Discussion BLAM / Film

Removed:

• Across the Universe:
  • The characters are stranded in some grassy field, where they come across some crazy carnival (that looks suspiciously Dave McKean-esque) and watch giant "blue people" on stilts dance around Eddie Izzard, apparently channeling Papa Lazarou, who screams out a somehow more nonsensical version of the Beatles song, "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite". Plus, Prudence, the lesbian cheerleader, shows up out of nowhere in a horse suit and dances among a crazy background of cutout tigers and moving dummies and disappears just as suddenly. The characters' reaction is "Oh, so that's where Prudence went!" They then go out into the now normal-looking field with her. They never comment on the carnival afterward. It has no relevance or plot in the story other than making reference to a crazy Beatles song - still doesn't make it any less awesome though. The fact that they were all high on LSD at the time might have had something to do with it.
  • There's also the "Let It Be" scene, where Jo-Jo's brother, a character who never appears again and isn't even shown with the other characters sings the song with notable riots in 1968 as a backdrop. The scene is also completely anachronistic, as "Let It Be" came out in 1970. The implication is that his death in the riots prompted Jo-Jo to move to New York, thus joining our protagonists and their circle of friends, but it still comes the hell out of nowhere.

I haven't seen this film, but from the look of the write-up, it doesn't look like these are examples. The first one just looks like a musical number made into a Mushroom Samba, which is its own trope, and the second one has character significance.

How about Kamen Rider Ex-Aid's cameo in Kamen Rider Ghost's otherwise solo movie ("The 100 Eyecons and Ghost's Fated Moment")? It's mainly weird because of Ex-Aid's video game theme, not to mention Ex-Aid's unusual design (not many Kamen Rider helmets have anime hair and eyes, for one thing). He jumps like a video game character, collects 8-bit coins (that scattered about when he appeared) while fighting, and has a fighting game-like face-off sequence when he goes up against one of the main henchmen, with video game-like sounds and effects all the while..

He basically comes out of nowhere, appearing in a dust cloud about halfway through the movie when the bad guys unexpectedly ambush our heroes (transitioning from a forest to an open field in the skirmish). How or why he's there is never explained, nor is he alluded to before or after this scene. Aside from taking out one of the main henchmen, who has had several scenes before this, the scene is never referenced again. Not even to acknowledge that the henchman died (then again, none of the henchmen even have names, backstories, or any indication of a relationship to the big bad besides underling).

I removed the "Boo Box" example from Hook. Why? There was a clear point to it. First, there was the build-up, in which it was meant to appear that Peter was about to be caught. Then it showcases Hook's cruelty. See, one thing was missing from the description of the Boo Box. They didn't just lock him inside and shout "Boo!" at him. They dropped scorpions through an opening in the top. Makes a lot more sense as a punishment now, doesn't it?

The following are Zero Context Examples.

• "Pull the string! PULL THE STRING!!"

• Hausu. Full stop.

The following have been moved here because the Natter indicates that they aren't valid examples.

Remember people, please Repair Dont Respond!

• The scene in The Shining where Wendy Torrance walks in on a ghost performing implied oral sex on another ghost in a dog suit and mask. This was an important component of a major historical (and ghost-related) plotline in the original book, but since most of that plotline was excluded from Kubrick's screen adaptation, the scene is left with little meaning apart from general ghostly weirdness.
  • The scene is Wendy's first sighting of hotel ghosts, so it is important, because it suggests the ghosts aren't simply a product of Jack's and Danny's tormented minds.
  • And since the characters coming across 'general ghostly weirdness' is the remit of the film, while the scene might be enigmatic and unsettling, it certainly doesn't qualify as a BLAM. It doesn't leave viewers reeling with confusion as to how such a scene could possibly relate to the rest of the film.
• George Lucas' old film THX 1138 has a scene in the middle of the main character watching holo-television. Unfortunately, it seems to be a bizarre porno: a holographic, overweight person dancing violently, jiggling everywhere. For about five minutes. Did we mention that this is apparently the focus of the scene for five minutes?
  • Nowhere near as random as the moment, near the beginning, when the view inside the tape recorder machine reveals an iguana with moth wings growing out of its back. Was that what was controlling the machine? Was it a pest? How did it get in there? How does it even exist?
    • The reptile inside the machine reveals that nobody keeps the said machine clean; nobody controls the machines. They function on their own. The entire system functions on its own. There is no Big Brother; humanity is simply auto-restraining, auto-censoring, auto-oppressing.
      • That could explain why it's in the machine, but why are there lizards running around with insect wings?
  • The holo porn scene did have a purpose. After they pan back to the viewer you can see some contraption heading back into the ceiling. This troper assumed it was collecting his sperm and, mixed with the themes of the film, it explains how the society was reproducing.
    • The contraption was a CG add in the DVD release 2004. In the original version, it seems THX is simply doing... what you do when you watch this genre of show. The add suggests that machines actually do it in place of yourself; you're not even authorized of that. Plus, the other holo shows are policemen beating some people or "experts" meaningless deblatering.
• The Gamers: Dorkness Rising has a scene that involves ninjas delivering pizzas, while fighting pirates, in an office.
  • Although this is soon de-BLAMed when it turns out to be a Crazy Awesome board game played by two characters.
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has one of these right in the middle of the movie. Harry goes to the Burrow for Christmas, which happens in both the book and the movie. However, in the movie, Bellatrix and Greyback show up for no apparent reason, Ginny chases after them for some reason, Harry quite understandably chases after Ginny, and then Bellatrix sets the Burrow on fire. Big BLAM moment, as nothing about the scene makes sense anyway. It really didn't help that afterward, Ron and Ginny never mention the Burrow or even act like their house just burned down. Uhh....
  • Actually Harry is the one who chases after Bellatrix first, because she killed his godfather, Sirius Black. Then Ginny chases after him, because she's in love with him. The film makers included it to show the Death Eaters causing havoc in the Wizarding world which is referred to in the book. There's one good reason that explains why Bellatrix would burn down the Burrow on Christmas. She's a BITCH.
    • Oddly, when Harry and company are hiding out in the Burrow in the next film, the house is back to normal with no explanation. It's even used for Bill and Fleur's wedding. (This may be one of the few times where "A Wizard Did It" would suffice as an acceptable explanation, too.)
  • Except for the fact that they clearly used a controlled Feindfyre, which it's stated that things can't be fixed if Dark Magic did it.
    • One way to analyze it is to say the scene foreshadows the loss they will experience in the following two movies.
  • Supposedly this scene was to show all the damage inflicted on the wizarding and muggle worlds that they weren't showing otherwise. It's still a completely perfect example of why films should never be made of books unless they adhere to the book in question and a BLAM.
• Don't forget Deathly Hallows and that dance scene with Harry and Hermione. Comes out of ABSOLUTELY NOWHERE and adds UST between the two that was completely (well, almost) absent from the books. 'Y know, what with the whole ''she's like my sister'' speech he gave Ron in the book to get precisely that clearly out of the way...
  • I didn't see any sexual tension in that scene, just Harry trying to cheer up his friend, which didn't work either way. The scene actually really drives the hopelessness of their situation close to home.
  • Agreed. And made all the more poignant and unsettling by the song they dance to... yeah, the two of them bouncing around like little kids to the dirge-like gospel-choir-accented "O Children" by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds is just a little bit... I don't even know the word. This troper wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry at it.
    • It has been suggested that this was thrown in by screenwriter Steve Kloves, who wrote all but the 5th movie, as one last Harry/Hermione shipping moment before he was forced to go with the official pairing. Kloves has stated that when he started writing the movies he had assumed Harry and Hermione would end up together, had written the first few films under this assumption -playing up their relationship- and was surprised when J.K. Rowling did not go this way.
  • Well, the fact that they dance to a slow song and the fact that Kloves is a Harmony shipper can be very UST-y, it just depends. If you aren't really listening to the song, or don't know it, it just comes as a completely random Harmony moment.
• At one point in Groundhog Day, Phil goes to a late showing of "Heidi II" dressed as the titular character from Bronco Billy, along with a woman dressed as Ms. Lily. Who she is, how she knows Phil, and why they're showing up for a movie wearing costumes from a different movie are never explained.
  • The scene occurs right after Phil's seduction of Nancy. The implication is that he's going around town using his time-looping powers to seduce other attractive women, though the specific situation in which they play dressup outside a theater is mostly done for laughs (with a slightly pedophilic overtone as he's unsure if the girl he's with is an adult).
• Legally Blonde: Bend and snap!
  • Wasn't the Bend and snap the reason the hairdresser got with her delivery man later on in the movie?
• The infamous Cruising has a scene where Al Pacino's character is being interrogated by the other cops because he was seen getting rather close to one of the suspects. In the middle of the interrogation, one of the cops opens the door... and in walks a black man wearing a cowboy hat and an orange jock strap, who slaps Al Pacino's character across the face before walking out. No reference is ever made to this again.
  • Due to the MPAA's homophobia, 40 minutes had to be cut from the film and it is pretty disjointed as a result, with scenes frequently ending very abruptly and things like that. This might explain why the appearance of that character is never explained or referenced again.
  • Being a BLAM is the entire point of that part of the scene, and would apparantly happen in real life police interrogation rooms, you try getting a judge to believe that you were abused by a 6-and-a-half foot black dude in nothing but a jockstrap and a cowboy hat while under questioning!
• Most of Magnolia is a straightforward character study with a few handy coincidences. Except for when toads rain from the sky or the entire cast stops what they're doing to sing an Aimee Mann song.
  • Except that there are numerous references to frogs and Exodus throughout the movie. The "Wise Up" number emphasizes the connections between the characters in a way that the characters themselves probably don't fully understand. The prologue sets us up for coincidences, and it requires a few of a cosmic nature to work.
• The scene in The Blues Brothers where Cab Calloway sings "Minnie the Moocher" and the stage suddenly looks different (presumably because it's in his imagination). OK, it's a musical, and any musical could be reasonably described as a series of BLAMs strung together, but what makes the Cab Calloway scene stand out is that 1) It didn't advance the plot, and 2) None of the major characters appeared on screen during the number. It fits with the definition of a BLAM because it could be cut out from the movie and no-one would notice anything missing.
  • It provided atmosphere at least. Very few BLAM contribute that much.
  • It kept the audience in their seats long enough for the Blues Brothers to turn up. Any longer and they would have left and got their money back.
• Repo The Genetic Opera has a scene where, after an argument with her father, demure, innocent, and sickly Shilo Wallace suddenly launches into a punk rock number, complete with Joan Jett randomly appearing in her room. This scene is such a BLAM that there's no indication it even takes place in reality at all!
  • This one is readily explained by the fact that it's musical. Shilo is a teenager (Seventeen is the name of the song) girl having a sort of tantrum about her father controlling her life, the audience sees it as a punk rock performance ending with her father slapping her and her fainting (which did occur in real life so it is to be assume she was telling him off). Furthermore it's the beginning of her rebellion that eventually leads to the ending.
• And from The Avengers, we have this little gem.
  • Seems likely that Hulk punched Thor out to settle which of them was really stronger, given that their fight earlier in the film didn't really have a conclusion.