Cinema Silliness

Memorable Movie Mistakes.

Hello again!
     Well, I wasn't called for jury duty last week, so I don't
have much to tell on that.  It was a good thing that I didn't
have a trial though, because this is the weekend that Mark's play
started, so last week we were busy every night getting him to
rehearsals.  And this time of year is the big time for movies,
too.  So it got me thinking about how to do a Funnies on the
movies and acting.
     Movies are not shot in the same order that we see them on
the screen, they are shot in a way to make things cheaper for the
producers.  So all of the scenes on one set will be shot
together.  Say if some office workers are shown in scenes at
their office, then leaving the building for the day, then the
next day back at the office.  The two scenes in the office may be
cut together with a scene outside that was shot months earlier in
another city.  Everything looks fine, unless someone wore the
wrong clothes...  Then it may look like they changed on the
elevator on the way down!
     I've included some of my favorites from newer and older
movies.  One thing - I have no way to find out what name changes
may have taken place when these movies were shown in Japan,
Germany, Malaysia, etc.  I hope that you are able to figure it
out, anyway and sorry in advance if this confuses anyone.  This
is a pretty long one, so I'd better get off here right away. 
Thanks go out this week to Peter Adler and Bob Martens.  As
always, I appreciate the help in putting these things together. 
Now, on to the movie madness...    
     Have a great week,


==:-)=====:-)=====:-)=====:-)=====:-)=====:-)=====:-)=====:-)==

APOLLO 13 (1995) -
     - In the scene where Lovell's daughter is upset over the
     break up of the Beatles, she is seen putting away the album
     "Let It Be." Apollo 13 takes place in the three or four days
     just after April 13, 1970. "Let It Be" was not released
     until May 9, 1970.


BATMAN (1989) - 
     - When Vicki Vale (Kim Basinger) is told about the Wayne
     Family tragedy, she rushes to see Bruce Wayne.  But not too
     fast; she arrives in a different dress and hairstyle, so she
     must have stopped to change first.


BRAVEHEART (1995) - 
     - In the first battle, one of the extras can be seen playing 
     around with a sword as if he thought the camera's weren't
     rolling.

     - During the last fight scene a guy falls over and he is
     wearing white boxer shorts under his kilt.


CASABLANCA (1942) - 
     - In the scenes where Rick is describing the times they had
     in Paris, he mentions that she was wearing blue that day. 
     She says, "Yes! I put that dress away to wear again when the
     Germans march out of Paris."  But when we see her in the
     Paris scenes of the last day there, she's wearing a skirt
     and blouse.  No woman would describe that as a dress. 

     - In the Paris Railway Station scene, it is raining very
     hard and both Rick (Humphrey Bogart) and Sam (Dooley Wilson)
     are clearly soaked while they are standing on the open
     platform, yet a moment later when they board the train, they
     are dry.


THE COLOR PURPLE (1985) -
     - When Oprah Winfrey is knocked out by robbers and left
     laying in the street, she modestly pushes down her skirt to
     cover her underwear, even though she is supposed to be
     unconscious.


FLOWER DRUM SONG (1961) - 
     - Watch carefully during the 'Grant Avenue' dance and you'll
     see one of the dancers fall on her backside when she kicks
     her feet forward.


GONE WITH THE WIND (1939) - 
     - Scarlet is seen walking on the main street on the way to
     the hospital. You can clearly see a light bulb in one of the
     street lights.

     - When Mammy is dressing Scarlett for the Wilkes barbecue,
     you can see a wedding ring on Scarlett's finger, yet she is
     still single at this point of the film.

     - If you time Melanie's pregnancy with the American Civil
     War battles mentioned, she was pregnant for at least 21
     months.


INDEPENDENCE DAY (1996) -
     - When President Whitmore is looking at the July 2nd or 3rd
     USA Today in the Oval Office, the weather map clearly shows
     the continental US in mostly blue, which are low temps like
     the 40's. Strangely cold for summer, isn't it?

     - The plaque that was left by the Apollo XI astronauts was
     left on the base of the lunar lander, not on the moon's
     surface as shown in the film's opening shot.


JURASSIC PARK (1993) -
     - When the children are being attacked by the Tyrannosaur in
     the car, the T-Rex attacks from above and the only thing
     between its mouth and the kids is the glass sunroof. That
     sunroof breaks, but then changes between being broken and
     whole with almost every camera angle change.

     - If the car they are riding in is electrically powered and
     on tracks, as the movie says at the start, why does the car
     have a steering wheel and gear shift lever.  Also, why does
     an electric car need the exhaust system that shows so
     clearly when the T. Rex tips the car on its side?

     - In Jurassic Park when the baby raptor is hatching, there
     is a robotic arm stabilizing it. Later in the same scene
     from a different angle the arm disappears!

     - When the main characters are sitting at the lunch table,
     one of the waiters is not quite out of the shot and can be
     seen standing around waiting for his cue.


MAVERICK (1994) -
     - In the scene where Mel Gibson is talking to his Indian
     friend, there is a large field in the background. In the
     distance of this field is a car driving by which is not
     supposed to be there. 


MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE (1996) -
     - After retrieving the NOC list from Langley, and escaping
     to London, Krieger pulls the disc from his pocket and
     tries to blackmail Ethan. Ethan responds by making another
     disc vanish with a magic trick. Krieger, angry, storms from
     the room and throws the disc he had into the wastepaper
     basket.  It clearly breaks into several pieces. You can even
     see a piece fly up out of the basket, yet when Ethan pulls
     it out of the basket a moment later, it's perfectly intact.


NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959) - 
     - When Eva Marie Saint is about to 'shoot' Cary Grant in the
     lodge at Mt. Rushmore, watch the little boy in the
     background plugging his ears long before she is going to
     shoot.  (He must have been there during rehearsal.)


PRESUMED INNOCENT (1990) -
     - After Rusty Savage (Harrison Ford) is acquitted, reporters
     surround him.  One reporter holds a small cassette recorder
     in his face and asks a question.  Unfortunately, the
     recorder (which shows clearly in the close-up), isn't
     running and doesn't have a tape in it.


PRINCE OF TIDES -
     - In this movie set in New York, Barbra Streisand and Nick
     Nolte take several cab rides.  On each of them, they take
     the same cab - Number 6X24.  Considering that there are
     almost 12,000 licensed cabs in New York City, isn't that a
     little bit of a coincidence?


ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES (1991) - 
     - There are some strange references to things not yet
     invented during the time this movie is supposed to take
     place, which would have to be before King Richard dies in
     1199:
          - The Sheriff asks his maids to see him that night, one
          at 10:00, the other at 10:15.  Wonder how they kept the
          appointment, since there where no clocks in 12th
          century.      

          - How did they print the 'wanted' posters for Robin
          Hood...  It would be another 200 years before Gutenberg
          got around to inventing the printing press.

          - Robin Hood has tan lines on his bottom.  Did they
          have elastic swim suits in the 12th century?

          - Azeem (Morgan Freeman) knows about gunpowder, which
          wouldn't be known outside of China until Marco Polo
          brought it back.  Polo wasn't even born until 1564.  
          - Azeem also is using the telescope 400 years before
          Galileo.


SPEED (1985) -
     - When Dennis Hopper is telling Jack to be back on the bus
     as soon as possible, watch for the really bad audio dubbing
     when he says "...but you better be back real fast..."

     - As the bus is getting to the freeway. it gets splashed
     with water. Yet amazingly enough, it's completely dry in the
     next shot. Then about 20 seconds later, it's wet again. 

     - As the camera shows the wide shot of the uncompleted
     highway bridge, you can see the shadow of a complete bridge
     on the ground.

     - If you watch the bus when it jumps of the highway, you'll
     see there's no one in it.


STAR WARS
     - After the final battle as Luke is getting out of his
     fighter, everyone rushes in to celebrate. Luke yells out to
     Princess Leia...except he yells, "Carrie!"

     - When R2D2 is in the Jawa Land Cruiser, you can see the
     face of his 'driver' in the 'glass eye' on R2D2's head.

     - When the Rebels are getting ready to go on their mission,
     a crewman wearing a cut-off T-shirt can be seen wandering
     around in the background.


SUPERMAN -
     - When Jor-El puts Superman in his capsule, you can see
     Marlon Brando's Rolex wrist watch.


TERMINATOR - 
     - When the Terminator first tries to find Sarah Connors in
     the phone book, he finds three listing for that name, with
     addresses beginning with 1823, 2816 and 309.  But when he
     arrives at the home of the first one, the address is 
     14239 (!).


TERMINATOR 2: JUDGEMENT DAY -
     - Arnold Swartzenegger's 'computer screen' readout shows all
     kinds of interesting information.  At one point, he looks at
     a car and the display says 'VISUAL: MODEL 453GT PLYMOUTH
     SEDAN'.  But the car is a Ford.

     - During the helicopter chase scene, when the T1000 is using
     both hands reloading his gun, a third hand reaches around
     him to fly the helicopter.


TOTAL RECALL (1990) - 
     - A psychiatrist is sent to convince Arnold Schwartzenegger
     that it's really all just a dream.  Arnie shoots the doctor. 
     But later, when Schwartzenegger is being strapped down for
     reprogramming, the 'dead' doctor is perfectly healthy in the
     background in the group of doctors.


TWISTER (1996) -
     - During the big falling debris scene, Paxton and Helen Hunt
     are in a red truck. The truck hits a tractor. The impact
     damages the windshield, but a second later the windshield
     isn't broken.

     - The movie says that they are in Oklahoma, yet all
     the road signs say Texas!

     - When they are all in the oil shelter, they are all looking
     for something to tie themselves down with. It shows Helen
     Hunt strapped to the bar and then the actor straps her with
     a belt.  But you can see that she was already strapped in.


THE UNTOUCHABLES (1987) - 
     - In one of the warehouse raids, the liquor cases are large
     wooden boxes with the Canadian red Maple Leaf on the side. 
     One problem - the movie is set in the late 1920's and the
     maple leaf emblem didn't come into common use until the
     1960's.

     - The shootout in the Chicago train station has a baby
     carriage that travels through time.  At least, that's how it
     looks, because the big clock on the wall shows 5:00 as the
     scene begins.  But when the scene ends about three minutes
     later, the clock shows 6:00PM.


THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939) - 
     - While still in Kansas, Auntie Em is taking some of the
     chickens out of the broken incubator.  She counts "sixty-
     seven, sixty-eight, sixty-nine."  She then puts three more
     in her apron and takes one from Dorothy, counting,
     "seventy."  Should have been seventy-three, shouldn't it?

     - During the "Yellow Brick Road" sequence where Dorothy
     meets the Scarecrow, Dorothy's pigtails were first short
     (above her shoulders) and as the song progresses her hair
     gets longer (below her shoulders), then short, and then long
     again.  Hello, Etsuko!

     - When Dorothy, the Scarecrow and the Tin Man are dancing by
     the house just before they meet the Cowardly Lion, you can
     see a dark figure standing in the background.  A crewman who
     got caught standing there when filming started.  Hard to
     see, but he's just between and above the heads of Dorothy 
     and the Tin Man in the three shot.

     - When the Scarecrow gets his new brain, he says, "The sum
     of the squares of the sides of an isosceles triangle are
     equal to the square of the other side."  Wrong - that's for
     a RIGHT triangle /| .   An isosceles triangle is /_\ .  The
     Wizard must have given him a defective brain!