Movie Cliches

[christopher575]

Alan and I always talk about things that happen way too often in movies. I've decided to start posting them with an appropriate tag as I think of them. 

Person finds a flashlight and looks directly into it while turning it on.

Person on rooftop or balcony is shot by a person on the ground and falls forward off the roof or balcony instead of backward.

Kidnapped child needs medicine.

Semi driver honks his horn for no reason while driving through a parking lot, always as the scene opens. (dawnzerly noticed this)

Person answers the phone, is told to turn on the news, and the news item is somehow still playing.

Person is handcuffed to bed and abandoned.

Cell phone service is unavailable.

Comments

[blueberryjoe.livejournal.com]

the news item one always bugs me.

[monsterbrain.livejournal.com]

Chick is sad so she sits on the sofa at night, watching TV/DVD and eating ice cream out of the carton.

[christopher575.livejournal.com]

My favorite one like that is Debra Winger's mega pig-out in Legal Eagles. Especially where she wipes the moisture off the uncooked hot dog and attacks it.

[monsterbrain.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen that, but now I want to.

Cold hot dogs are kinda good. (Technically they're already cooked.)

I want to write a screenplay for a movie where the audience *thinks* that cliche is going to happen, but then the camera tilts down and we see the the chick is eating ice cream out of a HUMAN HEAD.

[christopher575.livejournal.com]

Legal Eagles is one of my favorite movies ever. Get it as soon as you can.

[badrobot68.livejournal.com]

Car runs out of control and hits a produce stand.

Person with a bag of groceries always has a large bread object sticking up out of it. (Ok, got that one from Roger Ebert.)

Woman changes clothes in front of an open window.

[badrobot68.livejournal.com]

The TV is always on the correct channel, and the news item is always just beginning!

[badrobot68.livejournal.com]

People hang up phones without ever saying goodbye.

All phone numbers are 555-something.

[christopher575.livejournal.com]

The 555 thing is just so it doesn't end up being someone's real phone number, it's agreed upon and isn't really a cliche. Fascinating read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/555_(telephone_number) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/555_(telephone_number))

[badrobot68.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've heard that. But some movie producers actually get a real number and use it, then leave messages on it for anyone who might actually call. Hearing the 555 always takes me immediately out of the movie.

[salacious-pop.livejournal.com]

Ebert also coined the term "steam & sparks factory"

[christopher575.livejournal.com]

The problem with doing a real number is that it'll probably eventually be released and reused, so someone will end up getting the calls later on.

[badrobot68.livejournal.com]

Well that's why I don;t pick up my phone unless it's someone I know.

And who dials a number from a movie? Like you're gonna reach Julia Roberts or something?

[christopher575.livejournal.com]

Stupid people dial, and there's no shortage of those.

[badrobot68.livejournal.com]

I have one of his books that lists some of the movie cliches he hates, but now I can't find it.

[badrobot68.livejournal.com]

And our society caters to the dumbest of the dumb!

[paranoiattaque.livejournal.com]

USA! USA! USA! etc

[paranoiattaque.livejournal.com]

when someone breaks into a house/murderer is chasing someone, they always run upstairs. that bugs the hell out of me.

[cmorley.livejournal.com]

Truck sees a pedestrian in the middle of the street (usually our Damsel in Distress, or possibly an inattentive child). Instead of stopping, the driver just honks. A lot. Until the driver hits the pedestrian or a conveniently placed Hero knocks the pedestrian out of the way. So sad!

[scearley.livejournal.com]

The "crime fighter turns retard" sequence.

Most often the crime fighter has been in control the entire time, stalking the "bad guy," outwitting them, then suddenly runs directly into the bad guy's base of operations with no lights and no bearings.

This is what completely ruins Silence of the Lambs for me.

[scearley.livejournal.com]

And don't forget the variation - the full shopping cart.

[scearley.livejournal.com]

A few movie writers say that you don't include the "goodbyes" in phone conversations, because if you wrote the conversation to be realistic, you'd end up with an extra 90 seconds of inane pointless dialogue per phone conversation in a movie.

[cmorley.livejournal.com]

Or, if this were a De Palma movie, something sharp that impales the truck driver and/or the bad guy. But you get about five minutes of setup before the impalement actually happens.

[cmorley.livejournal.com]

Or a policeman walks into the bad guy's lair without calling for backup or even letting anyone know what's going down.

[scearley.livejournal.com]

If it were a De Palma movie, the impalement would be through the topless chick riding shotgun. However, not through her breasts.