"Just hold on!!"

New ideas are scarce these days. You can hardly expect Hollywood to provide an unlimited supply of this dwindling, endangered resource. Many studios now resort to unnecessary remakes to make ends meet. Recycling! How very green of them.

But some things should just stop. You know those scenes that were so thrilling and spine-tingling the first time you ever saw them in a movie? That had you on the edge of your seat? But then they appeared in every single movie you saw after that, when they really didn't need to be there anymore and were obviously thrown in to fill time?

My pet peeve is gratuitous dangling. You know what I'm talking about. Maybe there's an explosion, or an earthquake, or a flying car mishap. But, somehow, the hero's love interest/brother/daughter/best friend ends up dangling off a cliff, or a rooftop. We are then subjected to 10 minutes of panicked shouting, as the hero fights to reach his loved one.

“Just hold on!”

“I can't!”

“Dammit (insert name here), just hold on!”

Etc.

After this back-and-forth shouting has gone on for a sufficient length of time to be considered suspenseful, the dangling loved one must lose their grip and dangle by only few fingers. Maybe the badguy steps on their fingers. Maybe there's another explosion. Whatever. The end result is the same. More shouting ("Grab my hand!") and more suspenseful music.

At this point, I start wondering how many hours of my life have been spent watching actors dangle off cliffs and window ledges. I probably could have spent that time writing a novel, or running marathons, or something.

How about you? What is your most hated Hollywood cliche? Is it dangling? Is it that one dude in every zombie movie that gets bitten and doesn't tell anybody? (I hate that dude.)

Tell me!