CURRENT MOVIE CLICHES

Tools    





I lived alone in apartments a lot as a very young teenager. Have given a lot of thought as to how I could he hurt and murdered by random men, visualised it, but that didn’t affect my soft spot for villains.
A good way to be hurt would be to leave one’s keys in one’s apartment door like I once did in New York. Even in a state of inebriation, to this day I can’t believe I did this. My elderly neighbors from Finland alerted me to this in the middle of the night.
__________________
I’m here only on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. That’s why I’m here now.



A good way to be hurt would be to leave one’s keys in one’s apartment door like I once did in New York. Even in a state of inebriation, to this day I can’t believe I did this. My elderly neighbors from Finland alerted me to this in the middle of the night.
I think we’ve all done that once or twice. But I’ve only ever done it in a detached house I own. It’s fair less safe in apartments of course. But yes, inebriation will do that. I used to have a conservatory door which it was easy to leave a bit ajar, guilty of doing that once or twice. But, you know, I lived to tell the tale



I think we’ve all done that once or twice. But I’ve only ever done it in a detached house I own. It’s fair less safe in apartments of course. But yes, inebriation will do that. I used to have a conservatory door which it was easy to leave a bit ajar, guilty of doing that once or twice. But, you know, I lived to tell the tale
Too many times I have stupidly left my front door very slightly ajar & walked off without noticing. Sounds disastrous, but husband would still be at home otherwise I would have set the alarm. Why I keep doing this is beyond me.



I remember the good old days, when the killer clue was in a Rolodex or when the MacGuffin was a "ledger" (my goodness, the number of "ledgers" that had to be found in old movies!). Today, our cell phones are information funnels, so everything spirals around smartphone tropes (e.g., low battery, no signal, the smart card with the evidence, accidental cell phone swap, baddies hacked yer phonz!, dead man's phone found!). It's fundamentally changed filmmaking, because we now have to "see" the texts that are being sent in little balloons that float above the phone or be given a super-close up of the phone screen. How many classic horror/suspense tropes had to evolve when people sitting around a writer's table would ask, "OK, but why wouldn't the character just use their cell phone to get out of this problem"?



I remember the good old days, when the killer clue was in a Rolodex or when the MacGuffin was a "ledger" (my goodness, the number of "ledgers" that had to be found in old movies!). Today, our cell phones are information funnels, so everything spirals around smartphone tropes (e.g., low battery, no signal, the smart card with the evidence, accidental cell phone swap, baddies hacked yer phonz!, dead man's phone found!). It's fundamentally changed filmmaking, because we now have to "see" the texts that are being sent in little balloons that float above the phone or be given a super-close up of the phone screen. How many classic horror/suspense tropes had to evolve when people sitting around a writer's table would ask, "OK, but why wouldn't the character just use their cell phone to get out of this problem"?
As I mentioned in this very thread, having a phone alone doesn’t necessarily result in effective communication. I really like the original The Guilty partly because it revolves around how using/having a phone in an emergency can only over-complicate things and ultimately make them worse. For the most part you’re right, of course.



As I mentioned in this very thread, having a phone alone doesn’t necessarily result in effective communication. I really like the original The Guilty partly because it revolves around how using/having a phone in an emergency can only over-complicate things and ultimately make them worse. For the most part you’re right, of course.

I think that that's the way to go.Blood Simple does a great job of leaning into miscommunication, right? Lean into how the phone complicates our lives and can be a stumbling block rather than dip into stock B.S. excuses about why the phone isn't working at the precise moment in which it would solve a problem. Lean into over-sharing, miscommunication, the horror of seeing what you shouldn't see (e.g., show the killer killing Grandma over ZOOM rather than in the room with her), and so on. Good creative writing embraces the seeming obstacles as opportunities. Stop trying to write about the Land Before Cell Phones, it doesn't exist anymore.



I think that that's the way to go.Blood Simple does a great job of leaning into miscommunication, right? Lean into how the phone complicates our lives and can be a stumbling block rather than dip into stock B.S. excuses about why the phone isn't working at the precise moment in which it would solve a problem. Lean into over-sharing, miscommunication, the horror of seeing what you shouldn't see (e.g., show the killer killing Grandma over ZOOM rather than in the room with her), and so on. Good creative writing embraces the seeming obstacles as opportunities. Stop trying to write about the Land Before Cell Phones, it doesn't exist anymore.
Absolutely. I’m not fully buying the use of Zoom/social networks as yet, but I think it’ll get better, as everything, with practice. I found Cam (2018) surprisingly impressive, though it’s supernatural, so not fully relevant. Searching (2018) didn’t grip me, but I think the use of technology there was masterful.



Absolutely. I’m not fully buying the use of Zoom/social networks as yet, but I think it’ll get better, as everything, with practice. I found Cam (2018) surprisingly impressive, though it’s supernatural, so not fully relevant. Searching (2018) didn’t grip me, but I think the use of technology there was masterful.

I think I hear what you're saying. I am not generally impressed when a particular communication technology is a central premise of a film. Rather, I think that the ubiquity of communication technology in our lives means that modern tech and customs must shape how the central premise of the plot plays out. You have to find creative solutions that ring true with modern lived experience. Making it the central premise of a film seems like a "Boomer" thing to do (OMG, tech!!!).



Also, "haunted tech" is tough to pull off, because technology is thoroughly lodged in engineering and science (e.g., rationalism). Horror taps into irrationalism. "Haunted tech" is a bit like toothpaste & orange juice, IMO. That old episode of Buffy (where the Demon finds the internet becomes a robot and catfishes Willow) is terrible, for example. About the only time it has worked well for me as a premise is in Event Horizon, because black holes are great "undefined," a literal tear in the universe (as we can describe it), so who knows? They're kind of "science monsters" unto themselves.



Most fear of tech that actually works seems to be fear of old tech. Think of the old tape recorder in Session 9. Or think of the use of Automats in Dark City. Old tech creeps us out for some reason, like old magic which we no longer understand.



I think I hear what you're saying. I am not generally impressed when a particular communication technology is a central premise of a film. Rather, I think that the ubiquity of communication technology in our lives means that modern tech and customs must shape how the central premise of the plot plays out. You have to find creative solutions that ring true with modern lived experience. Making it the central premise of a film seems like a "Boomer" thing to do (OMG, tech!!!).



Also, "haunted tech" is tough to pull off, because technology is thoroughly lodged in engineering and science (e.g., rationalism). Horror taps into irrationalism. "Haunted tech" is a bit like toothpaste & orange juice, IMO. That old episode of Buffy (where the Demon finds the internet becomes a robot and catfishes Willow) is terrible, for example. About the only time it has worked well for me as a premise is in Event Horizon, because black holes are great "undefined," a literal tear in the universe (as we can describe it), so who knows? They're kind of "science monsters" unto themselves.



Most fear of tech that actually works seems to be fear of old tech. Think of the old tape recorder in Session 9. Or think of the use of Automats in Dark City. Old tech creeps us out for some reason, like old magic which we no longer understand.
Ha. Yes, very good point about haunted tech. Even Ringu isn’t that bad in this regard because the danger/evil comes from the tape itself. Always felt that part worked. The recent Antrum tried to take that on board.

Also agree re Event Horizon, I’m addicted to all things quantum physics science fiction.



Now, a separate issue. For the record, I love children. Have worked with them a lot etc. But I am so tired of random “baby subplots”. The moment there’s a baby in the plot line, especially if it’s a show where there’s more time to dwell on it than a film, everyone goes nuts and becomes obsessed with the pregnancy and then feels/acts like a surrogate caretaker. I suppose that is a natural human reaction to an extent, but it really doesn’t do the narrative any favours. The plot becomes about the baby: miscarriage, birth, custody, etc, etc. To me that means every “baby” plot line is identical to each other and they’re all, well, very boring.

I genuinely have no idea why unless your film is Tully that you would want a baby in it. I mean, yes, it incapacitates and makes the character weaker while at the same time turning her into a “tigress” when it’s a life-or-death moment, which I suppose is kind of handy for character development. But it’s so, so boring and kind of cheesy.



Another one goes something like “eventual happy ending”. Shows especially are guilty of that. If someone has a dysfunctional relationship where someone always cheats/ does drugs but both parties love each other, we will always have said cheater/addict “get better”. It seems to imply that people have “worked through their issues”. If someone used to be pathologically jealous all the time, I don’t see how anything would make them stop. Even in terms of plotting, it just removes the tension unnecessarily.

My bone to pick with this is not that it’s “unrealistic” (though that too) but that it assumes an upward trajectory for the narrative. That also means that the longer the show goes on, the less psychological tension (that rooted in characters’ core traits) we have. I hate that (especially as I prefer behavioural tension to all other).

I mean, I suppose a character does need to “grow”/“evolve” to keep things interesting, but I disagree with the idea that it means the character has to grow upwards. It can just as well be a Walter White/Heisenberg trajectory, or people can begin to behave very differently (as with brain injury and severe psychological trauma), allowing the film to explore which trauma led to that etc.



HOME MOVIE SYMPATHY - Dead spouse? Feel bad? Want to know the audience that the character feels bad? Just put them in a room with their wedding video on infinite repeat. Dead kid? Show video of their birthday on an infinite loop. This way we will know just how bad the protagonist feels and how they're stuck in an emotional loop.



HOME MOVIE SYMPATHY - Dead spouse? Feel bad? Want to know the audience that the character feels bad? Just put them in a room with their wedding video on infinite repeat. Dead kid? Show video of their birthday on an infinite loop. This way we will know just how bad the protagonist feels and how they're stuck in an emotional loop.
The idea was also floated in Wild Tales as a form of torture.



Two phrases have steadily crept into movie dialogue that by extreme over use have now become cliches. Here are two examples in conversations.

It's complicated. "Well how did you find out about the situation?" "It's complicated."


I get that. "I really love my daughter." "I get that."


It's time for writers to advance to fresher expressions..



Two phrases have steadily crept into movie dialogue that by extreme over use have now become cliches. Here are two examples in conversations.

It's complicated. "Well how did you find out about the situation?" "It's complicated."


I get that. "I really love my daughter." "I get that."


It's time for writers to advance to fresher expressions..
I feel you, but you have keep in mind that there are certain subtleties at play here.

Are these two complaints "all you've got"? Because, "I can do this all day." "I was born ready" for this. I am "five-by-five" for posting this crap. I'm "locked and loaded" and I'm gonna "stay frosty." "No! Don't you die on me" cliche thread! "Breathe, damnit!" Wait, I've got a phone call coming in, "I've go to take this."



I feel you, but you have keep in mind that there are certain subtleties at play here.

Are these two complaints "all you've got"? Because, "I can do this all day." "I was born ready" for this. I am "five-by-five" for posting this crap. I'm "locked and loaded" and I'm gonna "stay frosty." "No! Don't you die on me" cliche thread! "Breathe, damnit!" Wait, I've got a phone call coming in, "I've go to take this."
Yikes, these ones make me nauseous at this point.



I feel you, but you have keep in mind that there are certain subtleties at play here.

Are these two complaints "all you've got"? Because, "I can do this all day." "I was born ready" for this. I am "five-by-five" for posting this crap. I'm "locked and loaded" and I'm gonna "stay frosty." "No! Don't you die on me" cliche thread! "Breathe, damnit!" Wait, I've got a phone call coming in, "I've go to take this."
Ha! Good ones. There are dozens of them.

The one you mentioned about getting a cell phone call, and then saying "I've got to take this" has become like fingernails on a blackboard... Of course I-phones and their use in stories are WAY, way overused...



Movie Forums Squirrel Jumper
A lot of times in movies, when their is an age gap couple, they feel that the age gap has be a theme in the story.



Movie Forums Squirrel Jumper
When a character cannot remember something for most of the movie, all of a sudden they remember, when it's most convenient for the plot for them to do so, i.e. The Bourne movies, Us (2019).



When a character cannot remember something for most of the movie, all of a sudden they remember, when it's most convenient for the plot for them to do so, i.e. The Bourne movies, Us (2019).

LOL, save the revelation for the post credits scene where Bourne is on the toilet and realizes he killed the wrong person.