Question: One of the cops said Matilda would end up in a federal orphanage once Harry was in federal prison, but can't her mother take care of her? She seems to have no idea that Harry's a criminal, and also where is the evidence that the mother is involved?
THGhost
15th Apr 2018
Matilda (1996)
Answer: Also, when Zenia is talking to the cops aka speedboat salesmen, she's talking about Harry having money in banks all over the place.
Answer: It is questionable in what time period the movie is set, but it appears to be at least the 1970s or 1980s - or, after orphanages were replaced with group homes, foster homes, and other more child-friendly places. The threat of sending Matilda to a "federal orphanage" was designed to scare her and get her to reveal what she knew. Matilda could not be sent to a federal orphanage because they no longer existed.
22nd Jul 2023
Oppenheimer (2023)
Factual error: After the successful Trinity test in 1945, people in a crowd are holding small US flags with 50 stars on them (offset rows). At the time there were only 48 states and the flag had 48 stars in even rows. The 50 star flag didn't exist until 1960, after Alaska and Hawaii were made states in 1959.
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Suggested correction: While this is correct, an argument can be made that since the colour scenes are meant to be subjective and the black and white scenes are meant to be objective, Oppenheimer could have been unintentionally mapping the modern US flag onto this scene.
That's a ridiculous stretch with zero evidence, not least as 48 star flags are seen in colour in other scenes. Sometimes a mistake is simply a mistake.
There is evidence, though. Nolan said so himself. Look it up. As for the mistake itself, I'm merely repeating what I've read on Twitter, and this correction was merely a suggestion. Seeing the 48 star flags in other colour scenes still doesn't disprove this theory. It is just a theory though, so no need to shoot it down so hard.
He's said subjective in terms of the colour scenes being "first person", and maybe not strictly factual in terms of creating moments between characters and conveying emotion, but nowhere does that stretch to "one random scene happens to feature 50 star flags because Oppenheimer is mapping the modern flag onto it, when nothing like that happens anywhere else in the film."
Meh, take it up with Twitter. I just thought it was interesting, so I posted it here for a different point of view/perspective for others to read. It is most likely bull**** though.
The fact that a director realized they had made a mistake and retroactively made up a deus ex machina explanation for it in no way invalidates the mistake. Nice try, Mr. Nolan but this posting is absolutely valid.
While Christopher Nolan's talked about the subjective/objective colour/black and white thing, which is entirely fair and no doubt exactly his intention, I don't think he's actually tried to "excuse" this by using that explanation, that's just other people trying to connect the two things. I'm not sure Nolan has commented on the flag issue in interviews at all.
Precisely, and I was in no way trying to invalidate the original mistake. I just found the whole theory interesting and posted it here. It is rather hilarious that a director with such attention to detail like Nolan would have missed something like this. We shall see if he gets it fixed for the streaming/physical release.
It's not fixed in the home video version. However, the behind-the-scenes materials provide a reason for the mistake, in that putting a crowd in the scene was apparently a spur-of-the-moment decision. It's like that in their haste to bring in the crowd, the set decorators bought some modern miniature flags and put them into the scene without anyone realizing the 48/50 discrepancy.
1st Jun 2023
Unbelievable (2019)
Episode #1.7 - S1-E7
Factual error: When Marie is talking with her therapist, she talks about having just gone to see Zombieland. Given that the scene takes place in 2008 and Zombieland wasn't released in the US until October 2009, this simply is not possible.
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Suggested correction: The series starts in 2008, but it's 3 years later. At the beginning, RoseMarie says Curtis was born February 3, 1981 and is 30 years old.
The therapy scenes are in 2008. It's only when the photographs of Marie are discovered that we see Marie 3 years later, in episode 8.
7th Apr 2013
The Big Bang Theory (2007)
The Monster Isolation - S6-E17
Corrected entry: When Leonard tells Sheldon to hand over his Nintendo DS, Sheldon gives him a shiny aqua console. The Nintendo DS has never been produced in that color: the console is actually a 3DS, not a DS.
Correction: Semantics. To most people, "DS" is sufficient enough to specify all of the Nintendo DS consoles. The same way that "Xbox" is sufficient enough to specify the Xbox 360.
31st May 2022
The Northman (2022)
Corrected entry: When Amleth is having his vision of the valkyrie near the end, she appears to have dental braces on her teeth when the camera is up on her face as she is screaming.
Correction: These are not braces, they are teeth "tattoos." Vikings would sometimes literally file horizontal grooves into their teeth for decorative purposes. The actress likely has not had her teeth filed for this one role so it seems what you are seeing is some sort of makeup application. But it is definitely not braces that were accidentally left in the shot.
I can confirm this. In the film's commentary track, the director mentions that they are grooves carved in her teeth, and how he's seen YouTube comments asking why they have braces.
31st Dec 2016
The Big Bang Theory (2007)
The Fetal Kick Catalyst - S10-E6
Factual error: When Raj, Howard and Bernadette are in the car, Raj puts on Batman the Animated Series to distract Howard from his back pain. Howard says "I'm in too much pain to watch cartoo-oh, this is a good one!" However, there is no way he could know that it's a good episode of the show because the opening theme song can be heard playing and the name of the episode does not appear until after it.
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Suggested correction: He meant the cartoon is good, in general. Not the specific episode.
Nah, he was told right beforehand that it was Batman: The Animated Series. A nerd like Howard definitely knows which cartoon that is and that it's a good cartoon without needing to look at it.
13th May 2016
Inside Man (2006)
Revealing mistake: During the final conversation between Detective Frazier and Arthur Case, Frazier holds up his hand with the ring on his middle finger. It is pretty obvious that the hand was inserted into the scene in post production; the hand doesn't move in a natural way and simply looks out of place.
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Suggested correction: Really? I don't see anything unnatural in the hand's movement at all. Doesn't look at all obvious to me that it was inserted in post-production. After all, Frazier refers to "this ring." They will want it in shot so I'm sure they made sure Washington held it in shot.
Yes, really. Look again. Look at how it moves down and vanishes out of the frame. No human hand moves like that! They didn't have Washington hold it up for the shot and it was inserted later as a pickup shot. See this IMDB goof entry for more details: "During the final conversation between Detective Frazier and Arthur Case..." "a picture of a hand with a ring on the middle finger was inserted into the scene - first moving up into the shot, and then moving down off screen."
1st May 2004
Pitch Black (2000)
Corrected entry: As cool as it looks, it is impossible for a planet to have two sets of parallel rings, because rings only circle a planet's equator.
Correction: It's a sci-fi film. Anything is possible with sci-fi. I suppose getting an eyeshine and deadly creatures using sound to hunt their prey at night are impossible too? It's not supposed to be realistic. EDIT: I'm not going to engage in this conversation any further as it's starting to turn hostile. I stand by what I said 10 years ago. Good day, Gentleman.
Please don't say, "it's not supposed to be realistic." That's a cop-out. Fantasy is not supposed to be realistic. Science Fiction IS supposed to be realistic.
I agree, this is a valid mistake. The events of this movie take place in our universe, and the most fundamental laws of physics of our Universe dictate that there can not be two sets of rings around planet. It can not be explained away by saying that it is a fantasy or magic.
Science Fiction. Emphasis on "Fiction." Like I said 10 years ago, it's not possible in real life for someone to have "eyeshine" surgery like Riddick did to see in the dark, but it happened in the fictional world of this movie. A fictional planet having two sets of rings is no different.
It is very different. The inability to have eyeshine surgery in the present is a technical limitation. One hundred years ago it was impossible to fly faster than sound. We can do it now. A planet having two rings breaks a fundamental law of nature.
But this isn't nature, is it? It's a sci-fi movie that does not adhere to the laws of our world. It's not a documentary.
That is incorrect. Sci-fi adheres to the laws of nature. You're describing fantasy. Plus, planets in the galaxy and other galaxies, still adhere to laws of "our world", so it's a ridiculous statement to make.
Whether it is an error probably depends on which type of sci-fi is used. With "hard" sci-fi, the two rings are contrary to existing principles, thereby constituting an error. With "soft" sci-fi, two rings are allowed, so not an error. The movie is set in the distant future, so it is possible known principles could be revised. Sci-fi may overlap with fantasy - where do "bioraptors" fall? Soft sci-fi includes human aspects - Riddick refused then agreed to save others. The movie is SOFT SCI-FI.
28th Jul 2013
The Fifth Element (1997)
Question: Who does the voice of Finger? This has been driving me nuts for years.
Chosen answer: General consensus is Bokeem Woodbine (not Vin Diesel as many believe), although there's no official credit.
Consensus of who? (THGhost)... you sound convinced but based off what?
I agree, Nikita. Of all the speculation out there, I only found one person suggest it was Woodbine. The consensus is it's Vin Diesel, even Screen Rant makes this claim. Although it's all speculation and nothing confirmed.
I was just reporting what was believed at the time, not just by me. Based on what, you ask? A simple Google search, obviously. No need for the shirtyness, Nikita :P That information may have been wrong though. So if it is in fact Vin Diesel, then cool. Love that guy.
9th Jun 2011
Kick-Ass (2010)
Corrected entry: When Hit-Girl and Big Daddy are practising with bulletproof vests, the dummy used when Hit-Girl falls to the ground is visible. It bounces unlike a real human body and the position of her right hand and both her legs move between shots. (00:12:55)
Correction: When you watch in slow mo, it's 100% a real human, not a dummy.
I'm not convinced.
24th Nov 2013
Scream 4 (2011)
Question: In the final shot, we see Jill's head move a little. Was that suppose to let the viewers know that she's alive or was it just a mistake?
Answer: I personally submitted this as a revealing mistake. There is no official statement from Wes Craven or anyone else involved in the making of the movie about it being deliberate. So in my eyes, it's a mistake.
Answer: I actually read that they noticed this before the movie came out and left it in to keep the ending ambiguous and since they were planning to make Scream 5, they felt that would possibly be the way to go.
That's very interesting, especially now that Scream 5 is finally getting made. Although it doesn't appear that Emma Roberts is returning.
7th Aug 2019
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Continuity mistake: In 2012, when Tony flies up inside the Stark Tower snooping on the Avengers talking to Loki, Loki delivers his lines faster compared to the original Avengers movie, and his movement is different too. (01:16:15)
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Suggested correction: This doesn't seem to be a mistake as it would require a side-by-side comparison with the original film. Within the context of this film, everything fits.
Exactly. You could maybe get away with submitting this as a Deliberate Mistake, but since it's a scene from another movie being shown from a different perspective, it doesn't need to play our exactly as it did the first time. We'd just be watching that exact same scene from the other movie then.
No. The angle doesn't matter when the lines are delivered at a different rate.
11th Dec 2017
Destroy All Humans
Corrected entry: The game takes place around 1957. However, the drive-in is showing Plan 9 from Outer Space, which didn't come out until 1959.
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Answer: She knows. Listen to her and Harry after their TV explodes: "I told you that was a cheap set." "It's not a cheap set, it's a stolen set!" She knows that Harry is a criminal.
THGhost