Tomb

One of the many valuable reference tools on the Internet Movie Database (imdb.com) is the use of keywords. By checking a film's keywords, researchers can determine if a specific film contains such elements as “Monkey as Assistant,” “Flying Dog” or the ever-popular “Gratuitous Nudity.” Similarly, you can do a search on keywords like “Tripping while Fleeing” and determine just how many films apply to your criteria. (Only four?! That's bullshit!)

Some keywords are amusingly bizarre, evocative or specific. Here are some good ones:

• Missing Shoe — wow, talk about high drama! Where the hell is that shoe?! C'mon people, I want a hard target search of every shoebox, shoetree, shoehorn and hall closet in a 15-mile area! The shoe you're looking for looks exactly like this one! Now go!

• Crowded Shower — probably refers to three or more people in a shower. (Two's company, three's a crowd.)

• Parrot on Shoulder — admit it, sometimes you're in the mood for a really good “Parrot on Shoulder” movie.

• Exploding Gas Station — hey, you saw the “No Smoking” sign.

• Cleavage — Let's show some appreciation for the tireless researchers who uncovered the 136 movies, 82 television shows, seven video games and five short films listed on the IMDb as containing “cleavage.” Even so, everybody knows that you missed a few.

• Edited from Unfinished Film — always a sign of quality.

• Run Over by a Steamroller — films include Austin Powers (1997), A Fish Called Wanda (1988), The Naked Gun (1988), Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988) and a bunch of cartoons.

• Snake in Vagina — oh, dear.

• Rabbit Suit — see Donnie Darko (2001), “Spaced” (1999), Inland Empire (2006) and, er, Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), the latter probably for Bridget's Playboy bunny costume.

• Covered in Melted Gold — happens more often than you might think.

• Man with Big Afro — we're talking really big, here. No hats for this guy.

• Wobbly Sets —it's hard to concentrate on the drama of a scene when the entire wall moves every time the private investigator closes a door.

• Simian Fiction — ah, hello. I'd like to rent a movie containing apes, please. No, not a documentary; I'd like to see apes in a variety of fanciful made-up scenarios. Mighty Joe Young, Planet of the Apes, Dunston Checks In.... You know, that sort of thing. Oh, here's MVP: Most Valuable Primate. Perfect!

• Breaking the Fourth Wall — this refers to movie characters speaking to the audience directly. It comes from live theatre, in which a theatrical set typically contains three real walls and one imaginary wall through which the audience can see the play. Any line of dialogue that acknowledges the audience is considered “breaking the fourth wall.” Ferris Bueller does it when he explains to the audience how to get out of going to high school.

• Pubic Hair — I've seen pubic hair, man. Seen it everywhere, man. Stickin' out here and there, man, I've seen pubic hair.

• Person on Fire — generally refers to a single scene, rather than the film itself. The same person can't remain on fire for an entire movie. That would be silly. Like Ghost Rider (2007).

• Surprise after End Credits — boo! Ha ha ha! Aww nuts, they all left.

• Based on Theme Park Attraction — This was kind of a joke keyword until Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) made all that money.

• Dutch Angle — this refers to tilting the camera sideways a little. You see it a lot in the old “Batman” TV show and in Battlefield Earth (2000). Audiences often complain about stiff necks.

• Unintentionally Funny — one of the IMDb's highest-rated films with this keyword is Psychomania (1973), a British movie about a zombie biker gang. I'd go along with that.