To further your podcast enjoyment, here’s a helpful list of movie term definitions, Punch Mountain-specific jargon, and other words worth knowing. Anything you think we should add? Let us know!

Blue Shell Pick – An action movie, generally underseen or underappreciated, that Mac and/or David allows to “cut the line” for submission on to Punch Mountain over other classics. Derived from Mario Kart, where the blue shell is given to the driver in last place to target the driver in first.

Chance – Because his momma took one (Re: the name of Chance Boudreaux, Jean-Claude Van Damme’s character in Hard Target)

Day One Dialogue – Expository dialogue that is so heavy-handed and so obviously meant for the audience, that the characters are having a conversation they should have had a long time ago.

Gagging For It – An uncomfortable British expression when someone is absolutely desperate for something, mostly used in a sexual context. Said by Dougray Scott’s villainous character, Sean Ambrose, in Mission: Impossible 2. We really hated it.

JFC – When something so shocking/gross/horrible happens in a film that it makes you say Jesus Fucking Christ!

Kablooie – An impressive on-screen explosion, or any explosion that pleases David.

Machine Gun Shimmy – When a character is shot so rapidly and continuously that the relentless stream of bullets makes their body jerk around as if they are dancing. 

Mark Out Moment (MOM) – A moment from a movie so awesome or intense that you find yourself momentarily, but completely, engrossed. A cinematic moment so effective that it triggers a reaction of pure emotion, be it joy, excitement, horror, or wonder.

MacGuffin (or McGuffin) – A storytelling device often used in movies. It’s an object, goal, or piece of information that drives the plot forward and motivates the characters. The audience doesn’t have to understand what it is, we just need to know it’s important to the characters. For example, whatever secret file, deadly virus, or dangerous technology Ethan Hunt is always so worked up about. 

Murder Permission Slip – When a more or less innocent character commits a minor sin, like saying something unpleasant or doing something off-putting, that makes their eventual death palatable. When a character acts in that manner, they’ve signed their “murder permission slip”. They do not deserve to be brutally killed, but because of their distasteful behavior, they will not be missed. 

Oh Glarp – When a doomed character realizes they’re a second or two away from death but has enough time to react to that realization. A character in this situation might recognize they’re about to die and say something like, “oh fuck”. The term gets its name from what an alien character facing imminent death might say, “Oh Glarp.”

Oner – A long, continuous shot that is meant to appear uninterrupted in the final film. It could be done in a single take, or it could be several shots linked together with subtle or hidden edits so the final version has the appearance of a single take.

Retainer-breaker – There’s a scene in the movie Black Panther, when talented megahunk Michael B. Jordan takes off his shirt. The sheer hotness of this moment reportedly caused a young theater-goer to clench her jaw so hard she broke her orthodontic retainer in half. This term refers to any movie moment sufficiently hot enough to bite through a retainer.

Splash-page Moment – A “splash page” in comic books refers to a moment that is so grand, awesome, or consequential that its depiction takes up an entire page instead of an individual panel. A “splash page moment” refers to when a movie’s story, action, and visual framing combine to deliver an amazing visual shot that would feel right at home taking up a full comic book page.

Wuss Warning – While on-screen depictions of extreme content like sexual violence or harm to animals typically warrant a trigger warning for some, a smaller group of people may still feel intensely uncomfortable with depictions of certain less-extreme content, or even content so extreme that it becomes cartoonish.
For content that doesn’t seem to qualify for a standard trigger warning, we offer a Wuss Warning. For example, Mac is creeped out by on-screen needle drug use, so he’d very much appreciate a Wuss Warning.