Murder with Too Many Notes - S13-E4
Other mistake: In the movie within the story the murderer repeatedly stabs the victim and pulls back the knife. Even after several stabs there is no blood on the knife. (00:02:25)
Bishop73
8th Feb 2023
Columbo (1971)
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: Nobody is stabbed in this made-for-television film. The murder victim is drugged, then dropped from the roof of a tall building, staged to look like suicide.
This mistake refers to the "movie within the story" that's having its film score completed by the composer, Crawford. The "murderer repeatedly stabs the victim" in a scene of "Corkscrew," the soon-to-be-released movie; it plays in the recording studio (00:02:25), as Crawford (Billy Connolly) conducts the orchestra for its score. Corkscrew's murder scene plays again in the screening room (00:05:45), with Corkscrew's director extolling Crawford's genius as a composer.
Suggested correction: As has been posted elsewhere - in the early seventies, no television show used blood effects. They were too expensive and would severely restrict potential audiences, as television channels were notoriously conservative in those days. This is a creative and technical decision, not a mistake.
There are a few things wrong with the correction. First, this shows a total lack of knowledge of the mistake in question. Corrections should be based on watching the scene first, not just throwing out wild and inaccurate guesses. While listed as an episode, this was a Columbo made-for-TV movie from 2001, not the early 70s. Second, explaining how or why a mistake occurs doesn't invalidate them. Creative and technical decisions can be deliberate mistakes.
2nd Jan 2022
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966)
Revealing mistake: When the Grinch hits the Christmas decoration with the cue stick, the ball rolls over the Christmas tree, not under.
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: The Grinch picks up the cane, then hits the Christmas ornament with it. The ornament goes past the Christmas tree (in front of it), then knocks the other ornaments off the tree. What is the mistake? The ornament is not supposed to go behind or "under" the tree.
The green branches (i.e. the tree) that the ornament passes over are several inches off the ground, and therefore it shouldn't have rolled over them since it's supposed to be on the ground. In the next shot, we see the ornament rolling on the ground, where it is rolling under the branches before hitting the base and jumping up the tree.
You are correct. I first thought the mistake was talking about a layering issue, where the ornament was supposed to be layered behind the tree, or something. I'm not sure how I misunderstood that, but nonetheless, you're right.
21st Mar 2002
Bells Are Ringing (1960)
Character mistake: When Dean Martin desribes his writer's block to Judy Holiday, she says that she keeps sharpening his Ticonderoga pencil until there's nothing left but the "Ti," but in fact what would be left on a little nib is the "ga."
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: She said she would sharpen her pencil... to the "t."
You should watch the whole scene. She said she would sharpen it to the Ticondero, and then to the Ticond, and she keeps going until the "Ti" and "T" (where she pronounces the sound rather than the letter).
16th Jan 2009
Snatch (2000)
Corrected entry: Several times during the film, Cousin Avi refers to Frankie Four Fingers as "Bubbe" which is a Yiddish term of endearment for "Grandma" and would be inappropriate when addressing a man.
Correction: Yes, the term does mean Grandma. There is also a Yiddish term "Bubele" (not sure of the spelling), which means "baby." Jewish people often shorten that to "bubbe" as a term of endearment, and the way he is using it in this film is exactly how many Jewish people use it in real life.
Maybe not an acceptable comment to this correction, but is this the word Harry Ellis uses in "Die Hard" when talking to Hans?
Funny, I was absolutely going to use that EXACT instance as an example! I decided not to, though, in case some people hadn't seen that movie. But yes, same word and meaning. "Hans, Bubbe, I'm your white knight!" Both Ellis and Avi are using it correctly.
23rd Feb 2016
The Simpsons (1989)
Other mistake: When The Town is singing the Christmas carol you can see Sideshow Bob, who was arrested and jailed in series 1. We know he hasn't been released, as that's a plot point over the show. (00:18:10)
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: Maybe he was allowed to participate due to good behavior. That's a possibility.
Good behavior or not, a prison wouldn't furlough an inmate just so they could participate in a snow day.
I'm not sure if it's been discussed here or listed as a mistake. Part of the problem with "The Simpsons" and the Sideshow Bob character is that time both moves forward and doesn't move. In "A Brother From Another Series," Krusty visits the prison and tells Bob he hasn't seen him in years because Bob had been in prison all those years for his crimes. Yet Bart and Lisa are still the same age and in the same grade. Bob is also let out of prison on a work-release program in the episode.
28th Dec 2016
Monk (2002)
Mr. Monk and the Class Reunion - S5-E6
Question: In this episode, Monk discovers that Kyle intends to murder his wife Dianne and then make it look like suicide. Why would he do that? I've watched the whole episode and still can't figure out the reason.
Answer: You can hear Kyle talk to his "mistress" on the phone when he is at the ice cooler in the hotel, thereby making it clear he has an "extramarital" affair, thereby outing his motive to get rid of the wife who brought the money into the marriage...plus her life insurance, supposedly.
Answer: When Dianne was in college, she had attempted to commit suicide and even wrote a suicide note. Dianne saved the note this whole time and Kyle had found it. If Kyle killed Dianne and made it look like a suicide, the suicide note would be authentic (rather than having to try and forge a suicide note that could be proven to be fake). This is why Kyle arranged for specific activities to occur that seemed odd to Monk, the dog having the same name, the missed pass that broke the glass, etc. These were all mentioned in the original suicide note.
How did Mr Monk know about the suicide note?
Because Dianne told them about it, Stottlemeyer went to talk to her when he found out she sent a wreath for Kathrine (the woman killed at the beginning), and Monk was there at that time. Dianne said Kathrine saved her life when she was depressed in college, and she had even written a suicide note.
Answer: It speaks for your character that you cannot relate to his reasons. But he wants her dead, because he is having an affair and since all their money is coming from her father and his high paying job is also not his gain but another grant of her father he would very likely loose everything if he divorced her for another woman. And as the other answer mentions already he sees his opportunity to get away with it by re-enacting the circumstances as described in her 25-year old suicide note.
27th Feb 2020
Joker (2019)
Factual error: The Waynes went to a theater with 5 movies, with the main spot being Blow Out and Zorro the Gay Blade, who came out on July 24th and 17th of the year. You can also see marquees for other July movies; Wolfen, on the 24th, Arthur, on the 17th. But the narration that opens the movie said it was Thursday October 15, and the events of the movie span across at the very least two weeks (the Joker gets booked on Murray's for "next Thursday" when at least a week has passed since the intro). So the theater is showing in November movies that are over 3 months old (7 for 'Excalibur'. Last movie to be featured) and no new releases. (01:49:10)
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: Yep. No fact is in error here. It's not a fact that states this isn't possible.
Especially since that's what discount theatres did (sometimes called dollar theatres): showed 2nd run films months after they were initially released.
3rd Sep 2010
Jaws 2 (1978)
Revealing mistake: During the scene in the bar, the first shot shows some kid playing an arcade of some sort, and the shot continues to scroll from right to left. However, all the writing (ie. the arcade machine, t-shirts, chalkboard, and various signs) are all backwards, which means the shot is flipped.
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: I think some of the shots from that are shot showing the mirror's reflection of the bar because shortly after the same, or immediately in the next shot, it pans down to show Lucy and Patrick, but as both them and the mirror reflection of, so I think it's slightly to do with that. Yes, to wonder why this was and whether it was intent or just an unthought error, but could have been that the reason it appears flipped than an actual editing flip mistake.
I agree, the pan is continuous, and even after it pans the other way and there's a weird cut, the camera position doesn't change. When it pans down, you see we've been looking in a mirror.
22nd Mar 2004
Die Hard (1988)
Question: Can someone please explain the scene where McClane and Hans are alone near the roof. Hans says his name is "Bill Clay" and the camera zooms in on a board with the name Clay on it. What is the significance of this? Does this give Hans away? And if so how?
Answer: No, this doesn't give Hans away - the zoom represents McClane checking the board out - getting proof that there is indeed a person in the building with that name (listed as W. Clay, for William). Hans has obviously done his homework, but McClane doesn't trust him anyway, hence the trick with the empty gun.
Actually, it said "Wm. Clay", which is for William. W. Clay could have been for Wanda or Walter or Wesley or Waldo, etc.
It's most likely "WM" for William Mark Clay or similar - no reason William would have an extra letter tacked on but others wouldn't.
Wm is commonly the initials for "William", as opposed to W for "Will." On the board, it shows WM simply because they don't have/use any lower-case letters; they're all block letters.
Answer: John already knew what Hans looked like. He saw him through the vent on the top of the elevator (after sending Karl's brother down wearing the sweater) - He also saw Hans shoot Takagi (which is why he says "Just like you did with Takagi" after Hans says he's gonna count to three).
He never sees Hans' face in either scene. In fact, once the scene where they meet on the roof was added (midway through filming, once the director realised Alan Rickman could do a passable American accent), the scene where Hans shoots Takagi was reedited in such a way as to be clear that McClane never gets a good look at Hans' face, only hears his voice.
21st Jul 2003
Angels in the Outfield (1994)
Continuity mistake: The stain from the nachos on David's pants is completely gone when Roger asks him to get him a cup of coffee.
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: From what I remember, enough time has passed to where David could've cleaned the stain.
So he couldn't clean the mustard stain off his shirt, but is somehow able to completely clean the seat of his pants? The mistake is valid.
4th May 2018
Angels in the Outfield (1994)
Question: At the end of the movie George Knox adopts PJ, and Roger. Wouldn't George have had to meet with a social worker before adopting them?
Answer: Maybe he did offscreen?
I meant that as a yes or no question.
Then that answers the question. We also don't know WHEN he did it, so it's entirely possible that he visited with one. We also don't find out that he adopted both Roger and JP because it was supposed to be a surprise, meaning that we wouldn't find out until that moment.
It feels like the question was about the legal steps needed to take, not did he do them or not. Does an individual in his situation need to visit a social worker?
17th Sep 2018
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Continuity mistake: When Groot creates a handle for the axe with his arm, he chops off the arm and it lands on the ground. The sharp end is facing to the right when it lands, but when it begins to lift, the sharp end is now facing to the left. (01:44:20)
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: Looking at the screen, sharp end is to the right, Groot adds the handle as he does he rotates it, and then when he creates the handle, Stormbreaker falls as expected.
You're talking about the wrong part of the scene. The mistake occurs after Groot adds the handle and cuts off his arm. After the completed Stormbreaker falls, its position changes when the camera cuts to it starting to rise.
12th Aug 2024
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990)
Did the Earth Move For You? - S2-E1
Other mistake: Ashley is now thirteen years old, but she was nine in the previous season.
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: It's not uncommon for TV shows to do this, especially with kids. In this exact show they had a baby Nicky who the following season suddenly was like 5 or 6 years old. Other shows like Family Ties and Growing Pains did the same thing. Shows are not always shown in real time when it comes to episodes. They can each take place days, weeks, months or years from previous episodes.
This isn't a valid correction. Just because shows do it or it's common doesn't invalidate the mistake. And while shows don't always have to be shown "in real time", all the other characters would have to make the same jump in age, otherwise it's a mistake.
As Bishop73 said, it's a legitimate mistake because the other characters did not age by four years. There was no time jump. Changing her age does not make sense within the "world" of the show.
5th Sep 2019
Death in Paradise (2011)
Episode #1.2 - S1-E2
Continuity mistake: When Camille circles Adam on the whiteboard the circle is complete, however a few seconds later it's half rubbed out. (00:37:46)
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: Richard erases part of the circle.
Except we see Richard standing there without touching the board. Then, as he moves towards the board, the camera cuts, and while his hand is on the board, most of the circle is already wiped off where he didn't have enough time to do it. Plus, the amount that the circle is wiped off also changes.
17th Sep 2004
Fargo (1996)
Plot hole: The two kidnappers are pulled over by the cop they eventually murder because they are not displaying temporary tags on their car. However, when Marge Gunderson shows up to investigate the crime scene the next morning, she figures out from the cop's citation book that the car had dealer plates (DLR.) If the car had dealer plates, they wouldn't need to display temporary tags, as tags are to be used when a license plate is not yet available for a car. There was no need to pull the kidnappers over, which makes the turning point of the story completely pointless.
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: Temporary tags have a non-unique number and the designation of the dealer on them, the cop put down DLR and was then going to put the dealer's number when they produced the temporary tag which they said they had forgotten to place in the window. On a temporary tag, the "tag number" is either the date the temporary tag expires or one of a limited number assigned to that dealer so it is not unusual to see duplicate temporary tags on different cars on the same day - you would need the dealer's number which is rather small at the bottom of the paper to actually identify the car.
But the point is that the police officer said he pulled them over because they were displaying no tag. If there had been a dealer tag on the car, then why would the officer have pulled them over? That's what a dealer tag is for: so a car can be driven displaying it. Yet everything that happens after that is predicated on the officer having begun to write out the number *on their tag*.
Suggested correction: They probably just had the generic plastic dealership logo plate on. Not an actual dealer plate with a number, but something with a logo and "Gustafson Motors" on it (or whatever the name of the car lot was).
That means they have no tags and the cop wouldn't write DLR. A logo with the dealer's name isn't a dealer tag.
10th May 2003
Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade (1989)
Factual error: The evil SS officer is addressed as "Herr Oberst" (Colonel) throughout the movie. In the SS, however, this rank was called "Standartenfuehrer". (00:56:40)
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: In fact, Oberst is the literal translation of the word "Colonel" into German. It would not be unusual for Germans to call a colonel by his rank in his native language (even if he is an SS colonel).
This correction doesn't address the mistake, which is the rank on his uniform isn't what he's addressed as. It has nothing to do with what the word translates into (which the mistake even points out).
11th May 2016
Fantastic Four (2015)
Question: Does Stan Lee have his usual cameo in this film?
Chosen answer: No, no one from the film asked him to do a cameo. Stan Lee has said he never requests a cameo and waits to be asked.
I read on IMDb that he declined to make a cameo in this movie.
I've never heard him say he declined the cameo. I think maybe the entry was made from an assumption of what Lee told Larry King. Lee mentioned he wasn't in one of the X-Men films or this film and said sometimes the films are shot too far away and he can't travel half way around the world to be in a cameo. But this film was shot primarily in Louisiana and did have a scene shot in Los Angeles supposedly.
23rd Dec 2003
Smokey and the Bandit (1977)
Corrected entry: When Bandit uses the CB radio to ask Snowman where he is, and Snowman says "mile marker 85" you can see that "Frog" is driving. Then, when the camera shows Snowman look in the mirror, Bandit is driving. A moment later, it shows that Frog is driving again.
Correction: Because it's a reflection, things look reversed. Frog is actually driving the car all along.
Bandit is driving when viewed in the rearview. It has nothing to do with the image being in reverse. Bandit is on the outside of the mirror which would be the driver's seat in the car behind him. That's how a mirror works.
In the scene, they're on a 2-lane road divided by a yellow line. When we see the car in the truck's side mirror, it's on Snowman's right side, meaning on the wrong side of the road. The yellow line is to the right of the driver (in America), so if they're going the wrong way, the yellow line would be to the left of the driver so that the passenger is closest to the yellow line. In the shot of the car in the side mirror, Bandit is closest to the yellow line, meaning he's not driving.
6th Jan 2017
Tango & Cash (1989)
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.
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.
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.
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.
14th Apr 2020
Jack (1996)
Other mistake: Jack's parents were at a Halloween party when his mother went into labor. Later in the movie when he's asked by his teacher he says his birthday is September 12th.
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: The movie doesn't specifically say this is a Halloween party. This may simply be a costume party which can and do happen multiple times a year.
As you stated, it doesn't say it's a Halloween party. In fact, there's signs in the room that say "Beaux-Arts Ball."
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.