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

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

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.

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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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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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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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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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Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home picture

Question: What exactly was Scotty's reason as to why giving the Company boss the formula for the one inch glass wouldn't alter the future? He gave a brief response, but I honestly can't think of any reason why it wouldn't do any future damage.

Gavin Jackson

Answer: They only give him a schematic of the molecule. The man even says, "It would take years to decipher the matrix", or something like that.

Chosen answer: Scotty says "Why? How do you know he didn't invent the thing!" If the man was in fact the inventor, this would only cause a slight causality loop problem - he "invents" it because they gave it to him, but they only know it because he "invented" it. However, since Sulu said earlier in the movie that it was about 150 years too early for transparent aluminum, it would seem they do know this, so it wasn't a smart thing to do. Of course, the real flaw in the plot is that they need the tank to be transparent at all.

Myridon

Answer: The crew is resigned to the fact that their mission forces them to alter history in some fashion or another. McCoy just wants to acknowledge the gravity of their actions before they go ahead and do it, and Scotty's response is a cheeky way of reassuring him, "Hey, maybe it won't be that bad."

TonyPH

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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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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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Short Circuit picture

Question: At the end, Stephanie, Newton and Johnny Five are all driving to Montana. What about Stephanie's animals and all her things at her house?

adamtrainman@aol.com

Answer: Driving from Central Oregon to Montana only takes about 12 hours. They could drop off Number 5 and be back to move Stephanie and Newton out of their houses within a day or two.

LorgSkyegon

Answer: They were not driving to Montana, they were in the country driving back to the city, while they discussed Stephanie's animals and responsibilities.

Newton said that a relative left him several acres in Montana. Since they were already in a huge van, they could just stop by Stephanie's place and pick them up.

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Back to School picture

Question: What poem is Diane reading to her class that makes Thornton say, "Yes, yes!"?

Answer: She was reading, "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night," by Dylan Thomas.

raywest

Answer: She was reading from the novel Ulysses by James Joyce.

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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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House picture

Question: What is Cob 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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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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