10 Horrible Movie Cliches That We Couldn't Live Without
Cops that have one goddamn day left until retirement. James Bond having a witticism for various different ways of murdering henchmen. A dying soldier's last words in the heat of battle being completely coherent. These are just some of the movie cliches that we love and need to see. But why? I often think movie cliches are like a spoonful of cod liver oil. You don't really want to acknowledge it, but it's probably a good thing for you (I've never actually taken cod liver oil... I've just seen a lot of Tom and Jerry). When it comes to storytelling, there are only really 5 or 6 stories you can tell. Two lovers from different backgrounds. A young person goes through formative experiences and comes of age. An American guy kills an entire army of foreign people with an infinite supply of bullets. It's the various ways to tell these stories that have kept this wonderful art alive, such as messing around with narrative or subverting audience expectations with a twist. And nothing helps storytelling like a cliche. A cliche is a shorthand for establishing things like character, motive and time. And though we often roll our eyes at these terribly played out scenarios, we go along with it every time. Here are 10 of the most overplayed movie cliches that we actually need....