Men in Black (1997)
1 answered question since 19 Mar '24, 22:03
Directed by: Barry Sonnenfeld
Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith, Vincent D'Onofrio, Rip Torn, Tony Shalhoub, Linda Fiorentino
Continuity mistake: Just before the diner scene, where the two aliens are discussing the galaxy, we see the outside of the Russian restaurant. The neon sign says "haroshaya" meaning "good" all the way across the window, in the next shot inside the restaurant, the "ha", which looks like the English letters "xo", is gone and the sign is centered. (00:41:00)
Large cop: If you were half the man I am... [Jay looks pointedly at policeman's stomach] I am half the man you are!
Trivia: In many European countries, as in Spain and France, since Dennis Rodman's weirdness isn't that well known, the celebrity mentioned in the last line of the movie as being an alien was changed to Michael Jackson. (01:30:00)
Question: When I watched both films in succession, I noticed the same person played both the man on desk at the morgue and Newton, the video store owner in the second film. Is there a reason for him being in both films?
Answer: The person in question is actor/comedian David Cross. In the first MIB film, Cross is listed in the credits as "Morgue Attendant," and he ends up glued to the morgue ceiling, presumably killed by The Bug. If he had survived, the Men in Black would have certainly neuralized him, anyway, and he would have no memory of the alien encounter or the Men in Black. In MIB 2, David Cross is listed as "Newton" (the video store nerd) who apparently recognizes K, because K had asked Newton to reserve a videotape for him at some time in the past. K made this video request before he ever met J, and then K neuralized himself after leaving a trail of clues leading to the video store. Newton remembers K, so Newton hasn't been neuralized in years. Therefore, Newton in MIB2 cannot be the same character as the Morgue Attendant in MIB.
Answer: David Cross plays Newton in both movies. In the first he is attacked by the Bug but survives and something went wrong with his neuralyzing as in the sequel he knows small things about the men in black like how they appear and he recognises the neuralyzer from his previous encounter with it, which isn't a coincidence. It appears J's neuralyzing of Newton did work and we don't see him in the 3rd movie (probably because he is in jail for the murder of his mother).
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Answer: K and his partner both knew about aliens living on Earth, and made it their duty to make sure no one else knew about it. When the trooper saw Mikey in his real form, and Mikey spotted him, he attacked the trooper in an attempt to kill him, probably to ensure that the trooper wouldn't be alive to expose them. Since K and the other agent were already aware of Mikey, as they had dealings with him before, Mikey didn't attack them.