Cliche alert – the perfectly timed radio or TV announcement

Need to set a movie in just the right moment in history? Well, crank up the television or radio on the set. It’s sure to be broadcasting the most important news item of the era at that … exact … moment.

Or so too many movies would have us believe.

There’s nothing lazier than dropping in a breaking news bulletin to help build a scene, underline a major story theme or nudge a character into action.

The new-to-DVD film “AmericanEast,” which I review over at PajamasMedia, features several sequences in which the characters listen to reports of Muslim-Americans are arrested on various charges.

The cinematic device can be used effectively, but only on rare occasions. Typically, these scenes feels so manufactured it takes the viewer right out of the moment.