I hated Garden State and Elizabethtown because of
this. Maybe Amelie, too, though it's not on the list.
That stupid guy from American Beauty who filmed the plastic bag is the guy version.
Iliana made fun of how I like television better than movies but I think one of the reasons is that in movies, time can be so constrained, that often characters are just irritating ciphers. Like, "Look how quirky and free-spirited I am. I wear scarves and vaguely paint and will make you see the beauty in life, you inhibited banker."
But in television, there's often more time to develop a character, so they're not just some miserable stereotype. Because "haircolor and quirk" =/= personality. And nobody can make your journey of self-discovery, or make you feel alive for you; it's something you've got to do or find for yourself.
So, like, Betty from Ugly Betty is quirky and weird, but she's got an interior life all her own and her own desires and wants and interesting character development. Even the difference between Rachel Bilson's character on The OC and in the film The Last Kiss is huge. In one, she's a shallow party girl who eventually falls for a nerd and realizes she's actually smart, goes to a good school, starts caring about the enviroment; in the other, she's a MPDG (and not a very good one) for Zach Braff (what is up with that guy?)