Post a movie cliche'.

[ohiosmith]

Burnt out cop awakens from nightmare. Lights a cigarette. Drinks brown liquor. Loads one chamber of his service revolver. Places revolver in mouth. Closes eyes and sighs. Removes revolver from mouth. CUT!

[UTUSN]

1. 1, "I'm going with you!1" "No, you're not!1" (Yes, whoever it is DOES go.) n/t

[UTUSN]

2. 2. Somebody (drunk, high, otherwise grossed out), hugging a toilet and barfing.

This scene appears to be a favorite with countless screenwriters. They apparently think it adds reality. It never fails to disgust me and make me want to ditch the movie right there.

[ohiosmith]

3. Good one.

:thumbsup:

[Alexander]

4. Character running away from someone, trips, falls, can't get back up.

I think horror movies really overuse this one.

[ohiosmith]

7. The go to scene with the designated slashee.

:hi:

[nolabear]

5. Woman being pursued by killer/monster/whatever walks backward in heels into a dark room.

Will they NEVER learn?

[nolabear]

6. Oh, and the car engine won't turn over.

[ohiosmith]

8. If they ever did learn, it would be the end of the slasher genre.

:hi:

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

9. It's awfully quiet here,,,,

yeah, too quiet! Often in westerns just before something happens........

[rug]

10. She opens the basement door and takes a tentative step onto the first stair.

[alphafemale]

11. In a cop movie if the rookie/guy about to retire in 2 weeks mentions in his family/retirement plans

In the first part of the movie he'll be dead within 5 minutes.

[wickerwoman]

70. Yes, anyone who ever mentions the future will die.

[lunamagica]

12. Woman being chased by killer runs to the woods. eom

[Aristus]

13. The soldier who moons over a photo of his girlfriend, or in any way

indicates that he is going to marry her "when this is all over", is the first to die...

[dixiegrrrrl]

14. Captain forms a search party, which includes a doomed ensign,

who will die from the monster/evil doer in the next scene.

[LibertyLover]

26. Don't forget that the aforesaid doomed ensign

must be wearing a red shirt.

[WolverineDG]

39. and not have a name, especially a last name

tip of the hat to Galaxy Quest.

dg

[sarge43]

83. Said ensign just got married, got a sweet letter from girl friend which

he read aloud, passed around a picture of his new baby son, is pending promotion to lieutenant, got an attaboy from the captain, blah, blah, blah.

[MiddleFingerMom]

15. MiddleFingerMom pointing at the popcorn of all those sitting nearby & asking, "You gonna eat that?"

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Oh.
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You probably meant on-screen, huh?
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Nevermind.
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[Tuvok Obama]

16. Nervous man suddenly realizes he's about to be assaulted, usually by several other men...

...and as he backs away, he says, in a shaky voice, "Look, I don't want any trouble."

In the universe of fictional movies and television, I think this must translate into "I dare you to hit me" because whenever someone says "I don't want any trouble" an assault begins approximately 1.5 seconds later.

[pulledpork]

17. "Who sent you?"

My favorite cliched question ever.

[sakabatou]

18. Guy doesn't look at explosion.

[HopeHoops]

19. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

[sarge43]

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

[Archae]

20. Fruit stand!

Car chase.

Some one runs over a fruit stand/vegetable stand on the sidewalk.

[ohiosmith]

22. A classic.

:thumbsup:

[geardaddy]

38. Don't forget the glass truck guys moving a big pane of plate glass

across a busy street.

[begin_within]

54. Roger Ebert wrote about the ubiquitous and obligatory "fruit cart scene," and

the movie "Ski Patrol" even includes a "Siskel and Ebert Fruit Cart" in honor of them.

[JonLP24]

21. Ticking time bomb

Usually always gets to it before the thing blows up. Often panickly trying to pick which wire to pull.

[kimi]

99. And on the clock ticking down,

the correct wire is cut with 5 seconds or less remaining before the world as we know it ends.

[nolabear]

23. Woman throws up, she's pregnant. If she coughs, she's terminal.

Unless she's in a House episode, in which case it's Amyloidosis.


Damn you MFM!

[MiddleFingerMom]

27. !!!!! (with a wide-eyed innocent * ? * thrown in)

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(hrnk)
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[nolabear]

29. AAAAAIIIIEEEEEE!!!!!

*snort!* Ya makes me laugh, you does.

[Rhythm]

24. Woman pursued by killer runs upstairs/into room with no exit...

Instead of out another ground-level door and into the street screaming to get the neighborhood's attention.

[WolverineDG]

42. if she runs outside, she doesn't take off her spike heels

which cause her to trip, fall, & break an ankle.

dg

[rrneck]

25. HOLD ON! nt

[frogmarch]

28. Medical Examiner eating

something that looks disgusting right after an autopsy, or while explaining autopsy findings to a police officer.

[Biker13]

89. Genius!

Can't. Stop. Laughing!

Biker's Old Lady

[XemaSab]

90. Reminds me of the old X-Files episode

Scully's doing an autopsy, and she says, "Victim had... pizza for dinner.... mmm, pizza." :9

[nolabear]

30. Riding off into the sunset. I kinda miss that one.

[deutsey]

31. During a quiet, suspenseful scene when someone is looking around

a hand suddenly touches their shoulder, they gasp, and turn to see it's really a friend.

[wickerwoman]

71. If they're alert, it's always a cat.

If they're not, it's the killer.

[dixiegrrrrl]

32. From the 1950's monster/creature from outer space/etc films:

female romantic interest is shown walking the obligatory 2 feet behind the hero..
IN the desert..
and she is wearing heels, a hat, a suit, and carrying a purse.
Then, after they flee from the sight of the mnster/creature from outer space, she is STILL carrying purse,
having run at an impressive speed thru sand in high heels, and has flawless dust free makeup in the ensuing close up shot.
Updated versions of same are to be found in successive decades of movie making.

[RedCloud]

58. Budget blown, no more special effects

deep voice disguised as aliens warns us to beware. Next time they mean it.

The end... or is it?

[Fire Walk With Me]

33. Streets at night covered in water but no sign of rain or rain on car windshields.

Yeah, yeah, it looks wonderful, but...

[LynneSin]

34. Always raining at funerals - never fails

Seriously

[ohiosmith]

45. Absolutely.

:thumbsup:

[Dr. Strange]

35. Pushing the buttons on the phone rest is supposed to restore a connection.

The hell are they thinking?

[Taverner]

41. That actually used to work in the early days of call waiting

[Dr. Strange]

43. It sounds like some kind of witchcraft to me.

[Taverner]

57. What would happen is you'd get a call on call waiting, and have to touch the thingy lightly

And sometimes you'd get a ghost line

[begin_within]

56. Also, you must look at the phone after someone hangs up on you.

You hear the click, then the person seen in the shot must look at the phone in their hand, as if that explains why they hung up or whether the phone itself decided to hang up the call.

[NightWatcher]

36. car blows up after the driver is pulled out..AND fender benders = flaming wrecks

[WolverineDG]

37. Horror movie cliche (& subset), & romantic movie cliche (with exception)

Bunch of kids told to stay inside & not leave the house under any circumstances decide to leave to go "help" (whoever) find the bad guy.

subset: Bunch of kids who are told to stay inside but leave to go "help" state their plan is to "stay together & not split up," but when they go to where ever it is they're going, find that they do have to split up & do so.

Romantic comedy movie cliche: boy-girl grow up together, best friends, do everything together (except apparently date). Fast forward 10-20 years-ish, one of them is getting married. The other discovers *at the moment they are told of the impending wedding* (never before) that they reallyreallyreally love the other & set about on a course to break up the heretofore happy couple. Tears shed, but braindead fiance(e) forgives the couple who then get married *at the same ceremony.*

(the only movie to break this cliche was "My Best Friend's Wedding" with Julia Roberts, who most shockingly of all, doesn't end up with *any* guy at the end.)

dg

[geardaddy]

40. Cool guy during fight, after pushing the underdog down

struts and gets congratulated by lackeys, only to be tackled from behind by raging underdog.

[oberliner]

44. Man extends hand to woman, says "I need you to trust me", woman hesitantly takes hand

Usually in some situation of general peril.

[JBoy]

46. Good guy hacker accessing bomb disarming device over the internet -

and the evil organization that planted the bomb conveniently programmed a huge, flashy countdown user interface, along with computer-generated voice to announce "bomb de-activated" when he's successful.

[ohiosmith]

48. Bwahahahaha!

:rofl:

[bookworm65t]

47. Teen gets acceptance to college...

which is always HARVARD! :wtf:

We have thousands of schools in this country, but Hollywood thinks we only have one.

And why is it that these (mostly middle and working class)teens can somehow afford the Ivy League anyway? Isn't it about $100,000 a year?

[Bucky]

49. Good lookin' guy is framed for a crime, but instead of calling a lawyer, he runs for it .

Despite being up against an unstoppable, long established international conspiracy financed by an eccentric billionaire and/or a right wing faction burrowed deep within the US government, he is able to just sort of improvise his way into the conspiracy's labyrinthine headquarters and expose their nefarious plot to the whole world, totally exonerating himself in the process.

Oh, and along the way he meets a totally hot chick who doesn't happen to be dating anyone at the moment and bones her so tenderly that she's willing to risk her life to help him destroy the conspiracy, despite having no particular skills at espionage, sabotage, or deception.

[ohiosmith]

50. Dude, you just wrote a screenplay.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

59. You have just described every Robert Ludlum book

(As I know from my misspent youth.)

[begin_within]

51. Black lady on park bench gives sage advice... and, inadvertently, a major clue to mystery

[begin_within]

52. Dying minor character tells who did it... but dies before the name comes out

[begin_within]

53. "Children in peril" never end up dying, they are invincible.

[nolabear]

62. Unless it's a Stephen King movie.

I remember Cat's Cradle, thinking "DAMN. He killed the baby!" It was icky and yet I respected him for it.

[ohiosmith]

76. And he killed the kid in Pet Sematary.

[XemaSab]

91. And the kid in Cujo

[ohiosmith]

98. The kid in Cujo is revived by mom.

[begin_within]

55. Any action film must include a troubled marriage, and the man's heroics win the woman back to him.

[dixiegrrrrl]

60. Any action film must include at least 3 explosions, 2 flying bodies, minimum

and several things crashing into other things,
all at deafening volume
yet
strangely
no one ever gets hurt.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

61. 1. Running down a tunnel pursued by a wall of flame

2. In a conspiracy movie, our hero has figured out the conspiracy and tells his best friend--who turns out to be part of the conspiracy.

3. In a major gunfight in a Western, someone always falls off the roof of a building.

4. All people with English accents are intelligent.

5. Foreigners (and early Native Americans) speak broken English to one another at all times.

6. When people die, their head falls to one side.

7. At the end of the movie, the bad guy always runs UP a water tower, to the roof of a building, etc.

8. Nobody ever studies in high school. They just engage in a lot of social jockeying and bullying.

9. The hero's team always wins the game at the last minute.

10. Army units always contain one person (and only one person) of each major racial and ethnic group.

11. Nobody in the movies ever asks, "Who are you?" It's always, "Who the hell are you?"

[ohiosmith]

64. YES!

:toast:

[wickerwoman]

72. Nazis always have an English accent.

Also Romans. Don't know why. It would just be wrong to hear Julius Caesar with an American or South African accent.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

77. I just remembered Siskel and Ebert's "talking killer"

In other words, the bad guy has the good guys cornered and has his gun, bomb, axe, or other weapon all poised to kill the good guys when he suddenly feels compelled to tell his life story--which lasts just long enough for the cops/cavalry/troops to burst into the scene and rescue the good guys.

Another cliché is that people routinely invite two dates to the same event. Hilarity ensues (or usually not).

[XemaSab]

92. All people with English accents

are intelligent, come from a major urban area, AND are somewhat affluent.

[hunter]

63. This scene has a few...

Deranged robot, scientist wearing lab coat and glasses, woman in peril, danger radioactivity, impractical shoes, tight fitting uniforms, guy waving a big stick...

[begin_within]

65. In any quiet, spooky search scene, a cat makes a sudden, noisy appearance, then runs away

[begin_within]

66. You can drive without paying attention to the road or traffic.

[sarge43]

73. Someone gets shot with a round that would bring down a bull elephant

and may be has a quarter size blood spot on shirt.

Women have a special secret ability to run full out in four inch spiked heels.

Midwest and New England cars in winter scenes never have any salt scum or rust on them.

Rural Midwest people have southern accents.

Action films: If you are a member of a minority, you'll probably die. If a butt buddy of hero, heroically. If not, nasty death.

Rural night scenes: Crickets, not matter what time of year.

[ohiosmith]

74. And there is always a parking space in front of the destination.

[provis99]

67. shot guy bleeding out says: "Sooo....cold..."

[ohiosmith]

87. ...and it's getting dark

[provis99]

68. bomb to be disarmed always ticks down to 1 second left.

[murielm99]

69. In westerns, when they shoot each other or have a

fistfight, it is always upstairs or on a balcony. The guy who is beaten or killed falls down the stairs or over the balcony to the ground below.

[brendan120678]

75. When a computer hacker is...

trying to break into some database, it's about five minutes of non-stop typing.

No mouse clicks or anything else...just typing.

[woo me with science]

78. And the computer always gives a big-font message that the database has been accessed,

just like every villain's lair has a big, red, clearly labeled button on the console that you press to detonate the remote bomb.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

79. And the keyboard is always really noisy

and makes a clacking sound as each line appears on the screen.

[sarge43]

85. Even though Evil Overlord is a computer genius, hacker Hero

breaks the passcode in under a minute

[mreilly]

80. Guy who is shot and dying gets one shot off...

... that conveniently kills the bad guy. After everyone assumed the dying man was already dead. Oh, and he doesn't die, actually, but makes a full recovery, amidst much playful verbal banter.

[JonLP24]

81. Often times there are barroom brawls in military movies

I think one even starts out with one in the beginning where the hero gets locked up for it. Forgot the name of that movie.

[bookworm65t]

100. From Here To Eternity?

I think Frank Sinatra goes to jail for the beating, gets mortally punched by Ernest Borgeine (sp? sorry)

I may be wrong

[JonLP24]

101. I don't believe the movie I'm thinking of is that old

I definitely know it isn't Frank Sinatra but I don't remember the main actor.

[SwampG8r]

82. a raucus crowd in a smoky salloon

the batwing doors swing open and he enters
every sound is quieted every movement is halted '
he is trouble and slowly the crowd returns to its former frivolity

a quieter and more wary frivolity

[Gidney N Cloyd]

86. In Westerns, when some gets knocked out in a fight or is found drunk & unconscious...

someone will throw a bucket of water on him which will immediately wake him up. He'll prop himself up on one or both elbows, shake his head to shake off the water and the 'cobwebs.' And then he's good to go again.

[UTUSN]

88. Somebody exits, turns, looks back. In Westerns, the dude kisses the girl

then rides off a distance, stops the horse, waves at her, she waves back. Then he joins another dude and the two dudes ride off together.

[XemaSab]

93. 1. If there are a few people of color, they are there to provide wisdom and support to whitey

2. If there are a LOT of people of color, they need whitey to solve their problems.

3. Within a week of whitey showing up, whitey is just as capable as their most accomplished shaman, hunter, warrior, or what have you.

[ohiosmith]

94. A Man Called Horse, Dances With Wolves, Avatar.

[XemaSab]

95. The Matrix, The Matrix, The Matrix

:P

[ohiosmith]

96. :

:thumbsup:

[BOG PERSON]

97. there is always a smart attractive somehwat damaged female

who has nothing better to do but help some geeky misanthropic loser come out of his shell.

[Supply Side Jesus]

102. Railing Kill!

Guy gets shot and falls over a guard railing

[Arugula Latte]

103. "The first cough" ... A character coughs early in the movie, and says "it's nothing"

That noble character will die .