Movie titles that give away the plot

[Shuggy]

I see theres a new film called Moms Got a Date with a Vampire,
which put me in mind of movies whose title gives away the whole plot.
Here's my list:
1. Snakes on a Plane
2. Moms Got a Date with a Vampire
3. I Married a Monster from Outer Space
4. The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum at Charenton under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade (commonly known as Marat-Sade: I once saw it advertised as "The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat-Sade")
5. I was a Teenage Werewolf
7. "   "   "      "       Mummy
8. "   "   "      "       Vampire
9. "   "   "      "       Frankenstein

On the other hand, you might like to list some movie titles that completely obscure the plot, eg, Mountains of the Moon about the exploration of Burton and Speke through Africa. If so, don't forget to summarise the plot.

[serious crayons]

I know what you mean. Though at least Mountains of the Moon is a distinctive enough title that it calls to mind a specific movie and I can remember what it is, even though I saw it years ago.

What most annoy me are those titles that not only obscure the plot, but are so trite and empty that they don't call to mind any image or mean anything at all. For example:

1. As Good as It Gets
2. Something's Gotta Give

To make matters more confusing, both of those star Jack Nicholson. But when someone mentions one of these, I just about have to check imdb to figure out if it's the one with Helen Hunt or the one with Diane Keaton. Conversely, if I'm already thinking of, say, the Diane Keaton one, all I can remember about the title is that it's some inane cliche.

[Sashca1007]

For some reason, the first title that came to my mind was: 'Honey, I Shrunk the Kids'.  That title irritates me to no end, but maybe not as much as 'Can't Hardly Wait'    (No, I've not seen either of them.)

[Kelda]

Brassed Off.

Ewan McGregor & Pete Pete Postlethwaite play miners and members of the mine brass band who are indeed brassed off that their pit is going to close down.

Love that film!

[Penthesilea]

Brassed Off.

Ewan McGregor & Pete Pete Postlethwaite play miners and members of the mine brass band who are indeed brassed off that their pit is going to close down.

Love that film!

Me too 
It's completely unknown here. I know not one person who has seen it or heard of it 'xept my husband, who loves it as much as I do. Great to see it mentioned here.


Movie title which gives away the plot:
The only one that comes tomy mind now is a German movie: Allein unter Frauen (Alone among women). That's exactly what the main character is. He moves in with a appartment-sharing-community of women. A really hilarious comedy.

[MaineWriter]

For some reason, the first title that came to my mind was: 'Honey, I Shrunk the Kids'.  That title irritates me to no end, but maybe not as much as 'Can't Hardly Wait'    (No, I've not seen either of them.)

Oh, Honey I Shrunk the Kids was a cute movie. Maybe because my kids were the right age when it came out, I saw it countless times. It didn't bother me.

I think any teen movie has a give away title: Sixteen Candles (about a birthday, natch); Ferris Bueller's Day Off; Adventures in Babysitting; Romie and Michelle's High School Reunion. No doubt what you are getting with any of them.

Being John Malkovich...now there is one that does give it away, but until you've seen it, you have absolutely no idea what it is going to be about. Some people, after they have seen it, still don't know. LOL. I loved this movie, btw.

Adaptation, instead of being named The Orchid Thief, was another one with a great title.

I could go on and on...


L

[MaineWriter]

Brassed Off.

Ewan McGregor & Pete Pete Postlethwaite play miners and members of the mine brass band who are indeed brassed off that their pit is going to close down.

Love that film!

The Full Monty came out not all that long afterwards and was a very similar story...but I though Brassed Off did a much better job with the subject.

L

[Kelda]

Being John Malkovich...now there is one that does give it away, but until you've seen it, you have absolutely no idea what it is going to be about. Some people, after they have seen it, still don't know. LOL. I loved this movie, btw.

I love seeing Cameron Diaz with that hair!

oh and brassed off.. I'm am completely bias there (although i love The Full Monty too) as I play in one of these british brass bands and have done for years and years. It's my geek movie because I sing my part along to all the pieces and say ooh ohh I've been there  - I've done that...oooh oohh they are a GREAT band! and look she's so not playing that high C there. etc etc.

Again Billy Elliot is along the same lines..

[MaineWriter]

I love seeing Cameron Diaz with that hair!

oh and brassed off.. I'm am completely bias there (although i love The Full Monty too) as I play in one of these british brass bands and have done for years and years. It's my geek movie because I sing my part along to all the pieces and say ooh ohh I've been there  - I've done that...oooh oohh they are a GREAT band! and look she's so not playing that high C there. etc etc.

Again Billy Elliot is along the same lines..

Yes, I think of Brassed Off, The Full Monty, and Billy Elliott as being the triumverate of miner movies, each showing how the town coped in a different way.

Since you brought it up, this gives me a chance to tell everyone again: I saw Billy Elliott: The Musical in London in August. Absolutely fabulous! I bought the CD and have listened to it over and over in the car. My daughter loves it as much as I do, and we have actually talked about going to London together to see the show. I am hoping comes to NY but apparently a final decision has not been made yet.

And if you don't believe me, ask Pipedream (Anke). She saw the show a few weeks ago when she was in London for the Euro Brokie get together. Her report: she liked it as much as me!

Leslie

[Shuggy]

I wouldn't count either Brassed off or Ferris Bueller's Day off  as giving away the plot (unless FB's DO was completely uneventful, which I doubt). If you heard of a film called Brassed Off, it might or might not have something to do with brass, but not necessarily brass bands.

And certainly not Being John Malkovitch - it wasn't called Being a Would-be Puppeteer Who Finds a Little Door in a Half-height Floor and Slides Down a Tunnel into John Malkovitch's Head, and then Invites Him to do it, When Everybody Turns Into  Him, now, was it?

I meant to say this first time: the kind of film I mean is ones where a review can say "Don't see this movie, just read the title."


My main gripe with Honey I Shrunk the Kids is that it should be Shrank.

[moremojo]

Titles of so-called adult productions often leave little in the way of imagination in terms of what they will reveal. I remember a softcore West German film that was transmitted on cable back in the early Eighties, whose English-language title was given as She's 19 and Ready.

Some examples of early, so-called primitive cinema are distinguished by prosaic, overly descriptive titles, such as Photographing a Female Crook and Electrocuting an Elephant.

I have noticed a trend since the early Nineties or so of really unimaginative titles, often involving a gerund, which basically desribe the narrative arc of the story in the tersest terms possible. Examples include Chasing Amy, Finding Nemo, and Finding Neverland.

[opinionista]

How about John Travolta's The Boy in the Plastic Bubble. That sure gives away the entire plot! Even more than Jake Gyllenhaal's Bubble Boy, that sort of gives away the plot too. And also Getting Away with Murder starring Dan Aykroyd; She's Having a Baby with Kevin Bacon; Father of the Bride and The Man with Two Brains, with Steve Martin; The Breakup with Jennifer Anniston.

[Lumière]

Titanic.


Well, you know how it is gonna end .. ! 

[MaineWriter]

How about Plan 9 From  Outer Space? Since that movie had no plot, there was nothing to give away with the title.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers is pretty descriptive, too.

L

[delalluvia]

LOTR:  Return of the King (even Tolkien hated that title)
Star Wars III:  Revenge of the Sith

[Shuggy]

Titanic.


Well, you know how it is gonna end .. ! 

Well, there's a whole genre of one-word or one-concept titles that give away the plot - IF you already know what happened:
Wolrd Trade Center
Flight 93
JFK
Patton
Pearl Harbour
The Charge of the Light Brigade
The Passion of the Christ
Caligula


Still haven't heard many that completely obscure the plot. How about

The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1972)

From the Pullizer Prize winning play by Paul Zindel, this is the story of Beatrice Hunsdorfer and her daughters, Ruth and Matilda. A middle-aged widowed eccentric, Beatrice is looking for her life in the classified ads while all about her is the rubble of an unkempt house. All she needs is the right opportunity, she says puffing on a cigarette. Poorly equipped to survive the vagaries of modern life, she has nonetheless always managed to muddle through. Ruth, epileptic and making her way through the rebellious phase of adolescence, seems doomed to make the same mistakes as her mother. Quiet Matilda, on the other hand, seeks refuge in her animals and her schoolwork. "Jesus, don't you hate the world, Matilda?" Beatrice asks her youngest daughter. The title of the film is also the subject of Matilda's science project at school and serves as a metaphor for the way life effects each of us differently -- how some are able to find opportunity in adversity and thrive and how some succumb when the burden becomes too heavy.

[Amber]

"Dumb and Dumber" certainly speaks for itself.  The only other one I can think of is "Twister" - I look at the title and assume it's about a tornado.  There is more to the story of course, but at least that gives you a decent start.

[ednbarby]

How about this one:  Shakespeare in Love.  That pretty much sums it up (though I realize it was about other things on another level, too).

[Lumière]

Others:

My date with Drew (sums it up pretty nicely..lol)

Glitter ..
Well ok, it doesn't give away the plot but it damn well should've .. Possible titles for Glitter:

We Are Trying To Make Big Bucks Off Of A Music Diva Who Can't Act ..
Fluff Fluff Fluff ..
Way Up There With Movies Like Gigli ..


  .. ok, enough messing about .. I better git back to work..