There are some scenes in movies that are cliches, or too improbable, or just plain silly. Here are ten to avoid:
- An alarm clock goes off, the character wakes up, groans, and feels around to turn off the clock. Extra minus points if you show their bare feet hitting the floor.
- The character opens the fridge and looks in and all that's there is a beer and a bottle of ketchup.
- The character knocks somebody unconscious with one blow to the head. (I'm sure this works sometimes, but it didn't when I tried it. A guy was attacking a friend of mine and I grabbed a heavy glass vase and hit him over the head with it. Not only didn't it knock him out, it didn't even break. He tried to convince the police that I should be arrested for giving him a concussion. They didn't.)
- The baddie is about to kill the hero but pauses to explain their motivation first.
- Aliens restrict themselves to attacking New York City or Washington, D.C. (and they always want to wipe out humans or enslave them).
- The bomb has a countdown digital timer with red numbers.
- Heroes get shot only in the shoulder.
- The hero and family or friends are cheerful because they've survived the final battle or the final event in the natural disaster, even though in the background a few million people have just been wiped out.
- Even today's sophisticated cars are easy to hotwire.
- The final battle always is a one-on-one fight with the baddest character, often hand-to-hand.
If I've missed any of your favorites, feel free to add them in the comments.