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

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

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.

Re: CURRENT MOVIE CLICHES
 

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

Jonah Hill vomits a lot in Get Him to the Greek

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:

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

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

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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.

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.

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.

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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.

Sex in movies and TV isn't 'messy' enough.

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

Re: CURRENT MOVIE CLICHES
 

It’s a cliche to be cliche.

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Mobile phones have presented a challenge to most writers.

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

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.

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.

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.