Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: For the last murder scene, when Norman brains his mother with a shovel in the kitchen (the only murder Norman actually commits in the entire film), his mother turns into a life-size dummy just before the fatal blow. You notice that she inexplicably leans far forward and bows her head (to hide her face for the dummy transition) just before Norman hammers her. This scene took several days to shoot, to get the transition just perfect, and it is the best practical special effect in the movie.

Charles Austin Miller

Factual error: When Vinny Panzienza has his cervical halo brace removed (without anesthetics), he yells and groans and grunts in pain, but his hands are relaxed on the arms of the chair. I can tell you, from experience with this exact situation, the pain is so intense that his hands should have been clenched as tight as a vise.

Charles Austin Miller

Question: Despite Dr. Mark Powell's certainty that "Prot" is a delusional man named Robert Porter who lost his mind and attempted suicide years earlier, no explanation is ever given for Prot's extraordinary resistance to powerful psychiatric drugs, his superhuman vision (into the Ultraviolet range), and his knowledge of deep-space astrophysics, which not only rivals but exceeds the knowledge of Earthly astrophysicists. Prot's enigmatic abilities are tested by experts, and the experts are left scratching their heads. The probability that Prot actually is an alien entity occupying a deeply-damaged and "discarded" human body seems confirmed on many levels, above and beyond the rantings of a mere mental patient. So, why does Dr. Powell consistently reject the hard evidence before his eyes?

Charles Austin Miller

Revealing mistake: At the beginning of the film, even though the sky is cloudless and clear blue, the streets and highways are uniformly wet, as if a storm had just swept the area. Then, even though all of the vehicles on the highway are raising clouds of wet spray, none of the vehicle windshields are splattered with moisture, and none of the vehicles are using their windshield wipers. In fact, the only time we see a woman use her windshield wipers is when the guy throws a lit blunt onto the woman's windshield and it catches some dry leaves there on fire. So, in summation, dry leaves catch fire on the windshield of a car in spite of heavy road spray on a wet highway on a cloudless day. Multiple inconsistencies.

Charles Austin Miller

Question: In the tavern, the dwarves emphatically tell the huntsman that dwarven females are so repulsive that dwarf reproduction only happens accidentally, in bad lighting and under the influence of drink. Which sounds quite repulsive. But, when the huntsman and male dwarves are later captured in the net trap, the female dwarves turn out to be perfectly lovely, even quite sexy. Then, even stranger, one of the male dwarves later apologizes for the appearance of a lovely female dwarf (who is standing right next to him in plain sight), claiming that she was hit in the face with a rock. So, what was the purpose of the male dwarves obsessively lying about the beauty of female dwarves? Or were the male dwarves blind to true beauty for some reason?

Charles Austin Miller

Question: During the botched raid on the university campus, the troops move in too quickly (alerting Bruce Banner), and General Ross snarls, "I wanna know who jumped the gun!" Did General Ross ever find out who jumped the gun? Was it Emil Blonsky? If it was Blonsky, why did General Ross never reprimand him?

Charles Austin Miller

Factual error: At the airport, Jack attempts to disarm the bus bomb from underneath, on a dolly towed by another vehicle. Meanwhile, Annie must continue driving the bus in circles on the runway at a speed above 50 mph. This scene takes 8 minutes, meaning Annie makes at least 2 laps of the entire 2-mile-long runway, complete with turns at the ends. There is no way that the towed dolly could remain positioned directly underneath the bus through the turns, as Jack would have swung out under centrifugal force.

Charles Austin Miller

Continuity mistake: Early in the film, Jack shoots Harry through the left thigh (taking the hostage out of the equation). At the police awards ceremony, Harry is using a cane on his right side and his limp favors his right leg. After the ceremony, in the bar, when Harry gets drunk and starts to leave, he's using his cane on the left side and his limp favors his left leg.

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: When Scotty and Kirk are discussing the mysterious fate of Capt. Balthazar Edison, Scotty mentions a couple of theories, including the possibility that the USS Franklin was "captured by a giant green space hand." This is a direct allusion to the original Star Trek television episode "Who Mourns for Adonis?" in which the giant green hand of the Greek god Apollo actually grabs the USS Enterprise in space. Also, during the kaleidoscopic end credits of "Star Trek: Beyond" (specifically, at the moment the credits read "Paramount Pictures and Skydance Pictures present"), a giant green space hand reaches straight for the camera.

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: For the treehouse sequence, young Macaulay Culkin and Elijah Wood made the 30-foot climb up the tree themselves, with no safety nets or wires. However, the tree was mostly surrounded (everything outside of the camera frame) with elaborate scaffolding, sufficient to support all the camera crew and equipment, so the boys were always within arm's reach of an adult.

Charles Austin Miller

Audio problem: During the failed kidnapping attempt at the mall, Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made for Walking" is playing over the mall sound system, and the song is badly edited to extend it for the duration of the scene. In the actual song, Nancy Sinatra famously says, "Are you ready, boots? Start walkin'!" only once. But, in this movie's chopped-up version, she says it twice.

Charles Austin Miller

Revealing mistake: After Rachel tumbles down the well, we see her heavy-duty Eveready Commander Flashlight, 12-volt battery and all, bobbing above the surface of the water like a cork. Which is ridiculous. A real 12-volt Commander Flashlight would sink like a rock, because it weighs about 4 pounds. However, the filmmakers needed to explain how Rachel could see at the bottom of a pitch-black well, so they used a lightweight, floating flashlight prop, supposedly providing a light source for the scene.

Charles Austin Miller

Continuity mistake: Near the beginning, J.M. Barrie encounters Sylvia and the children in the park and performs a dancing bear routine with his dog, Porthos, for their entertainment. Afterwards, Barrie is kneeling with his arms around the dog as Sylvia and the children depart. The camera cuts for just a moment to the children as they say goodbye. As the camera cuts back to Barrie, the large dog has vanished entirely from the scene and Barrie is now kneeling with a two-piece fishing pole in both hands. The camera cuts for a split-second back to the children, then back to Barrie, and the fishing pole has vanished but Barrie is kneeling with the dog again.

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: During a September 2017 interview on the BBC 4 Today programme, legendary comedian and comic filmmaker Mel Brooks was asked if he thought he could make some of his most famous films (such as "The Producers," "Blazing Saddles," and "Young Frankenstein") in today's over-sensitive, thin-skinned political climate. Brooks replied: "Maybe Young Frankenstein, but never Blazing Saddles, because we have become stupidly politically correct, which is the death of comedy. It's OK not to hurt the feelings of various tribes and groups. However, it's not good for comedy. Comedy has to walk a thin line, take risks. Comedy is the lecherous little elf whispering in the king's ear, always telling the truth about human behavior."

Charles Austin Miller

Continuity mistake: At the end, Casey and Elaine flee the house in the Volvo and find Chloe's crashed SUV. As Casey goes to investigate the SUV on foot, Miranda suddenly comes sprinting out of the woods, intending to kill Casey. To save Casey, Elaine rams Miranda with the Volvo, slamming her into the rear of the SUV. A camera shot from inside the SUV looking out shows that Miranda impacted right in the center of the SUV's rear hatch. In the same shot, we see Miranda's lifeless body slowly slide straight down the hatch, meaning her body should have collapsed directly between the Volvo and the SUV. When the camera cuts to an exterior view, we see Miranda's lifeless body stretched out in the snow (parallel to both vehicles) a couple of feet away from the Volvo's front right fender; so her body is now about 6 feet away from where it should be.

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: Longtime actor Michael Keaton seems permanently attached to winged superhero roles. Keaton began the superhero phase of his career in 1989 as "Batman" in the original film and its first sequel. Keaton was nominated for an Academy Award for 2014's "Birdman," playing a washed-up actor who was once a flying superhero movie star. In "Spiderman: Homecoming," Keaton plays the high-flying villain Adrian Toomes (aka "Vulture").

Charles Austin Miller

Continuity mistake: When Willard goes to confront his boss, Al Martin, about killing Socrates earlier that day, we get a good view all around Al Martin's office. There are a few rats on the desk, coffee table and a chair; but there are absolutely no rats climbing the curtains. Al Martin realises Willard is insane and they struggle briefly, whereupon a single rat leaps on Martin's arm and bites him as he screams. In that moment, seven rats suddenly appear climbing high up on the curtains behind Al Martin. The camera makes a one-second cut to Willard for his famous line, "Tear him up!" The camera immediately cuts back to Al Martin, and now all the rats have disappeared from the curtains in the background.

Charles Austin Miller

Question: At the beginning, Robert Angier (the Great Danton) travels to Colorado Springs to see Nikola Tesla. When Angier meets Tesla's assistant, Alley, it's obvious that his arrival was not expected. Angier then explains that Tesla had built a machine for Angier's colleague (and Angier wants to purchase the same or similar machine). However, when Alfred Borden gave Angier the "Tesla" clue, it was a complete ruse to waste Angier's time and money and throw him far off the much simpler secret of The Transported Man trick. Tesla had never built such a machine for Borden and had never attempted to build a teleportation device before. So, why did Tesla just agree to build the mysterious machine without questioning Angier's "colleague" remark? Was Tesla colluding with Alfred Borden? And why?

Charles Austin Miller

Part 16 - S1-E16

Bushnell Mullins: What about the FBI?
Dale Cooper: I AM the FBI.

Charles Austin Miller

Continuity mistake: When Andy Konsong discovers his brother's mutilated body in the bloody swimming pool, he vomits, then tries calling for help on his cellphone. As he makes his call, the gigantic crocodile lunges out of the pool and bites off Andy's arm, cellphone and all, above the elbow. Andy screams, staggers and lands on his back, but his only injury thus far is his severed right arm. His mouth is not bloody at all, nor should it be. The camera cuts to another angle as the crocodile lunges a second time; but, before it even enters the frame and bites into his legs, Andy's mouth is suddenly full of blood, his teeth are bloody, and blood is streaming down his chin, even though he has suffered no abdominal injuries.

Charles Austin Miller