Best comedy movie questions of 1989

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Answer: Yep, and there is, but they're both elsewhere. Doc's been committed to an asylum somewhere. When Marty first meets the alternate Biff, Biff tells him that he's supposed to be in Switzerland at boarding school - that's where the alternate Marty is.

Tailkinker

Wouldn't someone probably see Doc and report that he escaped from the asylum?

Maybe, but no way to be sure, and they're not around long enough for that to be an issue anyway.

Jon Sandys

Answer: Doc would most likely not have been seen by anyone, as the time he spent in the alternate 1985 was primarily inside the DeLorean, at a boarded-up library, graveyard, and his lab (and all at night too) so most likely not spotted by the public.

Even if someone had seen Doc, it could've been dismissed as someone who looks like him. Even if they did report his escape, someone would either call or go to the asylum and verify Doc was still there.

I also don't think that Doc Brown ever achieved celebrity status prior to his being committed, so how would the average person even recognize him as some obscure scientist who was put away?

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National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation picture

Question: Was there a deleted scene where Cathrine and Ellen were talking while making the turkey in the kitchen and/or doing something resulting in the bird being "overdone" totally and showing up in the scene at dinner causing the turkey to literally explode in a cloud of dust when carved by Clark? It just seems there was a scene missing there!

Answer: YES! You are 100% correct about the deleted turkey-cooking scene! Both my husband and I remember this scene. It was Catherine and Eddie that cooked the turkey to thank Clark and his family for being hospitable. They had never cooked a turkey before and they thought cooking it at a low temperature for a LONG time would be ideal. It looked great, but completely dehydrated. THIS is why Catherine is so upset when the turkey pops open and steams - she ruined the turkey for everyone.

Answer: There was never a scene as described in the film, nor was there anything in any of the special features. Also, there is no mention of it in any of the commentary.

Answer: I have a DVD with the exploding turkey scene It's a classic.

Answer: I also remember vividly the scene where Catherine is cooking the turkey and have been trying to get a copy of the film where that scene is not deleted. Also checked with my wife, she recalls it too. I think we might have seen it on a very early VHS or LaserDisc version.

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Uncle Buck picture

Question: When Uncle Buck is going to the party to get Bug, he is stopped at a red light and there are two parents in the car next to him. The father says, "don't go in there with that hat on, they'll kill you". Why would someone be killed for wearing a hat?

Chosen answer: He's being sarcastic, as Buck says in the beginning some of his hats anger a lot of people, which probably connects to when his hat gets taken by one of the teenagers at the party.

Buck is actually referring to his aviator style hat in the earlier scene about people being angered by it. He's wearing the fedora style hat in the scene en route to the party. But I agree the guy was being sarcastic about teenagers.

The black purse bedside to the possible 'pile of bunched-up blankets' looks like Chanice's from later scenes; suggesting the writers or Hughes changed the script after the bedroom scene was shot to Buck's simpler but delightfully funny half-conversation with her on the phone.

Answer: The Uncle Buck movie was made in the late 80s, near the end of the Cold War. And Because the hat resembles the Russian ushanka worn by Russian soldiers in that time, it can be said that wearing it might anger some, especially young Americans opposed to world events at the time.

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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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Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure picture

Question: Why was Beethoven arrested? He wasn't doing anything illegal.

Answer: While it's not unusual for musicians to try out new instruments (playing a few rifts and even entire compositions) in a music shop, Beethoven's extended sampling-keyboard performance went wild, drawing an enthusiastic mall crowd into the relatively small music shop. The shop manager no doubt felt overwhelmed and called in mall security to clear out the shop before any damage and/or theft occurred. Keep in mind that the security team was already scrambling to respond to several simultaneous disturbances throughout the mall, all caused by 7 strangely-dressed oddballs (more than half of whom only spoke obsolete dialects and ancient languages). The time-travelers were, thus, probably all perceived as one group of pranksters or escapees from a mental institution.

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: This appears to be a reference to Beethoven's real-life arrests. He had a dark side, often drinking excessively and prowling the streets at night, peering into peoples' windows. Police mistook him as a drunken vagrant.

raywest

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Who's Harry Crumb? picture

Question: When Harry finds Eliot tied up, he removes the tape and tells him that the kidnappers have been caught. Why did Eliot confess to being the actual mastermind behind the kidnapping? Harry had no idea it was Eliot behind it all so he could have gotten away with it if he didn't say anything.

Answer: Eliot mistakenly believed that Harry had figured out what his part was in the kidnapping, and, exasperated by Harry's dumb luck, Eliot stupidly confessed. He was then arrested.

raywest

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Ghostbusters 2 picture

Question: After informing Egon of the incident with Oscar in the stroller, why did Dana ask him not to tell Peter about it?

Answer: Because she knew Peter would want to get involved. They didn't part on good terms and she hadn't spoken to him since her marriage. She just thought it would be awkward to see him again.

Bishop73

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The Burbs picture

Question: How did Ray survive the explosion at the end?

Answer: It's unlikely he could have survived in real life, or if he did, he'd be far more injured and/or permanently maimed, but this is a comedy movie, and reality is often ignored.

raywest

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Police Academy 6: City Under Siege picture

Question: Why was Commissioner Hurst shocked to find out that Commandant Lassard would be helping with the crime wave? They had been friends for a long time, and Hurst knows that Lassard would never do such a thing, so it seems out of character for Hurst to think so.

Answer: Because they found jewelry from the last crime in his office. That's why he was shocked. They may be friends, but he knows he can't ignore evidence even for a friend.

lartaker1975

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Homer & Eddie picture

Question: In the scene in Joe's bar there's a jazz singer named Mae Mercer. I could swear that the voice is the absolutely unique one of Nina Simone's, even the way she plays the piano, but there is no hint either in the cast or the list of song. I'd like to hear other people's opinion on that. (00:49:55)

NancyFelix

Chosen answer: Just my opinion: Mae Mercer is a great jazz singer - and there is a soundtrack of this movie, just in case someone wants to check it out - and I am sure she was the one singing.

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Little Monsters picture

Question: I'm watching on Netflix. Was this edited somehow from the original? In the Netflix version Brian enlists the help of Todd and Kiersten to rescue his brother. After escaping the dungeon, it shows them rearming themselves at the school. Then there's a cutscene where Maurice is in Ronnie's room and says "oh, Ronnie." Brian, Todd, and Kiersten are see walking into Boy's room a 2nd time, then all of the sudden Ronnie is there with the battery pack, and no-one seems surprised. In the original, was Ronnie recruited the first time around and then cut in the Netflix version? In the Netflix version Boy says the line "why lose 5 lives when you can gain 4?" when there's only 4 kids and not 5. So I feel like he must have been there. If Ronnie was edited out, why? Was it just to save the run time? If Ronnie wasn't edited out, who are the 5 lives Boy is talking about?"

Bishop73

Answer: I'd seen the movie a lot growing up and also just picked up the new Blu-Ray. As I remember seeing it when I was younger, and indeed in the new Blu-Ray, Ronnie is recruited on the group's second attempt to rescue Eric. He was never there the first time around. Admittedly, the line about "why lose five lives when you can gain four" is confusing given there's only four kids. But I always assumed he was referring to the four kids and Maurice, who he also has held captive.

TedStixon

Answer: You see Brian go down with Kiersten and Todd armed with their first set of flashlights. He then says this line because he wants to keep the four kids there and turn them into monsters. But he could kill them and my guess is maybe kill Maurice as well because he didn't succeed in turning Brian into one of them.

Answer: They went back to rescue Brian's younger brother Eric. Ronnie was there after Maurice went and got him to come and help. So the five lives refers to the four kids and the one that he stole which was Eric.

That's why I'm wondering why it was edited on Netflix because Ronnie isn't there when Boy says the line. In the Netflix version, Ronnie is recruited after Boy's line.

Bishop73

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Tango & Cash picture

Question: At the start, why does Tango empty his gun (of unused cartridges) and reload with different bullets before shooting the tanker? Unless I missed something, it's never explained.

Jon Sandys

Answer: He was doing a combat reload, where you eject all the rounds, spent or not and fill the revolver with new ones. It guarantees six shots, rather than relying on "indexing" where you count every round fired.

stiiggy

That doesn't make any sense since he hadn't fired a single round and the gun was fully loaded.

It's hard to tell, but it does look like there were at least some empty shells that land on the ground. A revolver isn't going to eject spent shells, so there's no way to say it was fully loaded.

Bishop73

Answer: It's not specified, but I would suspect that he changed from a .38 Special to a .357 round or something. You can shoot a .38 Special out of a .357 Magnum gun and maybe for the movie they wanted to add a shot of him doing a reload to a higher power cartridge for the effect. Why anyone with a .357 Magnum gun would routinely carry a .38 Special round is beyond me.

It is common to carry .38 special rounds in a .357 carry revolver to reduce the risk of over penetration and target reacquisition. In a nutshell, .38 is a self defense round while .357 is a hunting or combat round.

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A Grand Day Out with Wallace and Gromit picture

Question: Who is the old man wearing a red hat and holding a shovel in Wallace's allotment? He felll into Wallace's basement when Gromit opens the allotment doors.

Bunch

Chosen answer: He is a garden gnome, an ornament some people have in their front or back garden.

Heather Benton

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Weekend at Bernie's picture

Question: Wouldn't it be against regulation for a house, especially of that size, to be built on a section of the beach that the tide would eventually come up to? A sturdy foundation is absolutely of the question with there being nothing but sand to build it on. When the tide came up to pull Bernie into the water, it definitely would've made contact with the house.

Answer: Yes it would, but Bernie was a greedy and selfish man, he would have bribed contractors and inspectors to get it built. He wanted to live the life of a big shot. Like "The Wolf of Wall Street."

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Shirley Valentine picture

Question: In the scene where she is walking home in the rain after visiting her prostitute friend, in the background you can see 3 huge "tank" like structures. They are made twice as high by open girder and cable contraptions. The same things can be seen in the movie, "Spider", starring Ralph Fiennes. What are they?

Answer: Gas storage tanks.

J I Cohen

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Major League picture

Question: What brand of rum does Cerano have in his locker for Jobu?

Answer: At about 17 min. in is the best view of the bottle, it says "Bonded" at the top of the label, then just "Jamaca Rum". Below that you can barely make out "A Product of..." the rest is too out of focus.

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Out Cold picture

Question: What is that song by 311 called? I cant find the soundtrack anywhere. And I know it's only on the soundtrack so it's not on any of their CD's.

Answer: According to imdb.com the song is 'Anytime'.

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Parenthood picture

Question: Since Helen is one of the 4 adult Buckman children, and had been previously married to Julie and Garry's dad, why is Julie's last name also Buckman? I could see Helen going back to her maiden name, that's not uncommon but it would be unusual to have a teenager (in the late 80's) who had her mother's name rather than her father's. Or was this a plot hole that was created so that they could create the conflict of the photographs scene?

Answer: If a child becomes estranged from their father after their parents have divorced, it's not all that uncommon for the child to take their mother's maiden surname instead of their father's.

raywest

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UHF (1989)

Chosen answer: It's making fun of "Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges!" which is an often referenced 'quote' from "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (Actually, the real line is "Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges. I don't have to show you any stinking badges!", but that's the way people say it.)

Myridon

Mel Brooks borrowed the line in "Blazing Saddles." In that film, the line actually was "We don't need no stinkin' badges."

Leicaman

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