since when''' does this [[An Aesop|Aesop]] constitute a "Romantic Pagan" view?

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* At least one review of the first Tomb Raider movie complained of the sets of Angkor Wat and Lara's home being overdone, overdecorated, over the top, and just generally not credible. The scenes were shot on location, or on sets created to match the locations.

* When ''[[The Land Before Time]]'' IX was first released, there was [http://www.amazon.com/review/R541BWG3VM38C/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm a very bizarre review on amazon.com], talking about the film's predecessor, ''Time of Much Snow''. There has never been a ''Land Before Time'' film by that name (although the previous movie, while using the title ''The Big Freeze'', did feature a snowstorm as a major plot point, so it is possible that English was not this person's first language). Also, and even more strange, is when the reviewer talks about the reincarnation of Littlefoot's grandmother. Considering his grandmother never died, one must wonder what this person was smoking.

* Whoever wrote the official website for ''[[An American Tail]]'' probably never watched any of the movies. They describe Tanya as "always getting her brother into some kind of trouble" (which he does just fine on his own), and when they describe Tony Toponi they imply that he's in love with Tanya, which of course is never even hinted at in the movies. Now granted, the site was probably created with the idea that the [[Viewers ~~Are~~ Morons]], which is also sadly reflected in Universal's more recent DVD releases of the movies.

* Whoever wrote the official website for ''[[An American Tail]]'' probably never watched any of the movies. They describe Tanya as "always getting her brother into some kind of trouble" (which he does just fine on his own), and when they describe Tony Toponi they imply that he's in love with Tanya, which of course is never even hinted at in the movies. Now granted, the site was probably created with the idea that the [[Viewers are Morons]], which is also sadly reflected in Universal's more recent DVD releases of the movies.

* The ''Christian Review'' website complained in their review of ''[[Shrek]] 2'' that Donkey having children with Dragon implied that he was a "Freewheeling playboy" despite the fact that Dragon is the only romantic partner he has and that two people who love each other having children is [[Older Than Dirt|something that's gone on for ages untold.]] They didn't seem to have a problem with the end of ''[[Chicken Run (Animation)|Chicken Run]]'' though, in which the island the chickens land on is swarming with chicks, despite the fact that Rocky is the only fertile rooster in the bunch...

* The book ''[[Disney]] Dossiers: Files of Characters From the Walt Disney Studios'' is full of glaring omissions and mistakes. For example, [[Aladdin (Disney)|Aladdin]]'s fact sheet says "Parents: None (orphan)", completely neglecting the fact that him finding out his father was alive was '''the main friggin' plot of ''Aladdin and the King of Thieves''''' (which the book also claims came out a year earlier than it actually did). [[The ~~Emperors~~ New Groove (Disney)|Kuzco]]'s profile also seems to negate the existence of [[The ~~Emperors~~ New School (Animation)|Malina]] by saying that Kuzco has no "significant other" (even though it ''does'' sound like something Kuzco would say about himself). Also, for some reason, [[Donald Duck]]'s filmography highlights includes the ''[[Duck Tales]]'' movie (which he wasn't even mentioned in), Timon's last name (Berkowitz) and Scar's birth name (Taka) are forgotten, and some of the voice actors for the characters are glaringly omitted (''e.g.'', Cam Clarke for [[The Lion King (Disney)|Simba]], April Winchell for [[One Hundred and One Dalmatians (Disney)|Cruella de Vil]]).

* The book ''[[Disney]] Dossiers: Files of Characters From the Walt Disney Studios'' is full of glaring omissions and mistakes. For example, [[Aladdin (Disney)|Aladdin]]'s fact sheet says "Parents: None (orphan)", completely neglecting the fact that him finding out his father was alive was '''the main friggin' plot of ''Aladdin and the King of Thieves''''' (which the book also claims came out a year earlier than it actually did). [[The Emperor's New Groove (Disney)|Kuzco]]'s profile also seems to negate the existence of [[The Emperor's New School (Animation)|Malina]] by saying that Kuzco has no "significant other" (even though it ''does'' sound like something Kuzco would say about himself). Also, for some reason, [[Donald Duck]]'s filmography highlights includes the ''[[Duck Tales]]'' movie (which he wasn't even mentioned in), Timon's last name (Berkowitz) and Scar's birth name (Taka) are forgotten, and some of the voice actors for the characters are glaringly omitted (''e.g.'', Cam Clarke for [[The Lion King (Disney)|Simba]], April Winchell for [[One Hundred and One Dalmatians (Disney)|Cruella de Vil]]).

** Plenty of mistakes are abound in the ''Disney Song Encyclopedia'' as well. The description for the ''[[Tale Spin (Animation)|Tale Spin]]'' theme claims that the show is "about the colorful Kit Cloudkicker, who flies his plane through various adventures in the tropics." Um, hello? Baloo was the pilot; Kit was his navigator. The book also claims that ''[[Doug]]'' retained its theme song from the original Nickelodeon series, but anyone who has seen both versions of the show can tell you that the theme songs sound nothing alike.

** Another Disney book mistake: In ''Disney: The First 100 Years'', a caption from the opening scene of ''[[The Lion King]]'' is given this caption: "Rafiki holds baby Simba while Mufasa and '''Nala''' smile proudly." Simba's mother is named Sarabi; Nala was Simba's love interest.

** An [http://smokescreeners.org/downloads/animated_smoking.pdf article] on depictions of tobacco and alcohol use in movies for children identifies [[Pinocchio|Lampwick]] as [[Spell My Name With an S|Lamp]]''[[Spell My Name With an S|wit]]''.

** An [http://smokescreeners.org/downloads/animated_smoking.pdf article] on depictions of tobacco and alcohol use in movies for children identifies [[Pinocchio|Lampwick]] as [[Spell My Name With an "S"|Lamp]]''[[Spell My Name With an "S"|wit]]''.

* Speaking of Disney, Netflix has been inaccurate on the info of two of the movies in the [[Disney Animated Canon]]: ''[[Oliver and Company]]'' and ''[[Brother Bear]]''. Respectively, Netflix says that '''Fagin''' was the villain when it's actually '''Sykes''', and that Kenai was avenging his '''father''' when Sitka is clearly his '''eldest brother'''.

* Movie critic Eleanor Ringel claimed in her review of ''[[Tom and Jerry (Animation)|Tom and Jerry]], The Movie'' that the Tom and Jerry series won fifteen Academy Awards for Outstanding Animated Short Subjects. They were ''nominated'' fifteen times and won seven Academy Awards.