Character mistake: Deputy Olmstead says to Lorraine Lyon, "You think that you're rich 'cause you're better than me." Surely, the line should have been "You think that you're better than me 'cause you're rich."
Leicaman
2nd Mar 2024
Fargo (2014)
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: No, she actually does mean Lorraine thinks she is rich because she is better than her. And to her, anyone who is not rich is therefore less, or else they would be rich too. It's the same type of thinking but with a different approach as what you suggest. It's about privilege.
Interesting. I can see it either way. Thanks for the thought.
11th Dec 2023
A Christmas Story Christmas (2022)
Corrected entry: When Ralphie is imagining he's in prison, the guard tells him he has a visitor and says, "Dead Man Walking." That refers to a prisoner being taken to his execution. Ralphie was not going to be executed, only to see his family.
7th Dec 2023
The Conners (2018)
Corrected entry: Ben says "we may be honing in on the problem." You hone a knife and you hone an argument. "Homing" means getting closer, either in distance or in understanding. They were HOMING in on the problem.
Correction: Either phrase is acceptable. "Honing in" means to move towards an objective or to focus attention on that objective.
It is a common usage, but still incorrect. https://grammarist.com/eggcorns/home-in-hone-in/.
It is an acceptable usage, even if it is not the best or most grammatically correct word to use. After all, the Conners are not the most sophisticated or educated family. Something that is not technically correct can be situationally right.
And I can't remember the last time (if ever) I heard anyone say "homing" instead of using "honing."
Correction: Merriam-Webster gives this as an example: The missile was honing in on its target. Researchers are honing in on the cause of the disease. Ben uses it in this manner. It is a colloquialism that we all understand. You can use either phrasing (and in the US it tends to be more common to use "honing in"). It is not a mistake.
2nd Jan 2004
Dante's Peak (1997)
Corrected entry: When Harry and the Wandos are crossing the lake which has turned into acid, you can hear the motor coughing right before it stops; and Harry turns the motor into the boat, and sees that the propeller is destroyed by the acid. Even though the propeller is gone, the motor shouldn't just stop, it would still run, but the boat wouldn't move. The director probably did this so that the viewers would understand that the motor was destroyed.
Correction: Those types of boat motors use the water to cool itself by cycling the water through the internals of the motor. The acid would have indeed caused the motor to die by destroying it.
In Dante's Peak, it shows that the propeller was melted, but stainless steel melts at 2550 degrees Fahrenheit, and the water was only 2200 degrees Fahrenheit.
Water can only get to 2200 degrees Fahrenheit under VERY high pressure.
18th Aug 2023
Young Sheldon (2017)
Little Green Men and a Fella's Marriage Proposal - S6-E18
Character mistake: When Dr. Bell examines baby Constance, she has the stethoscope in her ears facing backwards. Also, when Sheldon and the professors are looking at the data from the telescope, Dr. Linkletter says "what about that" and Dr. Prakash says "no, that's within the standard deviation." That doesn't make sense.
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: Not taking anything away from the other correction, but these are two separate mistakes put into one entry.
18th Apr 2009
Veronica Mars (2004)
Trivia: Mercer is dressed as Alex from A Clock Work Orange. Alex goes to prison for rape much like Mercer in the series.
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: Alex goes to prison for (in his words) the killing of a person.
18th Aug 2014
Bite the Bullet (1975)
Factual error: The motorcycle is not right for the period. It looks like a 1970's Kawasaki stripped down. Look at the rear wheel (too big), motor is 2 stroke (not one), and the exhaust has a muffler.
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: There is no such thing as a one stroke engine.
I don't really follow the technology, but I happen to know there were at least one-stroke prototypes years ago. That aside, a "single-stroke" is possible, but may depend on how it is defined. That is, there will be an accompanying reverse "stroke" ["to" and "fro"], perhaps categorizing it as two-strokes? The "factual error" and your correction may both be correct, using different perspectives or definitions.
13th Jan 2023
Young Sheldon (2017)
Legalese and a Whole Hoo-Ha - S6-E8
Corrected entry: This episode takes place in approximately 1992, but the video store has a copy of The Passion of the Christ. That movie was released in 2004.
Correction: No, it's "The Last Temptation of Christ". Connie even says this on the phone while ordering movies.
Correction: I watched all the scenes at the video store and never saw "The Passion of the Christ." The closest thing that came close was ordering "The Last Temptation of Christ." I would suggest you submit a screenshot of the video.
Mandy is on the phone ordering some more movies. She lists "Passion of the Christ."
Connie was on the phone, not Mandy. And she orders "The Last Temptation of Christ", which came out in 1988. Unless you're talking about a different episode.
No, she lists "Last Temptation of Christ," released in 1988. https://youtu.be/gbFkKuUQJcM?t=119.
21st Jun 2004
American Graffiti (1973)
Corrected entry: At the end of the movie, they have the black Chevy flip over. It was actually very hard to get the Chevy to flip, as the car had been lowered and the suspension had been upgraded. To make matters worse, this shot was always filmed at magic hour, which only gave them a window of an hour to film it. It took almost a month, and 4 or 5 attempts before they could actually flip the Chevy.
Correction: The chevy used in the crash scene is not the same car seen throughout the movie. That car, which was later used in the movie Two Lane Blacktop and others, was not lowered, it was lifted, and you can see from the bottom of the car that was crashed that it has the stock engine and exhaust (still coated with grease and oil). You can find many articles regarding the history of the '55 black chevy. It is at many car shows these days, as is Milners '32 coupe.
The car was used in Two Lane Blacktop before American Graffiti.
Correction: Milner's car was a '56. Check the tail lights or the front chrome.
Sorry. Not Milner's car, but Falfa's. There is a line where someone says to Milner that there's a '56 Chevy looking for him.
It's a 55, no matter who said it in the movie. The car still exists, actually both of them, as one was a camera car, and both were and still are 55s.
12th Sep 2022
Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
Corrected entry: Tom plays a Captain but there is a scene in the hangar where he is wearing the rank of Lt Colonel on his shoulder.
Correction: I've rewatched this scene (I assume the one where they find out who POPS really is) in particular and there's not a really clear shot of his rank patches, and from what I could tell they were the eagle of a USN Captain.
There is no rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the US Navy. The equivalent rank (three stripes or a silver oak leaf cluster) is Commander.
24th Mar 2022
Young Sheldon (2017)
A Free Scratcher and Feminine Wiles - S5-E14
Corrected entry: Dr. Lee says that she worked on IBM's Watson. The episode takes place in the 1980s or early 1990s. The Watson program was from 2004 to 2011. It won on "Jeopardy" in 2011.
14th Jul 2020
Nebraska (2013)
Other mistake: In the closing credits of the film the titles of production coordinator and assistant production coordinator are misspelled as "production coördinator" and "assistant production coördinator" respectively. (01:51:47)
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: Although the film was made by an American studio, that is British (and old American) spelling.
I'm British - no it isn't. The point is the umlauts on top of the second O, which isn't how "coordinator" should be spelled.
Suggested correction: For whatever reason, it was done intentionally (which would be the Dutch spelling of the word). Every "coördinator" is spelled that way, which appears at least 8 times in the credits.
25th May 2011
Dr. Strangelove (1964)
Corrected entry: When Group Captain Lionel Mandrake meets Lt. Colonel "Bat" Guano for the first time, it's very clear that neither man has ANY idea who the other is. In fact, with his hands up, Mandrake looks at Guano's name tag to ascertain whom he's communicating with. The problem is that Mandrake says something to the effect of "Colonel Bat Guano, if that really is your name!" Only his last name - "Guano" - appears on his name tag. There's also absolutely nothing that can be seen on the front of his uniform (which is the only thing Mandrake could have been looking at) that says "Bat." So how does Mandrake know that Lt. Colonel Guano's nickname is "Bat"?
Correction: First, Guano is wearing shoulder flashes and a cap badge which show his rank. His name badge is far too long to just say "Guano" (in fact we never get a clear look at it - see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUAK7t3Lf8s) and it almost certainly shows his name and rank.
That's not a mistake, it's a joke.
We actually can see it throughout the scene, and it says Col. "Bat" Guano, with the quotation marks. It's likely that his surname really is "Guano" and he picked up the nickname "Bat" when he was coming up through the ranks, and by the time he became colonel he'd just embraced it. I doubt it would appear on his dress uniform but his combat uniform would probably have a bit more leeway for a joke like this.
When Guano first enters the office and Mandrake identifies himself, the name patch is readable and you can read "COL BAT GUANO", so he was just reading what the patch said.
With regard to how the Peter Sellers character knows the American Colonels name, there is in fact a shot of the Colonel which is the last shot in the scene where they meet that you can see a name patch on the Colonel's uniform that reads exactly COL 'BAT' GUANO. The word BAT is slightly rumpled over the B but seen on a large screen.
If you look at publicity stills from the film you can see the word 'Bat' on the nametag.
It indeed says "Col Bat Guano." https://www.williamreesecompany.com/pages/books/WRCLIT87898/stanley-kubrick-peter-george-terry-southern-screenwriters/superb-still-portrait-of-keenan-wynn-in-dr-strangelove.
Correction: Col. Guano is a full colonel. The eagles (indicative of a colonel) are visible on his uniform.
Correction: We do get a clear look. It says "Col Bat Guano." https://www.williamreesecompany.com/pages/books/WRCLIT87898/stanley-kubrick-peter-george-terry-southern-screenwriters/superb-still-portrait-of-keenan-wynn-in-dr-strangelove.
1. That's not a clear shot. The name tag reads "Col Bat Gu -" The rest is obscured. 2. That's a publicity still and does not appear in the film itself. The posting is still total bollocks, though.
22nd Mar 2019
Whiskey Cavalier (2019)
When in Rome - S1-E3
Character mistake: Nobody in this scene knows how to dance the tango that is playing. (00:16:35)
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
20th Mar 2014
The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
Corrected entry: At the last supper, the Passover menorah used has seven candles (six candles plus a "shamash," the center candle use to light the others) An actual menorah should have nine candles (eight for the eight nights of Passover, plus the shamash).
Correction: This entry is wrong. A menorah (any menorah) has seven branches. The candelabra with nine branches is properly called a Hanukkiah, and is used only for Hanukkah, not for Passover or any other time.
Join the mailing list
Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.