Most Annoying Movie Cliches

[MrScorpio]

Boy and girl meet at first and hate each other's guts. By the time the movie is over, in a matter of hours, if not minutes, they're both going tonsil fishing on each other with their tongues.

People who do not get the fuck out of haunted houses.

Pets who are too smart for their owners.

Miltary officers who hold scientific folks in contempt... Until they realize that all their options are exhausted and the eggheads are their only hope.

Bad guys that can't hit the broadside of a barn with automatic weapons.

[SeattleGirl]

1. Your first one drives me nuts.

It's as if, in Hollywoodland, at least, two people can't fall in lust or love unless they hate each other's guts first, treat each other like crap, and call each other every name in the book. Ah, love! :grr:

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

17. Actually, I once dated someone for about a year after...

hating each other for about 1.5 years. We worked together, too. Actually...the whole thing was dramatic enough for it to easily be made into a sub-plot on The L Word.

[SeattleGirl]

21. I'm not saying it doesn't happen

Just that it happens a bit too frequently in movie land.

Hey, maybe you should write a script and submit it!

[hfojvt]

110. it's not nearly as bad as the

boy pursues prom queen type while ignoring, until the end of the movie, his really good looking best friend

[Broken_Hero]

2. I got a few

But, this one is so true "Bad guys that can't hit the broadside of a barn with automatic weapons." And, the hero with his dual .45's, takes out everybody...

I usually don't like the predictable endings...like the good guy not killing the bad guy for example "don't do it man, he isn't worth it!!!" and the good guy lets the villian get taken away to prison.

That is why I like the ending of 7...I thought for sure Pitt was goign to let Spacey live, and then whammo! Dead spacey...took me by surprise...

[jobycom]

26. Well, there's another film I don't have to watch now.

:)

[Broken_Hero]

83. sorry...:)

I figured everyone has seen 7 by now...:) sorry...:( :silly:

[jobycom]

84. That's alright

If I had cared, I'd have watched it already. :)

[PittPoliSci]

3. happy endings.

and sad endings for that matter.

endings in general are a bit awful, but sequels are even worse.

remakes...don't get me started...

[Blue_Tires]

4. this one needs to be retired

Small-town Texas (or the south) that is absolutely BATSHIT insane over some high-school football team that must win at all costs or else

[haf216]

7. The problem is most of the time it is a true story,

people in Texas are stupid about football. In the small town I lived in 30 year olds went to the games even if they had no kids playing in the game because "you have to support your local team!" I got dressed down once, because I had never been to a game, mind I had only be living in the town for three years and went to high school in a deferent state.

[Richard Steele]

20. That's not a movie cliché, it's a way of life in some areas of the USA.

But I'll agree: it REALLY needs to be retired.

[haf216]

5. The haunted house one really bothers me,

can't they hear the music. But really you find your friend dead and you stay ??????

[Spirochete]

45. N ot only that...

it invariably inspires them to split up and have a look around. We root for them to die because they are so stupid. hehe

[LSdemocrat]

6. Bad guys always losing . . .

Kids who act like adults and seem more mature than their parents (see the new "War of the Worlds")

Portraying working and middle class people as if they lead luxurious, carefree lives (i.e. tons of leisure time, ridiculously nice living accomodations, cars, and possessions

[Broken_Hero]

8. true

I was so pissed when Deniro got killed in Heat...Pacino's character was more of a creep, and Deniro buys it...cheaply...:(

[Tyrone Slothrop]

36. That ending ruined that movie for me

He wouldn't have gone back...

[Floogeldy]

9. So, give us your creative movie plot in one sentence.

Let's see if you can out-do the cliches. ;)

[ComerPerro]

113. Here's mine, check it

This guy is really popular, and always gives this girl a hard time. One day, he goes too far, and really pisses her off. As punishment, the high school counselor thinks the two of them should spend time together, one on one, to try to bond.

So he suggests they go to a haunted house, so they can learn to work as a team and that way come to an understanding.

This haunted house is haunted by the evil spirts of gangsters from the 1920s, who chase the boy and girl around the house with Tommy guns blazing. The boy and girl manage to buy time by stalling and setting traps, and decide its time to take a stand and confront the phantom gangsters directly.

They call 9/11, and the cops arrive on scene, joined by a para-psychologist. The cops want to get everyone out and detonate the place, but the para-psychologist knows that this will only make the phantom gangsters angry and send them on a killing spree. But, no matter what he says, the cops still decide to blow the place up anyway.

This turns out to be a tragic mistake, as it not only makes the phantom gangsters more powerful, but it also causes more of them to rise from the dead, and they all get together and summon the ghost of Al Capone.

At this point, the para-psychologist and the two teens are told to go home, and the National Guard is called in.

But the three heroes know that only they can stop this thing.

So while the military is shooting it out with Phantom Al Capone's phantom gangsters in a standoff, the para-psychologist and the two teens use a machine built by the para-psychologist's cat, a Gizmometron, to build a phantom speakeasy, to lure the gangsters. Its a trap, which will send the evil phantom gangsters back to hell and destroy Phantom Al Capone once and for all.

They bring their containment device to the general, but he stubbornly refuses to hear them out.

But just as he is sending them away, he is shot in the chest by one of the phantom gangsters (in a rare moment of stunning accuracy). As he lays dying, he gets the president on the phone, who tells the para-psychologist to "do what you gotta do".

They unleash the phantom Speakeasy, and the gangsters all fall for it.

They are sent back to hell, Capone is destroyed, the three heroes are awarded medals in a public ceremony, and the boy and the girl make out.

Roll credits.

[begin_within]

10. There was a long thread very similar to this one about 3 weeks ago. Go to

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=5451661

[NYdemocrat089]

11. The good guys always winning.

Sometimes (in movies) you just want the bad guys to triumph once in a while, or at least make the good guys try harder.

[Archae]

12. The "pull the girl along" cliche.

Hero pulls the girl out of danger, (or tries to,) pulling her along almost to the point where she's falling on her face.

[blondeatlast]

13. Baby doll nighties as standard all-female dormitory wear.

Yeah, right, and I always wore pigtails and lip gloss to bed, too.

Need I mention :sarcasm:?

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

18. Wow...I never even noticed that one, but you're right.

Of course, in actuality the standard all-girl dormitary pajamas are some combination of flannel pants, boxers, t-shirt, tank top, sweatshirt.

[Radical Activist]

69. but with pig tails and no bras, right?

right.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

75. No pigtails. Sometimes with bras. Sometimes without.

[Radical Activist]

76. this is getting less interesting all the time.

you had pillow fights several times a week, right? :)

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

77. No, but once we did nude self-portraits in the lounge.

There were guys too, and we were really just starting into mirrors while naked and drawing ourselves. We were theatre design students.

[Radical Activist]

81. Well that's something.

Theatre majors were always fun.

[NewJeffCT]

33. I recorded a movie off a sci-fi last night...

I hope it is as good as it sounds... but, the description was something like, "a failed science experiment leads to chaos among scantily-clad coeds"

I mean, how can a movie like that be bad?

and, yes, the description on the screen on DISH did use the words "scantily clad"

[regnaD kciN]

66. You mean it isn't...?????

I am so disillusioned...

[ComerPerro]

117. its well known that girls in female dorms sleep naked

so, why can't movies be more realistic?

In fact, once they get in the dorm, they take off all their clothes.

I'd like to see more realism, in this regard.

[Benfea]

14. Oh, hey, you're from Detroit!

I never clicked on your sig link before, forgive me for not noticing earlier.

There are some Detroit DJs who are doing some wacky and wonderful things by blending industrial, EBM and hip-hop. Neat stuff. I listen to In Perpetual Motion radio fairly regularly.

[mykpart]

15. The good guy figures out that the bad guy is guilty.

But instead of just killing him or going to the police, he confronts the bad guy ALONE and unarmed and tells him he's going to tell everyone. And we're supposed to be surprised when the bad guy pulls out a gun or a knife or an axe and proceeds to slaughter the good guy. DUH!

[ContraBass Black]

16. The car blows up

For no apparent reason.

[Richard Steele]

19. Barehanded hero takes out armed bad guy, and leaves the gun.

I guarantee, if I'm ever trying to escape a big bunch
of killers/terrorists/PTA moms, I'm TAKING the gun off
that first one I sneak up behind.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

22. Funny true story actually...

one of my martial arts instructors had a habit of saving articles (mostly from murders) to show them to us and ask up what we would have done if in that situation. One of the articles was from a guy who was mugged at knifepoint. However, he was a trained martial artist and he quickly disarmed the guy of his knife...until he handed the knife back to him. Apparently, he was so used to class where you disarm your partner and then hand the weapon back to do it again, that he did it in real life. However, the mugger was so shocked that he just ran off.

[amitten]

23. The dead bad guy isn't really dead.

Shot in the face? Still not dead.

Jackhammer through the stomach? Still not dead.

Torso separated from legs? Still not dead.

Set on fire? Ummmmm...almost maybe now dead.

Blown to smithereens by a tremendous, possibly nuclear explosion?











Okay, usually that one does it.

[jobycom]

25. That's a real story, too. Daisy cutters, bunker busters, and the most

expensive military in history sometimes can't kill the bad guy even when they have him trapped.

[begin_within]

98. You must have seen "Westworld"

[jobycom]

24. The smart kid in school is dweebie and must be taught

to be cool by the half-wit moron who needs help passing a class.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

27. Rich girl falls in love with poor guy against parental objections.

Right.

[NewJeffCT]

34. vice versa happens, too

Pretty Woman
Mystic Pizza

[GoddessOfGuinness]

51. yup

[NMMNG]

28. Hero outruns huge explosion that takes out a city block.

There are 3 or more exits down stairs and the stupid woman runs upstairs when fleeing the killer.


Strangers meet and fall hopelessly and "forever" in love in 48 hours or less.


Kids under 10 use dialog fit for an adult.


Vehicles that worked perfectly well throughout the movie suddenly fail to start when the person needs to escape a villain/monster, then miraculously start a millisecond before the hero/ine gets slaughtered so s/he can escape.

[CBHagman]

32. Ah, yes, the explosion.

Is there a single action movie trailer that doesn't show the protagonists running away and then falling forward dramatically in slo-mo as everything explodes behind them? And no one ever has third-degree burns or a broken bone or temporary deafness. :eyes:

I also hate the way everything is carefully arranged and posed in the movies. I remember an acquaintance renting Dying Young and watching the scene where Julia Roberts single-handedly introduces the hero to good nutrition. She shops for and prepares vegetables, all of which are carefully arrayed about the kitchen to glisten in the light and be as eye-catching as possible. In reality they'd all be in the crisper tray of the refrigerator, and she'd be messy and weepy from chopping onions.

Also, did you ever notice how much money people have to spend? Unless the character's poverty or limited budget is a plot point, he/she can afford to rent a picturesque little house or apartment and furnish it attractively, regardless of wages or limitations.

[NMMNG]

96. Of course

Like the new teacher at the dirt poor inner-city school who can afford the nice apartment you just know costs at least $2000 a month. :eyes:

[benny05]

29. Or..

Heavy duty robots/aliens which take over the planet for 10 days; everyone knows they are coming, and they cannot do anything until lots of death and destruction, then finally the light bulb goes off to figure out how to stop them

[baldguy]

30. The demon-spawn cannibal is in the closet.

The expendable co-ed ALWAYS looks in the closet - even after you tell them not to.

[NewJeffCT]

31. Going into a darkened house/room

In a horror movie, nobody ever seems to turn the light switch on... yep, I always do that when I get home late at night - fumble around stumbling over things in the dark until some criminal or monster jumps me.

[XemaSab]

35. Stupid kids from the city

go camping in the boonies WITHOUT A CLUE.

[MorningGlow]

37. Detective or cop or other dangerous-profession person

Takes "one last assignment" the day before retiring to live on a tropical island.

We all know what happens then. :eyes:

[Strawman]

38. Romantic obsession that is unhealthy and creepy actually works out

For the pining guy or gal hero of the film. That's just not right.

[laundry_queen]

90. This one is my BIGGEST pet peeves

Wonder where stalkers get the idea that if only they pursue their objects of affection long enough, they WILL learn to love them, right?
:puke:

[barb162]

39. slow trumpet playing before a sex scene

I find that so obnoxious

[carlydenise]

42. sex scene music all together

it's always slow jazzy saxophone music...I wonder if there are studio musicians who specialize in this particular genre of music?

[barb162]

47. I dont know, but it sure gets on my nerves.

As soon as they start playing it...you know what the next scene is! The thing is, I still notice it in movies being made today. It's not just a 50s and 60s thing.

[begin_within]

91. And, there's always a bottle of champagne in an ice bucket and a fire in

the fireplace, no matter what time of year it is.

[Strawman]

94. In Top Secret!, the fireplace was on a parachute

[kwassa]

40. The product label is always turned towards the camera

In the old days, the labels were placed in a way that you could not read them.

These days, you have to read them over and over again. Commercials in the middle of the film.

Another annoying one: when the monster/alien/whatever attacks, the black character is the first one to die.

[carlydenise]

41. young women who can't seem to run correctly

they run, trip, and can't seem to get themselves together good enough to get up and run again....if I had some dude with a chain saw or some ugly monster chasing me, you can bet I will not be tripping every couple of steps.

[NewJeffCT]

52. Or, when a car is trying to run them down...

They always seem to run in a straight line, right in the middle of the street when there is plenty of cover all around (parked cars, trees, etc)

[SteppingRazor]

43. How about this line: "I can't make it! Save yourself! Go on without me!"

Christ on a cornflake, if I was wounded and some horrible fate was approaching from behind, I'd be like, "Where the fuck are you going??!!! Get the hell back here and help me!!!!"

[ComerPerro]

114. and the inevitable "I'm not leaving without you"

"Yes, go, you have to go on".

"K. C-ya"

[RedStateShame]

44. The final scene wrap-up

Now, this is a device used in many motion pictures when the director wants to make sure the audience remembers the events leading up to the climax, ie the recap of clips at the end of "The Usual Suspects." Now, it worked there because it's a long movie. But that same device was used in "Saw II," and it was totally unnecessary, as the film barely clocked in at 90 minutes, and I wouldn't exactly call the plot complicated. A few other movies try to end like this, but unless your movie is "Usual Suspects" long and meticulous, it's a waste.

[jobycom]

82. Another defense of "The Usual Suspect" on that

is that the flashback montage bit shows a different story than the one told the first time, so it is a bit more than a rehash. Snatch does that, too. But I agree with you on that technique. Looks very amateur, like a tv movie that has to reframe the story after every commercial. Edward Burns does that in "Confidence," and it pushed the film from a borderline pass to a fail for me.

[Ezlivin]

46. Bad physics

People falling or being propelled dozens of feet to a hard surface, only to "shake it off" and get up to run/fight/whatever.

[martymar64]

48. People with low-paying jobs that live in huge lofts or apts.

That never fails to bug me. How can a person making minimum wage afford a loft or huge apt. in someplace like Manhattan or have a place at the beach by themselves? It would cost at least double what they make to live in a place like that! Make it more realistic, put them in a crappy studio apt that they have to share with one or more roommates.

[SteppingRazor]

50. The TV show "Friends" being the ultimate example of that...

I mean, come on.... Rachel -- a waitress in a freaking coffee house -- has a massive two-bedroom apartment?

Christ. :eyes:

[dback]

54. I think it was rent-controlled, and inherited from grandma

Might be mistaken, but I believe they alluded to that. Chandler had a decent-paying job, and Joey was working on a soap opera for awhile, so they had some decent cash flow.

But Phoebe was a masseur! She'd better have had some AWESOME tippers.

[LynneSin]

62. Monica's apartment was rent-controlled and actually in Nanna's name

Nanna being their grandmother.

I'm actually a bit of a 'Friends' fan but in a nutshell:

Before Rachel, Phoebe was Monica's roommate (Phoebe moved out because Monica was a control freak but didn't tell Monica she was moving out at first)

Before Phoebe, Monica actually lived with Nanna (to live in the city and get away from her controlling mother). Nanna moved out due to health reasons but left Monica live in the apartment with her(nanna's) name on the lease.

And give Rachel credit, she only waitressed for 2 seasons. She then worked her way up from a Personal Shopper at Bloomingdales to ultimately a well paying job at Ralph Lauren AND they showed her working plenty of times.

Ross had a doctorate in Palentology so he made good money

Joey was an actor and struggled with money, sometimes borrowing from his roomy Chandler.

Chandler had some job in IT where he was actually the boss over a couple of people but the joke was no one really knew what he did all day at work.

The only one I couldn't figure out how she lived by herself (and in a 2-bedroom since at one point Rachel moved in) was Phoebe. She was a Massage therapist - how much money could she be making a year?

[regnaD kciN]

67. Actually...

Chandler had some job in IT where he was actually the boss over a couple of people but the joke was no one really knew what he did all day at work.

...the audience did know that, in his first position, his job involved keeping track of the WENUS.

(For those who've forgotten, that's the Weekly Estimated Net Usage Survey.)

[LynneSin]

73. Yeah, but nobody really knew what that was except it sounded funny

:shrug:

Remember, the girls lost their apartment because they didn't know what Chandler's job was.

[Proud2BAmurkin]

49. Driving six miles while looking at your passenger and not the road

nt

[hfojvt]

111. that was bugging me and my sister in "Joe Somebody"

He's driving down the interstate talking to his daughter and I kept expecting a huge car accident to be part of the story. Maybe added because I was watching TV shows like re-runs of "Dharma and Greg" that had a sudden pointless huge car accident happen to the main characters.

[calico1]

53. One person attacking another with a big knife..

swinging, hacking away, yet somehow they MISS every time! Same with a gun. Shooting the person in a wide, open space, yet somehow they miss!

The bag of groceries with the obligatory loaf of french bread and bunch of carrots.

Houses left unlocked, cars left ulocked with keys in ignition.

Radios turned on in cars and a favorite song is playing which always starts just as the radio gets turned on! Imagine that!

Woman being attacked by maniac or some monster who just stays frozen, screaming with her hands over her face!

[CBHagman]

65. And no one looks out the peephole of an apartment.

They just OPEN THE DOOR!! :shrug:

I think Crossing Delancey was the only movie I saw where people actually looked out the peephole.

[Zavulon]

55. The hero being attacked by a huge gang, but one-by-one, and especially

when the gang has decided to put their guns away and take the guy out hand-to-hand. Even after the hero takes out ten or twelve guys, nobody bothers to pull a gun.

[Zavulon]

59. I forgot one - revolvers that hold 42 shots and semi-automatic pistols

which hold 80.

[ComerPerro]

115. I got my ass kicked by 3 guys once who stole shit from me

and, let me assure you, they DID NOT fight me one at a time, two waiting and watching while one fought.

[querelle]

56. All Telephone Numbers Are 555-1212

Why?

Q

[Zavulon]

61. I've noticed that the majority of them, the VAST majority of them, are

555-01XX. I first noticed this watching the Sopranos (Tony's number is 555-0157) and then in the next two shows I watched (different series), the number was 555-01-whatever. Watch for this; by the time you get to having heard 20 555 numbers from this point on, 15+ will end with 01XX.

[regnaD kciN]

68. The simple reason...

...is that there are no actual residential or business phone numbers starting with 555. The only exception is/was Directory Assistance at 555-1212.

I think the feeling was that, if you put in any number that might actually exist, some fans of the film might start calling that number just for the hell of it, and the person who kept getting disturbed by those calls might sue the filmmakers for harrassment.

[NewWaveChick1981]

57. Women running from killers or explosions or whatever other

danger WHILE WEARING HIGH HEELS. Take those shoes the FUCK off and run, bitch!!! :eyes:

Makeup and hair never, ever getting mussed in movie sex scenes. Um, have the writers ever actually HAD sex? :rofl:

[blondeatlast]

85. Another big peeve of mine.

These young and lovelies are so graceful, they never get their spikes caught or twisted ankles or popped knees.

Hollywood IS magic!

[NewWaveChick1981]

123. I know. Magic!

Wow! Running in four-inch spike heels and not getting injured in any way is just amazing....:rofl:

[begin_within]

93. No matter what they have on their feet, women running always trip and fall

They could be the Olympic champion in the 100 meters, but if they're in a movie, and they're running to get away from someone or something, inevitably they will trip and fall over a small bush or something, thus giving the pursuer a chance to catch up at least partially.

[NewWaveChick1981]

122. Oh, yes. Never mind the fact that they may be incredibly agile...

Oh, and the ones in high heels NEVER seem to get those heels caught on anything... but that little rock will trip them up every time...

[LynneSin]

58. Always raining at funerals

I mean is there some law that the dead can only be buried on the dreariest, rainiest day possible.

"Oh Honey, we're gonna have to postpone Aunt Bessy's funeral. It's just too nice of a day to bury her"

[KamaAina]

79. Always raining and/or storming whenever anything bad is about to happen

not just funerals, and remember, half of this stuff is supposed to be taking place in L.A. :eyes:

[Starbucks Anarchist]

60. Lots of those already mentioned, plus...

A scene where everyone is laughing and having a good time, only to be interrupted by a phone call. The main character walks up to the foreground where the phone is and answers it, then her facial expression slowly changes from a smile to a horrified look because of the bad news she has just received.

Also, where two characters on a date clumsily fall over each other, laugh hysterically, then proceed to make out while they're on the ground after thinking about it for two seconds.

[LynneSin]

63. Parking always available right in front of the building in downtown

I actually liked the remake of "The Italian Job" but it baffled me how Charlize Theron managed to find a prime parking space right in front of her office in downtown Philadelphia. Plus how the hell does anyone weave in-and-out of downtown Philly traffic at 50MPH. You're lucky if you can go 20MPH on any given day even if your car is a Mini

[ComerPerro]

116. Do you really want to watch the main character

find a parking space, pay to park, and then walk to their destination?

[Phentex]

64. Fruit stand being knocked over in a car chase scene....

fruit goes everywhere. No people are hit.

[martymar64]

70. Streets at night are always wet

Check it out!

[Radical Activist]

71. Any girl will fall for a guy if he romances/stalks her long enough

because it was always meant to be. Amazing how many women see that as romantic in a movie rather than seeing it the way they would react in their own life.

[ComerPerro]

118. you mean, creepy, stalkerish, "Im gonna get a restraining order"

"I can't believe she called the cops just because I stood outside her window, staring at her, holding a boombox over my head and blasting music in the middle of the night"

[Radical Activist]

124. exactly. I'm constantly amazed

at the things women think are romantic in movies when I'm thinking "If someone really did that to you, you would have gotten a restraining order."

[ElboRuum]

72. More...

Monster always gets up just one more time.

The teen movie rule that the "ugly duckling" gets the hot guy.

Cars that just blow up when they turn over/get hit hard (GTA rules of physics).

Just about the entire dialogue of cop buddy movies. The cheesy threats, the good cop/bad cop routine, etc.

The rogue loner ace cop with non-regulation weaponry moaning about a new partner... who's always a wiseass.

[Radical Activist]

74. Catholic Priests are the only clergy capable of fighting vampires/demons.

Kind of odd isn't it? Are the Rabbis just too busy? I guess vampires aren't afraid of Lutherans.

[NMMNG]

95. That's so silly

Everyone knows you just need the Slayer. :silly:

[dback]

78. The slow clap

Please God, never again.

[amitten]

108. WE HAVE A WINNER!

Yes, the slow clap en masse is indeed the very worst.

[Fox Mulder]

80. Happy endings.

Talking animals.
Talking inanimate objects.
People who don't know how to run.
People who just stand there and scream.

I could go on and on...but I don't want to.

[ChickMagic]

86. The talkative killer

He/she describes how the person (usually a secret agent) is going to be killed,
tells his/her life story, gets wistful and the agent escapes. Just kill the guy,
stupid!

[amitten]

109. Yeah. Also known as the "psychotherapy killer". They seem to

feel the need to tell their life story before making the kill.

[graywarrior]

87. The driver talking to the passenger and looking at him/her for

over 10 seconds...sometimes over 20 seconds.

[MrScorpio]

88. More:

People who don't buckle up while driving.... Especially in the city

Missing rear view mirrors

Military guys wearing their dress uniform all the time.

[Arkham House]

89. Cops and/or FBI agents with deep secrets...

...usually some extraordinary fuck up they're trying to live down...

[begin_within]

92. What I call the "Hugh Grant" episode:

A guy cheats on his girlfriend, and she's furious and goes to break up with him, but he apologizes so charmingly and disarmingly, like a puppy who just tore apart something valuable but looks up with the cutest expression, and the girl falls in love with him all over again. Hugh Grant seemed to specialize in this (not only in movies but also in real life with Elizabeth Hurley) - "I know I've been such a cad..."

[Mendocino]

97. Guns that misfire/ cars that won't start!

The villain who explains everything to the hero just before he is put into a long, drawn out and easily escapable situation. (Thanks Austin Powers)

Hookers with a heart of gold.

Tom Cruise movies: cynical and cocky guy gets humbled, then rises above in it the end.(Think Top Gun, Days Of Thunder, The Firm, A Few Good Men)

The old nerdy scientist in a Sci-Fi movie always seems to have a good looking but slightly frigid daughter/assitant who falls for the young lead.

THE BIG GAME!!!! This why Bull Durham is unique among sports films.

Non stars in movies like Jurrasic Park. They may as well have creature fodder or eat me tattoed on their foreheads.

[ComerPerro]

119. gotta love the ALCS scene in Major League

Main character, a near-washed-up catcher on his last shot, is up to bat, bottom of the ninth, he points to centerfield to call his shot for the gamewinning home run.

And hits a sac bunt down the third base line. Runner scores from third.

You can see the fielder, when he recognizes the bunt, giving a great "oh shit" reaction.

[dad]

99. my helicopter theory

If you see a helicopter in a movie, start the clock. It's only a matter of time before the damn thing blows up.

[begin_within]

100. The murderer goes to a coffee shop immediately after the murder, and the

desultory, hardened, middle-aged waitress doesn't care about his disheveled look or odd behavior - she's seen it all before.

[begin_within]

101. Here is how they always hang up the phone:

"I can't believe it. I'll be right over."
Hangs up the phone WITHOUT saying "goodbye," and is staring out the window while hanging up the phone perfectly. Still stands there staring out the window in silence. The scene then cuts to the car pulling up at wherever he said he would be right over to. Jumps out the car, leaves the car door open, and walks right in the house without knocking. The key to it all is that they never say "goodbye" when hanging up the phone.

[tuvor]

102. 100 posts, and I can't believe no one's posted...

"Let's get outta here!"

[ComerPerro]

120. ugh. "C'mon, lets get outta here"

[begin_within]

103. The crochety old gas station owner/mechanic, who accidentally reveals a

major clue to the mystery. Always played by a character actor over the age of 60, who has a pleasant, genial demeanor, and before the gas is finished pumping, lets slip a tiny but crucial piece of information that leads the person driving the car to the right place. The gas station attendant never has any clue that they gave a crucial bit of information. The person driving the car always drives away saying, "Thank you. Thank you VERY MUCH."

[Throd]

126. The LED timer on a time bomb

If I were to set a time bomb, I would trigger it to go off when it got down to 20:35. Let the hero think he has 20+ minutes to disarm the bomb and KABLEWIE!

[begin_within]

104. Imitating the shrieking violins from "Psycho" in just about every thriller

since "Psycho." It was perfectly done in "Psycho" and they should have respected that, and not copied it for every slasher film of the last 46 years.

[begin_within]

105. There's an entire web site devoted to movie cliches:

http://www.moviecliches.com/

[begin_within]

106. The way someone dies is almost always like this:

(Except of course for villains, who never get this little perk):

They are on the brink of death, and they know it. They have just enough time left to utter a memorable line. Then their wrist goes limp - and they're gone.

[hfojvt]

112. "with my last breath I spit at thee

from hell's heart I stab at thee"

[elperromagico]

107. For a complete list, Google "Schwarzenegger campaign speeches."

[Initech]

121. The suburban white guy who coaches an inner city team to get a job

[datasuspect]

125. battle preparation montage

with or without music video editing.

where they basically visualise a preparation checklist on screen, usually with urgent music.

[Mutley]

127. Boy asks out "ugly" Girl on a dare

and gets her to let down her ponytail, take off her glasses, and put on trendy clothes. Now suddenly Girl is gorgeous and they fall in love.