Continuity mistake: In the scene where Stan is bouncing his basketball, Alex's grasshopper is crawling around on the floor. Notice the bug is a brown type of a color and then when Stan squishes the grasshopper it is green on the bottom of the basketball. (00:12:58)
KeyZOid
2nd Dec 2003
Home Alone 3 (1997)
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Suggested correction: The "insides" of grasshoppers are comprised of green body fluids. A squished grasshopper - brown or green - will look similar to how it does on the basketball that was used to squish it in the movie. What is shown may not be the precise shade of green "blood", but it is a decent rendition.
25th Mar 2012
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus (2002)
Continuity mistake: There are only 2 kids in the child's bedroom, but when you see the TV commercial they are watching early in the movie, you see FOUR children reflected in the screen. Way to the left is a boy dressed in white or light blue, leaning over a boy in dark blue to the right, then next is Dylan or Cole Sprouce (actor), and the other child actor, dressed in white. (00:04:50)
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Suggested correction: I agree that the quite blurred reflection does not match what could be expected, but I do not agree the reflection is showing two other kids in the room with Bobby and Justin. To the right, it looks like there is a very inaccurate reflection of Bobby and Justin. To the left, there appear to be images of what they are seeing on the TV.
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.
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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.
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.
20th May 2023
Ghosted (2023)
Factual error: A large part of the film takes place in Pakistan, but all the cars there have steering wheels on the left as in the US. Pakistan drives on the left and the cars have steering wheels on the right side of the car. (00:57:21)
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Suggested correction: There's an article on huffpost.com by Jeanette Khan entitled, "Driving In Pakistan: Can You Handle It?" (12/18/08 updated 5/25/11) wherein it is stated, "Driving in Pakistan is like purposely courting death... Sometimes, people prefer to drive on the right-side of the road... The drivers really don't care they're going the wrong way. There really are no rules for driving here. People often do as they please." In fact, then, the actual driving practices do not conform to the written law.
Or, are you just asserting that the cars should not have steering wheels on the left? The cars could be from anywhere, even if being driven in Pakistan. U.S.P.S. mail trucks have steering wheels on the right – this doesn't mean that they don't belong in the U.S.
9th Feb 2020
Labor Day (2013)
Character mistake: Frank calls a box wrench a ratchet wrench when he's working on the car with Adele's son. (00:28:28)
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Suggested correction: It looks like a ratchet wrench and Frank could have called it a socket wrench and still been correct - the terms are used synonymously. While I'm no expert on wrenches, my dad had all types of tools and I knew the different types of wrenches, saws, hammers, screwdrivers, etc. before I was a teenager. "Box-end" wrench refers to the shape of the wrench (box or ring), distinguished from "open-end." So, a ratchet wrench has the box-end shape and Frank correctly identified the ratchet wrench.
21st Aug 2023
Identity (2003)
Character mistake: There's no way that using a regular needle and thread to sew up that wound would work the way it's shown. Anybody who knew what they were doing - which John Cusack is portrayed as knowing - would also know that using unsterilized materials and instruments without a sterile field from an uncleaned massive open wound is a great way to kill your patient.
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Suggested correction: The main plot of this film takes place inside the head of a murderer with dissociative identity disorder. The fact that stitching up a wound in that matter wouldn't work is irrelevant to the fact that it is how Malcolm is playing out the scenario in his head.
You're making a good point to invalidate a "character mistake", but couldn't the entry be reclassified as a "factual mistake" and stand as written?
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.
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Suggested correction: Not taking anything away from the other correction, but these are two separate mistakes put into one entry.
21st Jun 2022
Jurassic World Dominion (2022)
Factual error: The deer in the forest somehow does not hear the giant dinosaur approaching, so doesn't run away. (01:21:10)
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Suggested correction: A different interpretation is that the deer knows the difference in the sounds - gurgling/roars of an approaching herbivore versus carnivore - so it didn't perceive it as a threat until it got unusually close (so the deer looked to see why). The dinosaur flung the deer aside, then proceeded to eat the vegetation where the deer was. It isn't likely that the dinosaur (if a carnivore) would toss aside a fresh deer meat brunch in favor of some green brush.
25th Mar 2023
A Royal in Paradise (2023)
Continuity mistake: In the front view of Olivia when she sits at her desk and opens her laptop, the clear LED globe lightbulb to her right is illuminated with a visible filament, but the bulb looks solid white when the camera shifts to a rear view. (01:22:22)
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Suggested correction: It's still a clear bulb in the rear view, you're just seeing the white curtains behind the clear bulb.
Filaments should still be visible because they are darker and in front of the paler background.
The filament is still visible.
Didn't look illuminated on my screen.
It definitely is illuminated. It might be hard to tell with so much lighting already present in the scene, especially coming through the window.
I seriously doubt there's enough background light to make what is supposed to be a clear illuminated LED bulb several feet in front of it to fade away. (This will be my last response).
Then you're talking about two completely different lamps altogether because the bulb is in front of a giant window with light coming through the thin curtain and it's inches away from the window, not feet. And it's not faded away at all.
13th Dec 2022
Bullet Train (2022)
Factual error: In one scene a phone call states that boomslang venom was used to kill a person. The caller states that the venom congeals the blood, makes a person exude blood from every orifice, and if an antidote is not administered in 30 seconds you are dead. A lot of this is wrong. The venom does make you eventually bleed profusely, but you have a 24-48 hour window to administer antivenom, and if it congealed the blood, it means it would make the blood clot, not make the person bleed. (00:54:50)
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Suggested correction: Although I agree that "A lot of this is wrong", I don't entirely agree with your rationale and/or wording. It can take 24-48 hours (or even up to 5 days) to succumb to the Boonslang's bite, so I don't believe you have a 24-48 hour window to administer antivenom"; it would be too late to prevent death. "If it congealed the blood, it means it would make the blood clot, not make the person bleed" - yes and no. Venom causes both coagulation and hemorrhaging but in different areas of the body.
I used the information on the National Institutes of Health, nih.gov. I quote: "Traditionally, it has been taught that there is a window period of 24-48 h after a Boomslang bite to administer antivenom."
Antivenom is at least worth a try.
"Coagulation" is the preferred term when referring to blood. Although "congealed" is used, congealed typically refers to food substances that gel or harden.
I used the quotes given by the actors in the program. Congealed is what they said. Yet they also said the victim would bleed out. Confusing. Thanks for the info.
I was clarifying my substitution of the word "coagulation" for "congealed", not criticizing your usage of "congealed" (the word that was used in the movie). Yes, it is confusing! (You're welcome).
19th Mar 2023
The Whale (2022)
Corrected entry: Mary may have "fought hard" to gain full custody of Ellie, but - even if Charlie did "leave them" to be with his "lover" - Charlie should have still gotten at least court-ordered regular supervised visits with his daughter over the years, not shut off from maintaining a relationship with his biological daughter.
Correction: Fathers often get the 'short end of the stick' in custody battles. It is entirely possible that Charlie was denied even supervised visitation. Especially if the judge was extremely conservative.
Especially if the judge was conservative and anti-gay. Plenty of them around.
Charlie was not physically or sexually abusive toward his daughter Ellie (two major reasons to deny any visitation), so I have to disagree.
I'm not sure how you could disagree. Women are 4X more likely to get primary custody than men, and it's really not unheard of for a parent to get little-to-no custody/visitation even if they weren't abusive to the child. Ex. My father was not abusive towards me, but I only saw him for a few hours every other week because that's just how the arrangement worked out. (Which in retrospect was good because he had other issues and I shouldn't have been around him more than that. But at the time it hurt.)
19th May 2022
Still Alice (2014)
Corrected entry: When Alice is making the video with instructions about how to commit suicide, we see her typewritten notes, and she has misspelled "labeled", something a linguistics professor wouldn't do.
Correction: Both "labeled" and "labelled" are correct spellings of the word. Labeled is chiefly the American spelling whereas labelled is chiefly the British spelling. It should be noted, co-writer Wash Westmoreland is British.
However, Alice has the disease! She was already deep into it when diagnosed. By the time she is making the video she may not have had the ability to proofread.
Alice spoke and wrote American English, regardless of the cowriter.
Alice was an English (American) linguistics professor. She would have correctly written the American version.
There is no "correct" American version. Both are acceptable in America.
The "American version" would only be a "preferred" or predominant spelling but, as already pointed out, either spelling is acceptable. [It is still an interesting "catch", perhaps worthy of turning into a "trivia" entry.].
4th Jan 2023
The Amityville Horror (2005)
Stupidity: Considering the movie takes place in the winter of '75, it seems unlikely that the babysitter would arrive in a halter top and barefeet.
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Suggested correction: I agree that this is a "stupidity", but think your use of the words "it seems unlikely" allows for the suggested corrections already given. Perhaps replace "it seems unlikely" to "it isn't rational." Even if the daytime temperature was mild for winter, the temperature would probably drop by around 30° overnight.
Suggested correction: Actually, January of 1975 was very mild, much like the winter in the northeast this year, so it would not be impossible for the babysitter to wear unseasonable clothing.
Suggested correction: Ordinarily I would agree with this observation, however, I believe the girls outfit matches her carefree attitude. She did bong hits in the family bathroom, laid on the boys bed seductively and asked him if he French kissed so dressing comfortably to babysit isn't out of context.
Adding to this, almost every babysitter I had growing up went barefoot or at least shoeless. Even this past new years eve, the young lady who came to watch my kids took her shoes off as soon as she came in the house.
It is a common courtesy to remove shoes when entering someone's home to protect the carpeting (or other flooring) from getting soiled by whatever might be on the bottom of shoes after walking outdoors.
Maybe I'm wrong, but after watching this movie last night, it sounded like the girl was wearing flip-flops when she walked across the bathroom to open the door. Would it be rational for her to have worn sandals too?
Considering she was barefoot for most of the night, yes, she may have worn them for comfort.
27th Aug 2001
Major League (1989)
Corrected entry: When Cerano hits the home run to tie the game versus the Yankees at the end of the movie he carries his bat with him around the bases - an automatic out.
Correction: Nowhere in the rulebook of baseball does it say that carrying a bat around the bases is an automatic out. As such, he would only be called out if he were to use that bat to his advantage. But since the ball was out of play (over the fence), no advantage would be gained and he would NOT be called out.
Correction: It absolutely is an out.
Absolutely incorrect. There is no rule that prohibits a batter from carrying his bat around the bases as long as he does not use the bat to interfere with the play. In fact, Alex Bregman carried his bat passed first base in game 6 of the 2019 World Series, and Juan Soto carried his almost to first later in the game. Neither suffered any out, penalty, or ejection.
There is no penalty for violating an "unwritten" or informal rule, so this would not be an automatic "out" according to the "official" rules. Cerano may have gone against the status quo by not conforming to what is considered appropriate or good sportsmanship, so might be viewed negatively by his peers or opposing teammates. Cerano was not "out", but his show-offish behavior was more along the lines of an "outcast."
9th Jan 2023
Home Alone (1990)
Other mistake: When Gus Polinski talks about his music, he mispronounces "Daj mi buzi" (Die-Me-Boo-Gee) as "Domavougi." "Daj mi buzi" is Polish for "Give Me a Kiss."
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Suggested correction: I think this is meant to be a "deliberate mistake ", which didn't show up as an option to suggest making the change elsewhere (under "edit"). It appears to be part of the comedy - he should know how to pronounce it. Another opinion would be helpful.
10th Jul 2018
Crossroads (1986)
Other mistake: When Eugene discovers that it really is Blind Dog Fulton, he (Fulton) says that he needs to get out to help Eugene find that lost song. Eugene says that he will be here at "5:00 a.m." When they breakout - which took all of about maybe 10 minutes, it's very light for the morning time. Looks to be maybe 6:30 by daylight savings time.
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Suggested correction: Aside from the fact that daylight continuity is seldom strictly observed in any film, you should be aware that dawn on the East Coast visibly begins breaking over the Atlantic at around 4:30 to 5:00 AM during Daylight Savings Time. The sun may not have cleared the horizon, but the sky is really quite bright in New York City (and the whole East Coast) by 5:00 AM.
The time of sunrise varies and, although it isn't pointed out what month they left the nursing home, it is suggested that it was during the academic year - not a summer month when sunrise would be within the earliest time frame. Astronomical, nautical and civil twilight (all 6° or more below the horizon) do not radiate the amount of light shown in the movie. Moreover, it did not appear to get lighter out as they traveled, suggesting they departed after daylight, which would be well after 5 AM.
6th Dec 2009
Fred Claus (2007)
Corrected entry: In the early part of Fred Claus, the story teller explains that when you become a saint, you become "eternally ageless." However, when you get to the first scene with Santa Claus, he is complaining about the rest of his hair turning white. If he was eternally ageless, his hair would not still be turning white.
Correction: Just because his hair is turning white does not mean that he is ageing.
He would nonetheless be showing signs of ageing and no longer be appearing as someone who is ageless. Even if the white hair is due to something like stress, white hair is typically associated with getting older or being old. The key to supporting the plot hole lies in the use of the words "eternally ageless." Ageless can mean eternal, but "eternally ageless" suggests he will appear "forever young." If he is ageless, he should never look "older."
And if there is the power of eternal agelessness, there should be an accompanying ability to counteract any possible causes of growing white hair (such as stress, heredity, and dying pigment cells in his hair follicles).
24th Nov 2022
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Corrected entry: When Andy and Red are discussing the cost of the rock hammer, Andy says between $6-7, and Red closes the deal at $10. In reality, $10 in 1947 would be the equivalent of $130 in today's money (2022).
Correction: Andy was a successful accountant. He could have access to his money, which was likely substantial.
I'm suggesting that Andy (Robbins) and Red (Freeman) got the pricing and value wrong. The value of the American dollar was different compared to the year of the film's production and the present year. Example: one American Dollar ($1) in 1947, the year of the scene, would equal to $6.65 in 1994, the year of the film. All due to inflation.
The price for the rock hammer is deliberately "inflated" because it costs "extra" to acquire contraband in a prison. The person agreeing to "sneak" a prohibited item into prison is taking a risk of getting caught and therefore is the one who gets to set the price - take it or leave it! Realizing he was seeking contraband and would have "to pay" to get it, Andy suggested $6-7; Red wanted - and got - more. The relative value of $1 in 1947 versus the equivalent value in 1994 is not relevant. Hypothetically, Red - realizing that Andy had the means to pay even more - could have requested much more than $10.
Using a different example, today's price for a pack of cigarettes might be $8.00. Cigarettes may no longer be permitted in a prison, thereby classifying cigarettes as "contraband." Inmate A might be seeking to buy a pack of cigarettes and offers $10 to anyone providing the same. Inmate B tells Inmate A that he can get him a pack of cigarettes, but it will cost him $20. If Inmate A says $20 is too much, he simply will not be able to buy the cigarettes.
You're misunderstanding inflation. The value of the dollar can be different then the value of a product. For example, a McDonald's hamburger cost $0.15 in 1947, which is $2.00 in today's money, even though a McDonald's hamburger today is only $1.49 (which is to say your "$130" is only "$96.85"). Plus, you can find cheap rock hammers or rock hammers that go for $100 or more.
I agree that the price of a particular product may not be related to (or proportionate with) inflation rates, but I think "Matdan97" made a decent analogy. What "Matdan97" failed to realise is that the rock hammer was contraband, which changes (greatly increases) the "asking price."
6th Nov 2022
The Twin (2017)
Plot hole: Derek, who escaped the mental hospital by pretending to be his twin brother Tyler, was able to locate Tyler's vehicle by using the keys to beep its horn. Once inside the SUV, he apparently found Tyler's cell phone, which is odd because most people carry their cell phones with them. But Derek did not ask Tyler for his cell phone's password before rendering him unconscious - so how did he gain access to the cell phone without the password? (It isn't likely that Tyler previously gave it to him). (00:20:40)
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Suggested correction: Tyler never left his cell phone in the car. He had with him when visiting Derek. We see him pull out his cell phone to show Derek a picture, so the phone was already unlocked, assuming he locks it with a password in the first place.
I haven't had time to finish posting the rest of the mistakes I have, but I just uploaded two that should show up under "pending submissions." They probably should have been posted before the one above. I suppose the real question is where the cell phone came from each time.
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