Cinema Tropes and Choices You Hate

[M Bocioaca]

#1204401250

Has anyone noticed how in 00 and early 10’s movies, every scene has to have a country/pop song that literally explains what’s happening in the scene? I noticed that in Into the Wild and We Need to Talk About Kevin. My God, it ruins the whole experience. It treats the audience like children.

This topic is basically an excuse to vent my rage. That’s how mad this thing makes me. Anyway, what are some stylistic choices or cinema tropes that make your blood boil?

• This topic was modified 12 months ago by M Bocioaca.
• This topic was modified 12 months ago by M Bocioaca.

Pantheon of acting: Uta / Elizabeth / Richard / Sandy (Virginia Woolf), Bibi / Liv (Persona), Sandrine (La Ceremonie), Brie (Short Term 12), Jodie (Silence of the Lambs), Jodie (Killing Eve), Nicole (The Others), Eva (Penny Dreadful), Timothée (CMBYN), Lupita (Us)

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[Diamond Tier Joined: Aug 14th, 2020 Topics: 0 Posts: 5519 View Predictions]

#1204401285

Horror films have a tendency to depict violence against animals. One of my favorites, Halloween (1978), has a scene where Michael Myers strangles a German Shepherd to death. I understand the implications Carpenter wanted to suggest but…dogs don’t deserve to die 😭

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[FairWeatherAffair Joined: May 11th, 2018 Topics: 4 Posts: 489 View Predictions]

#1204401722

I’ve never seen a fish-eye lens used well, so it’s time to stop trying 🙂

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[ShinySeaDiamond Joined: Oct 30th, 2020 Topics: 0 Posts: 152 View Predictions]

#1204401986

More of a general fiction trope, but the end of the second act “You lied to me”/liar reveal is more often than note cringe.

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[Butz Joined: Oct 15th, 2020 Topics: 0 Posts: 1303 View Predictions]

#1204402056

ShinySeaDiamond wrote:

More of a general fiction trope, but the end of the second act “You lied to me”/liar reveal is more often than note cringe.

I was about to say this. It’s absolutely horrible and so tiresome that it’s automatically a huge plus for me when a movie subverts that cliché or at least gets over with it quickly.

Some pet peeves of mine are

• bad child acting that people find excusable because the kids are cute
• that scene in literally every single high school coming-of-age drama about a girl who falls in love with one of the cool guys and then he tries to force her to do sexual things in his car which makes her realize how stupid her priorities were (ruined Eighth Grade a bit for me)
• films that have nothing to offer in terms of filmmaking but insist on being important because they are about an important thing (something like Official Secrets, The Report, Misbehaviour); those which basically trick you into being affected because you are so shocked that a thing like that really happened but are really bad and/or boring otherwise

Letterboxd: Ray_In_Bruges

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[Bassett Joined: Dec 21st, 2016 Topics: 1 Posts: 2607 View Predictions]

#1204402093

When the characters turns on the TV channel at the exact moment an important news report starts. They do that shit in every single movie, at the exact second, the very first word

And it’s even worse when said character is on the phone with another one who says “omg turn on the news !!” like ???

I just saw that in Scream 3 and an episode of Charmed and cringed again

FYC

Best Actress - Pénélope Cruz, Olivia Colman

Best Actor - Denzel Washington

Best Supporting Actress - Aunjanue Ellis, Kathryn Hunter

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[String Cheese Theory Joined: Aug 16th, 2020 Topics: 9 Posts: 1960 View Predictions]

#1204402164

The nagging wife with no back story of her own. Ugh. This is why I loved Susan Misner’s portrayal of Sandra Beeman in The Americans. She could have easily been a trope but she gave such a fresh take on “FBI agent’s wife”. It’s the same in movies and television.

Bill Hader and Barry in everything (2 babka)
The Great - Elle Fanning, Nicholas Hoult and comedy writing and directing

Severance in drama series, writing, Adam Scott for best actor, Ben Stiller for drama directing, and the whole cast in supporting.

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[Nameizmann Joined: Jan 16th, 2020 Topics: 29 Posts: 511 View Predictions]

#1204402172

String Cheese Theory wrote:

The nagging wife with no back story of her own. Ugh. This is why I loved Susan Misner’s portrayal of Sandra Beeman in The Americans. She could have easily been a trope but she gave such a fresh take on “FBI agent’s wife”. It’s the same in movies and television.

Yes and don’t understand when they get awards traction. Example: Claire Foy’s role in First Man

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[vinny Joined: May 20th, 2011 Topics: 21 Posts: 20964 View Predictions]

#1204402439

In almost every Horror movie we get the “let’split up gang” character or god forbid there is more than one. Drives me nuts

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[wattsgold Joined: Oct 6th, 2018 Topics: 2 Posts: 1854 View Predictions]

#1204403954

`Now that we’re dealing with horror movies. I hate the fact they have the sole survivor/ likeable protagonist from the previous movie show up just to be killed in the first scene of the sequel in stupid ways. How lazy do you have to be to make any other kind of continuity…

So, shame on you

Friday the 13th part 2

Hostel part II

Halloween Resurrection (shame overall cuz that Busta Rhymes kung fu kicks… just no)

And of course on the sci-fi side…

Alien3

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[RIDLEY SCOTT Joined: Dec 12th, 2020 Topics: 64 Posts: 1716 View Predictions]

#1204404053

I hate when the lead got way better at everything without an explanation or proper training. Gary Stu or the Rey Star Wars. Most people hate Rey from Star Wars for that reason. However, that happens a lot in bad action movies. The lead(usually the lead is male in action movies) defeat the villain without an explanation or any proper training. It happens EVEN in good action movies. For example I saw today BROKEN ARROW Directed by John Woo. I loved it. John Travolta was so cool and looked in his absolute physical peak as the main villain. The first scene of the film is John Travolta destroying the lead in boxing. The last scene of the film is the lead destroying John Travolta in boxing without any logic or training

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[Orestes Joined: Jun 29th, 2021 Topics: 0 Posts: 296 View Predictions]

#1204404222

Characters never saying ‘bye’ on the phone but hanging up abruptly for dramatic brevity. Apparently I’m not the only one bothered by this, as there was a Guardian piece on this very phenomenon:

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/may/10/why-do-characters-never-say-bye-on-the-phone

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[Marco11 Joined: Nov 29th, 2014 Topics: 3 Posts: 203 View Predictions]

#1204404418

Long takes are risky, unless you’re a genius. In the hand of untalented people, they become obscene (I’m looking at you, 1917!)

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[Marco11 Joined: Nov 29th, 2014 Topics: 3 Posts: 203 View Predictions]

#1204404426

Also, I usually hate when the camera moves too much. Films are images and handheld cameras, with the excuse of offering a “more real” sense of things, just end up with uninteresting images. Learn from Jean-Claude Rousseau!

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[Vicki Leekx Joined: Aug 3rd, 2019 Topics: 2 Posts: 1404 View Predictions]

#1204404452

In any romantic movie (or any movie featuring a couple eg. horror movies) the couple are almost always both at least gym-fit gods/goddesses/or at least one of them is somehow beautiful in some way…I’ve noticed this in “edgy” LGBT+ cinema too…where are the average looking/overweight people we can relate to?

FYC:

Swinton, Weerasethakul Memoria, (Best Actress, Director)
Efira, Rampling, Wilson Benedetta (Best Actress, Supporting Actress/Actor)
Rapace Lamb (Best Actress)
Stewart, Hawkins, Spall Spencer (Best Actress, Supporting Actress/Actor)

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