Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Can anyone pronounce Serendipity?

my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home

»	Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE » Operations » Ground Level » Can anyone pronounce Serendipity? (Page 1)

This topic comprises 4 pages: 1 2 3 4

Author

Topic: Can anyone pronounce Serendipity?

Michael Gonzalez
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 790
From: Grand Island , NE USA
Registered: Sep 2000

posted 10-05-2001 11:26 AM

This is going to be another one of those movies where the customers are going to butcher the title. One of my favorites was "Cedar" House Rules.

| IP: Logged

Ken Lackner
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1907
From: Atlanta, GA, USA
Registered: Sep 2001

posted 10-05-2001 11:54 AM

Funny you should mention that, because my theatre had Cider House Rules at the same time as Snow Falling on Cedars.

| IP: Logged

Michael Gonzalez
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 790
From: Grand Island , NE USA
Registered: Sep 2000

posted 10-05-2001 01:51 PM

Magnolia - Mongolia was another good one.

| IP: Logged

Christopher Duvall
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 500
From: Denver, CO
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 10-05-2001 02:15 PM

I think my favorite title destroyed by customers has been "Too Wong Foo, Thanks for everything, Julie Newmar". Just too much fun to watch them trying to say any part of that title.

| IP: Logged

Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 10-05-2001 06:39 PM

I get tired of people making little mistakes on titles. Like for Cast Away, they would call it "Castaways." I had a lot of customers ask about "Shriek," also.

| IP: Logged

Andy Muirhead
Master Film Handler

Posts: 323
From: Galashiels, Scotland
Registered: Dec 2000

posted 10-05-2001 06:57 PM

One of our cashiers the other night was asked for a ticket for 'Artificial Insemination', needless to say he replied he was only a cashier but he could sell them a ticket for 'Artificial Intelligence' if they preferred!. This kind of thing happens a lot, the other popular method is when they refer to the main star, ie - 'Can i have to for Tom Cruise please?'

| IP: Logged

Aaron Sisemore
Flaming Ribs beat Reeses Peanut Butter Cups any day!

Posts: 3061
From: Rockwall TX USA
Registered: Sep 1999

posted 10-05-2001 07:48 PM

I do remember people sheepishly mumbling their way through trying to get a ticket for the art film 'Female Perversions'...

Another mouthful of a title was "The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover"...

Or "Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood"

-Aaron

| IP: Logged

Michael Barry
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 584
From: Sydney, NSW, Australia
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 10-05-2001 11:46 PM

I used to have a manager who kept a running list of such misnomers and even stood near the box office at times to listen out for such things. He printed out a list at one point which I'll have to try and dig up, but there were some great ones!

Once when I worked in a video store I was asked for 'Snipper' instead of 'Sniper'.

| IP: Logged

Kristin Wahlund
Film Handler

Posts: 92
From: Eagan, MN
Registered: Jul 2001

posted 10-06-2001 12:16 AM

Hows about :
Captain correlli's mandolin-- sargent something, you know that guitar movie, captains.... uh ... ect.

Pretty much anything that is more than two syllables is difficult for the customer, shrek is the exception to the two syllable rule.

| IP: Logged

JC Cowles
Film Handler

Posts: 77
From: St. Paul, MN
Registered: Jun 2001

posted 10-06-2001 04:27 AM

I think U-571 messed the most people up from my experience. They'd call it "U-90210", "WD-40", "U-boat", "Das-U-Boat", "U-62" (probably because it rhymed), "U-Sub-thing"...U-get the picture.

Some of the people you work with should be able to verify that, Kristin.

| IP: Logged

Ken Lackner
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1907
From: Atlanta, GA, USA
Registered: Sep 2001

posted 10-06-2001 12:57 PM

Yeah, "Castaways" was one of my biggest pet peeves. Tom Hanks was the only castaway. Just one. Not plural.

Howabout The Legend of Tiger Woods?

My GM typed "Serpendipity" in the show schedule! Ugggghhhh!!!

Of course, I thought that Max Keeble's Big Move was his Big Movie.

Check this one out. My last theatre was in a pretty rich town full of older people. You know how they can be when they're at the box office. They don't even knw what the movies are about half the time. But apparently one couple liked Tom Cruise, because I heard them discussing it among themselves when they saw the mylar for M:I-2. When they decided that's what they wanted (apparently based soley upon the fact that it had Tom Cruise), the woman said: "I'll have 2 for 'M-one-two', whatever that is."

| IP: Logged

Charles Everett
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1470
From: New Jersey
Registered: May 2001

posted 10-06-2001 01:20 PM

Ken: The Newark (NJ) Star-Ledger has misidentified Max Keeble's Big Move as "Max Keeble's Big Movie" all the way through the movie clock. Seems they're too busy beating the war drums to hire a proofreader.

| IP: Logged

Scott Norwood
Film God

Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99

posted 10-06-2001 01:26 PM

When "Speed" came out, a friend of mine gave his money to the cashier and simply said "Speed." When she handed him the ticket, he replied with "hey, this is a ticket! I wanted speed!" (OK, its sounds lame now, but was funny at the time.)

"Nights of Cabiria" resulted in some interesting mis-pronounciations (not to mention that way too many people pronounced the director's name as "Frederico Fellini"...grr...)

| IP: Logged

Michael Pace
Film Handler

Posts: 64
From: Dalby, Queensland, Australia
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 10-06-2001 08:28 PM

I worked with one projectionist who had never screened Doctor Zhivago but he had screened DOCTOR CHICAGO many a time.

Careful explanation made absolutely no difference to him as the next time he would still call it Doctor Chicago.

Regards to all,

Michael.

| IP: Logged

Steve Scott
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1300
From: Minneapolis, MN
Registered: Sep 2000

posted 10-07-2001 01:59 AM

I can sympathize with the people who've had to sit thru customers adding an "s" to the title. That drove me crazy.
My favorite was when people would call MI:2 "The tom cruise show"

The Mighty Tenenbaums should be a fun one this winter. Tannenbaums?

| IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

This topic comprises 4 pages: 1 2 3 4

Printer-friendly view of this topic

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.