A character turns on the radio just in time to hear a special announcement or some important news item. Then turns the radio off.
CLICK
"Three escaped lunatics have been spotted in . blah blah blah."
CLICK
The phone rings. Caller says, "You better check out what's on the news on Channel 13". He turns on channel 13 and gets the report from the beginning.
All televisions show cowboy-and-indian chase scenes a large proportion of the time.
All VCRs in films are always cued up exactly to the portion of tape you want to show someone.
You will always be able to backwind the tape precisely to the beginning of the segment you want to see again.
Whenever anyone scans through a videotape or audio tape on home equipment you can hear the audio portion of the tape being fast forwarded or rewound.
Freeze frame is flawless.
Whenever someone reviews surveliance video taken from a preceeding scene, the camera angle is never high above the actors, it's right up close, and looks a lot like the angle the film camera used when shooting the picture. Aditionally, the audio is always crisp and clear, there's no background noise, because all security cameras come equiped with boom mikes.
RESTROOMS
In film, no one uses the restroom, except as a venue for escape. If there are multiple people in the restroom, expect a minor character revealation while they stand at the mirror.
ROPES
When people are tied up in the movies, which is usually loosely and incompetently, they can't escape without finding some convenient device to burn or cut through the ropes.
Corollary 1: There is always a convenient device at hand.
Corollary 2: If the method involves burning the ropes, the person's hands will be tied at least a foot apart.