Tuesday, February 15, 2011

A Tuesday Quickie: Movie Cliches


A Facebook friend and fellow movie addict sent me a link to this site, because he knew I'd eat it up. And so I had to share with you nice folks, because I know you love movies as much as I do.

Some movies (sometimes very good ones) can't help but include a cliche or two. Many movies (not always good ones) include lots of cliches. A whole lot of movies (never any good ones) are simply one big cliche -- most of these are Horror films, Action films and most egregiously, Romantic Comedies.

Here (via) are two examples of the most over-used phrases in all of filmdom:





Honestly, it's no wonder screenwriters resort to these overused phrases. They  either know they can probably get a laugh out of them, or they're just too lazy to come up with original phrases of their own.

Supposedly, there are only 7 plots in all of fiction. While that may or may not be true, I hope that some writers are smart enough to avoid using these phrases when creating the movies we'll be paying to see some day. Of course, an ironically wrought cliche can be a wonderful thing, if handled correctly. Sadly, most modern screenwriters wouldn't recognize irony if it bit them on the ass. I'm just saying, is all...

More, anon.
Prospero