Roger Ebert’s list of movie cliches
I suspect some of you have seen this list, but even if you have, it’s a good reminder of some cliches to avoid when writing a screenplay. Some personal favorites:
Bad Smoker Rule
In any cop movie made since the mid-’70s, the bad guys smoke, while the good guy is trying to quit.
Classic Car Rule
Whenever a beautiful classic car — usually the prized possession of an unsympathetic father — is introduced at the beginning of a film, that car will be wrecked by the end of it. (See RISKY BUSINESS, FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF, COUPE DE VILLE, etc.)
Myth of the Seemingly Ordinary Day
The day begins like any other, with a man getting up, having breakfast, reading the paper, leaving the house, etc. His activities are so uneventful they are boring. That is the tip-off. No genuine ordinary day can be allowed to be boring in a movie. Only seemingly ordinary days — which inevitably lead up to a shocking scene of violence, which punctuates the seeming ordinariness.
Thanks, But No Thanks
When two people have just had a heart-to-heart conversation, as person A starts to leave room, person B says (tentatively) “Bob?” A pauses, turns, and says “Yes?” B says, “Thanks.”
“Wait Right Here” Scenario
The scene in a movie where one character, almost always a male character, tells another character, almost always a woman, “Now, you just wait right here in the car. Whatever you do, DO NOT follow me into that warehouse.” Inevitably, the dumb and helpless woman goes into the warehouse, is captured by the villain and rescued by the hero.
What are some of your least favorite cliches?