Movie Cliche Pet Hates (1 Viewer)

[Carl David]

Is it just me or do too many movies always seem to show smoke/steam coming from sewer drains in streets?

I mean.......what is going on down there?

Are the homeless people all having a BBQ of rats like in Demolition Man or something?

Just stop with that nonsense already.

And why do they always play the same frog and cricket sound during night scenes especially in the suburbs?

Way too lazy in my opinion. I'm waiting for the movie that plays sounds coming from foxes, owls and a new audio addition from a different variety of frog for god's sake. Mix it up Hollywood. Stop using the same audio CD of common animal sounds in your production lab.

Anyone else get annoyed by some movie cliches or am I alone here?

 

[Thomas T]

My most annoying movie cliche is how the stars of the movie always find the best parking spots right in front of the place of business or apartment house. A spot is always conveniently empty waiting for them. Meanwhile we mortals have to circle the block to find a space or park three blocks away!

 

[Jeffrey D]

Many more stars in the sky than what we normally see (I live on a back country road, with minimal light pollution, and even I don’t see as many stars as what we see in films/TV shows).

Another one is streets surfaces are wetted down, even when it’s not raining (of course to give the shot an aesthetic boost).

 

[TravisR]

People hanging up the phone without saying goodbye.

 

[Jeffrey D]

The ever popular 555 prefix for a telephone number (this probably doesn’t apply to today’s programming).

 

[Walter Kittel]

We see a scene of massive carnage where literally scores of persons are killed (usually via an explosion or natural disaster of some sort.) The film waits a beat and then cuts to a shot of an animal that has survived, usually a dog.

I have nothing against the dog, or dogs in general; but we are supposed to be relieved that an animal survives an event that kills tens, or hundreds, of humans?

Basically audience manipulation of the worst sort.

- Walter.

 

[Carl David]

People hanging up the phone without saying goodbye.

Have you also noticed that when characters make phone calls in most cases the phone gets answered quickly? How about a 30 second pause without answer?

Unless it's a thriller where someone is getting chased and is trying to contact someone urgently and then they always take a long time to answer the phone after creating tension for the viewer.

"Come on come on answer your phone".

 

[jcroy]

Everbody who shoots a gun, is a sharpshooter.

 

[Thomas T]

The hero/heroine knocks the bad guy unconscious and then gets into their clothes/uniform to escape. And of course, it fits perfectly! It's never baggy or too short, etc.

 

[Walter Kittel]

The hero/heroine knocks the bad guy unconscious and then gets into their clothes/uniform to escape. And of course, it fits perfectly! It's never baggy or too short, etc.

That didn't work too well for John McClane.

(shoe reference for Die Hard, to be clear.)

- Wallter.

 

[Malcolm R]

That most anyone shown driving never stays in their own lane.

 

[Carl David]

Everbody who shoots a gun, is a sharpshooter.

Especially in westerns!

This cliche is done in a tongue in cheek manner in Sergio Leone's dollars trilogy.

Really enjoyed the humorous way it did that in those movies with the exaggerated sound effects and playful music throughout the film.

It's disappointing the American Indians didn't get the same general treatment with their marksmanship in the western genre and it was probably more warranted in their case.

Geronimo was a master with the bow and arrow. You don't mess with the Apaches!!!

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Everbody who shoots a gun, is a sharpshooter.

Unless they are shooting at James Bond. Then they cannot hit the broad side of a barn.

 

[Carl David]

Cop dramas are another one where when they are interrogating a "bad guy" who refuses to confess or play ball then a "bad cop" beats the victim until he confesses.

This is propaganda at its worst in my opinion and I am not an American.

Complete disregard for the constitution and those scenes are always played in a manner where the viewer is manipulated to think that the cop is doing the right thing and the degenerate scum criminal is getting what he deserves.

It's so cliche that you would think it's normal for a police officer to do that.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

For some reason I thought this thread was about the stuff my cat hates watching on TV. He has favorites but not sure there are programs he hates. If he is not enjoying something he tends to just leave the room.

 

[jayembee]

Unless they are shooting at James Bond. Then they cannot hit the broad side of a barn.

That's known (or it should be known) as "the Stormtrooper Syndrome".

 

[Edwin-S]

Is it just me or do too many movies always seem to show smoke/steam coming from sewer drains in streets?

I mean.......what is going on down there?

Are the homeless people all having a BBQ of rats like in Demolition Man or something?

Just stop with that nonsense already.

And why do they always play the same frog and cricket sound during night scenes especially in the suburbs?

Way too lazy in my opinion. I'm waiting for the movie that plays sounds coming from foxes, owls and a new audio addition from a different variety of frog for god's sake. Mix it up Hollywood. Stop using the same audio CD of common animal sounds in your production lab.

Anyone else get annoyed by some movie cliches or am I alone here?

It's not a cliche. It happens. I have seen it happen where I live when the temperature gets low enough. Also, I saw it in when I visited Baltimore. Not only that; it reeked. You wanted to steer clear of street grates because the smell made you want to wretch.

 

[Edwin-S]

The only one I can think of offhand is one used in a lot of animated films. It is the chase scene where the characters go through lines of doors or lines of boxes or lines of holes or lines of.....well, you get the idea.

News to animators and story people.....it doesn't get any funnier because you change the device be8ng used.

 

[Kevin Hewell]

It's not a cliche. It happens. I have seen it happen where I live when the temperature gets low enough. Also, I saw it in when I visited Baltimore. Not only that; it reeked. You wanted to steer clear of street grates because the smell made you want to wretch.

The two times I've driven through Baltimore, it smelled like a sewer. Philadelphia wasn't much better.

 

[Jeffrey D]

I know why this is, but it’s still not realistic. A lot of films/TV shows have the rear view mirror from the vehicles removed, in order to not obstruct the actors for the camera, and to not get reflections of the camera, if the point of view is from the rear seat.

Another pet peeve is the hero gets cornered/captured by multiple bad guys, and they choose to not immediately kill the hero- they beat on him long enough for the hero to be saved, or the hero to worm his way out of the predicament (this happens in Beverly Hills Cop, and Lethal Weapon 2). I’m sure there are other films that manipulate the viewer this way.