Movie Cliches

I love thinking about these. Good lists here and here. Here are some others I've thought about.

- The quick jump-cut to show contrast, or a part b) to disprove the part a) of the previous scene. Used in tons of movies; Twister, Iron Man, Con Air. Example: In Jurassic Park, when Ellie says "...unless they figured out how to open doors." Instantly cuts to a velociraptor... opening a door.

- Ridiculously contrived bit-part black characters, serving the sole purpose of getting black people to see the movie and fill the theater with their cackling. See: homeless dude in Day After Tomorrow, both black guys in Gone in 60 Seconds, dude walking his dog in the beginning of Armageddon.

- A need to fill film time discussing an enemy's credentials or an objective's difficulty. "OMG, you have no idea how skilled Jason Bourne is! He is a highly-trained CIA operative with a black belt and Batman-like attributes. Do not underestimate him!" I think this exact dialogue happens in all 3 Bourne films. Same thing with the Mission: Impossible movies. "As for our break-in target, we have intentionally picked the most well-guarded facility in the world. To enter it, you need a retinal scan, a fingerprint scan, a voice scan, a one-of-a-kind photo ID that is laminated in ancient Chinese gold. My friends... this is the CIA." It's like holy fuck, just start the mission.

- Unbelievably contrived jurisdiction arguments. The Fugitive, Die Hard, you name it. Even Blue Streak, for the love of Christ. "This building is owned by the state of New York. Only NYPD are authorized." ... "Holy shit, the suspect has stepped onto the street -- this is solely an FBI matter!" Wtf... this doesn't occur in real life. They'd just kill the dude.

- Rookie cop-veteran cop chase scene. They're in hot pursuit of a suspect, they split up. Rookie cop takes conventional route, vet goes for some "only vets know" shortcut. Senior cop obviously eventually appears right in front of suspect, stopping him in his tracks, ending the chase, becoming hero of the scene.

- No-look driving with a passenger. Two people driving, speeding through a city, or the countryside... whatever. Driver is obviously ranting to the passenger, not looking at the road. All of a sudden, passenger points forward and screams, "look out!" as there is a fucking semi barreling down the road directly at them.

Obviously they swerve just in time and escape without a scratch.

- Interruptions of action sequences with cuts to "peaceful life" or reaction shots from passersby; a family enjoying a picnic, people going about their day-to-day lives, kids playing. See: The Rock during the car chase, when Bay cuts to the trolley car. Or in The Dark Knight when they cut to those GODDAMN KIDS who pretend to shoot imaginary guns during the film's highlight sequence. Or in Batman Begins when Nolan constantly jumps ironically between the Tumbler chase and Gary Oldman making some lame face or wisecrack.

- Esteemed, distinguished, senior operative or assassin gets pulled in... for one last mission. See The Jackal or The Rock or any other of the countless hitman or CIA/FBI-centric films.

- Courtroom judge slams gavel and utters: "This is HIGHLY UNORTHODOX... but I'll allow it." Wtf, stop grandstanding. You're a Southern judge that looks like a Bloodhound (My Cousin Vinny -- but this applies elsewhere).

- Solving a Rubik's cube in 3.5 milliseconds somehow is the sole method of determining whether someone is a genius. WTF, fail.

- Building up unnecessary and false tension just because the setting seems to warrant it. Take a scene in 21. Jim Sturgess is walking through airport security loaded with cash. He goes through the beep-machine, and right as he's about to skip through scot-free, the guard says "Sir, wait." Of course, the film goes all slo-mo for like 4 minutes, as utter shock and horror comes over his face. And, of course, the security guard, at the end of all this, is like "dude, you forgot your bag." So predictable.

- Seeing some random at a funeral. Whenever a funeral occurs early in a movie, without fail, the protagonist will see some weird dude or hot chick frolicking through the cemetary in the background, waiting to be beckoned to. This doesn't happen IRL, plz stop.

- Classroom scene, teacher is ALWAYS talking about something especially pertinent to the plot, usually a foreshadowing bit or info or something along those lines. Horror movie, college kid is in a lecture about Campus Ghost Myths. Transformers, somehow Shia is presenting some BS presentation on his ancestors on the very day that the robots that his ancestors awakened take over the Earth.

- Important character is shot. Repeatedly, at point blank, with a 12-gauge. There's 2 minutes of suspense as nobody knows what happened and whether he'll be OK. Then, he inevitably rips off his shirt to show a bulletproof vest. Ta-da!

- Woman washing her face in front of bathroom mirror. She bends over to splash water, camera follows. Stands back up straight to look at the mirror, camera again follows-- ZOMG! Someone appeared behind her! Except it's her dad, and that trick has been done in every thriller since 1942.

- This one's a bit harder to tease out. It occurs in both Prom Night and Along Came a Spider. Basically, a horrific tragedy occurs. Four years pass. Protagonist still hasn't gotten over it, and is sitting around his house sulking and acting depressed. Family member comes in and says "Sweetie, you have to let the past live in the past." It's like... wtf. It's been 1400 days. Does this conversation occur every day? If not, what the hell would prompt someone to say this on some random day, years after the fact? Too contrived.

That's it for now. Catchy song imo: