Movie idioms

Sell out has two meanings – one is positive and the other is negative. If you use sell out as a noun, it is not a good thing. This means that you have completely abandoned your principles in favor of something such as money.
Instead of looking to build a long-term relationship with your audience, for example, you are trying to make a quick buck and earn money fast. In this case, sell out as a verb means to do something like this. If you endorse a bad product simply because they have paid you a lot ofhave sold out.
If you use sell out as verb or adjective describing an event, this is a great thing! This term is used when you have tickets to sell. If you are sold out, it means that some person has bought every single ticket available for a certain show, movie, concert, etc.
There will be the maximum number of people in the audience, which is exciting for both the people putting on the show and the people who will attend it.

• 
  I spent two years building up this blog and I will not sell out my brand for any amount of money by letting a bad service advertise on it.
  
• 
  If we are able to sell out the first show of our musical, we can show all these people that there is a market for the stories that we can tell and that people will like them!
  

5. Live up to the hype
If something (typically a movie or a show) lives up to the hype, it means two things. First, it means that there is enough interest in it, or hype. People (such as movie critics, bloggers, etc.) will get excited for something by generating hype for it.
Before the release date of one of Taylor Swift’s albums, for example, they will typically announce the date everything will be released and continually tease people about the songs that will be on it. This generates a lot of excitement and hype, and, more importantly, expectation.
If some show, movie, or music album is to live up to this hype, it has to be as good as people hope it will be. This is, in general, difficult to live up to if there is a lot of hype. However, the best products are able to generate a lot of excitement before they are released, and deliver something that is so high quality that the majority of fans end up loving it.

• 
  I was not too sure how many details I wanted to share with my audience before the launch of my new podcast because I wanted it to live up to the hype.
  
• 
  Jerry thought for sure the new Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, Spiderman Homecoming, was going to fall short of the expectations of the fans. To his surprise, however, it really lived up to the hype!
  

6. Jump the shark
This is a semi-derogatory term used to describe certain television shows (and occasionally some films) that have decreased in quality.
It used to be something completely amazing and worth watching, but they have, for one reason or another, begun to use far-fetched plots and special effects to maintain ratings. Instead, they should have kept their story telling quality high in some other way.
Over time, this term has come to apply to shows and movie series, but also bands, celebrities, and other public figures (including politicians) that have sold out. They are now doing things that are off brand and that they would probably have frowned upon if they were their younger selves, looking at the current version of themselves.
To jump the shark comes from the TV show Happy Days. It was a sitcom from the 1970s and early 1980s about an idealized life of some teenagers in the Midwestern United States.
In one episode in the fifth season, the main character literally jumps over a shark in confines. This went against the character’s personality. As a result, this scene was seen as a ridiculous plot device that marked the beginning of a decline in ratings.

• 
  I thought that there were lots of story lines that the writers of my favorite TV show could have developed, which would have brought in more viewers. However, they decided to jump the shark and have two characters that should have hated each other start to date instead.
  
• 
  It takes a lot of time and energy to create a television show that really appeals to a lot of viewers, and turn those viewers into dedicated fans. Still, I believe that it would be better for the TV network to decide to end a series when it should end rather than jump the shark simply for the ratings. It ruins the show!
  

7. Break a leg
This idiom comes as a result of the superstitious nature of actors and other performers. Many of them think that if you wish them good luck, the exact opposite will happen! Instead of jinxing them, their friends and fellow actors may tell them to break a leg – or, metaphorically, to have good luck!

• 
  My husband is trying out a new stand up comedy routine tonight at the coffee shop. I told him to break a leg!
  
• 
  I know you really do not need the luck with all the practice that you have been putting in, but make sure to break a leg!
  

8. To make a clown of yourself
Clowns are supposed to be funny and entertaining people. Even if some people are scared of clowns, they are sometimes thought of as ridiculous people who do all kinds of things to make people laugh. Thus, if you make a clown of yourself, you are doing something that makes people laugh.
This is usually not something you do intentionally. Instead, you probably intend to do something seriously. However, by no fault of your own, you end up making a clown of yourself – or looking like a fool.
The idiom is usually not meant as a good thing. Even though some people really like clowns, in this context they are someone who knows very little.

• 
  Ada was so scared to make a clown of herself that she ended up doing a terrible job at her performance anyways.
  
• 
  Kelly did not mean to make a clown of her coworker but the coworker was trying to exaggerate their role in the project so much without understanding it that it was embarrassing for everyone who was listening.
  

9. To be in the limelight
If you are in the limelight, you are in the public eye. This means that there are people who actually care about your personal life aside from all the work that you do.
They will want to know about your personal life, including who you are dating, how your family is doing, what your typical day looks like, and what you like to spend your free time doing. Because of this, you will likely have paparazzi and reporters around you often.
People are interested in you as a person, meaning that they will take steps to figure you out.
The expression comes from an old practice from the theater scene. Limelight was an actual type of light, also known as “calcium light”. The bright white light is made by heating oxygen and hydrogen, and placing a piece of lime into it. It was used for stage lighting and still exists today.

• 
  Dylan tried to avoid the publicity as much as possible, but he was in the limelight all the time because of his new major hit movie.
  
• 
  The public’s interest is always wandering, so once you are in the limelight it is difficult to keep the attention on you.
  

10. To crave the limelight
If you crave the limelight, you really like to be the center of attention. You crave (really, really want) to be the focus of everyone’s interest. This applies to celebrities and politicians, but it also applies to regular people that you meet at work or at school.
If someone is constantly doing crazy things and telling you about it, they are likely a limelight craver. Another word for this is attention hog.

• 
  I had no idea why my friend always asked questions she knew the answer to in class, until I realized that she craved the limelight and enjoyed it when the teacher acknowledged her.
  
• 
  Jo Ann was never someone who craved the limelight, but after the press and interviews of her after her first New York Times bestselling book, she began to see the appeal.
  

11. Museum piece
A museum piece is something or someone that is so old, antique, and out of place that it should belong in a museum rather than as a part of everyday life.
It is used mostly as a derogatory phrase – if you call something or someone a museum piece, it means that they are stuck in the old ways of doing things and unable to change or improve.
Of course, a museum piece can be used literally. You can literally call something that is displayed in a museum a museum piece, but the idiomatic meaning is much more common.

• 
  Ross, your hat looks like a total museum piece; please do not take it with you to wear to the show.
  
• 
  Lany was so angry when Rebecca called her homemade pants a museum piece because she had been so proud of her work before that.
  

12. A dog and pony show