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Film review clichés that should be avoided at all costs

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Each blurb is meant to apply to multiple films, not just the one it currently comments on. Please, feel free to suggest more.

This list was conceived a tool for Letterboxd users- myself included- to improve their writing.

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  • The Godfather: Part II

    The Godfather: Part II

    ★★★★½

    "The rare sequel that surpasses the original"

    Read Review
  • Logan

    Logan

    ★★★★½

    "The best superhero movie since X"

    Read Review
  • Star Wars: The Last Jedi

    Star Wars: The Last Jedi

    "A good movie, but not a good Star Wars movie."

    Read Review
  • Get Out

    Get Out

    ★★★★

    "The film America needs right now."

    Read Review
  • Food, Inc.

    Food, Inc.

    "Will forever change the way you view X"

  • Game Night

    Game Night

    "The best studio comedy since X"

    "The funniest movie since X"

  • The Room

    The Room

    Using Tommy Wiseau or The Room as a comparison for a film's badness, favorably or unfavorably.

  • It

    It

    ★½

    "The best horror film in years."

    Or, generally commenting on how a horror film good in spite of its genre (as if good horror films do not come out all the time).

    Read Review
  • Arrival

    Arrival

    ★★★★½

    "The best sci fi film since X."

    Read Review
  • Every Day

    Every Day

    "The feel good film of *insert year that hasn't finished yet here*"

  • mother!

    mother!

    ★★★★

    "The feel bad movie of *insert year that hasn't finished yet here*"

    Read Review
  • La La Land

    La La Land

    ★★★★½

    Comparing any and all new musicals to La La Land.

    Show Reviews
  • Cowboys & Aliens

    Cowboys & Aliens

    "Like if unrelated film met another unrelated film."

  • Coco

    Coco

    "An animated film that adults can enjoy as much as their children"

    Read Review
  • World of Tomorrow

    World of Tomorrow

    Backhanded criticism aimed at adult-oriented animated films due to the misconception that animation is for children.

  • Phantom Thread

    Phantom Thread

    "Auteur filmmaker's most recent work is good, but not nearly as good as auteur filmmaker's widely regarded masterpiece."

    Read Review
  • Her Story

    Her Story

    COMMENT BONUS: Getting upset with feminist-focus film reviews/critics because you do not consider yourself a feminist.

  • The Empire Strikes Back

    The Empire Strikes Back

    "The best sequel since The Empire Strikes Back."

    "X Franchise Tentpole is the Empire Strikes Back of the series."

    Read Review
  • Jaws

    Jaws

    "Does for x what Jaws did for the ocean."

  • The Transformers: The Movie

    The Transformers: The Movie

    "I grew up with X"

  • Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

    Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

    "Ruined my childhood!"

  • The Duke of Burgundy

    The Duke of Burgundy

    ★★★★

    Comparing any film about BDSM or non-traditional sex to Fifty Shades of Grey.

    Read Review
  • Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

    Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

    Basing an entire review of an adaptation on the adaptation's proximity to the source material (see also, The Shining).

  • Moonlight

    Moonlight

    ★★★★★

    "The definitive film about insert minority group here."

    Implying that years of non-white, queer or non-hegemonic cinema no longer matter and that every minority voice on film is essentially the same.

    Show Reviews
  • Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

    Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

    Incessantly bringing up Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic, Cinemascore, etc; positively or negatively.

  • Dunkirk

    Dunkirk

    ★★★★½

    Exaggerating bodily reactions one has during/after watching a film...

    FROM MY OLD HIGH SCHOOL BLOG:
    "I get a massive adrenaline rush after watching a good movie."

    Read Review
  • The Objective

    The Objective

    "Objectively..."

  • Lady Bird

    Lady Bird

    ★★★★½

    "Insert coming of age movie here is bad because it doesn't accurately reflect my childhood."

    "Insert coming of age movie here does nothing new to re-invent the genre."

    Basing all criticisms of these kinds of films on John Hughes.

    Read Review
  • Spring Breakers

    Spring Breakers

    "X is Y on insert recreational or hard drug here."

  • Twin Peaks: The Return

    Twin Peaks: The Return

    Basing reviews of television miniseries on whether they should, or should not, be included on the site.

  • Mothlight

    Mothlight

    "insert surrealist film here reminded me of David Lynch or Luis Buñel."

  • Annie Hall

    Annie Hall

    COMMENT BONUS: Getting upset about a user taking issue with the work of a problematic figure because you personally "separate the art from the artist."

  • The Sixth Sense

    The Sixth Sense

    "Without spoiling the entire film, sentiment that inadvertently spoils the entire film"

  • 2001: A Space Odyssey
  • Masters of the Universe

    Masters of the Universe

    "A masterclass in..."

  • Bee Movie

    Bee Movie

    "Bee Movie is a 2007 film starring Jerry Seinfeld and directed by Simon J Smith. In Bee Movie, a young honey bee named Barry B. Benson (Jerry Seinfeld) has recently graduated from college and is about to enter the hive's Honex Industries honey-making workforce alongside his best friend Adam Flayman (Matthew Broderick). Barry is initially excited to join the workforce, but his courageous, non-conformist attitude emerges upon discovering that his choice of job will never change once picked. Later, the two bees run into a group of Pollen Jocks, bees who collect pollen from flowers outside the hive. The Jocks offer to take Barry outside the hive to a flower patch, and he accepts. While on his first pollen-gathering expedition in New York City, Barry gets lost in the rain, and ends up on the balcony of a human florist named Vanessa (Renée Zellweger). Upon noticing Barry, Vanessa's boyfriend Ken (Patrick Warburton) attempts to squash him, but Vanessa gently catches and releases Barry outside the window, saving his life.

    Barry later returns to express his gratitude to Vanessa, breaking the sacred rule that bees are not supposed to communicate with humans. Barry and Vanessa develop a close bond, bordering on…

  • The Raid

    The Raid

    "A glorified video game."

    >Implying that video games are not capable of telling interesting stories, crafting compelling characters or experimenting with form.