Movie Cliches that need to be Retired.

[terryr]

Vicious animals that snarl while sneaking up on you. Which kind of defeats the point of SNEAKING! Animals in the wild aren't trying to scare or bully the prey. They want to kill them.
Hollywood animals must never catch anything because they warn their prey from far away. And when they get close they slowly approach while snarling for a minute instead of pouncing.
Especially Dinosaurs. They roar in stereo reverb. Any prey would hear them from the next time zone. That's why they went extinct I guess.

 

[KenKenobi2]

I laughed out loud at a lot of these.

On the getting hit/kicked/thrown thing....I have been the recipient of all of the above in training and a few times for real: If punched in the face, seldom do you wipe your mouth, look at your hand incredulously, straighten your hat, and rejoin the fight with more intensity.

Just sayin'......

 

[Goodwolf]

Overly long fight sequences. I don't care how fit you are, a minute, two tops is about all you can realistically expect and that's without all the acrobatics.

 

[defstartrooper]

........

 

[Cut Snake]

Great thread, got one of my own that bugs me to no end.

Dark offices.

Especially police stations, during the day, and the characters all position themselves so the few beams of light show their eyes only.

I have been rewatching Star Trek TOS and every time Kirk has something to say he gets the same treatment. Never noticed it before, but now that I have..... cannot unsee.

 

[terryr]

Yeah, every time Kirk wants to pick up a woman the room goes dark except for a slash of light across his eyes. No wonder he can pick up chicks.

Spock must have the ship rigged for 'sexy lighting'.

 

[RustBelt]

Just watch the first Rocky movie. He takes direct hits to the face and just grunts.

 

[RustBelt]

The last evil dead movie the bad guy is dodging bullets being shot at him so they walk up and stab him! WTF

 

[terryr]

Chains can be cut by Anything! Bullets, knives, swords, motorcycles, a piece of cheese. Whatever the hero has in their hand.

 

[Straker]

Rotwang, you're my hero! *swoons*


On another note: 3-D...STOPPIT!

 

[fabrik]

michael bay

oh god yes!!!

 

[DS Operative]

The Wilhelm scream.

Wilhelm Scream Compilation - YouTube

I gotta' reiterate that one. It used to be funny to me when I first discovered it.

Now it completely irritates me and "pulls me out of the movie"

 

[Kerr Avon]

52.) Punching through the rolled up side window of a car with a bare fist.

Im so tired of seeing that. Do you realize how hard that is? Go find a car in a junkyard and test how strong that side window is.

It can be done, my father did it when he was a teenager, it cut up his hand pretty badly though.

 

[Vermithrax 4]

Here's one:

The bald, creepy coroner (always played by a Clint Howard type). Any time a body is being autopsied the examiner has to be short, bald, obviously single, and make snarky, morbid jokes about the dead person or be eating a big, messy, drippy sub sandwich within an arm's reach of the corpse. If the body happens to be a decent-looking chick he'll always make some creepy remark that leads us to believe that he'd still hump her even though she's dead.

Bill Maher pointed out a couple of cliches in his "New New Rules" that bear mentioning:

1. The old carton of Chinese food in the fridge to indicate that the guy is single. It's the only thing in the fridge, the guy reaches in, takes it, sniffs it, recoils in disgust, then puts it back. That's how we know he's single.

2. The sound of a record scratch to indicate a comic reversal of fortune. The record scratch (Freeeeep!) is so obsolete that the thing that MADE it obsolete, the CD...is now obsolete. :lol

 

[Solo4114]

Yeah, I find the record scratch one to be actually really interesting. Play that sound effect for any kid, even a 12-year-old, and they'll know what it "signifies." Comic reversal of fortune, an abrupt stop, etc.

Ask them where it comes from, or what it means to actually scratch a record, and they'll probably be stumped.


Here's one that's less of a movie cliche, and more of a general cliche (it appears in movies, TV shows, commercials, etc.): Clueless Dad doing anything "domestic." Dad can't cook. Dad doesn't know which is the business end of the mop. Silly Dad, he used the wrong detergent. And so on and so forth. It's crap. Complete, utter crap. Most of the couples I know evenly split domestic duties. Cooking, cleaning, etc. I don't just mean "You cook, I'll clean." I mean they both do everything (although guys still open jars and get rid of dead animals and insects -- especially when they've been called in to dispatch them). And yet, a commercial for mac & cheese will show how it's so easy, even Dad, that braindead man-child who would just as soon burn the house down trying to use the stove, can fix it for the kids when mom is out of town.

It's kind of like the record scratching thing, to me. Everyone "knows" and sort of unconsciously accepts this stuff in popular culture, even if it has less and less to do with reality as the years go by. You know what commercial I'm waiting for? The one where mom's coming home from the office, completely frazzled, and dad's already fixing dinner -- like he does every night.



Actually, when I start thinking about it, there's a lot of "gender norms" that are highly prevalent in pop culture, but which are also obviously out-dated or at least incomplete in their depictions (IE: "Only men are commitment-phobes, and women are always ready to settle down). Some of this is starting to shift, obviously (shows like How I Met Your Mother invert much of this, and I gather films like Bridesmaids do it too), but it's still around.

 

[Vermithrax 4]

Yeah, the gender stereotypes you mentioned are dead-on. That also applies to age stereotypes. Movies and commercials still show the aged wearing shawls or light sweaters, glasses and hairstyles that date back to the 40s, even though today's aging populace grew up in the 60s.

And I'm not sure if this could be considered a cliche or not, more of an overused pieces of music in movie trailers: I...AM....SICK...of EVERY trailer for EVERY movie that comes out during the Christmas season ALWAYS having "The Nutcracker Suite" as the soundtrack!!! Studios...FIND ANOTHER PIECE OF MUSIC, PLEASE!!!

 

[Solo4114]

Well, it made more sense than Verdi's Dies Irae. Although, come to think of it, for the right "dysfunctional family" movie, that might be a perfect piece to use in a trailer.


I'm sick of >THOOM< trailers that >THOOM< use dramatic pauses punctuated >THOOM< by a booming sound and a set of words growing on screen. Then usually followed by a bunch of quick cuts also punctuated by big booming sounds and featuring lots of explosions.

"This summer..."

>THOOM<

"The only safe place..."

>THOOM<

"Is in your armor..."

>THOOM<

"Revenge of the Twaddle -- June 15, 2012"

 

[Jeyl]

Camera shaking. We know you're trying to hide the fact that you can't set up or choreograph a shot in a dignified way since how it looks is second only to how intense the action must be.

 

[Solo4114]

It made sense in Saving Pvt. Ryan. That and, I guess, what, removing frames? Whatever they did to make everything sort of herky-jerky when shooting action sequences.

For me, quick cuts and shaky-cam hit their nadir with Quantum of Solace.

 

[Jack T Chance]

The Wilhelm scream.

Wilhelm Scream Compilation - YouTube

What I want to know is what movie did this thing first appear in?!? :confused

I mean, it must be the most influential movie EVER for the simple fact that EVERYONE in the industry uses that scream! :lol

But my biggest pet peeve lately is something that several of you mentioned... the highly inaccurate portrayal of firearms movies, TV shows, and now, even VIDEO GAMES!

Cracked.Com sums it up so nicely...

5 Ridiculous Gun Myths Everyone Believes (Thanks to Movies)