Movie Cliches

[shriekingeel]

Or the way screenwriters like to make old people say "fuck" every other word (like Betty White in Lake Placid, for example) with the certainty that the audiences will find it hilarious.

[chiqui]

This isn't quite a movie cliche, but a movie poster cliche. In order to illustrate a character who has two roles/personalities/jobs/lifestyles, they are pictured as twins, with backs facing each other but faces looking to the front, dressed in their respective roles. It's most recently used in the art for Disney's Ice Princess.

[shriekingeel]

Half annoyance, half cliche: Movies set in the coldest freezing cold place in the world....and yet there aren't any foggy breaths from the mouths of any of the characters. It's ridiculous.

I understand that it's a million times easier to film these scenes on a set than in an actual cold environment, but with current CGI technology, there is no excuse.

[Deleted]

I was in the art gallery today, watching a 21 minute movie called 'Love', in which a whole load of movie clips depicting passion / hate / etc. were edited together. Some noticeable cliches that the film highlighted;

+ Women slapping men who offend them (in many cases not just a slap, but a full roundhouse swing of the arm);

+ Tough guys (usually gangsters, detectives or poor working class men) slapping around women;

+ Women throwing their drinks into the faces of men who annoy them in some way;

+ Women throwing heavy objects (books, bottles, even a frying pan at some point) at men and hitting them, with the only reaction from the men being that they'd flinch and throw up their hand as if beating away a fly;

+ Women attacking men by leaping up to them and pounding ineffectively on their chests before collapsing in a sobbing heap, also conviently allowing the men to hug them / restrain them (one particularly funny example was from a Lee Marvin movie, wherein the woman had a full-on fit and must have carried on like this for at least two full minutes before collapsing in exhaustion, with Marvin's character just looking at her with a completely nonplussed "Bitch, please." expression.

[Deleted]

So you can only love someone if domestic violence is involved?

[Deleted]

bagofbones said:

So you can only love someone if domestic violence is involved?

Apparently. The movie was a little vague on that point.

[Deleted]

bagofbones said:

So you can only love someone if domestic violence is involved?

You've never met my ex roomate and his gf. I love them both dearly but the apartment gets trashed everytime they have a fight (over the most pitiful of things and occaisionally I got caught in the crossfire...though he's never laid a finger on her, she's the one who lands the most hits), then they make up the next day and both get so sickeningly nice to each other. After a year of that, I moved out...

[caeryniah51]

When females try on clothing, they always come out of the dressing room and strike a pose. There is usually upbeat music playing during this scene. They never seem to talk to each other during this time, either.

[Deleted]

Some movie with, I think, Richard Gere made me think about this cliché: The magic bus or train that makes characters either disappear abruptly, or reappear unexpectedly.

1) Towards the end of the movie, Character A is having final words with Character B. Their conversation is cut off as a train or bus noisily passes between them. After the train or bus is gone – lo and behold, so is Character B.

2) Character A sadly watches Character B walk out of his life forever -- Character B is gone... A train or bus comes along and morosely he stares at it. When the train or bus has passed by he looks and – lo and behold, there is Character B standing there looking at him!

I’d love to see a spoof of these scenarios from Character B’s point of view. For instance, in the “disappearing” stunt, it could show Character B tripping over his own feet trying to get out of sight before the train passes. In the “reappearing” one, he could be panting with exertion, trying to get in place in time. I’d also love to see one where Character B is not quite quick enough, and gets caught by Character A in the middle of the disappearance or reappearance.

[Deleted]

This isn't quite a movie cliche, but a movie poster cliche. In order to illustrate a character who has two roles/personalities/jobs/lifestyles, they are pictured as twins, with backs facing each other but faces looking to the front, dressed in their respective roles. It's most recently used in the art for Disney's Ice Princess.

This is even done when there are two characters who are so opposite that hyjinx is bound to ensue. Freaky Friday, Pretty Woman and Twins are all perfect examples. It's like "Hey, let's have them both stand right next to each other so that the differences will be even more noticable!"