I find both those expressions amusing and expressive when used in the right context. And "no brainer" certainly sussed out Dick Cheney for the immoral slimeball he is when he blurted it out with regards to torture.
Maybe it's the repetition that renders expressions annoying. Something a little offbeat works, say, the the first 25 times from the likes of creatively demented folks like Carl Hiaasen, but sounds stupid when it becomes a cliche and rolls off the lips of mainstream people trying to sound casual and hip.