10 Movies That Mock You For Paying Attention

A critically acclaimed financial flop for its director Alexander Payne, 1999's Election was one of many deadpan black comedies from the Sideways creator which failed to find an audience upon release but soon won cult acclaim in the years that followed.

The same could be said for the even earlier Citizen Ruth, a darker politically charge satire the director wrote in 1996.

Election follows a painfully peppy, secretly sociopathic Reese Witherspoon as its over-achieving anti-heroine and sees loveable sadsack Matthew Broderick reverse his Ferris Bueller fortunes by playing her embittered civics teacher. Broderick is determined to take down this over-achiever but can't see the venom beneath her cheery exterior, resulting in a darkly comic satire classic.

Late in the film, one character leafs through a newspaper extremely briefly. It's a minor moment that few viewers even notice, let alone think to freeze frame. However those that do will be treated to an article which... Admonishes them for taking the time to freeze frame and wasting their time reading the article, all whilst advertising the creator's earlier film.

The text reads "If you've paused the film to read this entire article, your time would be better spent renting 'Citizen Ruth' from your local video store", an undeniably effective bit of sarcastic advertising.