"There's a storm coming..."

Question

Is there any way conceivable to count the number of times that line has appeared in a movie??
I, too, had it in a draft. I knew it sounded cliche and cheesy, but, well, there really was storm coming, and - ok, I admit it - I was weak and gave in to the cheese.
Anyway, I lost that sequence (and the line) in the rewrite about a year ago. But the thing is, since then, I now notice every time a movie uses it. And I've noticed at least (at least!) a dozen movies during the past year (even new ones on the big screen this year) that use that very line. (What prompted this post was just hearing it in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix".)
It's like a screenwriting meme, or something...
Bad guys are closing in? "There's a storm coming..."

OO! Spooky!

Usenet · Accepted Answer

It's on Terminator too.

Usenet · Answer

Being interested in, yet outside of, the screenwriting business, I have to wonder how much audiences are actually troubled by trite dialog or hackneyed plots.
I can see why writers detest them, but I don't hear people leaving the theaters complaining about cliches as long as the story delivers.

Take the Mona Lisa - until last January we didn't know for sure who she was, but we appreciated DaVinci's innovation in portraiture nonetheless. However, if the patron who paid DaVinci to paint the Mona Lisa hadn't been able to identify her, he would've been *** as ****, despite all the innovation.
Certainly, there are some cases where audiences expect cliches and are disappointed when they are omitted. "Quantum of Solace" is one such case - although the movie did well and was a great action movie, I heard a least a half a dozen people coming out of the theater complaining that it just wasn't what they had come to see - a Bond movie. The one remark I heard at least three times was "how can they call it a James Bond movie when he never says "Bond, James Bond"?
Now how much more trite can you get than "Bond, James Bond"?

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Being interested in, yet outside of, the screenwriting business, I have to wonder how much audiences are actually troubled by ... movie when he never says "Bond, James Bond"? Now how much more trite can you get than "Bond, James Bond"?[/nq]
When James Bond identifies himself as "Bond, James Bond," it's not a cliche so much as a trademark. It's part of what makes him Bond, just as Homer's frequent references to "shining Achilles" are not cliches but identifiers.
On the other hand, if you're watching a comedy about a character named, say, Bert Niblik, and he introduces himself to a pretty girl in a bar as "Niblik, Bert Niblik," that is a cliche... And while I doubt that vast swaths of the moviegoing audience would rise up out of their seats at that point, I do believe that every cliche pulls the viewer a little further away from the characters.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Is there any way conceivable to count the number of times that line has appeared in a movie??[/nq]
As many times as I've heard it said to me in real life?
[nq:1]I, too, had it in a draft. I knew it sounded cliche and cheesy, but, well, there really was storm coming, and - ok, I admit it - I was weak and gave in to the cheese.[/nq]
lol...in general, people are cheesy, and like cheese. You can always do a re-write to include the line;
"what's the rush, there's no storm coming".
But alas, that may prompt a response;
"oh yes, there is a storm coming!"
But;
"the weather forecasts aren't accurate half the time anyway".
Cheese makes everything taste better...except other cheeses.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Being interested in, yet outside of, the screenwriting business, I ... much more trite can you get than "Bond, James Bond"?[/nq]
[nq:1]When James Bond identifies himself as "Bond, James Bond," it's not a cliche so much as a trademark. It's part ... seats at that point, I do believe that every cliche pulls the viewer a little further away from the characters.[/nq]
Absolutely - if you're not inventive enough to name him - Mashie-Niblick, Bert Mashie-Niblick - give up your keyboard.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Bad guys are closing in? "There's a storm coming..."[/nq]
Because its the number one fallback when people don't really have anything else to say. For instance, my friends wife just got a new Nikon dslr with bad *** lenses, so now every time she sees me she has questions about photography. Before she got the camera she would always mention the weather. Once the conversation turns to weather, its over. Unless of course it is worth mentioning like a blizzard, Hurricane, or tornado.
I dont mind it in a movie if its done well like in Carpenters The Thing. Cause that line pretty much lets you know they are all gonna be dead shortly no matter what happens. I could give more examples, but seriously there is a storm coming.
Oranse

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Bad guys are closing in? "There's a storm coming..."[/nq]
[nq:1]Because its the number one fallback when people don't really have anything else to say. For instance, my friends wife ... be dead shortly no matter what happens. I could give more examples, but seriously there is a storm coming. Oranse[/nq]
I just want to know who the genius was that had Helen Hunt yelling "Go right! Go left!" etc. in "Twister." He/she should be strangled.

"There's a storm coming..."

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