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    Originally posted by Patrick Thistle View Post
    The hero and the feisty girl he is saving from baddies are running away from baddies. They stop suddenly and he snogs her, much to her surprise. This renders them invisible to the bad guys who run straight past them.

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      Originally posted by Sits View Post
      When the investigation team are being apprised the details of the crime/scenario, they probably all know quite a lot already, considering the way the knowledge is often imparted by each member of the team in turn. Spooks owned this MO for a while.

      May already have need done somewhere upthread.
      This expositional style has been really grating lately. I think worst of all on Madam Secretary, but they borrowed it from the West Wing and it's basically universal in mainstream political stuff.

      Underling 1: "There's a crisis in country 1"
      Underling 2: "Bleeding obvious geographical reference, followed by explaining some widely known current-ish political stuff"
      Underling 3: "Yes, here's some really bleeding obvious historical context "

      And what I'm doing is wondering how the Secretary of State isn't saying "Jesus fucking christ, you morons. You have jobs in the (non-Trump) state Department. If everyone doesn't know all this stuff already, you should all be fired."

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        In gritty British urban dramas, the dealer responsible for the young girl ODing is always some pallid, rat-faced twenty-something with scruffy, attempted facial hair, invariably wearing a hooded raincoat done right up to his throat, the toggles of which he holds onto as though his life depends upon it. His name is usually something like 'The Magpie' and he'll be guaranteed to spend most of the production making mobile 'phone calls on concrete staircases.

        Alternatively, around halfway through the plot he will chance upon a more-successful (and previously estranged) brother who eventually allows him to lie low at his recording studio. They will at some point argue about their recently-deceased mother over deafening rave music - resulting in The Magpie angrily leaving the premises and being almost immediately killed.

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          I'd watch that...

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            I'll get back to you once I've finished writing it.

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              Originally posted by San Bernardhinault View Post

              Underling 1: "There's a crisis in country 1"
              Underling 2: "Bleeding obvious geographical reference, followed by explaining some widely known current-ish political stuff"
              Underling 3: "Yes, here's some really bleeding obvious historical context "
              Boss: "What about the Chinese?"

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                The ventilation system in any TV or film building is big enough for a grown man to crawl along and move from room to room undetected. The grilles in the rooms are also big enough to climb in and out of, and can be removed by just lifting them off with your hands (entrance), or with a light kick (exit). They are also very clean inside, having accumulated no dust at all over the years.

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                  Do you have prescription meds? Especially ones which can be misused? If you do, and you don't keep them in a small mirror-fronted cabinet above your washbasin, you are in a tiny minority.

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                    Enjoying "The Umbrella Academy" (up to Episode 4) but it's full of cliches such as the "You need to see this" one where someone, rather than tell another character something important that they've just seen, will dramatically drag it out for no apparent reason.

                    It also features jwdd27's classic escape through a ventilation duct.

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                      Oh and if there's a massive fight or gun battle with windows getting smashed, explosions happening and all sorts of huge noises there will always be a character, usually the comic relief, dancing around whilst listening to a suitably juxtaposed piece of music through headphones whilst hilariously unaware of the mayhem happening a few feet away.

                      Usually coupled with the "good" protagonist shouting out for help or trying to warn them as they get beaten up.

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                        If you go to a sports stadium (preferably in a small town or college) when there's no game on, there's a fair chance you will spot a lone figure sitting in the stands. In fact, the lights may have been left on for no reason, except to let him (it's always a 'him') gaze out at the playing area, lost in thought.

                        He will be one of ...

                        - the washed-up ex-player and local hero, wondering where it all went wrong
                        - the current coach who has almost given up, but sitting there, inspiration suddenly comes
                        - the current player, waiting to be found by girlfriend or mentor, who will ensure his later triumph with exactly the right words at this moment

                        Optional props: half-empty liquor bottle. Old photo or newspaper clipping. Letter he re-reads.

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                          Originally posted by tee rex View Post
                          If you go to a sports stadium (preferably in a small town or college) when there's no game on, there's a fair chance you will spot a lone figure sitting in the stands. In fact, the lights may have been left on for no reason, except to let him (it's always a 'him') gaze out at the playing area, lost in thought.
                          ....and when he leaves, he is able to turn off all the lights at once, using a big lever in an easily accessible location right next to the exit of the stadium.

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                            Bad guys turn up in pairs. Often one man, one woman, in which case the man will be complaining about various aspects of the job.Somehow they a) always turn up when the hero least expects it, and b) find it really difficult to apprehend him.

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                              Originally posted by tracteurgarçon View Post
                              Oh and if there's a massive fight or gun battle with windows getting smashed, explosions happening and all sorts of huge noises there will always be a character, usually the comic relief, dancing around whilst listening to a suitably juxtaposed piece of music through headphones whilst hilariously unaware of the mayhem happening a few feet away.

                              Usually coupled with the "good" protagonist shouting out for help or trying to warn them as they get beaten up.
                              You have lifted that directly from Grosse Point Blank, AICMFP.

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                                Originally posted by Toby Gymshorts View Post

                                You have lifted that directly from Grosse Point Blank, AICMFP.
                                Well the most recent example I've seen was in "The Umbrella Academy" but yes, probably.

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                                  While I'm enjoying the Umbrella Academy, I'm only 2 episodes in and the cliches are piling up like autumn leaves on the lawn

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                                    Originally posted by Patrick Thistle View Post
                                    While I'm enjoying the Umbrella Academy, I'm only 2 episodes in and the cliches are piling up like autumn leaves on the lawn
                                    Yep. I'm up to Episode 7 and am enjoying it but every episode is like a check list of tropes and cliches.

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                                      In a US hospital, a cough is unlikely to be just a cough. Far more likely it will be an incredibly rare condition, too challenging for all but the most genius of doctors.

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                                        Originally posted by jwdd27 View Post
                                        The ventilation system in any TV or film building is big enough for a grown man to crawl along and move from room to room undetected. The grilles in the rooms are also big enough to climb in and out of, and can be removed by just lifting them off with your hands (entrance), or with a light kick (exit). They are also very clean inside, having accumulated no dust at all over the years.
                                        These aren't big vents. It's that everyone in hollywood is two thirds normal size, like in an argos catalogue.

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                                          Originally posted by Toby Gymshorts View Post

                                          You have lifted that directly from Grosse Point Blank, AICMFP.
                                          It's also in Die Hard

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                                            It is, isn't it?

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                                              To us newspapers seem to be made of very thin, quite rough paper. But this is in fact an illusion. Their true nature is only revealed on TV or in a movie: thick, clean white paper as crease-free and smooth as silk.

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                                                And reporters on TV and film newspapers, even extremely junior ones, are constantly in and out of the editor's office, with the editor having a close relationship with them and taking a keen interest in their stories, rather than asking who the fuck they are.

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                                                  Originally posted by Sits View Post
                                                  To us newspapers seem to be made of very thin, quite rough paper. But this is in fact an illusion. Their true nature is only revealed on TV or in a movie: thick, clean white paper as crease-free and smooth as silk.
                                                  A film's budget (or director's indifference) can be assessed by studying those newspapers in more detail. Cheap rubbish = headline for the plot ("Missing scientist found dead!") pasted onto a front page which on closer inspection has real news in the margins, usually from the wrong time and place, and in a different font.

                                                  (as parodied in Simpsons and the like)

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                                                    When using a punchbag, it's almost inevitable a character will completely lose their rag, pounding the bag relentlessly until they are on the verge of collapse.

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