Most overused Clichés in movies/TV shows?

[T & P]

Deserted and very echoey multi-storey car park.

Lone person walking to their car starts to get a feeling they’re being followed.

They think they can hear footsteps, panic, and run for their life to their car.

Invariably they will struggle to find the car keys in their handbag, or drop them to the floor. Eventually they will grab them, get in the car, lock the door, and breathe a sigh of relief.

You won’t believe what happens next!

 

[MickiQ]

Deserted and very echoey multi-storey car park.

Lone person walking to their car starts to get a feeling they’re being followed.

They think they can hear footsteps, panic, and run for their life to their car.

Invariably they will struggle to find the car keys in their handbag, or drop them to the floor. Eventually they will grab them, get in the car, lock the door, and breathe a sigh of relief.

You won’t believe what happens next!

There is someone sat in the back of their car who has managed to get in without the keys

 

[Pickman's model]

(Almost) all detectives have daughters. Far more often than is probable.

 

[Pickman's model]

Lock picking is a common skill

 

[Pickman's model]

Pretty much all detectives have a drinking problem

 

[Serge Forward]

Deserted and very echoey multi-storey car park.

Lone person walking to their car starts to get a feeling they’re being followed.

They think they can hear footsteps, panic, and run for their life to their car.

Invariably they will struggle to find the car keys in their handbag, or drop them to the floor. Eventually they will grab them, get in the car, lock the door, and breathe a sigh of relief.

You won’t believe what happens next!

And they always run in a straight line when being chase by a car, instead of using support columns for protection.

 

[magneze]

In order to become invisible, simply wear a baseball cap.

Oddly, no-one else will be wearing one but the disguise will always work.

 

[DaveCinzano]

In order to become invisible, simply wear a baseball cap.

Oddly, no-one else will be wearing one but the disguise will always work.

The double cap:

 

[Orang Utan]

when people want to provide a sample of blood or to signify a blood pact, they open up massive gash on the pads of their thumbs, which is a stupid place to cut yourself deliberately.

 

[Brainaddict]

I was reminded of this ancient list of evil overlord mistakes the other day The Top 100 Things I’d Do If I Ever Became An Evil Overlord

 

[DaveCinzano]

when people want to provide a sample of blood or to signify a blood pact, they open up massive gash on the pads of their thumbs, which is a stupid place to cut yourself deliberately.

Not in The Warriors they don't

 

[DaveCinzano]

I was reminded of this ancient list of evil overlord mistakes the other day The Top 100 Things I’d Do If I Ever Became An Evil Overlord

12, 21 and 55 are particularly good

 

[T & P]

In superhero films in particular, and to
some degree in monster and natural disaster ones too, innocent civilians in America find themselves perilously dangling from a weakened suspension bridge with surprising regularly,

As I’ve just sat down to watch the brand new Shazam! film and seen yet another set of civilians in mortal danger whilst on a bridge being saved by the titular character, I am driven to wonder… Are there any Marvel or DC superhero universes that don’t feature at some point or other a fucking bridge? Whether as the background for a heroic rescue, or a confrontation between heroes and villains? Any at all?

 

[T & P]

When planning to murder any cast or crew member a theatre from a theatre play, all conventional weapons from the outside world must be abandoned in favour of dropping a sandbag counterweight on their head. A stage lamp is also acceptable.

 

[DaveCinzano]

When planning to murder any cast or crew member a theatre from a theatre play, all conventional weapons from the outside world must be abandoned in favour of dropping a sandbag counterweight on their head. A stage lamp is also acceptable.

Don't discard the real-bullets-in-prop-gun switcheroo

 

[T & P]

Don't discard the real-bullets-in-prop-gun switcheroo

True. The old unsecured trapdoor trick has also served murderers well over the years.

 

[Artaxerxes]

Don't discard the real-bullets-in-prop-gun switcheroo

Don’t upset Alec Baldwin

 

[DaveCinzano]

Don’t upset Alec Baldwin

I'm not crowing about it

 

[MickiQ]

The protagonist will never confess their feelings to the love interest until they are about to leave town forever and never return. The protagonist will jump into a taxi to follow only to get caught in a massive traffic jam regardless of the time of day or night it is. Frustrated they will leap out of the taxi and head off on foot only to discover that the love interest has also realised their true feeling and leapt out of their taxi only for them to run into each other immediately despite living in a huge city with millions of inhabitants. Alternatively the protagonist will get to the airport/train station moments to late to sadly watch the plane/train leave only to turn round to find the love interest stood directly behind them.

 

[T & P]

In thriller or heist films, when the lights suddenly go out at a social gathering such as in a casino, ballroom gala, or black tie canapé party at someone’s mansion, the attendees find it so terrifying they will do a high pitch scream in unison. Usually followed by the party host or venue manager reassuring them ’Ladies and gentlemen, please remain calm! There’s nothing to worry about. The lights will come back on in a moment.’

In every situation I’ve been in when there was a power cut, people usually laughed, cheered sarcastically, or murmured ‘Oh, great’ in disappointment. I guess it must be a 1%er thing- never having experienced a power cut and so on.

 

[T & P]

When a low rank police officer, or an employee working for a megacorporation uncovers a major case of criminal activity, they will go straight to the seemly honest head honcho to tell them in confidence about the shocking discovery.

If the whistleblower’s boss’ first words are to say the employee has done the right thing by coming straight to them, and immediately follow up with the question ‘Have you told anyone else about this?’, the employee will have about ten seconds left to live.

 

[SpookyFrank]

when people want to provide a sample of blood or to signify a blood pact, they open up massive gash on the pads of their thumbs, which is a stupid place to cut yourself deliberately.

Usually the palm of the hand, which anyone who has done first aid training will know is one of the most annoying places to have to bind a wound.

 

[T & P]

I wish others would contribute more in this thread because I’m starting to look overtly obsessed by this But I keep thinking of new ones as I watch shit on TV, so shoot me.

Latest one is triggered by a legal drama I’m watching now. In Agatha Christie-style whodunnit mysteries, the murder weapon will be of so little concern to the investigation, the killer will often leave the knife stuck into the victim, or the gun or heavy object used to shoot/ smash their head in lying next to the body, presumably for the lols. And the police will be unable to get anything useful out of it.

In more serious murder/ legal dramas however, finding the murder weapon is so pivotal to the case, the killer might resort to entombing it in a wall to hide it. And in murder trials, the accused’s attorney will maintain that the failure by the police to find the murder weapon is a fatal flaw destroying the entire prosecution case.

ETA: And never mind microscopic DNA traces the killer might be afraid of removing; they will be so useless at cleaning it before burying it somewhere, they will literally leave pieces of skull complete with hairs stuck on the hammer, or the knife blade caked in dried blood.

 

[petee]

 

[krtek a houby]

Have we had the elevator yet?

Cheracters in middle of something tense will get into the lift and go silent and awkward while some jolly muzak plays.

Action resumes upon leaving.

 

[bcuster]

Overuse of the phrase "as well" instead of "also" or "too"

 

[Orang Utan]

Overuse of the phrase "as well" instead of "also" or "too"

 

[krtek a houby]

Overuse of the phrase "as well" instead of "also" or "too"

Don't forget "and"

 

[T & P]

Benevolent male computer hackers who the protagonists enlist to break into a top government or corporation network when they have nowhere else to turn will invariably live in a basement, usually in filthy conditions. If they are under 30 , it will be their mother’s house. Bonus point if she comes downstairs to deliver a sandwich.

 

[Shippou-Sensei]

Don't forget "and"

As you already know