Writer Kevin Lehane, whose script “Grabbers” made the most recent Brit List, the UK equivalent of The Black List, has a blog called The Anthology of Codology. I was bumping around it the other day and hit this post: “The Definitive List of Cliched Dialogue”. The first 10:
- I was born ready.
- Are you sitting down?
- Let’s get out of here!
- _____ my middle name.
- Is that all you got?
I’m just getting started. - Are you thinking what I’m thinking?
- Don’t you die on me!
- Tell my wife and kids I love them.
- Breathe, dammit!
- Cover me. I’m going in.
You can read the rest of the list — 111 in all! — here.
Got any to add to the list?
Awesome, he missed one of the classics though; "You just don't get it do you?"
Hmmm,
I won't leave you!
You just don't understand!
Why are you doing this to me!
I'll see how many are there.
"Not on my watch."
"There's a storm coming."
Thanks for the shout out, mate. Will be adding some of these suggestions.
"Who are you and what have you done with my _______ ?."
Specific to 24. "WHERE IS THE BOMB!!"
I think there's a huge list of seemingly innocuous dialogue (almost throwaway) that winds up in many, many big budget scripts.
Like the trailer for Transformer 2 has Megan Fox yelling "I won't go without you."
I find this type of cliched dialogue is the stuff that is so unspecific that it can be put in ANY movie.
Babylon A.D. is an interesting study, in that it is almost 100% comprised of this type of dialogue.
My biggest peeves are when a character uses a familial relationship for justification that no one else in their right mind would EVER pretend to cling to.
"Because she's my sister."
"He's my brother."
"It's my dad."
And then the character goes and does something totally unjustifiable.
These are always a groaner for me.
"I'll see you in hell"
Crud… the link goes to a FB page for Grabbers – The Movie now. :-/