Favorite movie cliches?

[bliss_eternal]

What are the movie cliche's that make you crazy, or you find yourself laughing at, in spite of their ridiculous nature?

For example--one of mine is the way the murderer has to tell the victim all of the details of their fiendish plan BEFORE they kill them--they take so much time talking, the victim generally figures out a way to get away--and does.

Another one for me are the movies where someone is being shot at, but apparently everyone is a lousy shot, because they miss them by a mile and use every bullet in their arsenal. :eyes:

LOL! What are yours?

[Blue-Jay]

1. 555-xxxx phone numbers.

That always makes me laugh, due to the necessity of it. It's sad that there are weirdos out there who would dial a number they heard on a movie, expecting to be connected with Dr Evil or some other fictional character.

[bliss_eternal]

3. LOL!

That's a good one! Cracks me up, too.

[ghostsofgiants]

52. I like to call that the Jenny effect

[KitchenWitch]

61. After the song?

[ghostsofgiants]

74. But of course...

I think the only way to get rid of that damn earworm is to dial the number.

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

76. I remember when 'Bruce Almighty' came out

it proved there really are stupid people out there:

Dawn Jenkins isn't in the new Jim Carrey comedy "Bruce Almighty."
Her phone number, however, is — and that's a problem for the Pinellas Park, Fla., glassmaker.

In the film, the nation's top movie over the weekend, Carrey stars as a regular guy who receives the powers of God (played by Morgan Freeman) after complaining too much about life.

God tries to reach Bruce Nolan, Carrey's character, by repeatedly leaving a phone number on his pager. But instead of the usual 555 prefix most television shows and films use in phone numbers, God's number is a common exchange — too common for Jenkins' liking. It's her cell phone number.

She's been getting about 20 calls per hour, with callers asking for God before hanging up.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/05/27/entertainment/main555630.shtml

[Chovexani]

2. The heroic dog-that-lives scene in cheesy disaster flicks

You know the one. The aliens/earthquake/flood/whatever is tearing up the city and people are running for their lives...the Plucky Kid (usually the child of one of the Heroes in charge of stopping the disaster) gets separated from his/her dog during the escape. It looks like the dog is gonna buy the farm, but somehow manages to cheat death in the nick of time and is reunited with the Plucky Kid.

It's cheesy as hell and I can't help laughing at it, but I love it because I'm such a sucker for cute animals.

[bliss_eternal]

5. Ah--a classic cliche!

I'm a sucker for a kid being reunited with their dog, myself! LOL!

[DS1]

4. car goes over cliff

car blows up

[qnr]

19. I call that "APCA" - "As per Charlie's Angels" n/t

[Hugin]

60. I swear they blow up...

If someone slams the door too hard.

Cheesy, movie cars!

:)

[antigone382]

6. The way the hero's 6-shooter always has like, thirty bullets...

[Chovexani]

7. One of my favorite dumb action movie cliches

Right along with the way the hero can jump off a really tall roof and land perfectly on his feet with no harm done. Okay, maybe sometimes he does some bad ass roll maneuver and pops back onto his feet. This is always during a chase scene.

Wesley Snipes movies are especially good for that. :rofl:

[bliss_eternal]

11. Agreed--

I also love the 'magic gun theory'--always extra bullets. So convenient! hahaha! That one cracks me up!

Also as Chovexani mentions, whenever the hero does anything that no normal person could possibly survive--but of course they do.

Example, Indiana Jones sliding down a hill in an inflatable raft to safety--uh-huh, yeah right!

LOL!

[-..__...]

8. Hero always finds the perfect parking spot.

In NYC, LA, Chicago, Boston, etc.

[bliss_eternal]

12. LOL!

Particularly New York! As if...

:rofl:

[EstimatedProphet]

9. Every time a car leaves the road, it explodes

I remember watching a 70's cop show once, and a car left the road, rolled down a 30° slope THAT WAS ENTIRELY SMOOTH, STOPS, AND EXPLODES!

[Rabrrrrrr]

10. UNLESS it's essential that the car remain intact, because it has the hero,

or still has all the Krugerands in it, etc., then it can fall down a 200 foot cliff after being riddled with bullets into a gas factory, and it won't explode.

[bliss_eternal]

13. ...won't even have a scratch on it

or a dent.

:D

[skygazer]

14. The scenes where several people explain something

Usually some technical plot twist that you have to know to understand the movie so they stage it like a meeting and a bunch of people explain it. But they all speak in turn, without anyone interrupting anyone else in the most obviously scripted way.

[bliss_eternal]

17. LOL!

As if people really discuss things that way--all in turn, everyone paying perfect attention, nodding along in agreement...so funny!

[Devra]

66. and that they would continue talking about the same thing for that long

usually the conversation would have gotten sidetracked at some point

[datasuspect]

15. the "arsenal preparation" montage

with quick cut scenes of the hero picking up ribbons of bullets, choosing the right weapons, and all ends up with the "click clack" of a round being chambered.

[bliss_eternal]

18. OMG--LMAO!

You just brought back visions of Rambo--First Blood!!! :rofl:

:rofl:

If the movie was silent or had subtitles it would say something like, "Our hero prepares to kick much ass!" :rofl:

[datasuspect]

23. "no one was there to help us!!!"

i thought his breakdown scene was moving (after he shot up the town and his former "handler" was trying to bring him down).

that movie (first blood) had a lot of pathos . . .

[Hugin]

62. There has been several spoofs of that...

The one I remember most was a killer is scanning his table
of weapons... There are axes, knives, guns, and ropes. Every
conceivable instrument of mayhem.

He chooses a paperclip.

:)

[fudge stripe cookays]

81. Was that "Student Bodies?"

That movie used to crack me up in high school.

{pant} {pant} "I"m gonna kill the kid with the gum...{pant} {pant}

And the nutty teacher with the horsehead bookends...

fsc

[Initech]

16. The dog with the shifty eyes that move back and forth

[bliss_eternal]

20. LIke Cujo?

Or when the dog 'gets' that the person that has just entered his home is evil, and no one else gets that yet?

:hi:

[Left Is Write]

21. The victim ALWAYS runs upstairs. Why do they DO that?

[bliss_eternal]

26. LOL! LOL!

I wish I knew-- :rofl:

Just watched Scream again last night, and I thought that very thing. Then again, Scream was kind of a wink, and a nudge to such cliches so it's forgiven.

[ThoughtCriminal]

22. Do I cut the red wire? ... or the blue one?

Geez when is a villain going to use all black wires?

[bliss_eternal]

33. Apparently, film terrorists like those colors.

LOL! Go figure...

:rofl:

[NewJeffCT]

24. when the hero/heroine enters the house

and doesn't turn the light on. It's just so unnatural.

[bliss_eternal]

30. What about leaving the door open?

When they enter their home and leave the door open,(and probably don't turn on the lights either) that drives me crazy! Who does that?

[bliss_eternal]

25. Taking time out of the story to go to a cool jazz club

or a funky little bar, to establish that the lead character is really laid back, cool and that we should really like him despite what other qualities he has shown in the film. Pretty manipulative on the part of the film maker...

That one sometimes annoys me, as it just comes out of nowhere at times.

[qnr]

27. self-delete

[qnr]

28. Watching a battle in space, where you hear every sound, and

the ships turn like aircraft in the atmosphere.

[Heather Chandler]

29. Teenage girls who run and trip in horror movies.

Personally, I'd have busted a cap in the monster/ghoul/whatever's ass.

[qnr]

31. Really :) and welcome to DU

:hi:

[Heather Chandler]

34. Nah, probably not.

I have a killer "evil glare" though. :D

[bliss_eternal]

32. Oh, I know--like no one can run w/out falling in horror films

it's just not allowed.

Welcome to DU, Heather!
:hi:

Good to have you here--thanks for posting to my thread!

[Heather Chandler]

35. Yes, very stupid cliche.

I hate that "helpless woman" crap.

Thanks for the welcome. :hi:

[bliss_eternal]

38. It might help that they all didn't wear heels

while walking in the woods. Who wears heels on a hike?

:shrug:

Not just helpless woman, stupid, impractical woman... I don't like that message either.

[fudge stripe cookays]

82. Gah. Yah beat me.

That's my PET PEEVE. Drives me absolutely nuts.

fsc

[bliss_eternal]

36. Horror movie--people having sex--someone's going to die!

Can anyone in a horror movie just have sex, without someone getting iced afterwards?

What kind of message is that sending? Sex equals quick death?

[Nevernose]

37. "I'm too old for this shit!" n/t

n/t

[mitchum]

39. The leader assembling his squad of "rebellious, loose cannon, hot...

doggin' misfits who will ultimately triumph and stick it to the by-the-book types"
Look, it WAS cool in "The Dirty Dozen", but enough is enough

[bliss_eternal]

41. Yes--this one

is done to death. LOL! Thanks for posting it though--brings up memories of so many movies!

[lpbk2713]

40. Car chase scene

Tires squealing on a dirt road.

Car sideswipes something in one scene, next scene doesn't have any damage.

[the_real_38]

42. 'live fast, die young, and have a good-looking corpse' -

Pretty Boy Romano (played by John Derek, who later married Ursula Andress and '10' Bo Derek) - Humphrey Bogart played his lawyer. The name of the movie was 'knock on any door'.

[jpgray]

43. You're a loose cannon! You're off the case. Give me your gun and badge!

:boring:

[bliss_eternal]

46. Sooooo many movies with that sentence in their dialogue...

:rofl:

[MrSandman]

44. Pulp Fiction...

Whenever Vincent went to the can, bad things happpen

[CanuckAmok]

45. The gas tank explodes when shot.

Because it's an impossibility, and because so many plots hinge on it happening.

[Hardrada]

47. Sentries, German or otherwise, being deaf

so they never hear anyone sneaking up on them.

[Hardrada]

48. Auto-destruct buttons

in space ships or in alien headquarters etc are getting to be kind of a cliche, especially with warning sirens and so on. "Self-destruct sequence inititated."

[LaraMN]

49. Gratuitous product placement.

[bliss_eternal]

50. Those can be annoying--

It's like, am I watching a movie to be entertained, or is someone trying to sell me something.

I'm trying to recall the movie I saw that had a bunch of Dell computers in several shots...

(??)

[Hardrada]

51. I noticed this in Close Contact of the Third Kind

All those Coca-cola trucks etc.

[Spirochete]

53. In any horror movie

whenever a cat appears - it has to let out a shriek and run out of the room.

[Meatwad]

54. How there's always a thunderstorm...

when someone is getting chased/haunted/stalked by someone/something evil.

[Wetzelbill]

55. Guy wins over girl by singing lame song or reciting lame poetry....

That works if you look like Heath Ledger or some dude like that. In my world it gets you a restraining order. At best you get made fun of.

[bliss_eternal]

77. This is a good one!

Hi Wetzelbill! Haven't seen you in a while!How are you?

:hi:

[Wetzelbill]

80. oh not bad

just busy with school and all. I try to pop in from time to time though. At least you all still remember me. :)

[bliss_eternal]

83. Well, of course I do!

:P

Glad you popped in on us--hope that all is going well with school! Hopefully you'll get a break soon and we can see you more often again...

[kwassa]

56. Good guys never miss when they shoot, bad guys always do

[Devra]

57. movie chareters never wait for their change when they buy something

are we supposed to assume that they always have exact change?

[bliss_eternal]

78. So many seem to not even notice that one...

but you are so right--they never seem to. If they do wait for change, it is used as a plot device or is important to the story somehow.

[Nye Bevan]

58. A lot of good ones on Roger Ebert's site...

for example

Automatic Bike Bell
Any bicycle passing through the frame will be accompanied by the ring of a bike bell on the sound track.

Automatic Vest Display
A character who has mysteriously survived being shot at point-blank range always immediately unbuttons his shirt to reveal his bulletproof vest, usually only to himself.

Because It's Called Sound Effects Rule
In real life, when someone hangs up the phone on you, you hear a click and then silence (about 30 seconds of dead air before an obnoxious reorder tone). In the movies, when someone hangs up at the other end, you get a new dial tone immediately.

Fallacy of the Snarling Beast
A variation on the Fallacy of the Talking Killer. Any ferocious animal, monster, etc., upon cornering its prey, will slow down to a menacing creep and begin to snarl, growl or otherwise attempt to terrify. Unfortunately for the beast, this always gives his quarry time to escape.

Many more at http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=GLOSSARY

[bliss_eternal]

79. I love that Roger Ebert

did a whole book with this stuff! He's one of the first critics (I think) that called films on the cheesy, unbelievable, implausible stuff they do.

This is one of my faves:

Automatic Vest Display
A character who has mysteriously survived being shot at point-blank range always immediately unbuttons his shirt to reveal his bulletproof vest, usually only to himself.

:rofl:

[Starbucks Anarchist]

59. The Convenient Newscast rule.

When characters are discussing a plot-pertinent situation, one will turn on the TV, and at that exact moment, said situation is addressed by a newscaster.

[Hugin]

63. Actually, that has been happening to me a whole lot lately.

Do you figure I'm caught up in a "B" movie plot?

:-/

[Devra]

65. lets hope so

That means theres a chance that Bush isn't President.:bounce:

[underpants]

71. How about turning off the TV and assuming they know the whole story

I love that one. The newscaster gives them basically the first paragraph who what when where and CLICK the TV goes off and they start discussing what just happened or start making plans around the 10 second summary they just heard.

[MissMillie]

64. "No, really, you guys go ahead....."

"Despite the fact that there are people missing and weird things happening all over the place, I'm going to go off by myself alone for a while. I'll catch up w/ you later."

:wtf:

[underpants]

72. the explosives expert "DON'T WAIT FOR ME!!!"

and they always finish JUST .... IN ..... TIME

[Hugin]

73. I guess they need their... "Me time."

Solitude helps to clear the mind and the set... For elaborate
FX. *chuckle*

:thumbsup:

[Catfight]

67. The obligatory French Bread in a paper sack from the grocery store. nt

[underpants]

70. Ha! same time- you beat me by one post

I do actually look for it in every movie.

[underpants]

68. FRENCH .... ....... ..... BREAD ......IN THE GROCERY BAG

I love to look for it and hate the fact that it is ALWAYS there

No one and I mean NO ONE ever goes to the grocery store and doesn't get some french bread.

[Hugin]

69. Hey, that's real life reflected in the Cinema, man.

Although, the French Bread I buy is generally wrapped
in paper.

[calico1]

86. And carrots.

Don't forget the carrots. The ones with the green on top.

[lpbk2713]

87. And whoever is carrying the bag ....

usually pulls an apple out of the very top and starts eating it while walking or talking to someone.

[mattomjoe]

75. Horror movies have tons -- my favorite is someone opening a door to

a closet or something, and when they close it, someone or something is there behind it.

Another classic -- someone backing up to extreme right or left of the screen generally indicates that someone will be coming up behind them.

[bliss_eternal]

84. Women letting loose, and indiscriminately dancing around

tables--while a quirky, funky song is played. They proceed to get drunk--the scene does little to move the story forward, it's just a device to show us all how hot they are... Not much else.

[calico1]

85. Front doors are never locked.

Neither are car doors and keys are almost always in the ignition. People wake up in the morning with hair and makep neatly in place.