Best comedy movie questions of 1988

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Who Framed Roger Rabbit picture

Question: Does "pattycake" also mean something sexual? We were obviously at first supposed to think Jessica and Acme had sex, but if they were, why would she say "pattycake" and why does Maroon say "You're not the first guy whose wife went pattycake on him"? Am I missing out on something?

MikeH

Chosen answer: According to the director, Pattycake is the toon equivalent to sex.

Greg Dwyer

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Beetlejuice picture

Question: When the Maitlands return to their home after it's been altered by the new owners, Juno tells the Maitlands that they should be thankful that they didn't die in Italy. What did she mean by that?

zendaddy621

Answer: Italy is the center of the Roman Catholic Church, which includes exorcisms as a real-life ritual. Presumably, ghosts in Italy are at greater risk of encountering trouble in Italy because of this reason.

Answer: It's in reference / added on to her previous statement about being quiet/peaceful: Italy, presumably, has a louder, more raucous group of the living.

Answer: Italy, is a trendsetter. There would be constant art-deco changes that conflict with the Maitland's personal taste. In comparison, the Deets' are pretty tamed.

MasterOfAll

Chosen answer: When the Maitlands first meet their case worker, Juno, they tell her how miffed they are with the new family that has moved into their home. Juno glances around the peaceful house and remarks, "Things seem quiet here. You should thank God you didn't die in Italy." The case worker's name, "Juno," is a traditional Italian girl's name; and we see (when she smokes a cigarette) that Juno's throat has been slashed open from side to side, implying that she died a very violent and grisly death. Based on her personal experience (probably being murdered in Italy), Juno is commenting that the Maitlands could have died a far worse death under far more horrific circumstances, and that they really have little reason to complain.

Charles Austin Miller

I'm Italian: there's literally not a single female being, girl or woman, who has (had or have) this name in this country. Let alone being "traditional." "J" is not even in our original alphabet, go figure. I also think it's about us Italians being noisy and the place being quiet, that's all.

You may be Italian, but you're not informed. While the formal Italian alphabet (derived of Latin) does not have a "J" character, the letter "J' is used in modern Italian writing every day. "Juno," in your limited world, would be spelled "Diuno," who was a Roman goddess (queen of the heavens). As this pertains to Beetlejuice, she is a Roman goddess in charge of organizing.

Charles Austin Miller

Juno slashed her own throat. It says earlier in the movie that people who commit suicide become civil servants, which is what Juno is as their case worker. The beauty queen at the desk implies the same when she talks about what happens to people when they die. She says "if I knew then what I know now, I wouldn't have had my little accident" holding up her slit wrists, implying that she wouldn't have committed suicide if she knew she'd become a civil servant (as a desk girl).

It's never stated or established that Juno committed suicide.

Charles Austin Miller

I really think she was supposed to have had a tracheotomy due to her smoking.

Brian Katcher

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Answer: Unknown since we can't see the denomination. But at least a couple thousand dollars.

MasterOfAll

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Willow picture

Question: Why did Queen Bavmorda need a ritual to get rid of the child? Why didn't she simply kill the baby on the spot?

Answer: Bavmorda's ritual was the Ritual of Obliteration - a spell that is used to destroy a living spirit's essence or soul. Presuambly if she'd just killed Elora, the soul would have been later reborn into another baby.

Sierra1

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Big (1988)

Big picture

Question: What is the video game young Josh plays at the beginning of the movie?

Answer: According to imdb: Though some believe it to be Colossal (Cave) Adventure or an early Sierra Game, no known game up to 1988 accepts the commands "melt ice wizard" or "throw thermal pod" (as used in the movie), therefore one can assume the game screen was simply created for the movie.

Carl Missouri

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Answer: She was referring to his habit of excessively passing gas (farting) He can be heard doing this early in the film, even though he is a ghost.

raywest

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A Fish Called Wanda picture

Question: Is George's Oscar Wilde quotation, "We won't have to look for work, and it won't have to look for us," genuine? (Never trust a criminal, I know).

Louisa Radice

Answer: I did an Internet search for this quote, including checking best-quotations.com, and the only reference of it I can find is tied to the movie. I do not think this is an Oscar Wilde quote. If I find something, I'll update this, as it's possibly a line from one of his plays or novels that just doesn't happen to be online. Someone else might know.

raywest

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Heathers picture

Question: In the scene in the girl's locker room, after Heather Chandler's death, why does Veronica get into a shower with her clothes on?

Answer: I think it's one of those "This can't be happening, I must be dreaming" moments. Same as when a character pinches themselves in order to wake up, or they tell someone to pinch them. Veronica can hardly believe what she and JD did.

Answer: Most likely it's an act of contrition, symbolically attempting to "wash away" her sin.

raywest

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Working Girl picture

Question: If Jack and Katherine were a couple, how is it that Jack doesn't recognize Katherine's office when he goes there to confirm him and Tess to start working on the Trask deal?

Answer: It is also stated in the movie that Katherine just transferred down from Boston, and she is staying at her parents house. She also mentions in another scene that her and Jack are now in the same city. Plus Tess helps plan her welcome party to get to know others in her department indicating that she is new there. Maybe Jack had not got a chance to visit her office yet, which would explain why he would not have known.

Answer: Unless Katherine had recently moved to a new office, which it does not appear that she did, then Jack should know this was her office. However, it is also possible that he had just never been there before and they only saw each other outside of work. When Jack went to see Tess, he had a specific business reason for going there.

raywest

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Killer Klowns From Outer Space picture

Question: Who played the teenager that got killed at the gazebo? It looks like Michael J. Fox but, when I checked IMDB, there's no name listed for who played him.

Answer: The actor is Randy Doke. He's uncredited for the role, but IMDB lists him as "Puppet Show Dude."

Bishop73

Answer: I checked the Internet and read up on the Killer Klowns production and there is no mention of Michael J. Fox being in the movie. I do not know who the actor in the scene is, and while it's possible that it was Fox, it does not really resemble him, in my opinion.

raywest

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Chosen answer: "I'm Into Something Good." It's the second song listed in the music credits, and if you don't read all the credits you miss a good part of the gags in the movie.

"I'm Into Something Good" is played during the scenes where Frank is going out with Jane. The song the person is asking about is this song. Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn-MlISDsNs.

Answer: The opening song during the credits is the theme song from the 1982 TV series "Police Squad!" The Naked Gun movies are based on the short lived TV series.

Bishop73

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Dirty Rotten Scoundrels picture

Question: How exactly did Janet con Freddy and Lawrence?

Answer: She pretends to be a clueless, naive "mark" for them to con. They initially think she is a rich, spoiled heiress (the kind of mark Lawrence usually exploits), and make a bet as to which of them can extort $50,000 from her first. Freddy poses as a veteran in need of $50,000 treatment; Lawrence poses as the psychologist who charges a fee of $50,000 to treat him (Freddy). They later "discover" that Janet is in fact a poor girl who won a contest to go to Europe. This turns them against one another, as Lawrence wants to cancel the bet, since he does not take advantage of people who cannot afford to lose the money he takes. Janet later tells Lawrence that Freddy stole the $50,000 she raised for his treatment, at which point Lawrence, disgusted by Freddy's behaviour and rich enough to make it right, gives her $50,000 of his own to cover her loss. After Lawrence sends Janet away, Freddy arrives and it is revealed that she never gave him $50,000, and trapped him until she could tell her story to Lawrence. Only then do they realise that she is, in fact, The Jackal (another con artist whose name has been dropped throughout the story, and who Lawrence initially believes is Freddy's alias), and she conned them both for $50,000.

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Elvira, Mistress of the Dark picture

Question: Some group remade the song "Under the Boardwalk," giving it a catchy beat and a faster pace. The music video for this remake was on the original VHS release of Elvira Mistress of the Dark. Who sang that song?

Sarah Van Winkle

Chosen answer: Tom tom club.

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Twins picture

Question: Why did Traven lie to Mary-Ann and tell her that Julius died at birth and that Vincent was never born?

Answer: Because the offspring of this experiment was meant to be studied, researched. Mary-Ann showed signs of maternal attachment toward the end of her pregnancy, which the scientists involved felt would hinder the experiment due to her not wanting her baby poked and prodded at all day, every day. So she was told her baby died at birth and she was sent on her way. There was no point even mentioning the second baby since she never knew she was carrying twins in the first place.

Phixius

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Chosen answer: He had two other movies come out that same year (High Spirits and Cocoon). He chose to do those movies over Police Academy.

Paul Brannon

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Biloxi Blues picture

Question: Was Arnold Epstein drafted into the army?

Answer: No.

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Crocodile Dundee II picture

Question: If the crocs in this movie are saltwater crocodiles, why is the lady sipping then filling her canteen with saltwater? Later when swimming with Dundee in freshwater, no crocs.

Answer: Saltwater crocodiles ("Salties") are equally at home in fresh or salt water. Sue was filling her canteen from the water in a billabong, a freshwater lake.

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Short Circuit 2 picture

Question: Does anyone have the deleted scenes of Johnny 5 being repaired by Nova? I believe the owner of the diamonds paid Nova to repair him as a thanks or something along those lines.

Answer: I have the DVD but there are no deleted scenes.

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The Adventures of Baron Munchausen picture

Question: When Baron Munchausen and his cohorts clean out the Sultan's vault, the Sultan's horrified Treasurer crosses himself in the Catholic fashion. But, in this film, the Sultan is head of the Ottoman Empire (a Muslim empire), and the closest members of his court (such as his Treasurer) would surely be Muslim. So the treasurer's Christian gesture stands out as unlikely, at best. This seems to be a character error, but was it intended as a deliberate joke? If so, what was the joke?

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: The Baron is a teller of tall tales and massively exaggerated stories, so it is all from his limited point of view. The Ottomans did have Christian members of staff, especially doctors and such but the treasurer would never be a non-Muslim.

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Beaches picture

Question: When Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey are at the laundromat, they are playing cards. All of a sudden the old man in the background starts laughing. Then Bette and Barbara start laughing? Is this a laugh fest?

Answer: He overheard CC say that a man would never do a woman's laundry no matter how much he loved her. Which is true.

Answer: The man laughs because he is mentally challenged, and Bette and Barbara just begin to laugh at him. A bit un-PC.

Ral0618

Answer: First of all, it was a woman. Second, she heard CC say that men never want to do laundry not even for their woman.

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