What a kickass thread.

I love: The main character who never really stops being a bastard- they're not perfect, and they have a lot to learn.

Fights in which the main character gets their ass handed to them (no comebacks! Spare me the training montage!).

Powerful female characters- and I mean real females, not Mary-Sues who can't protect themselves or have to rely on men.

Time play! ( I died, so I need to go back 15 minutes and fix it!)

Dimension travel.

Yeah, this is all stuff in Nadya. <_<;

I hate:

Cookie-Cutter romance.

The good ending.

The one-man army. No, you're not that strong.

cliches I like:

tortured main character cliche~ “everyone hates me for X that happened in my past and wasn't my fault and now I am emotionally incomplete and misunderstood until I reach my pathetic, but retrospectively glorious and martyrly death!! THEN everyone understands how awesome I am!”

main characters dying cliche~ I LOVE IT!!! I don't really know why. I love miserable stories. Like West Side Story.

unrequited, rejected love~ it just stings so much more.

exciting prophecies made about seemingly ordinary characters~ it really opens up the portals of my imagination… “Hey, maybe YOU'LL get a letter from hogwarts!”

Cliches I hate:

perfect ladies~ “I'm SOO awesome! I'm just a natural! I can ride dragons really well! I'm really smart too! did I mention everyone's in love with me?”

romance-novel love~ “… his rippling muscles showed through the t-shirt he casually donned. …her beautiful luscious curves, her gleaming blue-ice eyes, the cascades of wheat-colored hair… she existed only for him, and he for her. that empty hole in his life was filled by her warm and soulful presence…” this kind of stuff makes me wanna vomit. I like mean people who fall in love and then break up, or die. (am I bitter?)

that's all I got.

I don't like:
Overly muscular men with extreme agility…I mean come on! It looks as though the can barely clap their hands together.


I like:
When the smaller child ends up being able to beat the cocky older kid at his own game…
Heh, they get what they deserve.

Favorite Cliche:

The high school-ish movie where the nerd gets the girl in the end. I should hate this cliche. But I'm a sucker. And I fall for it every single time. I've watched some horrible movies and totally loved them just because of how easily susceptible I am to this cliche.


Most hated cliche:

That's a little tougher. It switches up a lot. Right now DYSTOPIC super heroes is something I really loathe. I'm tired of people just churning out more and more Watchmen Wannabee comics. (I'm referring to both Marvel and DC, as they're equal opportunity offenders of this cliche). So Absolute Power corrupting Absolutely would be right up there for me lately. Another one I really hate is the whole secret society/cabal thing. I'm just tired of stories trying to tackle big “shadow government” kinds of things and then finding out way too dumbed down and over simplified. And finally, as a consumer the cliche that's really ticking me off right now is how EVERYTHING in fantasy or sci-fi has to be part of a TRILOGY or a SERIES. For writers that's great. More money. Good writers deserve it. For readers, it's just getting way too overdone though. Like the latest George R. Martin book … the story's way too compartmentalized now. And splitting one book into two books, and leaving that much storyline hung on a cliff TWICE … it's simply going to alienate some fans, like me.

A win:

Everything explodes when you shoot it. Haha.


A sin:

Jackie Chan syndrome. Why don't all the henchmen attack the hero at the same time?

I thought it'd be funny to have a movie or book/comic/whatever where the henchmen (although they look the same) aren't pawns, and any given one can kill the main character as easily as vice versa. That's realism for ya.

HATE:

Love at first sight: A lot of Hollywood movies are making it seem that love at first sight is a common thing. Well it's not. Love at first sight rarely happens and if it does it hardly works out in the end( Just look at Romeo and Juliet) I've only met one person who fell in love at first sight and actually stayed together.

Explaining moves (anime): I hate how anime shows (usually the fighting genre) have to explain how they did a simple kick or something. I don't care how you did it, I just want to see more blood.

Love:

I love it when the asshole dies in horror movies.

FanGurlZ
I hate how anime shows (usually the fighting genre) have to explain how they did a simple kick or something. I don't care how you did it, I just want to see more blood.

Lol I hate that too. And how during the whole time they spend explaining, the evil dude doesn't even think of this as the perfect chance to eliminate them. I hate that. They miss out on the perfect chance!

Well, that's because they're waiting for their turn to do a monologue about their evil plans.

kitty17

FanGurlZ
I hate how anime shows (usually the fighting genre) have to explain how they did a simple kick or something. I don't care how you did it, I just want to see more blood.

Lol I hate that too. And how during the whole time they spend explaining, the evil dude doesn't even think of this as the perfect chance to eliminate them. I hate that. They miss out on the perfect chance!

I know thats why I hate Saliormoon. It takes her 1 or 2 minutes to transform, and while she doing all her poses and making the background glitter none of the bad guys even thinks of attacking her.

Here's my list (I know that some of these were mentioned earlier.)

Loves:

The fish out of water story. Especially when its done with a good script.

Time travel/ Dimensional travel.

The strong-willed and intelligent female character.

The partners or team that have to work together to save the day despite the fact that they hate each other.


Hates:

The one where it takes about a whole 20 minutes of a half hour show for the main character to use his devastatingly powerful finishing move (DBZ). AND THE VILLAIN JUST STAYS THERE INSTEAD OF RUNNING AWAY!!!!

The one where an army of bad guys/soldiers/robots/aliens are firing on the hero. And they can't hit the side of a mountain. Then the hero stands straight up, fires his/her weapon and kills everyone in sight.

Favorite cliche: All Heroes wear tights and wear capes!

Most hated cliche: Comics and cartoons categorized as one, comics are not cartoons! They do not move, they do not have noise!

Most hated cliche:
Apparently it's always (sometimes only) a cheerleader-type of girl that's super beautiful and all of the guys that aren't the main character fall for her despite the fact that she is stuck-up. Not all cheerleaders are beautiful/stuck-up, nor is any other girl less perfect D:

A cliche I love:
The computer whiz (or professional of something techie) in a story always wears glasses. I don't know why, but I love male eyeglass characters~ And they always make the guy intelligent.

Vindibudd
I hate all Christian-made movies for Christian audiences. They are all giant cliches. They all suck. Very hard.

Christianity shouldn't be blamed for those. Most of the time it's becouse they don't have enough budget for ‘way cool special effects’, good actors, or even a decent script writter.
Christian film companies are so poorly funded :(

No, I don't think so. I'm sorry, but it's not just because of the low budget. Take the Left Behind movies. The original source, a best selling series of books, is mindless, cliched drivvel in its own right.

And I'll say this for low-budget actors. Being low-budget does not mean that it necessarily has to be terrible. It just means that the producer is limited by his resources and may have to cast unknowns. I've made student films that were pretty damn good in comparison.

The fact that someone would intentionally cast Kirk Cameron, who is a TERRIBLE ACTOR and probably the highest paid actor on the set, can in no way be attributed to low budget production. I think it's the lack of inspiration. Divinely uninspired, you might say.

I will agree on one point, that it doesn't have anything particular to do with the faith. Rather, I think it's just that when you have a “Christian-themed story”, you end up dealing with the same themes that people are used to reading on a weekly basis on Sunday. It's inbred storytelling, and I don't blame Vindi for being tired of it. I think when most people sit down to watch a movie, they kind of expect the storytelling to be a little more fresh.

Well, I wouldn't say Eli Roth-style horror movies are the norm, really, Terminal. The Saw films are played out and Hostel 2 bombed. I glad though, because I especially love the psychological horrors like Jacob's ladder, etc. and would rather see more of those types of films.
Ok, hijack concluded…you may now resume discussion :)

DLMcomics
Well, I wouldn't say Eli Roth-style horror movies are the norm, really, Terminal. The Saw films are played out and Hostel 2 bombed. I glad though, because I especially love the psychological horrors like Jacob's ladder, etc. and would rather see more of those types of films.
Ok, hijack concluded…you may now resume discussion :)

Not yet. I'm hanging on!

I thought Hostel 2 was a vast improvement over Hostel 1. I agree that Saw has played out completely. I hate movies where the villain is uber smart only because the heroes are uber dumb.

Jacob's Ladder was great. Although Mr. “Slick Twist–Sixth Sense M. Night Shyamalan” is played out out.

I tend to really get into the more indie horror and the Masters of Horror Series has been decent.

*now* back to scheduled thread!

Evil Emperor Nick
A cliche I love the final duel. Two epic opponents come speak their final good-bye and go into one on match from which only one walks away from. I though the movie Sliverado really did a good job with this and a terribly bad awful example of this is the fight between Anikan & Obi-Wan from Star Wars III (ARG so anti-climactic "I've got the high ground >.< ).

Yeah, the final fight cliche is cool, but I also like the whole cliche of a “big bad” in general. I mean, it works a lot of the time, what with the Emperor in SW, or a villain like the Joker. There can be shades of gray in many characters, but every so often it's good to have a character who IS pure evil.

I don't really get how people can like horror, especially gore horror… I mean, thrillers are good, and the horror species of that isn't so bad, but straight out horror…? No, not for me. Gore horror I simply don't understand. Yuck.

But onto cilches… I used to really love reading fantasy stories, but the thing is I started with the older, clever ones, and there are only so many before you run out and have to read newer books. Well most fantasy stories written in the past 50 years (maybe 60%?) seem to all start off with a smaller story (going on a journey, or the kingdom is under attack etc) and end up with some stupid situation where the very existence of the world is at stake!!!!!!! And it's a battle to end all battles!!!!!!!

Now, some of the older stories did that too, but the fact is they DID it first*, they did it well, and they sort of got all they could out of the idea. But most of the books that came after STILL trod that path, and they probably still are treading it right now , but I wouldn't know because I don't read them any longer :P

*When I say they did it first, they were just reinventing classic stories from religious mythology like Ragnarock, Armageddon etc. The trouble is that those who came after just redid the versions found in fantasy classics so it's a degraded copy.

Terminal
Favorite Cliche: The car chase in which two cars go at it, the main hero and either an assistant to the main villain, or the main villain them self. In this chase, the cars act like they have neither anti-lock brakes or traction control as they swerve wildly through either Chicago, Los Angeles or New York.

As they drive, they hit fruit cars and whatnot (cars hate fruit carts in movies), they attract the attention of the police or more of the bad guy's henchmen who either end up going airborne and spinning side to side while exploding in a rollover or getting blocked by an 18-Wheeler that so happened to be in the wrong place at the right time. The chase goes on and the main hero and the person they're chasing go over a many hills, which cause little damage to the cars for some reason. As always, the cars that both the villain and the hero drive are indestructible until they reach the final destination which usually either end in one car going airborne (but not exploding) and one car screeching to a halt.

LOL.

Well played, sir.

And agreed. Car chases are awesome, and the protocols must be adhered to. No fruit cart = me no want.

Bimbo_Zombie
Christianity shouldn't be blamed for those. Most of the time it's becouse they don't have enough budget for ‘way cool special effects’, good actors, or even a decent script writter.
Christian film companies are so poorly funded :(

There's good movies made on low budgets. Faith is not equal to talent. Just ask Ron L. Hubbard – er nevermind. He's dead.


Oh wait. Cliches.

How about in the zombie flick, everyone dies. I found this particularly amusing in 28 weeks later, when you see the international forces have at least one tank on Great Britain, yet after the zombies attack, supposedly everyone is dead.

What do zombies do to a tank besides gum up the treads? Make it a … zombie tank?

I hate:

Cop: You killed my partner! Now i'm going to kill you! But i'm going to loose everything doing it!

Bad Guy: Thats cool, we both have guns, but we will kung fu fight at the end!

Phantom Penguin
I hate:

Cop: You killed my partner! Now i'm going to kill you! But i'm going to loose everything doing it!

Bad Guy: Thats cool, we both have guns, but we will kung fu fight at the end!

So what did you think of the end of Equilibrium? Kung Fu *with* guns! There were even katanas. It was a ninja dream :neenjah:

I love the friend of the protagonist that is working for the villain all along, double-crosses the protagonist, or turns tail and runs away when the chips are down – and then reappears (or switches allegiances or reveals he was always a loyal friend…) to rescue the protagonist near the end.

I hate the character that is like the aforementioned or is evil throughout the story but changes his ways near the end, only to die – either saving the protagonist or after all is said and done (like the last action of a dying villain is to kill them). Actually, a dying villain killing someone in his last breaths is just irritating.

ozoneocean
Now, some of the older stories did that too, but the fact is they DID it first*, they did it well, and they sort of got all they could out of the idea. But most of the books that came after STILL trod that path, and they probably still are treading it right now , but I wouldn't know because I don't read them any longer :P

*When I say they did it first, they were just reinventing classic stories from religious mythology like Ragnarock, Armageddon etc. The trouble is that those who came after just redid the versions found in fantasy classics so it's a degraded copy.

Awww, Ozone…! Does that mean you won't ever read my book, and miss out on all the social struggle and political intrigue I have poured out without measure in there, just because I have chosen a fantasy setting for my allegory? I feel so… bereft! :(

Tantz Aerine
Awww, Ozone…! Does that mean you won't ever read my book, and miss out on all the social struggle and political intrigue I have poured out without measure in there, just because I have chosen a fantasy setting for my allegory? I feel so… bereft! :(

:P I could still :)

ozoneocean

Tantz Aerine
Awww, Ozone…! Does that mean you won't ever read my book, and miss out on all the social struggle and political intrigue I have poured out without measure in there, just because I have chosen a fantasy setting for my allegory? I feel so… bereft! :(

:P I could still :)

Heh. I can hope again! I think you'd like it, is all.

Favorite:
Something explodes and everyone survives but the villain looses and eye.

When tech guys are typing shit on the keyboard while on the screen the mouse icon is moving all over the screen and clicking things. How hardcore do you have to be to do that?!

Gundam when the good guy is fighting in his robot and and every one is firing at him and all that happens is things bounce off and the most that happens is that the robot looses an arm or leg but he shoots a single laser at one of the other robots and they immediately explode into a rainbow of death that also blows up the other robots too. what are they just made out of dynamite?

Hate:
Multicultrural rainbows…hey look its a Black guy, Asian girl, native American and 2 white guys (maybe and Australian or Russian) all on the same team.

The mix match consoles like an N64 controller plunged into an xbox while they are plying metriod prime or some other game not made for that console. And the one there they are playing a racing and they are pressing all the buttons like mad and you Only see the car turn left.

Fave: The superhero always getting the good looking girls

Hate: Always the black guys dieing first in films

Atom Apple
I hate Horror movie trailers with little girls signing songs.

LOL! Yeah, what is it with the Evil Little Girls now?

My least favorite movie cliche is using reunions with long-lost fathers to pump up the heartstrings factor. ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ wallowed in it, in the third film. It was an original idea with Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker—it's become a cheap movie cliche ever since.