(one) has seen this movie (before)

One has witnessed or endured a similar or identical situation before. Oh, we've seen this movie before—candidates making all kinds of campaign promises that they will never keep if they're elected. So the bosses want to interview everyone and ask them how they contribute to the company, right? Yeah, I've seen this movie—they're getting ready to lay people off. Don't panic—we've seen this movie before. Every winter, meteorologists whip people into a frenzy about "blizzards" that don't materialize

B movie

A (generally low-budget) film usually considered to be of inferior quality, so called because such films were originally shown along with popular (or "A") movies as part of a theater's "double feature." Yeah, I know it's just a stupid B movie, but I still love it. Can't sleep? Well, you'll definitely be able to find some B movies on TV at this time of night. It's a cheesy sci-fi B movie about a Martian invasion. In the opening scene, a spaceship crash lands in a field, and the Martian who emerges tells a farmer, "Take me to your leader."

blue movie

A film that contains graphic sexual content. The use of "blue" to mean lewd or indecent dates from the mid-1800s, though the origin is unclear. A lot of kids at school got in trouble for trading blue movies. I remember the video store down the street had a section of blue movies for adults that they would keep behind a black curtain. What are you doing with a blue movie? If Mom catches us with that, we'll be grounded for months—and we'll have to go to Confession!

popcorn movie

A film that is entertaining to watch but is generally not of a very high quality or rich in emotional or intellectual depth. A: "So what movie do you want to go see later?" B: "I don't feel like watching anything too heavy or complex—let's just see whatever popcorn movie is out."

snuff movie

A film that shows the actual murder or death of a person. Although snuff movies are illegal, they are still widely circulated on the black market.

tentpole movie

A film with a very large budget and production value that is meant to provide substantial revenue to the production company. Big blockbusters used to be quite the rare cinematic event, but we've gotten to the point now where there's a tentpole movie coming out nearly every weekend of the year.

tie-in

A piece of media, such as a book, movie, or video game, that uses or expands on the core material or content of something else as part of a marketing strategy or campaign. These video game tie-ins are usually pretty crappy, but this one's actually not bad. I'm writing a novel that acts as a tie-in to the film.

tie-in

n. a connection; a liaison. I got a call from Mary—my tie-in with the mayor’s office—who says it’s all set.

B movie

The low-budget second part of a movie theater's double feature. Back in the days of double features, movie houses showed two very distinct types of films. A movies were the hits—“Gone With the Wind,” “Casablanca,” “Citizen Kane,” “The Wizard of Oz”—the ones that drew patrons to the movie houses. Then there were Westerns, horror flicks, and science fiction movies that didn't cost very much to make (they were often in black-and-white). These B movies tended to be shown before the main feature; otherwise, people would leave after the A picture and then feel they hadn't gotten their admission money's worth. As double features disappeared and the cost of filmmaking grew, the curtain went down on the B movie genre.

blue movie

A pornographic film. Why off-color movies were called “blue” remains a matter of conjecture. Although one definition of “blue” has been “lewd” since the 19th century, its application to movies might have referred to the 19th-century Blue Laws morality codes and state and local laws based on them, of which dirty movies would certain run afoul. Other explanations include the bluish tint of the early cheaply made black-andwhite movies, and the bluish cigarette and cigar smoke haze in rooms where men gathered to watch such films (the get-togethers were in fact known as “smokers”). “Blue” faded over the years and was replaced by “dirty movie, “adult film,” “skin flick” and “hard- or soft-core porn.”