Best comedy movie questions of 1986

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Peggy Sue Got Married picture

Question: I never understood the significance of the girl in the wheelchair at the reunion. Peggy Sue makes a big deal out of the girl but never in her "flashback" do we see this character.

Jeanne Perrotta

Answer: You DO see Rosalie in the past. She hosts the party at which Charlie and his group sing. And Jim Carrey asks for the lights to be turned out. She walks, and begins to dance with her boyfriend.

No, that was Maddie's party. Peggy Sue's mom said so when she asked her why she wasn't ready for the party, when Charlie came to pick her up.

I finally see her, thanks! She's to the left of Peggy Sue and her girlfriends as they watch Charlie and the guys sing. Then she's the girl dancing on the counter at the coffee shop when Peggy Sue meets with Michael Fitzsimmons the first time. I always wondered about the Rosalie plot hole.

I think we DO see Rosalie before her accident-she is the girl dancing on the counter at the coffee shop when Peggy Sue goes for coffee and a donut and runs into Michael Fitzsimmons. Peggy Sue pauses and watches her for a moment.

Chosen answer: In the original script, Rosalie (the girl in the wheelchair) injures herself in an accident. Peggy Sue tries to change things that happen in the future, including Rosalie's accident.

ChiChi

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Ferris Bueller's Day Off picture

Question: When Sloane was told her grandmother was dead, did she know it was a hoax? And did Rooney figure it out?

Answer: Sloane knew it was a hoax. Ferris would not have done something like that without her knowing. Rooney pretty much had figured it out, but could never prove anything. Once he was discovered inside the Bueller house (illegally) by Ferris' sister, anything he did know he would have to keep to himself.

raywest

Sloane starts to put her jacket on the moment that she sees the school nurse walk into the classroom, suggesting that Sloane already knew she would be called out, and she smiles to her classmates.

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The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 picture

Question: At the beginning, Stretch asks the two punks in the car to hang up so that the call can end and the phone line can be clear. Why? Why can't she just hang up and end the call? This makes no sense.

Brittle Fingers

Chosen answer: That's how telephones worked back then. It has to do with the lack of a disconnect signal being sent by the called party, which phone companies have now. Back then when someone called another person, they were paying for the call and thus it was felt that they're entitled not to be hung up on and the line would not be "free" for the person being called, even after they hung up. This also meant if someone was called and they picked up in one room, they could say "hold on I'm going to switch phones", hang up, go to another room and pick up the phone and the caller would still be there. It was also a great way to scam or annoy people by calling them and not hanging up. Some countries still maintain this method of operation, largely because some people have become used to it, although nowadays it's by choice, not by technical limitation, and the length of time the line is held open is significantly reduced.

Bishop73

Yeah that's actually true. in the 80s we used to call up talk radio shows from isolated, seldom-used phone booths and then leave the phone off the hook. No more calls for hours until they straightened it out with the phone company. we called it 'jock blocking'.

That's not true my brother would prank call KDKA in Pittsburgh constantly they had no trouble hanging up. If people called our house there was no trouble hanging up.

That's exactly how it worked if the line didn't have a disconnect signal.

Bishop73

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The Money Pit picture

Question: Walter is discussing changing the name of Cheap Girls to Meryl Streep with a band member. When they say 'Meryl Streep,' their mouths are not in sync with the words. Do you know what the original name change was supposed to be, and why was it changed?

Answer: It was Jane Fonda.

Answer: I have watched this several times. It looks to me like he is saying Meryl Streep but the audio is just out of sync with the man's lips. Plus when Hanks says it, it matches Meryl Streep on his lips.

William Bergquist

Answer: It looks like Meryl Streep the first time he says it but not the second.

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Little Shop of Horrors picture

Question: Near the end of the song "I am a dentist", is Orin saying "and a success" or "and I say sit"?

Answer: He says "and a success". He's singing about his mother telling him he'd become a successful dentist.

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Big Trouble in Little China picture

Question: When Lightning is crushed by the statue at the end of the movie, he sends out dozens of bolts of energy before he dies. The final wisp of electricity forms a Chinese character. Does anyone know what it means?

Answer: It's the symbol for "carpenter" after the director John Carpenter.

Grumpy Scot

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Howard the Duck picture

Question: Why is the secretary was so rude to Howard when he tried to find the job?

Trainman

Answer: As she said to Howard, she believed that he was using his "outlandish" appearance to be unable to find work and collect money through unemployment. She's probably dealt with people who did the same thing and was eventually sick of it.

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The Manhattan Project picture

Question: Would the interference from the plutonium keep the RC car from working?

Answer: Radiation wouldn't necessarily affect a remote control car. It would contaminate it, but beyond that the car would continue to work.

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Crocodile Dundee picture

Question: During the scene with "live it up" playing in the background, what was it and where were they? With Simone being there it is obviously full of hookers but was it a party, and if so, whose and why? The whole scene just feels weird.

The_Iceman

Answer: It is a party thrown by one of Sue's socialite friends, presumably the husky-voiced woman whose crotch Mick grabs. The party is not "full of hookers", Simone is there as the hired escort of the old man she is dancing with, who Mick naively believes to be her father. We can assume the old man paid for Simone to be his date to the party and likely for some time alone with her afterwards. There is no stated reason for why the party is being thrown.

BaconIsMyBFF

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Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home picture

Question: Why does the probe even wish to talk to humpback whales?

Rob245

Answer: It's stated by Spock in the movie, even if he is just speculating. He mentions that humans are not the only intelligent special on Earth, and that it's human arrogance to assume that the probe's signal, "Must be meant for man." The point is, the aliens were communicating with the whales, and when that communication stopped, they sent the probe to find out why.

wizard_of_gore

Answer: There is a hypothesis by Spock that the probe was perhaps sent to find out why they didn't hear the whale song any more.

Answer: It was never explained, but as whales are highly intelligent animals capable of communicating with one another, the visiting aliens somehow were once able to establish contact. Perhaps the alien's form of language was more compatible with the humpbacks.

raywest

Answer: Wouldn't you if you could?

TonyPH

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The Golden Child picture

Question: Does anybody know why Sardo Numspa can't pronounce J's? Such as when he pronounces Chandler Jarell as Yarell. I've looked but can't seem to find any explanation.

Answer: A lot of non english speaking countries have trouble pronouncing the letter J as it does not appear in their alphabet. It is a fairly recent addition to the english language too. Previously words that now start with a J would have began with an "I" sound as in "Iarell".

dgemba dgemba

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Critters picture

Question: Any particular reason why they chose not to have the Krites grow huge in the sequels?

Answer: Maybe it's because they didn't have the budget where they could afford to do such an idea.

Rob245

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Heartbreak Ridge picture

Question: Why was the platoon making such a big deal about wearing shirts during their exercises? I would think they would be better off wearing shirts so they would not get a sunburn. So what was the big deal?

SAZOO1975

Chosen answer: Gunny Highway insisted that they all wear the same shirts as he himself was wearing. If they showed up in a different one, he made them go shirtless. The reasons for this were 1) to break through their rebellious attitudes and teach them to follow his orders, 2) to make them look and feel unified, and 3) to develop resourcefulness and adaptability in them.

Chanteuse66

To also display esprit de corp to other units gaining them respect from those units as well as command leadership.

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Ruthless People picture

Question: If Barbara had a dog named Muffy then how come she didn't speak about it the whole film? Didn't she even think about wanting her dog back if she decides to stay with the kidnappers?

Trainman

Answer: So she's more concerned about her own life than the life of the dog. Or since she believes that her husband "worships the ground I walk on," she probably takes for granted that her husband will take care of the dog. Or she does talk about it but it's not important to the plot.

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Police Academy 3: Back in Training picture

Question: If Mrs Fackler is married to Mr Fackler, the nerdy cop, why does she want to share rooms with Kirkland?

Answer: The way I see it is that Kirkland and her are cadets, Mr. Fackler is not a cadet and wouldn't sleep in same dorm.

blackdahlia

Answer: Because Kirkland is a fit and handsome young man.

Brian Katcher

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House picture

Question: What is Cobb watching on the TV after his first war flashback, right before the kid appears in the window?

Answer: That's the horror movie Don't Look in the Basement (1973), at its own timecode 01:09:30 within that movie.

Super Grover

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Back to School picture

Question: I have always been curious about one thing in this movie - when Thornton was taking the oral examination, if he answered all of Dr. Barbay's questions right, why did he only get a D? How did Dean Martin not question that?

Answer: We don't know that he answered all the questions right, just that he answered the last one right. Based on Barbay's upset response to that correct answer, it is likely Thornton was at the edge between a wrong answer giving him an F and a correct answer giving him the D he got.

jimba

Answer: It should also be noted he got all D's and just 1 A. So it wasn't just Barbay that gave him a D.

Bishop73

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Short Circuit picture

Question: I thought the movie was supposed to take place in Oregon? In several scenes, specifically when NOVA shows up to collect Number 5 the first time, multiple vehicles can be seen with Washington state license plates. Also, you can see a ferry in the background in what appears to be Puget Sound. (00:43:50 - 00:49:20)

Answer: Astoria, Oregon is just across from Washington state on the Columbia River. The Highway 101 bridge connects Washington to Astoria, and it takes mere minutes to cross. Unlike Washington, Oregon has no state sales tax, so many Washington residents who live near the border shop there, and their cars would be seen. Also, there are several vintage paddlewheel boats belonging to a river cruise company based in Astoria. From a distance, they are a similar size, shape, and white color as a Puget Sound ferry. That is probably what you saw cruising on the Columbia River.

raywest

Answer: Johnny 5 finds himself in Astoria, Oregon after escaping. However, NOVA Laboratories is located in Washington State. I'm not sure about Puget Sound though since filming in Washington took place in Stevenson, where NOVA is supposed to be located.

Bishop73

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