Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
h a l f b a k e r y
Like gliding backwards through porridge.

idea: add, search, annotate, link, view, overview, recent, by name, random

meta: news, help, about, links, report a problem

account: browse anonymously, or get an account and write.

user:
pass:
register,


                                                             

Cliche Count

 Like kill count, but for cliches
  (+10, -3)
(+10, -3) 		  [vote for,
against]

Offer critical movie rankings based primarily on their cliched content or lack thereof. Similar body count rankings exist, as noted in linked site.

Watching the trailer for "Stealth", I'm amazed to find out that it's about a well proportioned female fighter test pilot and her buddies, all of whom walk with a certain spring, fighting it out with an AI stealth plane that wants to take their jobs while destroying an urban center or two.

This AI runs amok after it's hit by lightning or some other electricity thing.

The main scientist/officer/proponent of this plane is played by the guy who invented Terminator's chip.

Somebody shoot them.

—theircompetitor, Jun 29 2005

The Body Count Rankings http://www.horrormo...com/bodycounts.html
[theircompetitor, Jun 29 2005]

Ebert's "Bigger" Little Movie Glossary http://www.amazon.c...103-2854541-3917457
A reference guide to "movie cliches, stereotypes, obligatory scenes, hackneyed formulas, shopworn conventions, and outdated archetype." [waugsqueke, Jun 30 2005]

Cinderella Man http://www.cinderel...movie.com/index.php
...was a complete comeback kid boxing cliché, but we thoroughly enjoyed it. Right down to the ending trivia snippet that Braddock helped build the Verrazano Bridge. [DrCurry, Jun 30 2005]

Please log in.
If you're not logged in, you can see what this page looks like, but you will not be able to add anything.
Short name, e.g., Bob's Coffee
Destination URL. E.g., https://www.coffee.com/
Description (displayed with the short name and URL.)






       And the idea is?
—angel, Jun 29 2005
   

       All of them? That's a bit harsh [tc], maybe save the busty one. Send her my way.
—daseva, Jun 29 2005
   

       are springy females a cliche?
—po, Jun 29 2005
   

       This is by no means a rant. It's an idea for a cliche count for movies, as a way to measure their worthiness.
—theircompetitor, Jun 29 2005
   

       A clichometer reading would be a handy guide as to what kind of a film you are about to watch. It might have the added effect of steering directors away from tried and tested gumph, or not.
—zen_tom, Jun 29 2005
   

       //It's an idea for a cliche count for movies//   

       Well, go ahead then, say a few things about a cliche counter and I'll take down the mfd.
—daseva, Jun 29 2005
   

       [daseva], I repeat myself, but the idea subtitle says: like kill count, but for cliches. Kill count, in case you didn't know, is when they announce how many people are killed during a movie, and is considered to be a common metric for action movies, especially for those that are concerned about impact of stylized violence on viewers
—theircompetitor, Jun 29 2005
   

       So it's like "This movie has 409 cliches in it" and people derive something from this?
Actually, I'm surprised that anything meaningful can be deduced from "287 people are killed in this movie" without knowing whether there was i) a plane crash, ii) an outbreak of the plague or iii) 287 instances of someone being nibbled to death by skunks in glorious close-up.
—angel, Jun 29 2005
   

       Surely, we should then include a skunk count.   

       MFD banish-ed.
—daseva, Jun 29 2005
   

       Unless re-written, this post is a rant, plain and simple. Nowhere is a proposal for an invention but quite evident is a snide call for an end to movies--or to those who make such movies--that use cliche as key components of their plots and characters.
—bristolz, Jun 29 2005
   

       For a second there, I thought I was in the "Delibarately Misunderstand" thread.   

       Are the idea title/subtitle insufficient to describe an invention, [bris]?
—theircompetitor, Jun 29 2005
   

       Without some sort of explanation, yes. I'm fairly familiar with the movie world and I've not heard of kill count and, even if I were, I'm still not sure I'd get it.   

       I hadn't any idea of what the idea meant until I read all of your add-on annotations.   

       Re-cast it in a way that makes it understandable as an invention as you have with most of your other ideas.
—bristolz, Jun 29 2005
   

       What defines the cliche, how does it count, what is the rating scale? For chrissakes, give it something intelligible, take the icepick out of your head and do it, like you know you're supposed to.
—daseva, Jun 29 2005
   

       See also "Low Concept Film Ratings" right here in this category. (Blatant self promotion alert).
—krelnik, Jun 29 2005
   

       <jumpy>are springy females a cliche?</jumpy>   

       for 2nd time.
—po, Jun 29 2005
   

       hmmmm, I assumed the "buddies" were males, all very verile (this is not a stereotype/cliche' but an actual for-real fact. Fighter pilots are studs. just ask one )
—dentworth, Jun 29 2005
   

       I liked it better when I thought you just wanted kill everyone associated with this film. Bun anyway.
—ato_de, Jun 29 2005
   

       dent, well of course they will say *that* - you'd believe anything...
—po, Jun 29 2005
   

       [po] With springy I was of course referring to the cliche walk of the main characters where they seem to be in a lower gravity, and not anything else.   

       icepick, [daseva]? You're talking to me?   

       [dentworth] I thought they sometime had circulation problems?
—theircompetitor, Jun 29 2005
   

       Its a good idea, I would use it to select movies.   

       One question though: Who would select what is and isn't a cliche? It would have to be specific or else every movie would fall into the "Someone does something that causes somone else or something else to do stuff"   

       Eitherway, a Disney movie would never pass with a rating of less than 1,000.   

       How about starting a cliche directory, with codes for each cliche? Cliche codes could then be listed for each film and you can avoid your most loathed situations. eg..

Cliche Directory
=============
EL29 Electrical equipment being struck by lightening and going haywire.
MA07 Maverick Cop
AM62 Characater gets Amnesia
BO67 Hero has to rush to stop a countdown timer on a bomb.

Films could then be shown as....
Die Hard - EL29 MA07 BO67
—Minimal, Jun 30 2005
   

       This is an excellent and much-needed idea. I laughed until I was short of breath when I saw the trailer for "Stealth". My favourite part was when female test pilot shrieks: "The lightning...it's re-wired its circuits!"
—DocBrown, Jun 30 2005
   

       I agree:
- this is a rant.
- "Stealth" looks stupid. I didn't need a cliche count to tell me that, the trailer was perfectly adequate.		   

       Also, I can think of some very excellent movies that would score high on the count, so I don't see how this is useful.   

       I suppose it would be good the people who had a particular aversion to cliches.   

       Minimal, such a directory exists. See link.
—waugsqueke, Jun 30 2005
   

       UB: Soldiers shoot statues - what's so surprising/clichéd about that?
—DrCurry, Jun 30 2005
   

       DrCurry, I've heard same about Cinderella Man, but of course that misses the point -- movie ratings and reviews do not have to impact how much you enjoy the movie.
—theircompetitor, Jun 30 2005
   

       Well it should -- the last movie I saw with "two popcorns" had NO make-out scenes. I ate my whole popcorn in the first 10 minutes and had to decide FOR MYSELF when it was prudent to leave my seat for a refill.
—reensure, Jun 30 2005
   

       Eating popcorn at the movies, thats a major PO45 cliche!!!
—Minimal, Jun 30 2005
   


 

back: main index
business  computer  culture  fashion  food  halfbakery  home  other  product  public  science  sport  vehicle