The little things that bug you

When a woman only exists in a film to get with the make protagonist.

 

There's quite a few lines of dialogue that bug me. Some are so cliche if they show up in a trailer, I won't even bother with the film. "I'm no hero" turned me off Tom Cruise's Jack Reacher film, for example.

One that really gets me is when the villain tells the hero "We're not so different" or "We're the same" or some variant. Trying to be pseudo-philosophical by drawing parallels between the villain and hero, it's horribly clumsy writing. If a movie wants to show that, then do it in a smart way that lets the audience come to the realization that the villain and hero have more in common than they know. Don't just have the villain blurt it out.

 

CGI blood. I hate it so much, it almost always looks so stupid and cheesy.

 

-Shaky Cam

 

"You father was one of the best _______ I've ever seen, therefore, you're destined to be an even better ________."

 

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

It doesn't make me think any different about a movie. In fact, there are many movies that I love that include a scene where a character screams "NOOOOOO!" but it's just so cheesy and overused.

[YT]XlJuxpeTats[/YT]

 

There was a montage on YouTube of people in SO MANY movies asking some variation of "You really don't get it, do you?" Now I can't unhear it when it pops up in a movie.

 

I searched "movie cliche montage" on YouTube, and the video you're talking about was the first result. There are a slew of great montages for various movie cliches under that search. Hilarious and sad at the same time!

 

Anytime a mentor/parental figure deliberately withholds useful/important information from the hero for no good reason.

 

People are drinking from a cup and its obvious there's nothing in there, this is such an easy fix. Happens more in TV shows than movies I believe.

 

The one line that really bugs me is always...

"Who are you, and what have you done with... ?"

It's usually used when someone does something out slightly out of character and is supposed to get a laugh, but it sucks. You see it when the nerdy character does something fun/rebellious, the silly one does something responsible, or the dumb husband does something romantic for his annoying, overbearing wife (this is usually done to cover up a mistake he made because... he's the dumb husband).

 

Bad cg blood. When the camera is focusing on a character as another one talks to them and you can see that person just out of focus on the left or right of the camera and its obvious there mouth isn't saying the words that we are hearing. Ugh that one gets me badly

 

I could not agree more. Not only is it overused, it becomes a crutch to try to add tension to a scene. The Bourne movies where peopel sitting facing each other at a table and the camera is shaking. Is there an earthquake going on in the scene? Filmed on a train?

Yesterday on Sci-Fi they were playing Lake Placid 15 or something, the one with the dude from Eureka. There was a scene where they run out of the house, to the car to escape the gator (croc?), he gets in the car, drops his keys and has trouble putting it in the keyhole to start the car. All of this done with a shaking camera to add tension to essentially some accident prone guy dropping his keys.

 

When a character sneaks up to a building or something...raises their weapon....and THEN jacks a round into it. Prepare your gun to be shot before you leave the house damnit.

 

Overuse of shaky cam.

"It's only just begun" or a similar line.

When a female character's sole purpose is to be the hero's trophy by the film's end.

Bad old-age makeup.

When you have two characters and one of them ages from child to teenager or adult while the other (older) character looks almost exactly the same.

 

It really bothers me when things are vastly different in the same scene in different angles. Obviously I know you can't expect it to be the exact same every time, however, big things like the main character holding a cup of coffee in one angle and then a book in the next angle? C'mon, man. Pay attention.

 

Movie trailers for comedies or romcoms that have the latest Top 10 song playing in the trailer by the latest teeny bopper/rapper/country star.

Not only that but the song itself might not be even in the actual movie.

 

Name of the film in the film.
If done well, it acts like a cherry on a sundae; in inexperienced or clumsy hands, it is an entire container of salt.

 

oh wow. most if not all of the above. sheesh.

 

When a trailer (for an action or comedy film) ends with that swoosh sound, then it shows the title, followed by one more scene of playful banter.

 

I remember there being a funny little thing about that on Family Guy years ago. Anyway, like you said, sometimes it works, like in something silly like Hot Tub Time Machine, when Craiig Robinson's character looks right at the camera as he delivers it. However, it would've been terrible if after Bruce tells Alfred about becoming a Sybil and all that, Alfred leans back and says "so, Batman Begins."

 

When a character takes a hit to the groin, and it cuts to a crowd of people yelling: "OOOOH!"

 

I laughed so hard at that part of Hot Tub Time Machine. Robinson's delivery was just perfect.

Anyway, a few bothersome little things.

-When a character goes through a seemingly elaborate set-up to do something symbolic. Like in The Dark Knight Rises, Batman sets off an explosion that looks like the bat symbol. Why did he take the time to set that up when there were time bombs all over the city?
-When a whole group of henchmen attacks a hero one at a time.
-Overuse of jump cuts. Like shaky cam, jump cuts can be used to convey a certain atmosphere in a movie, but they are often used much more lazily.

 

The thing with setting up the burning bat didnt bother me. Batman's a ninja and he's very into theatrics. Just a huge bomb would not have had the same efffect as that bat seemingly screaming "I'm commin' fo dat [email protected]@!~"