This entry also appears on the Oxford University Press blog site . This year's Academy Award nominations of Argo , Lincoln , and Zero Dark Thirty , attest to our fascination of watching "true stories" depicted on the screen. We adopt a special set of expectations when we believe a movie is based on actual events, a sentiment the Coen Brothers parodied when they stated at the beginning of Fargo that "this is a true story," even though it wasn't. In the science fiction spoof, Galaxy Quest , aliens have intercepted a Star Trek-like TV show and believe the program to be a documentary of actual human warfare. They come to Earth to enlist Cmdr. Peter Quincy Taggart (Tim Allen), star of the TV show, to help fight the evil warlord Sarris (named after the film critic, Andrew Sarris), as they believe Taggart to be a true war hero rather than merely playing one on TV. Movies that are "based on a true s