Best comedy movie questions of all time

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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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Tusk picture

Question: How did Wallace manage to survive in the walrus suit? Like how does he poop and pee? Wouldn't he get sick from eating only raw fish? So many questions.

Answer: He couldn't possibly function or survive living that way. The movie's entire premise was utterly ridiculous.

raywest

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Answer: There is no Child's Play reference in this movie, the closest one was the living clown doll, which is a spoof of "Poltergeist"

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Deadpool 2 picture

Question: Why is the man's groin blurred out in the fight-scene at the Japanese sauna? It's an R-rated movie (or unrated, depending on the cut of the film you watch), so it's not like they couldn't have shown it. The best I can figure is that it's a reference to the fact that genitals are blurred out in Japanese media due to "decency" laws. Is that what the joke was?

TedStixon

Answer: It is a possibility. In Japan, the showing of a person's genital area and/or pubic hair is considered obscene.

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Bride of Chucky picture

Question: It was discovered that Chucky was able to transfer his soul into Andy's Good Guy in the first movie by not only saying a chant but also using a magic amulet. So why, in the other three movies, when he is starting the chant does he not need the amulet to transfer his soul out of the doll into someone else, but in this movie, he needs to use it if he wants to return to his own body?

Answer: There's two possible explanations. First, and the most likely, is that this is simply what's referred to as a "retcon." (Short for "Retroactive Continuity") A term to describe new information/rules/backstory/etc. that are introduced in order to alter the path of a story, or impose new ideas into a narrative. In this case, the series creator and writer Don Mancini needed a reason for the characters to go on a road-trip, hence he created this new idea for an amulet that Chucky need to obtain. And basically, Mancini himself has admitted that he will often change the rules for the series as needed from film to film based on the story he wants to tell, which makes this the more plausible explanation. The second possible explanation is that you could argue that the amulet will allow Chucky to transfer his soul regardless of how long he's been in the doll's body, surpassing the time limit imposed in previous films. But in all seriousness, the former is the more likely explanation. They just needed a new story-element to justify the road-trip aspect of the story.

TedStixon

Both answers work for me. Thank you.

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Mr. and Mrs. Smith picture

Question: How does Mrs. Smith get to know that her husband is the shooter?

Answer: She notices that he shakes his right leg twice after peeing, just like her husband.

Answer: It comes down to a deleted scene. And I remember it as clear as day from when I saw it at the cinemas. There is a scene where Jane is brushing her teeth at the basin. John walks into the large bathroom and begins to take a leak. As John finishes up, Jane looks over her shoulder at him, just in time to see him lift one leg and give it a couple of sharp shakes. Later in the movie, after the ailed assignment/shootout in the desert, Jane is watching the footage of the other assassin doing the very same memorable action. Right as she is in the middle of replaying it back a couple of times, John turns up at her building, and one of her agents who has answered the intercom says, "Jane, it's your husband." And that is when the penny drops! For some bizarre, unknown reason, they removed that very important key bathroom scene from every TV and DVD release, leaving people who did not see the theatrical release at the box office asking the question of how Jane realized it was her husband.

Answer: From the way he stands and moves, height, weight and general mannerisms.

Answer: They worked for different agencies and were unaware that they had been given the same target (Diaz?) to kill in the desert. Mrs Smith initially thought that Mr Smith was a civilian that just happened to interfere with her assignment. She was given 48 hours to identify and eliminate (kill) the "witness." While reviewing the videotape of the scene, all Mrs Smith could see was the back side of the "civilian." While still looking at him, a secretary or similar employee yelled from outside the room that Mrs Smith's husband was on the phone and was back from his trip to Atlanta. By the secretary saying, "It's your husband" during the time Mrs Smith was looking at his back side on the tape, plus the information that he was back from Atlanta, it became obvious to her... and she wondered how she could have been so stupid to not know before this time.

KeyZOid

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O Brother, Where Art Thou? picture

Question: The only way that the valley could be flooded by rampaging water is that a dam was broken up river. Otherwise the water rises very slowly. Does the movie explain this? If so I missed it. In which way was that river flooded?

Answer: Probably they have dismantled the coffer dam that was used while constructing the main dam. Hence, the flooding.

Good and reasonable last resort explanation - have the Coens ever addressed it?

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Answer: It is never really explained in the movie, but we could assume that whenever someone dies they keep whatever items they had on them. Hector may have had the photo on his person when he died.

More Coco questions

Answer: Yes, he has played the flute since childhood.

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Airplane picture

Question: When Over's wife gets the call about her husband's plane having problems, there is a horse in bed with her and she tells the horse to let himself out. This is the only joke in the movie I didn't understand. Is there anybody out there who got the joke and can help me understand it?

Answer: This is a reference to The Godfather, where a character being intimidated by the Mafia wakes up with his prize racehorse's severed head next to him on the bed. For comedy purposes this is twisted by the movie as an implied sexual relationship, when the horse is revealed to be alive.

Answer: This is an inside joke that Mrs. Over is cheating on her husband with a horse.

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That Thing You Do picture

Question: Are the characters in this movie based on actual people? Is it a true story or a fictional story that was entirely possible?

Answer: The movie was written by Tom Hanks and some what reflects the music industry during that time period. It is not about a real band, but shows how a lot of bands were treated at the time and how quickly you can rise and how you can fall even faster.

Bruce Minnick

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Shallow Hal picture

Question: In the scene where Hal, Rosemary, the cripled friend, and Nurse "Sourpuss" go out of town, Hal and his friend got to buy snacks leaving Rosemary and "Sourpuss" to talk. There is a scene where thy cut to the front of the car and Nurse "Sourpuss" is now good looking. So is that her real look and Hal only sees her as old and ugly?

SAZOO1975

Chosen answer: Yes. Just as Hal sees many unattractive and/or overweight women to be thin and beautiful due to their true personalities, he sees Nurse "Sourpuss" - who is a beautiful woman - to be old and ugly due to hers.

Jeff Swanson

Answer: At that point Hal and his friend had already turned their backs and went to the store so Hal was not even looking at her.

Answer: I thought maybe Hal's outlook was rubbing off on Rosemary and Rosemary was seeing that less than attractive woman as pretty.

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Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen picture

Question: Why did Carla put on the red dress when she was going to take over the role of Eliza in the play, since the first act started with the outfit Lola was already wearing?

Answer: My only guess is that she had to make sure the dress fit before the play, or adjustments had to be made on the dress so it would fit her.

Answer: Lola mentions her mum taking her allowance in August or September. That means they're in the month of July which is summer break for America.

She's being dramatic. It's spring in New Jersey during the movie, so it's probably April/May and she says "I could really use the money now mom! Can't you take it next month or...September?" Indicating that September is a ways in the future.

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Answer: In earlier versions of the "Annie" story, she is orphaned when her parents are killed in a car accident. In the musical, they died in a fire. In the 2014 re-imagining, Annie lives in foster care after being abandoned by her family. Early on, she hopes to one day be reunited with them. We, the audience, never learn their whereabouts, nor whether they are alive or dead.

Michael Albert

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Charlie's Angels picture

Question: Does anyone know the story behind the "Creepy Thin Man?" Like why he likes to pull hair and smell it? Anything that helps me understand his character is appreciated.

Answer: This character gets a backstory in the sequel (Charlie's Angels Full Throttle). Supposedly he was a runaway from a circus, who found refuge at an orphanage. He didn't much like haircuts when he was little.

marfbody

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Toy Story 2 picture

Question: When Woody is trying to explain to Jesse, Stinky Pete and Bullseye why he was at the yard sale before Al finds him, Stinky Pete interrupts him. Why?

adamtrainman@aol.com

Answer: As we learn later, Stinky Pete has his own agenda. He's seizing on the fact that Woody was being sold as a way to convince Woody to go to the museum.

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Home Alone picture

Question: If Old Man Marley is actually a nice man (and not a "shovel slayer" as Buzz claims) then why does he always give Kevin that cold, creepy stare? After Kevin ran away the first time wouldn't he want to talk to Kevin the next time, to assure him that everything is okay?

Answer: Because he's understandably angry that Kevin's so unreasonably scared of him and assumes the worst in him without even getting a chance to know him. He never gets a chance to talk to him, because he always runs away too quickly. The first time he gives him that stare was when Kevin was watching him shovel from the window. Nobody would like to be stared at like that while doing a simple task.

MikeH

Answer: Marley appears that way mostly because the audience sees him from Kevin's point of view. Marley is miserable and sad because he is estranged from his family, but we see him as a crotchety, unpleasant person because that is what Kevin believes. Buzz had tainted Kevin's opinion of him by spreading the false stories that a gullible Kevin believed were true.

raywest

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Chosen answer: "You have the face of a donkey."

Captain Defenestrator

Answer: "You have a face like a donkey."

Answer: What he says is "You look like an ass."

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Honey I Shrunk The Kids picture

Question: Amy is almost drowned in the muddy water. After Russ saves her by artificial respiration, Nick asks him where he learnt artificial respiration. "French class." Russ answers. At the end of the movie, Nick at the table shouts, "I get it! French class!" So what does French Class mean?

Bunch Son

Chosen answer: Russ says he learned it in French class because giving mouth to mouth resuscitation looks similar to French kissing.

Phaneron

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The Parent Trap picture

Question: When Hallie and her mom are on the way to the studio, they are showing crossing the street. On the road behind them, the white lines are zigzagged at the beginning. Why are they like this?

Answer: They are crossing on the zebra crossing on Abbey Road in London. The Zigzags are a warning for drivers that the crossing is near. They serve as both strict 'no parking' and 'no crossing the centre line' warnings.

umathegreatstationarybear

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