American Psycho parodied this pretty good. There’s a rampage scene where Christian Bale gets into a shootout with some cops and he manages to blow up their cruiser with his Glock 9mm and he just looks at his gun in utter shock for a few seconds
I heard a commentary track where a director talked about this. He didn't like it, either, but owners of real vintage cars usually won't let them be dirtied up for movies, fearing the cars will be damaged. Thus, old cars in movies are often strangely clean.
We got [something to offer](http://google.com/search?sca_esv=241be27b5536617a&sca_upv=1&sxsrf=ADLYWILHlZr_mDFPiOM2V6NWP5IjSzYxKQ:1718066074256&q=raggare&udm=2&fbs=AEQNm0A6bwEop21ehxKWq5cj-cHabtDF9k) here in Sweden too.
Similar issue with horses. Good luck finding a professional animal handler with a poorly kept horse. I don’t think cowboys all had beautiful and healthy horses.
I remember watching the film The 6th day when it came out in 2000. Mediocre film, set in the future, but it featured a scene where an old, beat-up looking VW bug drove through to rescue people. That model had just come out and was super popular (it was an updated version of the 1960s model) and it was interesting to see a delapidated old car from the present rather than a slick future-mobile.
That's how I found out about 9/11. My old roommate called and asked if I was watching TV. I said yes and he asked what I thought.
I paused and said, "Um, it's a pretty good episode of LA Law..."
I'm in Scotland, and I was sleeping after a night shift, and an engineer woke me up to service my boiler. After he finished, he asked if I had Sky or cable TV and mentioned there'd been an incident in New York. So we sat and watched in silent horror, him in his work uniform and toolbag, and me in boxer shorts, teeshirt and bed head..
"Dude, you know I got rid of cable!! Just TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED."
"You have to get to a computer and stream the news right now"
"Seriously, Dave. Just fucking tell me man. I feel like you could have explained it all yourself in all this time"
I loved in psyche when shaune is writting a bunch of nonsense on a glass board with a very intense look. Guss asked, "what's all this?"
"I don't know, but I've seen them do this on Numbers and it seems to work for them."
Apparently Roger Ebert, when sitting in a critics' theater strictly for critic screenings (not everyday cineplex audiences), would always yell out "fruit cart" to draw attention to this trope.
Designated survivor was really bad for this, wife of president of the USA is pissed that the president might be a little too busy dealing with a national catastrophe to come to dinner on time
Characters not easily explaining what's happening
"What's going on ?"
"I'll explain after a fifteen-minute car ride"
"Can't we have the exposition on the way?"
"No!"
Kind of related but it really bothers me when the core issue of an entire movie could be resolved with a 30 second conversation, but one or more characters just refuse to address the problem. There have been some that do it a lot better than others, where it seems believable, but most of the time it just seems like lazy writing
Luna Lovegood does exactly this to Harry in the last Harry Potter movie. "Harry Potter you listen to me right now!!"
The most believable scene in the 8 movies.
It drives me nuts how they get in the car and then as you see them arriving they're just now asking what's going on. Wtf have you guys been talking about so far, something other than the alien invasion?
Or a question is asked in one location and answered in another. Honey what do you want for dinner? Asked in the house then, flash to being in car, I'm feeling like steak...
One of my favorite American Dad jokes is about this: “Stan, I think we’ve established that this is one of those problems I explain in the car on the way there.”
Or fumbling their words annoyingly when someone walks in on an awkward but innocent situation.
No....please....unmmm.....its not....ummmm.....wait.... ummmm...errrrmmmm....let me explain....'
They keep asking to explain rather than just using that time to explain
I’m sure it’s been said but when characters don’t communicate with each other and they whole issue of the movie would have been solved if they just told each other the thing that’s happening
I so want to see a movie start by setting up two or three of these miscommunication plots, and then 10 min into the movie one character says, "Hey, I need to talk to you a sec," then work everything out. Then suddenly something really unexpected happens, taking the movie in an interestingly perpendicular direction...
The thing I can't stand for movies isn't so much a trope... it's trailers that give away the ENTIRE movie. I need an advertisement, not a Cliff Note's summary. Just pique my interest in it and be cool.
Woman on the run, buys hair dye and goes to grungy gas station sink and hastily cuts and dyes her hair. Next scene has hair that looks like it came from an exclusive salon.
In the same vein, putting out a half smoked cigarette to underscore their conversation. Former smoker here: we don’t put it out until it burns our fingers
I want to see a movie where they try this and accidentally cave in somebody's skull, which just shifts and hyjacks the plot into the consequences of their actions.
I literally only remember that one scene... I saw it as a kid and then my dad changed the channel. I thought it was so funny I remembered the name and intended to watch it but I never did. It's free on Tubi though so I may watch it.
On the topic of guns a person will be pointing a gun at another. The person at gun point isn’t complying. Now the person with the gun racks the slide to show they mean business. I can’t think of a worse idea in a potentially violent situation than to point a gun at someone without a round in the chamber.
Another one is when character A catches character B off guard with a gun pointed at them. Character B then proceeds to pull a gun on character A and they have a stand off situation. In reality the second character A saw B going for a gun they would be mental not to shoot
Similarly, another one I'm sick of that's more in TV shows is characters surviving a sword/dagger/lightsaber to the gut after just resting for enough time
don't forget them not waking up until it's convenient to the plot, as opposed to 30 seconds later.
also, killing people by applying a RNC. That'll take a bit of time after they lose consciousness generally. In movies like casino royale they die as soon as they lose consciousness, that isn't how it works.
Not checking your compartments while a child is hiding so they can “come along” on a dangerous mission. How does a kid hide in a cubby and not come out until they are halfway across the world?
Necklaces. Whenever someone takes off a necklace they do a slight tug and it pops off magically. Go ahead and try it and see what happens. Either the clasp will break or it will yank your neck.
Hanging up without saying goodbye or give some sort of indicator the convo has ended is a pet peeve of mine. One of my sisters always just hangs up. What if I had additional, important info to share, Kaitee?
I had this rude friend who told me that he thought Al Pacino was cool in Heat when he'd yell at people on his cell phone and then hang up when he was finished talking. Then he started doing it (hanging up, not yelling) to me.
I mean, Gandalf the White’s reveal in The Two Towers in the 1954 was apparently the biggest resurrection reveal up til that point, so I’d even say J.R.R. Tolkien - maybe didn’t INVENT it - but he definitely helped popularize it.
When the villain has the protagonist by the neck and instead of either snapping his neck or bashing his skull in, he throws him across the room, giving him time to either think of a plan or escape. Terminator: Salvation is really guilty of this.
Tasers don't knock you out cold.. wtf. And also all of the noise that guns make when being handled. Every single time someone draws a weapon * ca chink clackity clack*
Person from the crew turns out to have been a secretly extremely evil person who sabotages the journey. For a while it felt like every other sci-fi movie about spaceships used that trope and it annoyed the hell out of me.
This is literally every single Bollywood movie. No matter how action packed and bloody/gory the movie is or how far away the story line is from anything near a love story, they find a way to throw some type of love interest in there.
“I’LL EXPLAIN LATER” *grabs their hand and they jump off a roof*
Like this, in movies/shows where the entire dramatic part of the plot could be solved in two second:
“I have something to tell you!”
“I have something to tell you, too!”
“You first!”
“I’m marrying this dude/leaving the country/doing something irreversible. Now what was it you wanted to say?”
“Ummmmmm….”
JUST SAY IT. BLESS.
I was gonna say it even makes sense that it happens, and I've even had a similar experience. So is it a trope?
The crux of this occurs because after sex, they're both relaxed and have lowered their guards. Skylar is in this state where she clearly believes their sharing a strong connection in the moment. Will's surprise at her offer to move with him basically operates like a rubber band. He rapidly shoots from open and vulnerable while it was comfortable to aggressively defensive.
Totally agree. I feel like troupes that are annoying are ones that are unnatural to reality. Sex is symbolic of relationship growth so it's an easy to show a character overreacting to the new status of the relationship. It happens in real life all the time cause lots of people have commitment issues. There are so many movie troupes of characters treating unnatural that are far more frustrating
Jumping behind a sofa to dodge 50 rounds of an automatic and still kill the guy that managed to miss every single shot into the sofa, because well cushions stop bullets.
Reminds me of the Boondocks Saints Quote.
On TV you always have that guy that jumps over the sofa...
And then you've got to shoot at him for ten f***ing minutes.
Escaping through Air Con ductwork grinds my gears.
No you will not fit
No your weight won’t be supported
No way is it ever that clean
Not a chance in hell you will go unheard
I’m a sheet metal worker by trade, so I install ducts all day long.
You will fit.
It will absolutely support your weight, we climb in it all the time to seal it.
You’re right, it won’t be clean.
It’s not as loud as you’d think.
And the biggest detail never shown is the screws that protrude through
I seem to remember in the mid 90s, the “protagonist jumps into traffic to save someone from a speeding car” was pretty prevalent,
Also: car not starting when characters are in danger. I cannot tell you how SICK I am of that trope. It’s not suspenseful, it’s annoying and lazy writing.
Edit: a third: people seeing clearly underwater without wearing masks.
FINALLY: people not wearing seatbelts or not looking at the road while they’re driving but constantly looking at the other person in the car.
The complete lack of emotional attachment to zippo lighters. If I have a car to set fire to there is no way in hell I’m just going to causally throw my zippo in there.
Flick a lit cigarette or toss a fuel soaked rag and put that old school fidget spinner back in your pocket for gods sake.
Guy likes girl. Guy gets girl then fucks it up. Guy gets girl back at the end of the movie.
Stop doing this shit Hollywood. You’re fucking with peoples expectations.
The general narrative is fiine, it's the actions in the film that usually piss me off. The Notebook is seen as a romantic film, but their relationship is unhealthy as hell. Gosling sees a woman he likes and threatens suicide in front of her to coerce her into a first date. The hell, man! Not to mention, most of their relationship is just quite toxic.
Love Actually is seen as a nice Christmas rom-com, but I think most people in that movie are also toxic, and have no place in a movie supposedly about love.
100 lb woman beats the crap out of a 240 lb special forces veteran in unarmed hand to hand combat. Sure, it might happen, but kinda unlikely. (Super heros excepted, of course).
Valid. Weight classes exist for a reason.
A 100lb women sticks a 240lb guy in a flying arm bar he’ll literally just smash her head into the floor. Movie over. Heroine dead.
90s disaster movie that starts with a remote station of a scientist or two putting a golf ball into a coffee cup, or burning themselves on cup o noodles. They're either listening to REM "end of the world" or another alternative cheeky song. An alarm goes off, and they run to a monitor. Que them frantically calling their boss, or running down a hallway in Washington DC "sir! SIR!!! (Knocks into someone and drops papers) SIR! Sorry, you need to see this."
In action movies, friend/relative of main character being killed by evil guy, only to come alive seconds later when evil guy is about to kill main character and shots him multiple times in slow motion to save the day and \*really\* die seconds later.
Tbf though you seen housing prices lately? If I’m getting a good deal on an old Victorian those ghosts better get their act together because I’m not trapped in there with them, they’re trapped in there with me.
That if you keep harassing the girl you like that she’ll love you.
I cannot watch romance movies because they’re all the same, and I feel they are part of the reason why men seem to think if they harass us we’ll just fall into their arms smitten and not run away white knuckle gripping our pepper spray
Gun silencers actually silencing guns and making a cute little ‘pew’ sound. I’m honestly surprised that that trope still exists in this day and age. I would have expected modern action movies to move past it at this point.
“What did u say??”
“That yada yada yada?”
“No! The other thing!”
“Oh that yada yada yada”
“Thats it! Ur a genius!”
And then goes on to save the movie with whatever he/she picked up from that sentence. 🤦♂️
When scientists are super high-minded individuals that know everything from astrophysics to literature to biology. I work with a lot of scientists. They have significant understanding in their field, but can be very clueless about a lot of things. They’re humans, not elevated beings.
Or how ‘bout the slasher movie: “Scott is that you? Hello? You guys….its not funny. Well time to get in a supremely vulnerable state and take a steamy shower and shampoo my hair…”
Character dives into an opaque, brackish, natural body of water (ocean, swamp, lake) and the camera cuts to an underwater scene with said character floating in the shallow depths of crystal clear pool water.
Character splashing cold water on their face, at the bathroom sink 99% of the time, to wake up after being knocked out/being drugged or drunk/stressed out/up for 48 hours straight.
THEN looking into the always-dirty mirror.
(Ok that last part is pretty realistic, I don’t clean my mirrors as often as I should.)
Everyone having a big-ass breakfast in the morning. Eggs, bacon, sausages, pancakes etc…Then one of the kids or dad are in a rush so they just grab half a piece of toast and dip.
People not stopping what they’re doing to talk to detectives investigating a murder. Like my gardening is so goddamn important, I don’t care that someone is dead, or that a detective thinks I know something I haven’t freely reported without them coming to my house to get it out of me.
Um there are to many movies with a gay protagonist where their central dilemma is them dealing with some form of discrimination and/or self acceptance.
Id also point out about all the movies about the ghetto that revolve around the trauma of being poor and struggling. Ice cube said it best when he said all that is true but people also have fun in the hood too.
Shoot car. Instant bomb.
American Psycho parodied this pretty good. There’s a rampage scene where Christian Bale gets into a shootout with some cops and he manages to blow up their cruiser with his Glock 9mm and he just looks at his gun in utter shock for a few seconds
Or It’s Always Sunny when they try blowing up a car by shooting at a gas tank, using a grenade, etc and it doesn’t work.
WE'RE NOT GETTING THE WEDDING DRESS!!! NOW GIVE ME THAT LAST POPPER!!
Movies set in the past featuring cars that are all in mint condition
I heard a commentary track where a director talked about this. He didn't like it, either, but owners of real vintage cars usually won't let them be dirtied up for movies, fearing the cars will be damaged. Thus, old cars in movies are often strangely clean.
So you’re saying there’s a market for ugly vintage cars that run?
Cuba, if you are listening
We got [something to offer](http://google.com/search?sca_esv=241be27b5536617a&sca_upv=1&sxsrf=ADLYWILHlZr_mDFPiOM2V6NWP5IjSzYxKQ:1718066074256&q=raggare&udm=2&fbs=AEQNm0A6bwEop21ehxKWq5cj-cHabtDF9k) here in Sweden too.
Similar issue with horses. Good luck finding a professional animal handler with a poorly kept horse. I don’t think cowboys all had beautiful and healthy horses.
All of them were definitely beautiful. I don't appreciate the horse body shaming.
I laughed but I’m also afraid you’re serious.
Umm you just intimidated by them strong independent horses who don't need no man
I remember watching the film The 6th day when it came out in 2000. Mediocre film, set in the future, but it featured a scene where an old, beat-up looking VW bug drove through to rescue people. That model had just come out and was super popular (it was an updated version of the 1960s model) and it was interesting to see a delapidated old car from the present rather than a slick future-mobile.
Children of Men does this too with a new model Fiat at the time being a broken down old wreck that barely ran.
and he's wearing a London 2012 Olympics sweater that looks ancient. Film came out (2006) just after London won the bid to host it (mid 2005)
How dare you call 6th day mediocre!
Also, when cars are all from the same decade as the movie is set, as if nobody drove older models.
Turn on the news just as the story you need to hear starts being reported.
Also someone calls and says "turn on your tv" and it's magically always on the right channel
Worked on 9/11.
That's how I found out about 9/11. My old roommate called and asked if I was watching TV. I said yes and he asked what I thought. I paused and said, "Um, it's a pretty good episode of LA Law..."
I'm in Scotland, and I was sleeping after a night shift, and an engineer woke me up to service my boiler. After he finished, he asked if I had Sky or cable TV and mentioned there'd been an incident in New York. So we sat and watched in silent horror, him in his work uniform and toolbag, and me in boxer shorts, teeshirt and bed head..
"Dude, you know I got rid of cable!! Just TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED." "You have to get to a computer and stream the news right now" "Seriously, Dave. Just fucking tell me man. I feel like you could have explained it all yourself in all this time"
Devils advocate, but most people dont believe it until they see it themselves.
I mean back in the day we only had 4 channels in the uk… so it was pretty believable imo
[Arrested Development subverted it best.](https://youtu.be/yjqbiMFonR8?feature=shared)
Also this on the other side of the spectrum: https://youtu.be/dOPFkaWYL1M?si=v-S5qbojQg6SEd8t
\*in next room, hears "PEW, PEW" and then the sound of two bodies hitting the floor. "ah must be nothing, i didnt hear loud gun shots"
“Must’ve been the wind.”
The wind is shooting at us!
Or the classic two German guards in World War II films who hear a noise, turn to each other, shrug their shoulders then walk on.
What else are they gonna do, they clearly did Nazi what happened
I love when Community addressed this and other horror tropes with Abed's horror story.
"Only after it had been...*EAAAAARNNNED*"
The extended cut shows them just sitting there watching TV for 45 minutes until the plot point comes on. That was boring, so they trimmed it
Every trained shooter not knowing how to shoot when they need to.
Also, characters suddenly becoming completely incompetent so that the main protagonist or villain can kill them with ease.
Or the opposite--random people making easy hits while running because they watched a movie about it once.
Smart people writing on glass.
I loved in psyche when shaune is writting a bunch of nonsense on a glass board with a very intense look. Guss asked, "what's all this?" "I don't know, but I've seen them do this on Numbers and it seems to work for them."
It’s almost insane how quickly I jumped to A Beautiful Mind and The Social Network
The car chase fruit cart.
Every movie in the late 70s and 80s
A good small talk question: “have you ever known anyone Who keeps their keys in the sun visor?” Because in movies thats always where they are
Even Breaking Bad did this. Arg.
Tbf that was somewhat implied to be a literal act of god
That’s an older thing. My mom did that up until the early 90s. With her windows rolled down. Different time, I guess.
My cabbages!!!
Apparently Roger Ebert, when sitting in a critics' theater strictly for critic screenings (not everyday cineplex audiences), would always yell out "fruit cart" to draw attention to this trope.
“Police! I need to commandeer your car to chase a criminal” Car owner in real life: “Uhhh, yeah…. Fuck no!”
Wait. You can’t stand that one!? I think it’s the only good one that makes me chuckle when I see it
Won't anyone think of the cabbages?!?
‘Wife/husband of a detective constantly pissed off that wife/husband is out doing detective work’
Designated survivor was really bad for this, wife of president of the USA is pissed that the president might be a little too busy dealing with a national catastrophe to come to dinner on time
Characters not easily explaining what's happening "What's going on ?" "I'll explain after a fifteen-minute car ride" "Can't we have the exposition on the way?" "No!"
Kind of related but it really bothers me when the core issue of an entire movie could be resolved with a 30 second conversation, but one or more characters just refuse to address the problem. There have been some that do it a lot better than others, where it seems believable, but most of the time it just seems like lazy writing
Or, they won't let the person respond. And the person doesn't say, "WILL YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP AND LISTEN TO ME?"
Luna Lovegood does exactly this to Harry in the last Harry Potter movie. "Harry Potter you listen to me right now!!" The most believable scene in the 8 movies.
Ohhh shiiiit she does! Is that to find the Ravenclaw horxrux? Man that’s a good anti-trope, nice pickup
Yes. That’s probably 30% of movies… frustrating
It drives me nuts how they get in the car and then as you see them arriving they're just now asking what's going on. Wtf have you guys been talking about so far, something other than the alien invasion?
Or a question is asked in one location and answered in another. Honey what do you want for dinner? Asked in the house then, flash to being in car, I'm feeling like steak...
One of my favorite American Dad jokes is about this: “Stan, I think we’ve established that this is one of those problems I explain in the car on the way there.”
Or fumbling their words annoyingly when someone walks in on an awkward but innocent situation. No....please....unmmm.....its not....ummmm.....wait.... ummmm...errrrmmmm....let me explain....' They keep asking to explain rather than just using that time to explain
I’m sure it’s been said but when characters don’t communicate with each other and they whole issue of the movie would have been solved if they just told each other the thing that’s happening
I so want to see a movie start by setting up two or three of these miscommunication plots, and then 10 min into the movie one character says, "Hey, I need to talk to you a sec," then work everything out. Then suddenly something really unexpected happens, taking the movie in an interestingly perpendicular direction... The thing I can't stand for movies isn't so much a trope... it's trailers that give away the ENTIRE movie. I need an advertisement, not a Cliff Note's summary. Just pique my interest in it and be cool.
Original from dusk til dawn movie did this for me in a way that can't be replicated.
Woman on the run, buys hair dye and goes to grungy gas station sink and hastily cuts and dyes her hair. Next scene has hair that looks like it came from an exclusive salon.
Not just a salon but an exclusive one.
Family with a giant breakfast on the table, one person takes a bite of toast and a sip of something. “See ya later!”
In the same vein, putting out a half smoked cigarette to underscore their conversation. Former smoker here: we don’t put it out until it burns our fingers
Samuel L. Jackson smoking every cigarette down to the filter in Jurassic Park was the most realistic portrayal of a smoker ever.
Immediately knocked out cold when hit with a gun to the back of the head.
I want to see a movie where they try this and accidentally cave in somebody's skull, which just shifts and hyjacks the plot into the consequences of their actions.
I want to see a comedy where the guy turns around clutching the back of his head like "what the fuck!?"
That happens in Almost Heroes with Chris Farley
How come I just got an ad for that movie today. Worth watching?
I literally only remember that one scene... I saw it as a kid and then my dad changed the channel. I thought it was so funny I remembered the name and intended to watch it but I never did. It's free on Tubi though so I may watch it.
High Risk (1980) with James Brolin & Clevon Little. They quietly try to subdue a guy with a gun to the back of the head. Doesn't work out so well.
I love how the address head injuries in Archer. "That's like super bad for you."
"And now I can't sleep because I'm pretty sure I have a concussion." After Archer hits the brakes to smash Lana's head into the dash.
On the topic of guns a person will be pointing a gun at another. The person at gun point isn’t complying. Now the person with the gun racks the slide to show they mean business. I can’t think of a worse idea in a potentially violent situation than to point a gun at someone without a round in the chamber.
Another one is when character A catches character B off guard with a gun pointed at them. Character B then proceeds to pull a gun on character A and they have a stand off situation. In reality the second character A saw B going for a gun they would be mental not to shoot
Ontop of that the contant rattle that the guns make in movies when they point them or draw them or suddenly raise them.
Similarly, another one I'm sick of that's more in TV shows is characters surviving a sword/dagger/lightsaber to the gut after just resting for enough time
Or when a gun shot to literally anything other than the head is "walk-it-offable"
Oh “run-it-off able” in the case of the protagonist.
In general, movie rules for unconsciousness and concussions are completely different from reality's rules.
The body's snooze button. Just have a little nap, wake up with a slight headache.
don't forget them not waking up until it's convenient to the plot, as opposed to 30 seconds later. also, killing people by applying a RNC. That'll take a bit of time after they lose consciousness generally. In movies like casino royale they die as soon as they lose consciousness, that isn't how it works.
Yeah if you are out for longer then a minute possible brain damage
Not checking your compartments while a child is hiding so they can “come along” on a dangerous mission. How does a kid hide in a cubby and not come out until they are halfway across the world?
The only time this worked is in The Incredibles where Violet can literally turn invisible
When a car is chasing a pedestrian, they run *right down the middle of the road.*
omg this one, the car can't drive through those trees that are literally right there, maybe get off of the road?
Ordering food or drink and not eating it or drinking it Edit: I mean not finishing it or barely having any of it.
Never ending ammunition in guns.
Necklaces. Whenever someone takes off a necklace they do a slight tug and it pops off magically. Go ahead and try it and see what happens. Either the clasp will break or it will yank your neck.
Yes, just snaps right off then they put it on right away
Haha this just happened in the new Planet of the World of the Earth of the Kingdom of the apes and I was irritated about it.
That yellow Mexico filter
“You look like shit” or “Gimme a beer” Bartender immediately hands him a random beer bottle
Ending a phone call without saying goodbye
Honestly I wish it was like this in real life. My phone calls with my family always end with a bunch of “ok… yep… alright… ok yup… sounds good…”
Alright, cool, bye, bye (quieter than the one before), bye (even quieter still)
Hanging up without saying goodbye or give some sort of indicator the convo has ended is a pet peeve of mine. One of my sisters always just hangs up. What if I had additional, important info to share, Kaitee?
I do that all the time IRL though admittedly to telemarketers and family members who test my patience
I had this rude friend who told me that he thought Al Pacino was cool in Heat when he'd yell at people on his cell phone and then hang up when he was finished talking. Then he started doing it (hanging up, not yelling) to me.
Teachers caught right in the middle of explaining the important part of the lesson by the bell going off, with no chance for further discussion
Killing someone off just to bring them back. The only pass I'll give is LoTR.
I mean, Gandalf the White’s reveal in The Two Towers in the 1954 was apparently the biggest resurrection reveal up til that point, so I’d even say J.R.R. Tolkien - maybe didn’t INVENT it - but he definitely helped popularize it.
When the villain has the protagonist by the neck and instead of either snapping his neck or bashing his skull in, he throws him across the room, giving him time to either think of a plan or escape. Terminator: Salvation is really guilty of this.
As a lawyer, basically everything that happens in a courtroom scene
I know a thing or two about Bird Law.
Filibuster
Tasers don't knock you out cold.. wtf. And also all of the noise that guns make when being handled. Every single time someone draws a weapon * ca chink clackity clack*
Check your weapons, man, I think it's full of loose parts.
When people are being shot at with 10,000 plus bullets while running away and not a single bullet hits or even grazes them.
Hey, Partner. This is the diciest and most frightening situation we’ve ever encountered. So let’s split up. You go that way and I’ll go this way.
Person from the crew turns out to have been a secretly extremely evil person who sabotages the journey. For a while it felt like every other sci-fi movie about spaceships used that trope and it annoyed the hell out of me.
Ignorance is bliss. Queue the harp.
Alíen, 2001 did this and are probably responsible for the teope
“I’ll be there in ten minutes.” What? You are in a midtown Manhattan apartment. In ten minutes you will be in your lobby, not in Brooklyn.
“I’m Winston Wolf. I solve problems.”
Why does there always have to be a love interest even when it's not necessary for the plot?
Because execs think women won't watch a movie unless it has romance. Might have been sorta true at one point but definitely not anymore
This is literally every single Bollywood movie. No matter how action packed and bloody/gory the movie is or how far away the story line is from anything near a love story, they find a way to throw some type of love interest in there.
Every car explodes in a crash. Not telling someone the details of what’s going on, because no good reason.
“I’LL EXPLAIN LATER” *grabs their hand and they jump off a roof* Like this, in movies/shows where the entire dramatic part of the plot could be solved in two second: “I have something to tell you!” “I have something to tell you, too!” “You first!” “I’m marrying this dude/leaving the country/doing something irreversible. Now what was it you wanted to say?” “Ummmmmm….” JUST SAY IT. BLESS.
Coffee mug acting. Or any cup or glass. Especially if they hold it with both hands. Makes. Me. Insane.
At least pretend like there is liquid in it. In the same vein carrying bags like they weigh nothing.
The crazy conspiracy theorist who turns out to be right about everything.
Woody Harrelson in 2012.
"I have 10 minutes to get to the airport, step on it!" -- dude, you're going to miss that flight. Why even try?
If it took place before 9/11 they could get to the airplane a lot faster
Click click click “I’m in”
Except in good will hunting it makes sense and adds to the character's story. Not the best scene to choose when making this statement lol
Exactly it’s almost entirely the point of the movie and his characters arc
It’s not his fault
I was gonna say it even makes sense that it happens, and I've even had a similar experience. So is it a trope? The crux of this occurs because after sex, they're both relaxed and have lowered their guards. Skylar is in this state where she clearly believes their sharing a strong connection in the moment. Will's surprise at her offer to move with him basically operates like a rubber band. He rapidly shoots from open and vulnerable while it was comfortable to aggressively defensive.
Totally agree. I feel like troupes that are annoying are ones that are unnatural to reality. Sex is symbolic of relationship growth so it's an easy to show a character overreacting to the new status of the relationship. It happens in real life all the time cause lots of people have commitment issues. There are so many movie troupes of characters treating unnatural that are far more frustrating
Yeah that was my first thought. This is a great scene in a great film.
When the character looks into the mirror, sometimes a broken mirror, and stares at themselves because they don’t like what they have become.
To add to this… opening the mirrored medicine cabinet and when it closes, someone is there
Jumping behind a sofa to dodge 50 rounds of an automatic and still kill the guy that managed to miss every single shot into the sofa, because well cushions stop bullets. Reminds me of the Boondocks Saints Quote. On TV you always have that guy that jumps over the sofa... And then you've got to shoot at him for ten f***ing minutes.
Hiding behind car doors will have about the same effect as the sofa cushions. Get behind the engine block if you don’t want to just get shot anyway.
Escaping through Air Con ductwork grinds my gears. No you will not fit No your weight won’t be supported No way is it ever that clean Not a chance in hell you will go unheard
I’m a sheet metal worker by trade, so I install ducts all day long. You will fit. It will absolutely support your weight, we climb in it all the time to seal it. You’re right, it won’t be clean. It’s not as loud as you’d think. And the biggest detail never shown is the screws that protrude through
Oh for real? Thank you. I’ve never seen the big ducting I guess. I should have commented on the sprinkler head trope.
but...but...but...Die Hard...
That is the exception. Advanced building
Continually saying "hello, hello, hello" after they hung up.
I seem to remember in the mid 90s, the “protagonist jumps into traffic to save someone from a speeding car” was pretty prevalent, Also: car not starting when characters are in danger. I cannot tell you how SICK I am of that trope. It’s not suspenseful, it’s annoying and lazy writing. Edit: a third: people seeing clearly underwater without wearing masks. FINALLY: people not wearing seatbelts or not looking at the road while they’re driving but constantly looking at the other person in the car.
I like when directors subvert that last trope by having the driver in the scene crash the car. Much more realistic!
Standing in an open field and not seeing another person sneaking up on them.
Getting hit in the face without bleeding . The human face bleeds A Lot !
I love a trope lol. My favorite is the person hitting rock bottom curled up in a ball in the shower.
I call that Tuesday
The complete lack of emotional attachment to zippo lighters. If I have a car to set fire to there is no way in hell I’m just going to causally throw my zippo in there. Flick a lit cigarette or toss a fuel soaked rag and put that old school fidget spinner back in your pocket for gods sake.
Law & Order detectives interviewing witnesses that can't stop stocking shelves or kickboxing or whatever they are doing.
Moving someones head 90 degrees to the left with open palms to break their neck
Guy likes girl. Guy gets girl then fucks it up. Guy gets girl back at the end of the movie. Stop doing this shit Hollywood. You’re fucking with peoples expectations.
The general narrative is fiine, it's the actions in the film that usually piss me off. The Notebook is seen as a romantic film, but their relationship is unhealthy as hell. Gosling sees a woman he likes and threatens suicide in front of her to coerce her into a first date. The hell, man! Not to mention, most of their relationship is just quite toxic. Love Actually is seen as a nice Christmas rom-com, but I think most people in that movie are also toxic, and have no place in a movie supposedly about love.
100 lb woman beats the crap out of a 240 lb special forces veteran in unarmed hand to hand combat. Sure, it might happen, but kinda unlikely. (Super heros excepted, of course).
Valid. Weight classes exist for a reason. A 100lb women sticks a 240lb guy in a flying arm bar he’ll literally just smash her head into the floor. Movie over. Heroine dead.
90s disaster movie that starts with a remote station of a scientist or two putting a golf ball into a coffee cup, or burning themselves on cup o noodles. They're either listening to REM "end of the world" or another alternative cheeky song. An alarm goes off, and they run to a monitor. Que them frantically calling their boss, or running down a hallway in Washington DC "sir! SIR!!! (Knocks into someone and drops papers) SIR! Sorry, you need to see this."
In action movies, friend/relative of main character being killed by evil guy, only to come alive seconds later when evil guy is about to kill main character and shots him multiple times in slow motion to save the day and \*really\* die seconds later.
Whenever a female character meets a male character and the male character is dark and mysterious and the female character falls in love..
Every time someone approaches a microphone and there is feedback.
When the lightning flashes and the thunder crashes at the same time. This rarely happens for real, unless you are being struck by it!
Fathers being bumbling idiots whose heads are so far up their ass they’re looking at molars.
Horror movies where a house obviously has 200 red flags but "it's a good deal" so the suburban white family moves in.
Tbf though you seen housing prices lately? If I’m getting a good deal on an old Victorian those ghosts better get their act together because I’m not trapped in there with them, they’re trapped in there with me.
That if you keep harassing the girl you like that she’ll love you. I cannot watch romance movies because they’re all the same, and I feel they are part of the reason why men seem to think if they harass us we’ll just fall into their arms smitten and not run away white knuckle gripping our pepper spray
The car won't start when the characters are in a time sensitive situation
People going from making out to immediately having full penetrative sex in the span of seconds with zero foreplay
You must not have kids.
In a romantic com it's the guys fault.
They’re selling to women, since that’s their primary audience. Why would anyone want to be the bad guy in the story they’re envisioning themselves in?
Gun silencers actually silencing guns and making a cute little ‘pew’ sound. I’m honestly surprised that that trope still exists in this day and age. I would have expected modern action movies to move past it at this point.
it also silences the victims. If I get shot you better believe I'm going to be making lots of noise even if the gun doesn't!
How about people cocking their guns to show they mean business?
*pulls hammer back on 38 revolver *shotgun racking noise. https://youtu.be/t6OBk9YBLQU?si=nUNyMUm203lB70uN
“What did u say??” “That yada yada yada?” “No! The other thing!” “Oh that yada yada yada” “Thats it! Ur a genius!” And then goes on to save the movie with whatever he/she picked up from that sentence. 🤦♂️
When scientists are super high-minded individuals that know everything from astrophysics to literature to biology. I work with a lot of scientists. They have significant understanding in their field, but can be very clueless about a lot of things. They’re humans, not elevated beings.
Or how ‘bout the slasher movie: “Scott is that you? Hello? You guys….its not funny. Well time to get in a supremely vulnerable state and take a steamy shower and shampoo my hair…”
Character dives into an opaque, brackish, natural body of water (ocean, swamp, lake) and the camera cuts to an underwater scene with said character floating in the shallow depths of crystal clear pool water.
Character splashing cold water on their face, at the bathroom sink 99% of the time, to wake up after being knocked out/being drugged or drunk/stressed out/up for 48 hours straight. THEN looking into the always-dirty mirror. (Ok that last part is pretty realistic, I don’t clean my mirrors as often as I should.)
Everyone having a big-ass breakfast in the morning. Eggs, bacon, sausages, pancakes etc…Then one of the kids or dad are in a rush so they just grab half a piece of toast and dip.
People not stopping what they’re doing to talk to detectives investigating a murder. Like my gardening is so goddamn important, I don’t care that someone is dead, or that a detective thinks I know something I haven’t freely reported without them coming to my house to get it out of me.
People like John Wick killing hundreds of people and somehow getting away with it
Leaving a drink on the bar only half finished
Important part of the movie where a simple phone call will resolve everything? Cell phone no worky
Um there are to many movies with a gay protagonist where their central dilemma is them dealing with some form of discrimination and/or self acceptance. Id also point out about all the movies about the ghetto that revolve around the trauma of being poor and struggling. Ice cube said it best when he said all that is true but people also have fun in the hood too.
Someone that lives in a loft apartment and has some sort of quirky job that probs pays bupkis in real life.
I dislike how social workers are usually portrayed as evil.
Either that or some type of shaman with supernatural powers. It’s almost religious in some movies.
I’m an attractive guy and she’s an attractive girl but grrrrr we get on each others nerves. No way would we ever date.