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GulfportDoc 03-01-19 10:55 AM

CURRENT MOVIE CLICHES
 
One can't help noticing actions, plot devices or sayings which come up time and time again in movies or series these days. Whether the writers think they're so cool that they must be used, or whether they've simply become part of the lazy lexicon, it's hard to say.

Here are three that I've noticed:

Vomiting: I knew that contemporary society has lapsed into communal neurosis, but evidently we have become physically ill as well. In film we're lucky to have 30 minutes of screen time without someone upchucking.

I've got to take this: Every time there is a cell phone/android in a scene, you can be sure this line will follow. Is there never a time where they don't have to take this?

Maglite beams: Perhaps as a result of film makers raised on light sabers, hardly a film goes by without the use of the powerful flashlights spearing away in darkened scenes. Some times the action taking place at night doesn't even make sense, but for the desire to display the nifty Maglite. My personal favorite is when they could actually simply flip on the room light switch, but no, let's use these beams...

Certainly there are dozens of current chestnuts. What are your favorites?

~Doc

Gideon58 03-01-19 11:02 AM

It actually started on television, but it's starting to creep into movies too...the phrase "You don't get to..."

Saunch 03-01-19 11:09 AM

Those are... a bit weird. I feel like “I got to take this” is just a normal, random phrase people just use. There’s no actual immediacy, it’s just... a thing we say and not at all what a cliche constitutes.

Iroquois 03-01-19 11:44 AM

Re: CURRENT MOVIE CLICHES
 
Hell, I'm wondering what movies Doc is watching where there's someone vomiting every 30 minutes.

Gideon58 03-01-19 11:56 AM

Jonah Hill vomits a lot in Get Him to the Greek

Citizen Rules 03-01-19 12:05 PM

Usually what vomiting is used for in a film is to show a persons extreme reaction to something that's so shocking or horrible that it makes them vomit. And by that way the film maker imparts on us the extremity of the situation. However it's so over used these days that it's lost it's power for me and often has the opposite effect as it causes me to heckle the tv and say, 'oh gawd! not another vomit scene'.:rolleyes:

Chypmunk 03-01-19 12:11 PM

Re: CURRENT MOVIE CLICHES
 
Could it be connected to the sheer volume of fillums spewed out nowadays? :shrug:

TheUsualSuspect 03-01-19 01:14 PM

Re: CURRENT MOVIE CLICHES
 
You're upset about "I've got to take this.." and not the character just hanging up without saying goodbye?

Citizen Rules 03-01-19 01:17 PM

Re: CURRENT MOVIE CLICHES
 
It's been said before, but damn it script writers/directors, have the actors finish the drink they just bought at the bar! Nobody spends $ for a drink only to take a tiny sip and then leave it setting on the bar a few seconds later.

Stirchley 03-01-19 03:05 PM

Originally Posted by Citizen Rules (Post 1993242)
It's been said before, but damn it script writers/directors, have the actors finish the drink they just bought at the bar! Nobody spends $ for a drink only to take a tiny sip and then leave it setting on the bar a few seconds later.
Or the people who leave suddenly in the middle of a meal & throw random notes on the table to pay, supposedly, for their share.

Stirchley 03-01-19 03:08 PM

Re: CURRENT MOVIE CLICHES
 
Once it was realized that an actor could hold vomit material in his mouth & then spew it out, vomiting has been everywhere as the OP points out. First time I saw it it was Adriana in The Sopranos who puked all over the conference table when the feds convinced her she was heading for the slammer.

Stirchley 03-01-19 03:09 PM

Re: CURRENT MOVIE CLICHES
 
Sex scenes. The notion that a woman has an orgasm with a man she’s never had sex with before (even though that man appears to have no sexual prowess at all) is patently absurd. Drives me nuts.

Stirchley 03-01-19 03:11 PM

Re: CURRENT MOVIE CLICHES
 
People who live in fabulous houses with room after room full of precious stuff & the house is spotlessly clean. But we never ever see anyone cleaning the house or the presence of a cleaning woman. So unrealistic.

TheUsualSuspect 03-01-19 03:35 PM

Originally Posted by Stirchley (Post 1993277)
Sex scenes. The notion that a woman has an orgasm with a man she’s never had sex with before (even though that man appears to have no sexual prowess at all) is patently absurd. Drives me nuts.
Sex in movies and TV isn't 'messy' enough.

GulfportDoc 03-01-19 08:10 PM

Speaking of sex scene cliches, it seems that most film urgent sex encounters are preceded by both of the participants trying to pull the other's clothes off. Don't they realize that it's much quicker to remove one's own clothes?..:D

MovieMeditation 03-01-19 08:30 PM

Re: CURRENT MOVIE CLICHES
 
It’s a cliche to be cliche.

WrinkledMind 03-03-19 03:37 PM

Re: CURRENT MOVIE CLICHES
 
Mobile phones have presented a challenge to most writers.

So they drop the 'Battery finished' or 'No range' thing to counter it.

MoreOrLess 03-04-19 03:45 AM

Originally Posted by Stirchley (Post 1993276)
Once it was realized that an actor could hold vomit material in his mouth & then spew it out, vomiting has been everywhere as the OP points out. First time I saw it it was Adriana in The Sopranos who puked all over the conference table when the feds convinced her she was heading for the slammer.
Yes I was actually going to mention that as one of the the first example of it being used that way(Bean's character in Ronin was a bit earlier). Men throwing up with more standard disgust/illness has been used for ages but vomiting to get across an extreme emotional reaction has definitely been used a lot in recent years with a lot of it being women. I'd say part of the reason for that is that its viewed as a bit of a replacement for having female characters screaming/weeping at the drop of a hat.

average joe 03-04-19 06:25 AM

Re: CURRENT MOVIE CLICHES
 
GulfportDoc may mean vomiting for supposed comic effect, as in "Pitch Perfect." I have never vomited like they did unless I was very ill. I hate the use of "You don't get to...," too. Also the overuse of the word amazing to describe ordinary people. It tells us nothing about the person described or why the speaker holds that person in such high esteem.

Stirchley 03-04-19 02:20 PM

Originally Posted by GulfportDoc (Post 1993362)
Speaking of sex scene cliches, it seems that most film urgent sex encounters are preceded by both of the participants trying to pull the other's clothes off. Don't they realize that it's much quicker to remove one's own clothes?..:D
Then there’s the trope of the actress who doesn’t want to do nudity (which is fine) & who keeps half of her clothes on during sex.


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