Alternate Writes

My Movie Clichés

There are certain movie clichés that always take me out of the viewing experience. I have griped with friends about characters who brush their teeth in five seconds when it should take two minutes (Mr. and Mrs. Smith), solve a mysterious pandemic in ten whole minutes (Outbreak), or whose cell phones lose reception at the end of act one (Almost Every Thriller Since 1995). Here is one of my least favorite: Whenever a movie character reads a letter, email, or IM, we hear the writer’s…