Why would anyone labor for months, even years, on a movie script, then slap a terribly generic title on it? This fall is shaping up to be the season of the blahs, at least as far as titles are concerned. Let’s compare a few upcoming films.

First the bad. These titles are so nondescript, they might even be doing the movies a disservice, as audiences might not be able to link the title to a trailer or ad they’ve seen. “Isn’t that the one with…? No, maybe that’s the other one, what’s it called?” See if you can figure out anything about the movie from the title alone:

Life As We Know It

You Again

Let Me In

Never Let Me Go

Conviction

Monsters

Nothing Personal

Faster

The Fighter

The Tourist

Somewhere

Now let’s compare those with some more evocative titles:

I Spit on Your Grave

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest

Little Fockers

True Grit

Douchebag

You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger

I wonder if it’s a studio mandate the movies must be called something generic and safe. Shouldn’t the gold standard be Adult Swim’s “Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!”? Who’s gonna forget that title?