Stupidity: Carol enters the Imperial Cruiser that doubles as a secret laboratory, uncloaking it. She does not cloak it back, so the villains just find it immediately. But blood-thirsty Ronan, despite having multiple ships, does not target it or acknowledge it, despite fully knowing that Earth has no defenses and is not a threat, while a Kree vessel would necessitate countermeasures.
Sammo
9th Oct 2019
Captain Marvel (2019)
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: The Kree wanted what was on the ship. Destroying it would not achieve their goals. Additionally, since Carol was able to decloak it using her suit, so could any other Kree soldiers.
If to decloak it they need to know the location, it had to be visible to begin with? Going by the movie, Ronan has not even been informed about Mar-Vell's project. If the movie still remembers there is any (no indication is given), he suddenly finds a ship not part of his fleet and does not question it, simply going by what the plot wants him to do. Which, actually, could be fully intentional, since he obviously just cares about blowing stuff up and does not care even if any of his fellow Krees is still on the planet (not that the movie implies it, as movies normally would, but he's such a one-note character that it could be possible).
Earth doesn't have defenses and is not a threat, the Kree cruiser is obviously not part of Earth's defenses but is one of their own. He just didn't realise it is a target instead. Besides, Kree are on board, why would he target it?
That's exactly the point of what I originally said: Earth is not a threat, but he, fresh off his jump, right away gets in bombing mode without checking where the other Krees are (Yon-Rogg is on Earth at that exact moment, right the spot he is dropping the bombs at, even!) or batting an eye at the cruiser that happens to be already there, not target it but ask "what is going on here?", hail them or receive a report about the situation and where he is supposed to blow his load (would have been a single line of dialogue, here it seems an issue entirely ignored because plot moves from A to B): as a member of the military he is supposed to coordinate his attacks (like he did earlier on the first meeting with the Skrulls, where he bombed a specific part of the planet). Here all his instructions have been "Come at once, Earth has been infiltrated!", but he launches the bombs right away, seconds after jumping close to Earth.
9th Oct 2019
Captain Marvel (2019)
Stupidity: The whole sequence when Fury and Vers have to "prove to each other" that they are not Skrull is pure nonsense for the sake of 'comedy'; neither knows the first thing about each other and their culture (the protagonist remembers nothing about Earth and obviously Fury has never been exposed to aliens) so they can't verify the reciprocal information this procedure is based on.
9th Oct 2019
Captain Marvel (2019)
Stupidity: Mar-Vell's laboratory is a spaceship that the captions identify as an imperial cruiser, not exactly the kind of thing that can go missing unnoticed. Since the Kree were so determined in finding Mar-Vell's work and are so attached to it that they keep Carol around, how is it possible that in 1989 or ever since they haven't looked for her cruiser? Carol manages to uncloak it without using any secret code (that she wouldn't know since Mar-Vell told her about the whole alien thing just barely before dying and was not privy to any security measure).
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: Decloaking the ship still necessitated knowing its location. The Kree didn't know where it was, so couldn't decloak it.
But they don't even look for it. He literally goes "oh, well, the engine is gone, let's go home", without any attempt to look for Mar-Vell's project or, again, the big cruiser thingy. Something so important, and yet the empire does not care about it to probe around for it.
In your other entry you suggest Ronan doesn't even know about Mar-Vell's project. More likely he doesn't care, since he is a fanatic who worships the old ways. Its logical he will ignore it, especially when his interests have been turned towards Carol flying around blasting through his ships. Which he later forgets for whatever reason as well.
No, no, I am referring to Yon-Rogg in the past, and the empire as a whole: they are after whatever work Mar-Vell was doing, to the point of keeping around with a very flawed brainwashing plan an incredibly dangerous being created with that technology, but don't look for her ship or evidence of her work, at all. 6 years with the knowledge that somewhere around (or on) Earth there's the key to unlimited destroying power and/or a hyperfast engine, and everyone is like "Meh, whatever" for no reason.
9th Oct 2019
Agatha Christie's Poirot (1989)
Stupidity: Radnor lives in the small village, Hastings does not. It's a miracle that his bluff worked, since the random two guys downstairs could have very well been two villagers he didn't meet during the couple days he's been there a month before, but that Radnor knows.
9th Oct 2019
Dragonball Evolution (2009)
Stupidity: Goku defeats the henchwoman of Piccolo in the lava pit quite easily; she looks human. He is quite content to just push her off-camera with a smack, and nobody cares about trying to talk to her, figure out Piccolo's location and plan, or anything like that. Everyone just forgets about her, and it turns out she even eavesdrops on the lot before leaving. Someone would so casual about meeting and defeating the mysterious enemy only in a movie where you know the script already. (00:46:40)
7th Oct 2019
Dragonball Evolution (2009)
Stupidity: The bullies run their car straight into someone they think is a total wimp (Goku) at full speed, crushing his bike. It's not a dystopian future, had Goku been a normal person they would have straight up murdered / crippled him for no reason at all. They are portrayed as a group of jocks, not homicidal maniacs committing roadkill on their way to school. It has also to be noted that Goku was parking his bike in a car parking spot, where nobody would just put a bicycle - but it is needed by the plot so that the bullies can casually crush his property. (00:06:35)
7th Oct 2019
Stuber (2019)
7th Oct 2019
Captain Marvel (2019)
Stupidity: Project Pegasus is a billion dollar structure with no security guards besides the couple dudes Fury shows the badge to at the entrance, no video surveillance, and once SHIELD arrives nobody has to even open a locked door anymore.
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: First of all, Fury was allowed in as it's a government facility and he works for the government and as a SHIELD agent is allowed access. It's inside a mountain and they passed multiple security guards as they drove in, armed guards. Everything is thumb prints and cameras which was quite elaborate for that time. To say they lack in security is quite an understatement. SHIELD has quite some authority and can easily take control in the Pegasus project facility.
You are right about the main entrance being truly secure both for guards and strategic position. The problem is that they are free to just roam the facility for an hour, blast through doors, not a soul in sight, no evidence of camera monitoring the inside of the structure, and once the gag of the pad is finished, no door requires it. Actually, funnily enough you can see a guard of the place opening the elevator for Fury and the supervisor, as if the thumprint scan was needed to even get into the elevator itself, but Keller then just walks into the archive just fine (from a different door than the one Vers blasted). There are keypads to exit places (for instance the hangar, when the agents in pursuit break through the door you can see a keypad on the wall) but only when it's convenient (Vers and Fury walked through that same door with no problem, not to mention the fact that the whole stairs seem to have none, which is funny for a place that has keypads both sides of doors).
7th Oct 2019
Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman (2003)
7th Oct 2019
Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman (2003)
7th Oct 2019
Criminal (2016)
7th Oct 2019
Agatha Christie's Poirot (1989)
Double Sin - S2-E6
Stupidity: How in the world did Miss Lemon spend 2 days (and nights!) in the office searching for the keys but without looking on the console right next to the door? (00:40:25)
1st Oct 2019
A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song (2011)
Stupidity: When Gail shoos Luke off the first day, in fact nobody accompanies him to the door and they discuss the evil plans when he's not even gone nor they even check he is, they just go ahead with the script. It's a rather odd dynamic, very rushed and movie logic-like. Or theater logic, since it's a typical 'exit stage left' moment.
1st Oct 2019
The Boy Next Door (2015)
Stupidity: Noah loves the classics, he shows passion and interest in them, it's part of what wins over professor Jennifer Lopez. Witness this risible exchange, about Achilles; "He killed this guy, Hector. But instead of hiding out like a pussy, he..." "Dragged his dead body around for everybody to see." "Yes." The sheer dumbness of this exchange, especially the first statement, hurts the brain; why would a warrior 'hide out like a pussy' for killing an enemy during war?
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: Achilles killed Hector in an act of revenge, not an act of war. Hector was a beloved warrior and treating his corpse with disrespect could have insulted the Trojans. Knowing this, Achilles dragged Hector's body around the city in an act of boldness. So yes, instead of "hiding out" after killing his enemy, Achilles acted like a "badass", taunting the Trojans with his victory over their champion, disregarding any threat of reprisal. There's nothing stupid about this exchange.
"Dude, there's this book about a Greek war with gods and heroes and sh*t: you know what, the main character kills his enemy in battle and doesn't hide out after! Like it's a war or something." What a stellar and perfectly not stupid pitch about the book! Makes totally sense and it obviously woos the college professor too! Mind you, I don't want to come across as sarcastic and I enjoy reading your comment, but the "not an act of war" objection is irrelevant when all the action happens in the battlefield, regardless of character motivations. Point is, the statement does not follow logic when it comes to pitching an epic fantasy book to a young adult, and on top of that, this fundamentally flawed series of statements is even painted as something totally impressing a college professor.Surely my flawed perspective of a snob living amongst snobs in a country where the study of classics is more widespread than the US, but blurting out something like that would get you a giggle at best.
I think you're putting too much weight on the "not hiding out" part of Noah's statement and not enough weight on the defiance of Achilles, which is what Noah was saying he was impressed with. For this to be a stupid statement, it would have to be incorrect. It isn't incorrect. Noah describes exactly what happened. Sure, he uses a colloquial tone but all he's really saying is "Achilles kills Hector in a duel and rather than flee the battlefield afterwards, he parades Hector's corpse around the city to intimidate his enemies." You seem to be hung up on the "fleeing the battlefield" part, as if that is a reading of Achilles actions that is so off base it rises to the level of a mistake in the movie. I don't believe that to be the case. Also, this college professor is impressed by the fact a youth would read Homer on his own at all, and the fact that he's incredibly charming and handsome certainly doesn't hurt.
I put weight on it because it sticks out: the line itself is designed to get attention using that colorful expression. Even as you paraphrased it with "Achilles kills Hector in a duel and rather than flee the battlefield afterwards" etc, the problem is not the tone: since when it's the go-to move in the genre, killing someone in a duel and then fleeing? I can't see why this would be a logical thing to say, so strongly even, to pitch the book to his friend! Like pitching a restaurant prefacing unironically that they do not spit in your food. His reading is not technically incorrect, or I would have put it in the 'character mistake' category, but mentioning what did (not) happen is daft and contrived. And yes, it is a dialogue that is supposed to reinforce that 'incredibly charming' quality you mention but it is written in such a childish way that undermines it, also considering that he told her he already studied Homer in his previous school and he is not exactly a kid.
30th Sep 2019
Bird on a Wire (1990)
Stupidity: The system prompts a message for the bank clerk saying that the subject trying to withdraw cash is armed and dangerous and to alert the local authorities. It also alerts the 'subjects' themselves though, since it beeps a persistent alarm tone! Seems a rather poorly designed system that would endanger the staff. (00:50:10)
30th Sep 2019
Agatha Christie's Poirot (1989)
30th Sep 2019
Dragonball Evolution (2009)
25th Sep 2019
Security (2017)
Stupidity: The supposed criminal mastermind had exactly what he wanted right at the beginning; all he wants is killing the girl, and he knows (he says it himself) that he is facing just mall cops who carry no weapons. But he utterly wastes for no reason the 'first contact', when his intentions are not known to the occupants. If only he had a gun, or brought along a guy hiding a weapon instead of 'suitcase full of bribe money dude' (which only shows how easy it would have been for him to have backup), he could have easily killed everyone through the doors when they were sitting ducks, with no fear of retaliation whatsoever. Nobody as ruthless and daring as he supposedly is, would show up unarmed for no reason.
20th Sep 2019
Lucifer (2015)
Lucifer, Stay. Good Devil. - S1-E2
Stupidity: It takes an awful lot of pointless visits and oblique thinking to simply investigate the known (and apparently only) collaborator and protege of the suspect, who also was on the crime scene. You'd think interrogating the business associate would be standard procedure.
20th Sep 2019
The Boy Next Door (2015)
Stupidity: During the final climax, Kevin has enough rope free to turn the handle of the vise once his mom helped him the first time, and Garrett's feet touch the floor - but he insists on gripping the ladder instead of reaching down to loosen the knot. Both basically move their hands left and right randomly, taking ages to free themselves with the strangest methods.
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.