Attack of the Hollywood Cliches!

There are actually Youtube channels that do better video essays than this hour-long and poorly-patched together Mojo list. The analysis of cliches are rushed and selections of movies are erratic, like a high school essay written from a Google searched of the book summary. Clips and highlights served as a "I told you so" rather than movie analysis.

In important "attacks" related to race, gender, (and the police?), the example scenes are so obviously cherry picked for talking points that fit the current political climate. In this process, they completely ignore how the particular scene fit in the theme of the whole movie and in the dynamics between the characters. Not to mention the vast assumptions they constantly make on how some random film was perceived, as well as the horrible (or great) audience that would celebrate these cliché to try and inject their own politics.

If you're a hardcore fan of films you probably already know all these clichés exist. Sure, I learned a bit of history, but I lost interest after about half an hour.

A lot of the talking heads also were irritating as they try to convince the audience that all of the problems in society, from racism to gay rights to women's fight for equality is all the fault of the film industry.

I was really looking forward to this as being a lover of film I know a cliché or two.

Sadly at a running time of less than an hour it was never going to go full pelt into the rich and varied history of the Holly cliché. I felt that the examples used were far too fleeting, and the whole thing felt rushed. They could've spun it out to at least a three-part series. Nothing is ever really explained ('here is a trope... haha. Now here is another one...'). It would have been interesting if some of these were analysed a bit more than merely glossing over them quickly.

Considering the richness of many industry professionals on display here they were criminally underused simply to provide a cheat and quick gag. Is this really what Netflix's supposed demographic wants? This is nothing more than televisual fast food.

However the most disappointing aspect of this is that it has Charlie Brooker attached to it. Not to say I'm not a fan of his, far from it. Up until this show he was a one-man seal of quality.

Kinda like a live action version of TV Tropes. However tends to lean heavily into a very "woke" commentary. From denigrating everyone involved in the Hays Code to criticizing white people as being automatically bad.

I didn't know about The Wilhem Scream's origins so that was neat. Rob Lowe is likable enough as the host but there's just enough here to justify its own existence. Why not go more into depth? Who doesn't already know about most of these cliches? The jump scare, the magical Negro (how could they not mention that genius Key and Peele sketch?), the White savior etc. Montages??? I would've loved to hear about cliche quotes such as "It's quiet...too quiet" etc. Origins of where the quotes came from etc. Maybe this would've worked better as a series that went more in depth and talked about cliches you might not know are cliches but as it is, it's just fine. Worse ways to spend an hour.