Eye Rolling Movie Tropes

Aug 21, 2016
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Characters in a car getting side swiped. Seems like a writer's skeleton key. Where are we going to take this? How do we wrap things up? How can we add some drama?

An underrated post. Main characters are all happy. Life is sweet as they drive down the street with Ben E King playing. You know they are going to get smashed at the next intersection.
 
Aug 21, 2016
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What about the nerdy plain looking girl who has her hair tied back and big glasses, but then has a makeover where her hair is let down, the specs come off, add some lippy and she looks like a supermodel.

Usually said girl is quite obviously hot to begin with.

Linda Cardellini as Velma from Scooby Doo owns this meme.
 
Kitchens in restaurants used as entry or exits for crime and the chefs rarely look up to intervene because they need to keep cooking

Invariable man carrying tray of desserts or cake bowled over.
 
In horror, the villain is knocked out or incapacitated and rather than finish the job or unmask them (think Scream 2 in the car), the ‘heroes’ instead leave them and flee instead, even sometimes leaving a viable weapon behind (like in Wolf Creek).
 
Aug 13, 2007
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Oilers
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Jul 12, 2008
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the key jiggle when someone is after you. starting a car, opening a door.

in depth conversations between moments of action/carnage.

someone going off to save some other person right when they will run out of time before explosion/self destruction/etc.

i watched army of the dead recently, which includes all the above and more. it's basically one long trope.
 
the key jiggle when someone is after you. starting a car, opening a door.

in depth conversations between moments of action/carnage.


someone going off to save some other person right when they will run out of time before explosion/self destruction/etc.

i watched army of the dead recently, which includes all the above and more. it's basically one long trope.

or kissing for the first time
 
Apr 12, 2010
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Melbourne
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One thing the takes me out of a movie these days is that metal in the movies has a metal on metal sound, even when it's not metal on metal.

Examples, when someone pulls a knife or a sword, or when a character is hit by a frying pan.

Also I don't get why Kryptonians try to hit each other with small Earth objects, like an iron beam, or glass windows, when they should be invulnerable to them.

Knives out when Christopher Plummer dies.

Also, generally guns make a corny exaggerated sound when they are picked up or placed anywhere and stuff like that. Hard to explain but just sounds wrong.
 
May 24, 2006
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Car 55
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This one is more a TV trope but pretty widely used:

When a character asks "Can I see you in the other room for a moment?" so that they can have a conversation out of earshot of other people.

Sometimes the awkwardness is acknowledged - eg Jesse Pinkman immediately knew it was game over when he was trying to crash at his mates' place - but often it's not. Rarely is there an Ooh, they must be talking about me realisation. Reading body language not a strong suit!

Also nothing in these "other room" conversations can be heard from the next room, regardless of the volume. Even Frasier's open plan kitchen was a cone of silence.
 

Eagle Wrath

Cancelled
Zombie Lover
Oct 22, 2017
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On a similar note. Someone hiding from a killer or creature and a few seconds after the killer walks past, they leave their hiding spot and usually get caught or seen.
 
Feb 21, 2006
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I've seen one too many instances of modern studios taking a popular song and having someone do an accoustic cover for trailers.

Haha so true just watched Black Widow the other day with an acoustic version of Smells Like Teen Spirit over the starting credits
 
May 5, 2016
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Why do villains explain in detail what their plan is/was to the hero?

Lol another trope parodied in Red Dwarf after Ace Rimmer escapes confinement in the nazi plane he’s being transported in


‘Take him into the hold, take ten minutes to explain all our plans to him... then... throw him out of the plane.’
 
Feb 21, 2006
20,645
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It would be great if computers worked in RL how they work on TV & movies. Turn it on and find what you want in 2 seconds.

Turn it on, spend 10 minutes searching for what you want, see something else that interests you, get distracted and go down a rabbit hole for the next hour before forgetting what you were looking for in the first place
 
May 8, 2007
10,578
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vic
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Richmond
Lol another trope parodied in Red Dwarf after Ace Rimmer escapes confinement in the nazi plane he’s being transported in


‘Take him into the hold, take ten minutes to explain all our plans to him... then... throw him out of the plane.’
Actually, that whole Ace Rimmer scene manages to hit a dozen or so tropes throughout.
1. Evil Nazi is also fat.
2. Bad guy can't shoot straight.
3. Bad guy leaves hero facing certain death - but crucially he leaves before hero is actually dead.
3. Hero complains about some minor irritant while facing certain death.
4. Cool line after killing (1st) villain.
5. Arrives to save heroine just in time (facing firing squad).
6. Bad guys still can't shoot straight (with rifles). Hero kills at least 6 bad guys with 4 shots (using tiny pistol).
7. Hero is more offended when his stylish outfit is slightly damaged, rather than the fact that bad guys are trying to kill him.
8. While hero is trapped inside wooden barn, bad guys fire dozens of bullets into it. All miss.
9. Hero finds means of escape inside barn - fully fuelled, with keys, and he knows how to drive it - far better than bad guys, whose machine it is and are preumably trained in how to use it.
10. Hero shoots off locks on chains while travelling on motorbike at speed - heroine thinks she is going to be shot, shuts eyes in horror, but is miraculously unharmed.
11. Hero pauses in middle of gunfight to exchange witty, flirty lines ('Lets have sex') with heroine, who smiles coyly in return. Bad guys keep missing.
12. The only thing worse than bad guys' shooting accuracy is their driving skill, leading to inevitable crash in hero's wake. (Crash involves fiery explosion).
13. Cool line by hero as he completes his escape (while leaving behind a last surprise that kills a couple more bad guys).

Still not as bad as James Bond, though.
 
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