Palmerin Posted September 20, 2014 Share Posted September 20, 2014 Yesterday night I watched BAD BOYS on FLIX. Among the many clichés I caught in this 1982 production are the following: the Hispanic characters speak such poor Spanish that you cannot guess which is their ethnicity. In TRAFFIC my fellow Puerto Rican, Benicio del Toro, speaks such bad Spanish that nobody would recognize him as a Puerto Rican; the background music for the Hispanic characters is salsa, obviously the only Latin music known in the USA. If this story were set in, say, Germany, the background music would undoubtedly be the German equivalent of salsa; the tall blonde villainous boy of Nordic ancestry is nicknamed Viking; apparently the only thing that most people know about Scandinavia is that it was the home ground of the Vikings. A producer famous for his silly statements once said that what the movies needed were new clichés to take the place of old clichés. What new clichés can you add to this list? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joefilmone Posted September 20, 2014 Share Posted September 20, 2014 The biggest cliche in modern film is the scene im which a character must download a file before he is discovered-this is used in countless thrillers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palmerin Posted September 22, 2014 Author Share Posted September 22, 2014 The biggest cliche in modern film is the scene im which a character must download a file before he is discovered-this is used in countless thrillers. Shall we even start to count the thrillers in which the protagonist, obviously not a professional driver, nevertheless performs stunts that are way beyond the skill of 99% of the world's drivers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakeem Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 Don't forget this cliché, which was sent up by Andy Samberg, Will Ferrell and J.J. Abrams at the 2009 MTV Movie Awards: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palmerin Posted September 23, 2014 Author Share Posted September 23, 2014 Then there is the Hannibal Lecter cliché: a detective in search of a serial killer takes the advice of an imprisoned serial killer. It takes one to know one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palmerin Posted September 23, 2014 Author Share Posted September 23, 2014 And let's not forget how often teenage heroes and heroines are into rock, sometimes even organizing bands that practice in their garages, thus attracting complaints from their families and neighbors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedracer5 Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 The average rom-com is a giant cliche. -Boy and girl meet. They do not hit it off and are repulsed by one another. -Boy and girl meet again. This may have happened because they were forced to work together on a project, one of them answers the other's personal ad, etc. Somehow, they run across each other a second time and decide that the other isn't so bad after all. -Cue the montage of boy and girl spending countless dates together, showing the progression of their relationship. -Boy and girl end up fighting and part ways. It appears to be curtains for the relationship. -Boy or girl meet with friends to discuss the relationship and how it went awry. Boy or girl's friends convince him/her to make up with the other-- because they are meant to be together. Boy or girl realize the error of his/her ways. -Meanwhile, the other half of the couple (the one not with friends) has decided to take a job out of the state/country, or is moving away randomly, whatever. They've decided to make a step that will take them away from the remnants of their failed relationship. -The half of the couple with the aforementioned friends, finds out about the other's plans to move away. -Cue the boy or girl racing to the airport/train station/bus station/etc. and the other walking through said airport/train station/bus station. -As the departing party is about to get onto the plane/train/bus/etc. the other half finds them. They apologize. Proclaim their love for one another. Kiss in front of nosy onlookers. ...They Lived Happily Ever After... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
primosprimos Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Shall we even start to count the thrillers in which the protagonist, obviously not a professional driver, nevertheless performs stunts that are way beyond the skill of 99% of the world's drivers? In cars that manage to go airborne, slam back onto the street, and continue to drive with no harm done? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palmerin Posted September 27, 2014 Author Share Posted September 27, 2014 Do you recall that happy time when MTV was so big that every romance movie had to have a music video sequence? Then there is the less happy result of the Code being abolished: foul mouthed characters of crime movies who only know one adjective: f u ----g. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casablanca100views Posted September 27, 2014 Share Posted September 27, 2014 The average rom-com is a giant cliche. -Boy and girl meet. They do not hit it off and are repulsed by one another. -Boy and girl meet again. This may have happened because they were forced to work together on a project, one of them answers the other's personal ad, etc. Somehow, they run across each other a second time and decide that the other isn't so bad after all. -Cue the montage of boy and girl spending countless dates together, showing the progression of their relationship. -Boy and girl end up fighting and part ways. It appears to be curtains for the relationship. -Boy or girl meet with friends to discuss the relationship and how it went awry. Boy or girl's friends convince him/her to make up with the other-- because they are meant to be together. Boy or girl realize the error of his/her ways. -Meanwhile, the other half of the couple (the one not with friends) has decided to take a job out of the state/country, or is moving away randomly, whatever. They've decided to make a step that will take them away from the remnants of their failed relationship. -The half of the couple with the aforementioned friends, finds out about the other's plans to move away. -Cue the boy or girl racing to the airport/train station/bus station/etc. and the other walking through said airport/train station/bus station. -As the departing party is about to get onto the plane/train/bus/etc. the other half finds them. They apologize. Proclaim their love for one another. Kiss in front of nosy onlookers. ...They Lived Happily Ever After... Ha! Have you got that right! I have written two (count 'em 2!) rom-com specs that avoids all these tropes, and they call my specs "charming -- but too much based in reality" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joefilmone Posted September 27, 2014 Share Posted September 27, 2014 Every genre has certain rules that audiences expect to see in a movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whistlingypsy Posted September 27, 2014 Share Posted September 27, 2014 The average rom-com is a giant cliche. I suspect this cliché appears in other genres, but rom-coms seem to be the biggest offender. These films promote the idea that family, friends, neighbors, etc. have no personal life and dedicate every moment in nurture and support of the female/male romantic leads. These individuals have no interests, no lives, no significant others, which require their attention, but live to hear her/him whine about the sorry state of her/his life. I often wonder what would become of the romantic couple if each was surrounded by people slightly more self-interested (and inclined to tell her/him to stop the whining). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joefilmone Posted September 27, 2014 Share Posted September 27, 2014 Romatic comedy is the ultimate movie fantasy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GladysLipschutz Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 I am really tired of every time a movie is set in the 60's, there are the ubiquitious hippies and war protesters. And every time a movie is set in the 70's, every one has to be a Nixon hating feminist/chauvinist pig (depending on their gender of course). It gets tiresome. I'm sure in the future there will be all sorts of movies set in the 2000's and of course, everyone will be a Dixie Chick-esque Dubya slammer. Is anyone else annoyed by that, or am I just overly-sensitive? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GladysLipschutz Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 Do you recall that happy time when MTV was so big that every romance movie had to have a music video sequence? Then there is the less happy result of the Code being abolished: foul mouthed characters of crime movies who only know one adjective: f u ----g. Yes! The "feel good fix-it-up" 80's movie music video! And there were also videos on MTV for songs that were featured in movies....one that comes to mind is Madonna who had two songs in "Vision Quest", lol. What a tacky decade Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 I am really tired of every time a movie is set in the 60's, there are the ubiquitious hippies and war protesters. And every time a movie is set in the 70's, every one has to be a Nixon hating feminist/chauvinist pig (depending on their gender of course). It gets tiresome. I'm sure in the future there will be all sorts of movies set in the 2000's and of course, everyone will be a Dixie Chick-esque Dubya slammer. Is anyone else annoyed by that, or am I just overly-sensitive? First it isn't every time (as in every movie), set in a time period. Movie are a product made to make money. If the majority of movies have themes that annoy you (e.g. Nixon hating feminist/chauvinist), it is because the producers assume that these themes are what the public wants. Typically a theme that 'sells' will be beat to death, but than die out. No producer is prevented from making a movie. So if there isn't any pro-Dubya movies in the future it would be because producers didn't feel there was enough of an audience to support that type of movie. Note that positive Christian theme based made for T.V. movies and series are doing very well. So expect more of that type of entertainment as long as they continue to make money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingrat Posted September 29, 2014 Share Posted September 29, 2014 There are period cliches in cinematography just as there are in writing, directing, and acting. The current cliche is blue-toned cinematography, whereas in the 70s it was brown tones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palmerin Posted October 1, 2014 Author Share Posted October 1, 2014 Are high schools really as full of bullies and mean girls as they are shown in the movies? I don't recall my high school being that socially stressful--although I was self-absorbed to the point of obliviousness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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