28 Eyebrow-Arching Size Comparisons

Get ready to feel small. Or huge

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‘Rise of the Numbericons: The Movie’ is effectively an extended ‘Rise of Skywalker’ parody, even down to the editing

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35 TV and Movie Cliches Used to Great (or Disastrous) Effect

By:: Jay L'Ecuyer; Cracked Writers

November 08, 2023

35 TV and Movie Cliches Used to Great (or Disastrous) Effect

We never want to be those people who say, “It’s all been done before,” because there’s a lot of new, groundbreaking stuff goin’ down in the entertainment realm. But try as they might to be as original as possible, there are some parts of visual storytelling that just can’t be messed with. Will creators put their nonconformist twist on them, or will they succumb to the same ol’ tropes and cliches that make our eyes roll all the way back? Tune in to find out!

35

Tired Tropes (And The Movies That Pulled Them Off) BIG BLUE SKY BEAM Remember when every movie ended with one of these? The Avengers, Suicide Squad, Transformers: Dark Of The Moon... Independence Day did it so awesomely two decades earlier, we'll just assume all those movies were trying to replicate that. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Tired Tropes (And The Movies That Pulled Them Off) The Invisible Man (2020) SECOND ACT ROCK BOTTOM You just know that however bad things are, it'll all work out in the end. But The Invisible Man successfully drops its main character into an inescapable abyss of hopelessness by its second act. Two words: restaurant scene. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Tired Tropes (And The Movies That Pulled Them Off) When Harry Met Sally... (1989) FINAL DECLARATION OF LOVE Rob Reiner's classic wonderfully pulls off this sappy trope, as the cherry on top of a smart, multi-layered, still unsurpassed movie. The final declaration makes narrative, emotional, and structural sense. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Tired Tropes (And The Movies That Pulled Them Off) Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) LIQUID NITROGEN DEATH Demolition Man, Timecop, Goldeneye, Jason X- death by liquid nitrogen was all the rage for some time. But the movie that turned it into an iconic thing was this, the last Terminator ever made. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Tired Tropes - (And The Movies That Pulled Them Off) 4210 1/2 GRA Bea delles - - - - - - I Office Space (1999) WORKPLACE MISERY We could write an entire piece on how peak-'90s neoliberalism movies depict offices as the place where the human spirit goes to die. But Office Space focused on its specifically absurdist, Kafkaesque angle, making for a particularly smart example. Swingline CRACKED.COM — Source

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Tired Tropes (And The Movies That Pulled Them Off) A Fistful of Dollars (1964) DISCARDING THE PROTECTION We have mixed feelings about this Sergio Leone classic: On the one hand, Clint Eastwood's character could have really used more bulletproof protection, but on the other, the scene where he drops his improvised armor plate is absolutely awesome. CRACKED.COM — Source

29

Tired Tropes (And The Movies That Pulled Them Off) The Matrix (1999) FADE TO EDGY THEME SONG The Simpsons lampooned this action movie cliché with the (historically accurate) Zorro rap. But we have to give it to The Matrix: ending a subversive action movie with Rage Against the Machine kicking in is art. CRACKED.COM — Source

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Masterfully Subverted Tropes The big heist scene scene Movies centered around a heist usually show the careful planning, the setting into motion, the ensuing hiccups, the whole deal. Reservoir Dogs goes the other way, and is instead a heistless heist film. It shows the gang discussing Madonna and the ethics of tipping, and then it jumps to the bloody aftermath. This Tarantino guy knows his stuff. Reservoir Dogs CRACKED.COM — Source

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Masterfully Subverted Tropes Hot Tub Time Machine 2 The unrepentant jerk Rob Corddry's Lou Dorchen is even worse here than in the first movie. He's annoyingly selfish, cruel, and aggressive, and we have to assume that's his shtick. Surprisingly, though, after Clark Duke's Jacob tries to jump from a building, he wholeheartedly apologizes and becomes much mellower from then on. Not bad for a widely disliked comedy. CRACKED.COM — Source

26

Masterfully Subverted Tropes Tragedy Girls The unstoppable killer Tragedy Girls is no horror masterpiece, but it has some things going for it. A masked killer stalks a couple making out in a parked car in the middle of nowhere, but it immediately becomes clear that this is a set-up-by the victims. Five minutes in and this is already a whole different slasher. CRACKED.COM — Source

25

CRACKED.COM AWFUL BIOPIC TROPES CHANGING THE ACTOR'S APPEARANCE AS OSCAR-BAIT We like Charlize Theron and Nicole Kidman, so we'll let Monster and The Hours slide. But giving awards to Jared Leto for playing a trans woman in Dallas Buyers Club was just condoning narcissism (the Jared Leto kind of narcissism, which is even worse). — Source

24

CRACKED.COM AWFUL BIOPIC TROPES TRAUMA AS MOTIVATION Genius is explained by trauma, right? Because that seems to be a narrative staple of biopics. Every traumatic incident in your life and every mistake you make pushes you towards your destiny of greatness. — Source

23

CRACKED.COM AWFUL BIOPIC TROPES THE MOMENT OF TRUTH Just as our hero is about to lose their shot, they manage to prove their genius in one single moment of truth. Examples appear in Coal Miner's Daughter and Walk the Line, but people going from mocking Ray Charles to jumping up to dance during his audition scene borders on self-parody. .COM — Source

22

CRACKED.COM Lost Tropes Alliterative names Names like Peter Parker, Bruce Banner, or Lois Lane were all the rage back in the day, but today's heroes don't really seem to follow this pattern. Well, except for Donnie Darko. — Source

21

CRACKED.COM CO RU Lost Tropes Easter European women are ugly. Yikes, this is an obscure one - and also, yikes, look at this outdated, mysoginistic Cold War trope. It's probably sprinkled with fat suits for comedic value. — Source

20

Lost Tropes Flashback stare Suddenly invaded by flashbacks of 'Nam or Cats, you just stare at nothing with dead eyes. Then it hits you: this trope is so outdated, it was mocked in Airplane! CRACKED.COM — Source

19

GRACKED COM Lost Tropes Extreme '90s anti-heroes. How badly has this aged? Just ask Rob Liefeld, who has become a joke for his radical characters with bloated muscles, childishly designed weapons, and, erm, suits full of pouches. Pouches are rad! — Source

18

It's a Wonderful Life Foul Play CRACKED.COM No matter how sexy the librarian, glasses are required The Mummy Personals NATURAL NOVELS Rufus Wainwright-Out Of The Game The Big Sleep — Source

17

CRACKED.COM GOTH GIRLS KNOW DARK MAGICI Bellatrix Lestrange Nancy Random spell caster Black Alice AND ARE ALL BAT-SHIT CRAZY. — Source

16

6'0 .0.9 5'6 5'6 5'0 5'0 4'6 6 ة 4'0 3'6 '6 3 3'0 Todd Hockney - Usual Suspects The short ones are often portrayed as ... Yao - Mulan Aggressive, hot-headed, short- tempered, and ill-mannered. Wolverine X -nen GRACKED.COM — Source

15

In the movies, if you're trans... AN C LVA Norman Bates Dr. Frank N. Furter Jame 'Buffalo Bill' Gumb You're probably depraved or a criminal. Einhorn is Finkle! Finkle is Einhorn! CRACKED.COM — Source

14

Looking to score some drugs? HIGH SCHOOL NIP/TUCK Just find a tattooed guy! AMERICAN DAD I CRACKED COM — Source

13

Fear The Walking Dead All Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind Twilight - 24G THE Gran Torino Suburban heroes drive pickup trucks. CRACKED.COM — Source

12

Draco Malfoy Jack Sparrow Cocky pricks love them apples! James т. Kirk Ryuk CRACKED.COM Sokke Indiana Jones — Source

11

Tired Tropes (And The Movies That Pulled Them Off) GETTING CAUGHT WAS THE PLAN ALL ALONG This was already tiring when Star Trek Into Darkness and Skyfall did it. In The Avengers it was kinda- sorta interesting, but nothing really compares to the Joker being captured as part of his overall plan (which he totally doesn't have, pinky swear). The Dark Knight (2008) CRACKED.COM — Source

10

Tired Tropes (And The Movies That Pulled Them Off) Face/Off(1997) MEXICAN STANDOFF You know a trope has gotten lame when friggin' Transformers movies reference it. But Sergio Leone and Quentin Tarantino have given us quality standoffs, and Face/Off (John Woo's best American actioner) is an entire movie made up of those. CRACKED.COM — Source

9

Tired Tropes (And The Movies That Pulled Them Off) Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) FAIR PLAY GOONS Overwhelm the hero with sheer numbers? No, no, that would be unsportmanslike: everyone must patiently wait for their turn to fight (and be dispatched). Yes, it's not exactly a sound tactic, but damn if it doesn't make for amazing fight scenes in Kill Bill. CRACKED.COM — Source

8

Tired Tropes (And The Movies That Pulled Them Off) JUMP SCARES Even horror movies pushing for quality and originality often ruin their surprises with the cheap trick of loud noises. But the videocam scene in this masterpiece is just an earned and clever jump scare. The Descent (2005) CRACKED.COM — Source

7

Tired Tropes (And The Movies That Pulled Them Off) Jurassic Park (1993) DEUS EX MACHINA The definitive dino flick manages a kick-ass climax via the completely unironical use of the oldest narrative trope ever. We assume the T. rex was sneaking on tippy toes, just waiting to save the day. CRACKED.COM — Source

6

Masterfully Subverted Tropes Burn After Reading No third-act resolution After all the misunderstandings and murders - nothing. The movie does have a third act, but its peculiarity is in the same banality the Coens put in A Serious Man a year later, only bureaucratic instead of existential. No climax, no comeuppance, no final exposition-just the CIA shrugging at the dumb developments and deciding to ignore them. CRACKED.COM — Source

5

Masterfully Subverted Tropes Big Little Lies Mean rich lady During the first season, Laura Dern's Renata is an uptight, snobbish rich lady, particularly focusing her classist scorn on Shailene Woodley's Jane. By the end of the season, however, she realizes she was wrong, apologizes, and offers friendship like an actually fallible human being. We were not ready for such emotional maturity, to be honest. CRACKED.COM — Source

4

Masterfully Subverted Tropes Scream The famous actor survives That Scream subverts tropes is nothing new, but it must be stressed over and over how groundbreaking that opening scene was. Drew Barrymore was the movie's biggest star, so she's obviously the final girl, right? Nope, she chose to play the opening kill, and all the bets were off. Wes Craven obviously handled it like a genius. CRACKED.COM — Source

3

Masterfully Subverted Tropes Why don't they just leave? The moment we see walls bleeding, we're gone. But Nope twists the usual stubborness of horror movie protagonists by giving emotional weight as to why they stay. They could just take the money and let someone else deal with the unidentified aerial phenomena, but family history prevents it. Nope CRACKED.COM — Source

2

Masterfully Subverted Tropes The uptight principal Two years after Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Robert Downey Jr. continued the trope subversion by playing Principal Gardner in this teen dramedy. Unlike, say, Dean Rooney in Ferris Bueller, Gardner is not a bitter villain, but a nuanced principal clearly going through some stuff. And indeed, RDJ gives this kind of character an unusual depth. Charlie Bartlett CO d CRACKED.COM — Source

1

Masterfully Subverted Tropes Stranger Things Madman in the asylum Stranger Things has subverted its fair share of tropes, but adding Robert Englund to the cast set up a wonderful case. At first, he's obviously a baddie. He's believed to have murdered his family, he's in an asylum, he's played by Robert Englund- but he's soon revealed as the victim of the actual baddie. Nice rug pull there, show. CRACKED.COM — Source

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