# Things that have been done to death in movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 30, 2003, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-have-been-done-to-death-in-movies/165272 "2003-03-30T20:45:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-have-been-done-to-death-in-movies/165272/21 "2003-03-31T21:06:18Z")
**msmith537** : the rookie is by the book, the veteran is the loose cannon. Bad guys do that coin flipping along the back of their fingers thing. (Saw “Road to Perdition” last Sat.) ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-have-been-done-to-death-in-movies/165272/22 "2003-03-31T21:22:50Z")
In an audience (in the movie) - one person hesitantly claps, then someone else, then there are several solitary claps from various places in the crowd until it builds to thunderous applause and a standing ovation. ---
**Author:** ![Dryga\_Yes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@Dryga\_Yes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dryga_Yes)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-have-been-done-to-death-in-movies/165272/23 "2003-03-31T21:31:23Z")
After the final showdown, when the Good Guy has defeated the Bad Guy and holds a gun to the Bad Guy’s head, who’s begging for his life… and the Good Guy shows mercy and lets the Bad Guy go. Then the Bad Guy walks away, but sneakily tries to attack the Good Guy from behind with a knife he’d hidden in his boot! Oh no! So, the Good Guy has to shoot him in self-defence, and all moral dilemmas are beautifully dodged. I’d like to see the Good Guy either letting the guy live or shooting him in cold blood, and then living with the consequences of his choice. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_The\_Diver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Buck\_The\_Diver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_The_Diver)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-have-been-done-to-death-in-movies/165272/24 "2003-03-31T21:39:54Z")
If I sees anudder oversized-silhouetted-slowly-spinning-fan-inna-warehouse-wall shot, somebody’s gonna get _hoit_. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-have-been-done-to-death-in-movies/165272/25 "2003-03-31T21:42:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bup \* > \*\*In an audience (in the movie) - one person hesitantly claps, then someone else, then there are several solitary claps from various places in the crowd until it builds to thunderous applause and a standing ovation. \*\* I hate it when people clap after movies in the theater. HELLOOO! THE ACTORS CAN’T HEEEAAR YOOOUUU! ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-have-been-done-to-death-in-movies/165272/26 "2003-03-31T21:53:15Z")
How about the thief who’s going to go straight and retire to pursue his/her dream of running a jazz club/sailing the Carribean/owning a baseball team, etc., but has to pull off the **ONE LAST BIG SCORE** to do it??? Jeez, that one’s as old as the whore with the heart of gold! ---
**Author:** ![ChalkPit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@ChalkPit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChalkPit)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-have-been-done-to-death-in-movies/165272/27 "2003-03-31T22:01:07Z")
The good guys sitting in their car, watching the villain enter/leave his house. The villain looks all around him to check he’s not being watched, and TOTALLY FAILS to see the guys sitting in the car across the road, watching him. Geez that really annoys me. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-have-been-done-to-death-in-movies/165272/28 "2003-03-31T22:02:26Z")
Virtually all parking garage scenes involve a car or foot chase and a gunfight. The parking garage seems like the perfect place for moviemakers to make this kind of scene. There’s lots of concrete for bullets to ricochet off of, lots of car windows to shatter, lots of metal to pierce holes in, and lots of places for everyone to hide from each other. There are lots of parked cars to crash into, and since most cars have fuel in them-- hey, let’s have some _'splosions_ while we’re at it! Plus, it’s usually dark, and if they get to the top level someone can either jump off or fall off of there or drive his car off the top ledge. If the garage has one of those wooden or plastic arms that gate off access to the garage someone will usually drive right through it. If a guy in a movie is watching TV and holding a bat, club or some other instrument that could easily smash a TV screen, something he sees on the TV will piss him off and he’ll smash the TV screen with said instrument. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-have-been-done-to-death-in-movies/165272/29 "2003-03-31T22:02:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ratty \* > \*\*2) Those **I’m Too Sexy For This Job** movies I keep running into in mainly the thriller/sci-fi/crime genre. Some supermodel-turned-cop/microbiologist is called in to catch the serial killer/wacko releasing genetically engineered super virus and after pulling completely unbelievable skills or knowledge out his/her ass, saves the human race/foreign embassy/small town while falling in love with the other supermodel-turned cop/microbiologist. \*\* Closely related, normal-looking woman in glasses and a lab coat become a hottie in spike heels with her hair down/glasses removed. ---
**Author:** ![Elvis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/958977/32.png) [@Elvis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elvis)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-have-been-done-to-death-in-movies/165272/30 "2003-03-31T22:10:47Z")
Just yesterday I was channel surfing and stopped briefly on some piece of crap starring Ashley Judd. She was talking to Morgan Freeman in a bar and said, literally “This is a conspiracy, and it goes way higher than anyone knows. Charlie, I need you sober!” Folks, they’re not even trying anymore. They’re taking the old scripts, crossing out the characters’ names, and tripling the budget. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-have-been-done-to-death-in-movies/165272/31 "2003-03-31T22:26:46Z")
Any action movie/thriller/horror movie where the good guys are being hunted by multiple armed bad guys, and when they disable one of them they either don’t take his gun or somehow conveniently drop it before getting a chance to use it. ---
**Author:** ![Ol\_Gaffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Ol\_Gaffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ol_Gaffer)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-have-been-done-to-death-in-movies/165272/32 "2003-03-31T22:41:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bup \* > \*\*In an audience (in the movie) - one person hesitantly claps, then someone else, then there are several solitary claps from various places in the crowd until it builds to thunderous applause and a standing ovation. \*\* This happened to me IRL when I saw Rocky IV. I’m not kidding. The worst part…? I had gone to the movies with a friend and he was the one who started the applause. I wanted to die. My pet peeve is the secondary character whose only purpose is for comic relief. Double whammy if the character is black or gay (or black and gay) and that becomes a source of humor. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-have-been-done-to-death-in-movies/165272/33 "2003-03-31T22:43:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rabbit \* > \*\*car chases… please god above, make them stop with the car chases. How many times do I have to see another “climatic” car chase, that’s just pointless, and cliched? \*\* “Ah, Francesca Fiore. You know I don’t like American movies. Always it is the car chase, and the guy get the girl …” – David Foley as Bruno Ponce Jones from “The Kids in the Hall”. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-have-been-done-to-death-in-movies/165272/34 "2003-03-31T22:57:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dryga\_Yes \* > \*\*After the final showdown, when the Good Guy has defeated the Bad Guy and holds a gun to the Bad Guy’s head, who’s begging for his life… and the Good Guy shows mercy and lets the Bad Guy go. Then the Bad Guy walks away, but sneakily tries to attack the Good Guy from behind with a knife he’d hidden in his boot! Oh no! So, the Good Guy has to shoot him in self-defence, and all moral dilemmas are beautifully dodged. I’d like to see the Good Guy either letting the guy live or shooting him in cold blood, and then living with the consequences of his choice. \*\* They did the “shoot him in cold blood” thing in one of those Lethal Weapon sequels. It wasn’t that great. How about nerdy white people doing cool “black” stuff? Could we stop with that already? Oh, and aliens whose technology is thousands of years ahead of ours, yet their most effective weapon is some lame little laser-beam thing that’s barely more destructive than a pistol. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-have-been-done-to-death-in-movies/165272/35 "2003-03-31T23:04:21Z")
The good guys will disable the timer bomb exactly 1 second before detonation. The bad guy appears to be dead, but suddenly he/she rises up and attacks the good guy one more time. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-have-been-done-to-death-in-movies/165272/36 "2003-03-31T23:25:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bearflag70 \* > \*\*I hate it when people clap after movies in the theater. > > HELLOOO! THE ACTORS CAN’T HEEEAAR YOOOUUU! \*\* I clap at the ends of movies. Well, good ones, anyway. Applauding in movie theaters isn’t about communicating with the people on the screen, it’s about communicating with the other people in the theater. It’s a public statement of approval for the shared experience of watching a good movie. Anyway, I’m personally sick of movie trailers that cut to an explosion right before someone says a swear word. Like, “I’m getting too old for this sh-” and they cut to building blowing up. Occasionally, they’ll mix it up with someone saying, “I’m going to kick your a-” and they cut to a car flipping over in a dramatic and physically unlikely fashion. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Wrong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@Mr.Wrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Wrong)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-have-been-done-to-death-in-movies/165272/37 "2003-03-31T23:25:26Z")
> [@](#): > > _Posted by bup_: > In an audience (in the movie) - one person hesitantly claps, then someone else, then there are several solitary claps from various places in the crowd until it builds to thunderous applause and a standing ovation. Uh, guys, I think he’s talking about a crowd _onscreen_, as opposed to the audience in the theatre. This cliche was very funnily parodied in _Not Another Teen Movie_. The guy was always starting a slow clap that’s supposed to turn into a roaring ovation at the wrong time. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-have-been-done-to-death-in-movies/165272/38 "2003-03-31T23:36:43Z")
The hero is trying to take some action to thwart the monster/earthquake/volcano/whatever, and the mayor (or whoever) squlches the efforts because it will be bad for tourism/business/etc. Jaws did it quite well, but you see it in just about any monster/disaster/whatever movie ever made. In Dante’s Peak the mayor believed the hero (of course she had the hots for him anyway), but the chairman of the select board didn’t want to scare off investors in the upcoming…oh why bother. ---
**Author:** ![YellowTail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5ac83/32.png) [@YellowTail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YellowTail)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-have-been-done-to-death-in-movies/165272/39 "2003-04-01T00:31:09Z")
Young hipsters are going to shake up the stuffy establishment and show them how to party!!! Puh-leeez. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-have-been-done-to-death-in-movies/165272/40 "2003-04-01T00:55:18Z")
Any movie where the government is secretly evil and scarily able to do cool stuff. We don’t trust them to buy toilet seats at reasonable prices, yet we think they could pull off a huge, worldwide conspiracy involving thousands of people? Any movie where the Bad Guy and the Good Guy drop their arsenals to settle it “man to man.” Any movie where simple precautions would’ve solved the huge catastrophe (i.e. Jaws, yes business might be bad, but maybe a few lifeguards or boats on Bigass Shark Patrol?) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-have-been-done-to-death-in-movies/165272.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-have-been-done-to-death-in-movies/165272.md?page=3)