most unconvincing party/nightclub scenes in film/TV

was watching some TV tonight, and several shows had incredibly unconvincing party sequences, where a bunch of people sort of half-danced awkwardly in place, enacted awkward "we're having a good time" gestures, and meanwhile the director attempted to disguise all this with a bunch of gels, some "dynamic" camera angels, and above all arrhythmic, frenetic editing.

wish i could find a clip on youtube. but feel free to post your own whilst naming the most unconvincing party scenes you can find.

i guess the first one that comes to my mind is the one at the nightclub in The Terminator. as with many things, the profound unconvincingness of the sequence is 2x more apparent when you turn the soundtrack off.

Matrix sequel

don jon really excels at this

Strange days

the party scene in Dracula AD 1972 is incredible

can a mod plz delete every post except "Matrix sequel" and then lock the thread? thx in advance

Matrix sequel

― lj. 'hoover' egads (darraghmac), Friday, January 10, 2014 9:26 PM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

everything in those movies is awkward and unconvincing, but yeah

i guess the first one that comes to my mind is the one at the nightclub in The Terminator. as with many things, the profound unconvincingness of the sequence is 2x more apparent when you turn the soundtrack off.

I just tried this, but I was listening to "People Who Died" at the same time, and it pretty much ruled. At least it's kind of dark and smoky in there - what i really hate is the tendency, especially on TV, for nightclubs to be really brightly lit, it just looks totally wrong. Often there are big spotlights firing at random spots in the room, which must be someone's idea of how to light the place while still having it look somehow theatrical or rock-and-roll, but it's just wrong. Bars are just dark, especially if a band's playing. Feel like The Bronze on Buffy was pretty bad about this.

Quincy punk episode to thread, or is that way too obvious?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpYd7bOn52M

that music sounded convincingly gang-of-four for three seconds before the guy started singing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJC6GWZGswY

So long as we're working through the classics...

^^^ also commits sin of people being able to carry on a nuanced (?) conversation standing right up at the front, with no one ever going WHAT? or WAIT, WHAT? or WOULD YOU GUYS SHUT THE FUCK UP?

The cocktail party in Breakfast at Tiffany's

The punk club in After Hours (Mohawk Night)

The dance club in Black Swan

oh the punk club in after hours is great! don't think it's meant to be convincing, the whole film is super-stylized.

also nobody dare mention this one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvV6F_OuluE

(which solves the problem doctor casino mentions by using subtitles)

can a mod plz delete every post except "Matrix sequel" and then lock the thread? thx in advance

― SHAUN (DJP), Friday, January 10, 2014 10:37 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol i always think abt the rave at the center of the earth, also about the VAMPIRE BLOOD RAVE (blade)

one thing abt terrible club scenes is everyone is always dancing w the same high intensity theres no one just swaying on the side no one in the middle of the dance floor trying to have a conversation no one attempting to dance while not spilling their drink no one guy freaking out super hard to the amusement/disapproval of everyone else

if someone gave me a pill and took me out of my constructed reality then the next stop was some shitty wite dread rave in the center of the earth i would be so unhappy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhU1F7t6pp4

Luna Lounge in 'Lost Highway', not as much unconvincing as alternate reality

these are my favorite scenes in any film.
Hollywood hippie movies always have the swankest psychedelic dungeons

Hackers
Bodhi's bungalow party in Point Break

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9qo8XWz4co

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt3Oj-Dq-MM

I bet the movie this is from has some great examples.

Luna Lounge is great, god bless this alternate reality of free jazz pop stars.

What are you talking about with Beyond the Valley of the Dolls? That's exactly how my parties go.

This has been mentioned before on other threads, but the party scene in Five Easy Pieces is a strawman caricature of an academic-type dinner party.

hey what was that movie where katie holmes maybe takes ecstasy

go

also probably that movie mena suravi made also about drugs, just presumably, at some point

Robocop

oh man was that her?

Most unconvincing LSD trip at an unconvincing party (WARNING : features both titties and bongos)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EN5okO2Ve4

All these groovy 60s ones are reminding me of the Bert I. Gordon/Beau Bridges/Ron Howard giant-teenagers flick Village of the Giants. The MST version is the only full version on Youtube, so:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuUhQNt2b4A

Opening credits party: 4:40
Uncomfortable mud-frolic scene: 6:57
Actual party scene (with the Beau Brummels!): 18:55
Variant of same, with giant ducks: 24:45
Barbecue with ballad by Freddy "Boom-Boom" Cannon: 38:30
Scary giant teenager party: 50:40

Not sure all of those are really meant to look like swingin' fun times but they have the right too-long, too-slow discomfort.

lol i always think abt the rave at the center of the earth, also about the VAMPIRE BLOOD RAVE (blade)

see I forgive the VAMPIRE BLOOD RAVE because I love the song they used ("Confusion" (Pump Panel remix) - New Order)

xp - the giant ducks are the best.

^^^ also commits sin of people being able to carry on a nuanced (?) conversation standing right up at the front, with no one ever going WHAT? or WAIT, WHAT? or WOULD YOU GUYS SHUT THE FUCK UP?

― Doctor Casino, Friday, January 10, 2014 11:25 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

yeah it drives me crazy in movies when people can have regular-volume conversations in crowded clubs & bars - the social network did probably the best job i've ever seen of avoiding that

anything with 'cyber' 'freaks'
<3 1990s and Orphan Black <3

why wd tou want to see a realistic party in a film? youd want to go to a party

^^^ also commits sin of people being able to carry on a nuanced (?) conversation standing right up at the front, with no one ever going WHAT? or WAIT, WHAT? or WOULD YOU GUYS SHUT THE FUCK UP?

― Doctor Casino, Friday, January 10, 2014 11:25 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

yeah it drives me crazy in movies when people can have regular-volume conversations in crowded clubs & bars - the social network did probably the best job i've ever seen of avoiding that

― Hungry4Ass, Saturday, January 11, 2014 10:13 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I guess this is the sound equivalent of nighttime being blueish rather than pitch black, so the audience can still see stuff. Don't have a huge problem with it in most cases

when I saw this thread I was totally gonna mention THE BRONZE tho

The "punk" "club" "scene" in Hannah And Her Sisters. But then, Allen's a notorious rock-hater, so accuracy wouldn't have served his needs here.

Merdeyeux, that movie is called Vibrations, and it is a must watch

i thought ilx had a thread on it and indeed it does: Do You Know Anything About Techno? i think i skipped through the full movie at some point and was impressed by what i saw (some kind of robocop suit djing comes to mind) but yeah, i should really watch the full thing.

re the impossible casual chatting thing, i feel especially angry at the 90210 people doing this through the flaming lips since no band has mangled my hearing as much as they did back in '03.

it's a shame because non-Britishers are unlikely to get this but the fact that Eastenders (long-running misery porn UK soap) has a nightclub that appears to be open at all hours of the day and night, has a clientele ranging from teenagers to the over-60s and is brighter and quieter than my living room is kinda pitiful.

any scene with La Luz from Brookside.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnGHJ7VlYYc

Monster A-Go-Go (1961/65), scene at 34:50.

At least a dozen MST3K movies have scenes that qualify.

A favorite: Saxophone = trumpet in Ms. 45.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSyLgCmo3w4