Tropescilloscope: Bad "Bad Acting"

Bad actors in a Show Within a Show don't resemble what actual bad actors are like. (read more at tvtropes.org)

Film Frequency (%) Film Frequency (#)

More Tropes Line-of-Sight Name Danny Peary Cult Movies List A Date with Rosie Palms How We Got Here Gorn Action Survivor May–December Romance Driven to Suicide Kick the Dog Soft Glass Developing Doomed Characters Product Placement Chekhov's Skill Conspicuous CG Honor Before Reason Mercy Kill Manchild Bare Your Midriff Bullying a Dragon Overly Long Gag Killed Mid-Sentence Big-Bad Ensemble Does Not Like Shoes Cluster F-Bomb Cold-Blooded Torture Based on a True Story Jerkass Public Domain Feature Films Artistic License – Gun Safety Darker and Edgier Insult Backfire Rule of Symbolism Historical Hero Upgrade Race Against the Clock Offscreen Moment of Awesome Fan Disservice Wretched Hive Motor Mouth Stealth Pun Lock and Load Montage Historical Villain Upgrade Depraved Bisexual Dirty Cop Ugly Guy, Hot Wife Artistic License – Biology My Beloved Smother Vitriolic Best Buds Humans Are Bastards Romantic False Lead Artistic License – Military Spared by the Adaptation Deconstruction Ms. Fanservice Ambiguous Disorder Plot Hole Rewatch Bonus Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass Crapsack World Heel Realization "Well Done, Son!" Guy Translation Convention Say My Name The Dreaded No OSHA Compliance For the Evulz Intrepid Reporter Heroic Sacrifice Film Noir Never My Fault Take a Third Option Psychological Thriller Butt-Monkey Reckless Gun Usage Bad "Bad Acting" My God, What Have I Done? Bloodless Carnage Yandere The Ditz Your Head A-Splode Canon Foreigner Posthumous Character Badass in a Nice Suit Downer Ending Punctuated! For! Emphasis! It Will Never Catch On Creepy Child Fatal Flaw Bury Your Gays Homage Why Did It Have to Be Snakes? Kubrick Stare Men Are the Expendable Gender Our Zombies Are Different The '80s Enemy Mine And I Must Scream Neck Snap Only One Name The X of Y Call-Forward Girl-on-Girl Is Hot Pay Evil unto Evil You Killed My Father Retirony Stylistic Suck Bilingual Bonus Bittersweet Ending Shower Scene Bond Villain Stupidity After the End The Smurfette Principle Chekhov's Gunman As the Good Book Says... Arc Words Skewed Priorities Coming-of-Age Story Green-Eyed Monster Blood Knight A God Am I Show Within a Show Parental Abandonment He Who Fights Monsters Overprotective Dad Black Dude Dies First Sports Stories Bland-Name Product He Knows Too Much Frame-Up Deus ex Machina Disappeared Dad Pretty Little Headshots Asshole Victim The Load Unusually Uninteresting Sight Screw the Money, I Have Rules! Biopic Cloudcuckoolander All There in the Script Sequel Hook The Stoner World of Ham Last-Name Basis Death Glare Not Even Bothering with the Accent Playing Gertrude Dual Wielding Slap-Slap-Kiss Hollywood Law Match Cut Took a Level in Badass Important Haircut Bolivian Army Ending Parental Incest Obstructive Bureaucrat Affably Evil Toplessness from the Back Rape as Drama Curse Cut Short Shipper on Deck Femme Fatale Eldritch Abomination Big Fancy House Becoming the Mask Unreliable Narrator Sexy Discretion Shot Idiot Ball Fingore Hidden Depths Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas Grey and Gray Morality Documentary Ambiguously Gay Eiffel Tower Effect Apocalypse How Foregone Conclusion Darkest Hour Love at First Sight Made of Iron The Alleged Car Dies Wide Open Chewing the Scenery Historical-Domain Character Whole Plot Reference Accidental Murder Well-Intentioned Extremist Narrator Running Gag Laser-Guided Karma The Ace Sanity Slippage Hong Kong Films The Cameo Dressing as the Enemy Affectionate Parody Big Eater Token Minority Back from the Dead Wounded Gazelle Gambit Star-Crossed Lovers Totally Radical Imagine Spot Loophole Abuse Dark Action Girl The Quiet One Big Bad Duumvirate Peek-a-Boo Corpse Broken Aesop The Big Guy Sir Swears-a-Lot Anguished Declaration of Love Daylight Horror Red Right Hand Face Death with Dignity Anti-Hero Reasonable Authority Figure Nice Hat Black Comedy Deliberate Values Dissonance Aside Glance Does This Remind You of Anything? Distracted by the Sexy Pun aka: Incredibly Lame Pun The Vamp Cassandra Truth Noodle Incident Fire-Forged Friends Precision F-Strike Here We Go Again! No Antagonist Wham Shot Woman Scorned Body Horror Evil-Detecting Dog Sassy Black Woman "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue Faux Affably Evil Pretty in Mink Meaningful Background Event She Cleans Up Nicely Straight Gay Took a Level in Jerkass '80s Hair Meaningful Echo Genre Shift Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene Beauty Is Never Tarnished Drowning My Sorrows My Greatest Failure Word of God Rule of Cool Diabolus ex Machina Random Events Plot Police are Useless Same Language Dub All There in the Manual Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping Good Is Not Nice Groin Attack Abhorrent Admirer For Want of a Nail Humiliation Conga Stepford Smiler Chekhov's Gun Take That! Vomit Discretion Shot Bloody Hilarious Knight Templar Car Fu Captain Ersatz Easily Forgiven Gainax Ending Rule of Funny Psychopathic Manchild Visual Pun Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold Only in It for the Money Retired Badass True Companions Big "NO!" Action Prologue Canadian Movies Irony Rousing Speech Contrived Coincidence Manic Pixie Dream Girl Knife Nut Domestic Abuse Big Brother Instinct It Can Think Training Montage Storming the Castle Only a Flesh Wound As You Know Hero Antagonist Smug Snake Vomit Indiscretion Shot More Dakka Chase Scene Mistaken for Gay As Himself The Alcoholic Fish out of Water The Dog Bites Back Eagleland Evil Is Petty Extremely Short Timespan Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil Interrupted Suicide Lampshade Hanging Death Seeker Dirty Coward Protagonist Title The Cavalry Evil Is Hammy The Un-Reveal Rated M for Manly Comically Missing the Point Hypocritical Humor Shown Their Work Expy Screw This, I'm Outta Here! All Men Are Perverts Catch-Phrase Punch-Clock Villain Horror Comedy Leave the Camera Running Pre-Asskicking One-Liner Gone Horribly Right Roaring Rampage of Revenge Facial Horror Sole Survivor Cat Scare 20 Minutes into the Future Disproportionate Retribution Italian Films The Bad Guy Wins Outrun the Fireball Martial Arts Movie Hair-Trigger Temper Alas, Poor Villain Not So Above It All Unspoken Plan Guarantee The Ghost Berserk Button Bound and Gagged Mad Scientist Adult Fear Stealth Hi/Bye Film Series Anachronism Stew Drives Like Crazy Jitter Cam Blonde, Brunette, Redhead Genre Throwback Double-Meaning Title Anti-Villain It's All About Me "Shaggy Dog" Story Ass Shove Hooker with a Heart of Gold The Film of the Book Corpsing Everyone Has Standards Stalker with a Crush Hoist by His Own Petard Chuck Cunningham Syndrome Obfuscating Stupidity Spanner in the Works Mr. Exposition Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism Adaptation Name Change Not So Different Artistic License – Physics Fake Shemp Tempting Fate The Brute Dark Reprise Disguised in Drag Obviously Evil Shell-Shocked Veteran The Hero Dies Closed Circle A.I. Is a Crapshoot The Place Roger Ebert: Great Movies List Small Name, Big Ego Ambiguous Ending In Medias Res Animal Motifs The End... Or Is It? Alliterative Name Brutal Honesty Taking the Bullet Morality Pet Get Out! Soundtrack Dissonance Beta Couple It's Personal Police Brutality Silence Is Golden Evil Sounds Deep Air-Vent Passageway Redshirt Army From Bad to Worse Genre Savvy Beard of Evil Evil Counterpart Trailers Always Spoil As Long as It Sounds Foreign Didn't Think This Through Death of a Child Black Comedy Rape I Did What I Had to Do Composite Character Properly Paranoid Deadpan Snarker Aww, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other Cool Old Guy All for Nothing Non-Indicative Name No Ending Villain Protagonist Together in Death Fanservice Extra Every Car Is a Pinto Race Lift Paper-Thin Disguise Dwindling Party Real Life Writes the Plot Arch-Enemy Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday Blackmail Fate Worse than Death Toilet Humour aka: Toilet Humor The Faceless Pyrrhic Victory Dogged Nice Guy The Voiceless In Name Only Twist Ending Older Than They Look Badass Boast Rich Bitch Corrupt Corporate Executive Adaptation Dye-Job Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep" Colour-Coded for Your Convenience aka: Color Coded For Your Convenience Politically Incorrect Villain Only Sane Man The Musical You Have Outlived Your Usefulness Catapult Nightmare Epic Movie Jerkass Has a Point Evil Brit Film Noir Index Guile Hero Evil Cannot Comprehend Good Break the Haughty Australian Movies Logo Joke Ripped from the Headlines Empathic Environment Heel–Face Turn She's Got Legs Off-into-the-Distance Ending Fantastic Racism Hypocrite Fun with Acronyms Reality Has No Subtitles Manly Tears Gold Digger Superhero Very Loosely Based on a True Story One-Man Army B-Movie Kids Are Cruel Scenery Gorn Pre-Mortem One-Liner Ax-Crazy The Smart Guy Eye Scream Ragtag Bunch of Misfits Redemption Equals Death Children Are Innocent Card-Carrying Villain Camp Gay Shoot the Shaggy Dog This Is Gonna Suck Red Herring Betty and Veronica Deal with the Devil Too Dumb to Live The Hero Slashed Throat Horror Films Improbable Infant Survival aka: Infant Immortality Super Strength Moment Killer Nice Job Fixing It, Villain! Heroic BSoD Artistic License – Law British Films La Résistance Revenge Action Genre Adaptational Attractiveness Early-Bird Cameo Shut Up, Hannibal! "Awesome McCool" Name Lighter and Softer Award-Bait Song The Great Depression Foil Oh, Crap! Cain and Abel The Bully timeperiod The '70s Not So Stoic Dramatic Gun Cock Better to Die than Be Killed Spell My Name with an "S" And the Adventure Continues The Atoner Cowboy Cop A Minor Kidroduction Jerk with a Heart of Gold Brainless Beauty Cat Fight Arranged Marriage Framing Device Villain with Good Publicity Crucified Hero Shot Aluminum Christmas Trees Adaptation Expansion No Name Given Bait-and-Switch Slasher Movie Insistent Terminology All Girls Want Bad Boys Serial Killer Historical In-Joke Made of Explodium Cool Car Wham Line Make It Look Like an Accident Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome Fiery Redhead Big Applesauce Market-Based Title The Mafia "The Reason You Suck" Speech Only Known by Their Nickname Extreme Doormat Face–Heel Turn Sci-Fi Horror Bloodier and Gorier Wrong Genre Savvy Beware the Nice Ones Costume Porn Those Two Guys Red Oni, Blue Oni Did Not Get the Girl No Good Deed Goes Unpunished Anyone Can Die Five-Man Band Eyepatch of Power Have a Gay Old Time Destination Defenestration Early Installment Weirdness Determinator I Have Your Wife Funny Background Event Sadistic Choice French Films Pragmatic Villainy Character Development I Need a Freaking Drink Adaptational Heroism Never Trust a Trailer aka: Trailers Always Lie What You Are in the Dark An Arm and a Leg Madness Mantra Fatal Family Photo Age Lift Chiaroscuro Fourth Date Marriage Self-Deprecation Badass Grandpa Throwing Your Sword Always Works The Lost Lenore Reality Ensues Ungrateful Bastard Covers Always Lie Handicapped Badass NO INDOOR VOICE Truth in Television Actor Allusion Deliberately Monochrome Gory Discretion Shot Hollywood Darkness folderlabel Determinator aka: The Determinator The Starscream Action Girl Taking You with Me Off with His Head! Hate Sink Even Evil Has Standards Leaning on the Fourth Wall Monumental Damage The '90s Four-Temperament Ensemble Heterosexual Life-Partners Intergenerational Friendship Worthy Opponent Death by Irony Dissonant Serenity Insane Troll Logic Up to Eleven Plucky Comic Relief Naïve Newcomer Karmic Death No-Holds-Barred Beatdown From Nobody to Nightmare Fanservice Mooks The '60s Freeze-Frame Bonus The Power of Love Thriller Awesome, but Impractical Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique Hope Spot Meaningful Name Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer An Axe to Grind Major Injury Underreaction Love Triangle Sealed Evil in a Can O.O.C. Is Serious Business Daddy's Girl Badass Normal An Aesop Damsel in Distress Television Movie Index Animal Title Index Antagonist Title Ascended Extra Would Hit a Girl Camera Abuse Breaking the Fourth Wall Authority Equals Asskicking Stock Footage Manipulative Bastard BFG Black Best Friend One Steve Limit Man on Fire Auto Erotica Implacable Man Time Skip Married to the Job Never Trust a Trailer Romantic Comedy Almost Kiss Book-Ends Immune to Bullets All Just a Dream Amusing Injuries Bavarian Fire Drill Heroes Want Redheads Friend to All Children Henpecked Husband The Casanova Not What It Looks Like Black and Gray Morality The Un-Favourite aka: The Un Favorite German Films What the Hell, Hero? Despair Event Horizon Large Ham Reality Is Unrealistic Freudian Excuse Boom, Headshot! Getting Crap Past the Radar Guns Akimbo Male Frontal Nudity Brother–Sister Incest I Just Shot Marvin in the Face Loads and Loads of Characters Hell Is That Noise Badass Longcoat Adaptational Villainy Sacrificial Lion Novelization Curb-Stomp Battle Would Hurt a Child Pimped-Out Dress Adapted Out Not Quite Dead Nice Guy Blatant Lies Smoking Is Cool Cool Old Lady Defiant to the End Our Vampires Are Different Red Eyes, Take Warning Alpha Bitch In the Back Improvised Weapon Bad Boss Ironic Echo Celebrity Paradox Badass Bookworm Jump Scare Bowdlerise Shirtless Scene Bar Brawl Be Careful What You Wish For One-Word Title Nice Job Breaking It, Hero! Silent Movie Agony of the Feet Bi the Way Country Matters Rasputinian Death Amoral Attorney Belligerent Sexual Tension Eureka Moment Scary Black Man Failed a Spot Check Cool Guns What Happened to the Mouse? Dramedy Villainous Breakdown I'm a Humanitarian Mugging the Monster Zombie Stories The Sociopath Demoted to Extra Foreshadowing Stuff Blowing Up Mundane Made Awesome Mood Whiplash Gratuitous English Malevolent Masked Men Music Stories Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds Wicked Cultured And Starring Suspiciously Similar Substitute MacGuffin Papa Wolf Fantasy Films Psycho for Hire Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane Actually Pretty Funny Dirty Old Man Tranquil Fury Blood from the Mouth Impaled with Extreme Prejudice The Lancer Adaptational Badass Scenery Porn Adorkable Unresolved Sexual Tension Ship Tease The Reveal Room Full of Crazy Evil Laugh Big Bad Happily Married Half the Man He Used to Be Mama Bear You Have Failed Me Bond One-Liner Light Is Not Good Improbable Aiming Skills Parental Neglect Villain Ball There Is No Kill Like Overkill Parental Substitute Instant Death Bullet Broken Pedestal Faking the Dead Mexican Standoff Let's Get Dangerous! Defrosting Ice Queen Kill It with Fire Evil vs. Evil Bottomless Magazines Russian Films Scare Chord Works Set in World War II Gilligan Cut Dull Surprise Break the Cutie Title Drop Mighty Whitey Left the Background Music On Sequel Escalation Male Gaze Exact Words Pet the Dog Refuge in Audacity Spiritual Successor Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking Those Two Bad Guys Suddenly SHOUTING! Dark Is Not Evil Even Evil Has Loved Ones Central Theme Disney Villain Death Author Appeal Evil Plan Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! The Oner Drill Sergeant Nasty Author Avatar Dropped a Bridge on Him Hero of Another Story Crazy-Prepared Cool Shades Adaptation Distillation Decoy Protagonist Shout-Out Mr. Fanservice Tagline Mystery and Detective Films Calling the Old Man Out Recycled IN SPACE! Tap on the Head Mind Screw Needs Wiki Magic Love Undying Loyalty Retcon Recap / RiffTrax aka: Riff Trax Movies Names to Run Away from Really Fast Neck Lift Death by Adaptation Unusual Euphemism Flipping the Bird Drugs Are Bad Punny Name Those Wacky Nazis Double Entendre N-Word Privileges Poor Communication Kills Creator Cameo Advertised Extra Kick the Son of a Bitch Big Damn Heroes Sinister Minister Why Don't You Just Shoot Him? Continuity Nod Department of Redundancy Department Re-Cut I Want My Beloved to Be Happy Demonic Possession Crazy Jealous Guy Jerk Jock Epic Fail Anachronic Order Due to the Dead No-Sell Science Fiction Films Riddle for the Ages Expository Hairstyle Change Flashback Bring My Brown Pants Improbable Weapon User Kill 'em All Dramatic Irony Gender Flip The Mole Accidental Misnaming Dutch Angle No Celebrities Were Harmed Suspiciously Specific Denial Really Gets Around War Is Hell The Stinger Cruel and Unusual Death Unwitting Instigator of Doom Vacation Films Japanese Films Red Shirt Naked People Are Funny The Chessmaster Famous Last Words Your Cheating Heart The Chick Artistic License – History Not Using the "Z" Word Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy Disney Death Combat Pragmatist Fat Bastard Artistic License – Geography Pragmatic Adaptation Establishing Character Moment Victoria's Secret Compartment Nothing Is Scarier Greater-Scope Villain Karma Houdini Maybe Ever After Villain Opening Scene Rule of Three Annoying Younger Sibling The Stoic The Dragon Fainting Bitch in Sheep's Clothing Woman in White Brick Joke Ghost Fiction Armor-Piercing Question Villain Song Screw the Rules, I Have Money! Slasher Smile Earn Your Happy Ending Babies Ever After Credits Gag Once More, with Clarity! Dying Moment of Awesome Laughing Mad Setting Update Dumb Blonde Funny Foreigner Death by Sex Real Life Never Found the Body Final Girl Leitmotif Casting Gag Exactly What It Says on the Tin Batman Gambit Bunny-Ears Lawyer Animated Credits Opening The Remake Spiteful Spit Grievous Bottley Harm You Have Got to Be Kidding Me! Vampire Fiction Dark and Troubled Past The '50s Bald of Evil Christmas Movies Index Informed Ability Adults Are Useless Broken Bird Video Credits Index of Film Westerns Put on a Bus Missing Mom Call-Back Meet Cute Attempted Rape Creative Closing Credits A Father to His Men Offscreen Teleportation Mythology Gag Abusive Parents Serious Business Military and Warfare Films Captain Obvious Ominous Latin Chanting