10 Movie Titles with Bad Grammar

I believe in every advertising agency there is a grammar fiend. According to the article “Writing Wrongs: 10 Movie Titles with Bad Grammar – A list of films that could have used a different kind of editor,” from Time Magazine, there should be one in every Hollywood studio too. They list the following culprits:

 

Star Trek Into Darkness

“The movie in which a celebrity goes on a long hike in the middle of the night.”

Suggested fix: A colon

Star Trek: Into Darkness

 

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

“Is it really O.K. to ask a question and not put a question mark at the end.”

Suggested fix: A question mark

Who Framed Roger Rabbit?


Law Abiding Citizen

“Some citizens the law can abide; others it cannot stand.”

Suggested fix: A hyphen

LawAbiding Citizen

 

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids

“This is not the movie you thunk it was.”

Suggested fix: Remember past participles?

Honey, I’ve Shrunk the Kids

Two Weeks Notice

Two weeks notice what? Can a week (or two) really notice anything?”

Suggested fix: An apostrophe

Two Weeks Notice

The 40 Year-Old Virgin

“At first glance an “s” appears to be missing: The 40 Year-Old Virgins. But that can’t be. Who would make a movie about 1-year-olds? And in what kind of world would it need to be specified that these 1-year-olds are virgins?!”

Suggested fix: A hyphen

The 40Year-Old Virgin

The Ladies Man

“The apostrophe is needed to make clear that although this man may think he possesses the ladies, in fact they possess him.”

Suggested fix: An apostrophe

The Ladies’ Man

An Alan Smithee Film Burn Hollywood Burn

“Sometimes it really helps to use punctuation otherwise no one can tell where one thought ends and the next one begins it’s such a nice day today I think I’ll go read a modernist novel or something oh look there goes a seagull.”

Suggested fix: A colon and some commas

An Alan Smithee Film: Burn, Hollywood, Burn

My Big Fat Greek Wedding

“Without the comma, we can’t tell if it’s a wedding that’s larger than life or a ceremony of Hellenic sumo wrestlers.”

Suggested fix: A comma

My Big, Fat Greek Wedding

Eight Legged Freaks

“A movie about eight freaks who have legs? Is that what makes them freaks? Don’t a lot of people have legs?”

Suggested fix: A hyphen

EightLegged Freaks