Stupidity: Vic has a clean sniper shot with his temporarily newfound eyesight, and goes for the low level goon driving the car rather than the man he's been after all this time for his vendetta - and that is the one shooting at them anyway. (01:15:30)
Sammo
7th Oct 2019
Stuber (2019)
7th Oct 2019
Captain Marvel (2019)
Stupidity: Project Pegasus is a billion dollar structure with no security guards besides the couple dudes Fury shows the badge to at the entrance, no video surveillance, and once SHIELD arrives nobody has to even open a locked door anymore.
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: First of all, Fury was allowed in as it's a government facility and he works for the government and as a SHIELD agent is allowed access. It's inside a mountain and they passed multiple security guards as they drove in, armed guards. Everything is thumb prints and cameras which was quite elaborate for that time. To say they lack in security is quite an understatement. SHIELD has quite some authority and can easily take control in the Pegasus project facility.
You are right about the main entrance being truly secure both for guards and strategic position. The problem is that they are free to just roam the facility for an hour, blast through doors, not a soul in sight, no evidence of camera monitoring the inside of the structure, and once the gag of the pad is finished, no door requires it. Actually, funnily enough you can see a guard of the place opening the elevator for Fury and the supervisor, as if the thumprint scan was needed to even get into the elevator itself, but Keller then just walks into the archive just fine (from a different door than the one Vers blasted). There are keypads to exit places (for instance the hangar, when the agents in pursuit break through the door you can see a keypad on the wall) but only when it's convenient (Vers and Fury walked through that same door with no problem, not to mention the fact that the whole stairs seem to have none, which is funny for a place that has keypads both sides of doors).
7th Oct 2019
Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman (2003)
7th Oct 2019
Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman (2003)
7th Oct 2019
Criminal (2016)
7th Oct 2019
Agatha Christie's Poirot (1989)
Double Sin - S2-E6
Stupidity: How in the world did Miss Lemon spend 2 days (and nights!) in the office searching for the keys but without looking on the console right next to the door? (00:40:25)
1st Oct 2019
A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song (2011)
Stupidity: When Gail shoos Luke off the first day, in fact nobody accompanies him to the door and they discuss the evil plans when he's not even gone nor they even check he is, they just go ahead with the script. It's a rather odd dynamic, very rushed and movie logic-like. Or theater logic, since it's a typical 'exit stage left' moment.
1st Oct 2019
The Boy Next Door (2015)
Stupidity: Noah loves the classics, he shows passion and interest in them, it's part of what wins over professor Jennifer Lopez. Witness this risible exchange, about Achilles; "He killed this guy, Hector. But instead of hiding out like a pussy, he..." "Dragged his dead body around for everybody to see." "Yes." The sheer dumbness of this exchange, especially the first statement, hurts the brain; why would a warrior 'hide out like a pussy' for killing an enemy during war?
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.
Suggested correction: Achilles killed Hector in an act of revenge, not an act of war. Hector was a beloved warrior and treating his corpse with disrespect could have insulted the Trojans. Knowing this, Achilles dragged Hector's body around the city in an act of boldness. So yes, instead of "hiding out" after killing his enemy, Achilles acted like a "badass", taunting the Trojans with his victory over their champion, disregarding any threat of reprisal. There's nothing stupid about this exchange.
"Dude, there's this book about a Greek war with gods and heroes and sh*t: you know what, the main character kills his enemy in battle and doesn't hide out after! Like it's a war or something." What a stellar and perfectly not stupid pitch about the book! Makes totally sense and it obviously woos the college professor too! Mind you, I don't want to come across as sarcastic and I enjoy reading your comment, but the "not an act of war" objection is irrelevant when all the action happens in the battlefield, regardless of character motivations. Point is, the statement does not follow logic when it comes to pitching an epic fantasy book to a young adult, and on top of that, this fundamentally flawed series of statements is even painted as something totally impressing a college professor.Surely my flawed perspective of a snob living amongst snobs in a country where the study of classics is more widespread than the US, but blurting out something like that would get you a giggle at best.
I think you're putting too much weight on the "not hiding out" part of Noah's statement and not enough weight on the defiance of Achilles, which is what Noah was saying he was impressed with. For this to be a stupid statement, it would have to be incorrect. It isn't incorrect. Noah describes exactly what happened. Sure, he uses a colloquial tone but all he's really saying is "Achilles kills Hector in a duel and rather than flee the battlefield afterwards, he parades Hector's corpse around the city to intimidate his enemies." You seem to be hung up on the "fleeing the battlefield" part, as if that is a reading of Achilles actions that is so off base it rises to the level of a mistake in the movie. I don't believe that to be the case. Also, this college professor is impressed by the fact a youth would read Homer on his own at all, and the fact that he's incredibly charming and handsome certainly doesn't hurt.
I put weight on it because it sticks out: the line itself is designed to get attention using that colorful expression. Even as you paraphrased it with "Achilles kills Hector in a duel and rather than flee the battlefield afterwards" etc, the problem is not the tone: since when it's the go-to move in the genre, killing someone in a duel and then fleeing? I can't see why this would be a logical thing to say, so strongly even, to pitch the book to his friend! Like pitching a restaurant prefacing unironically that they do not spit in your food. His reading is not technically incorrect, or I would have put it in the 'character mistake' category, but mentioning what did (not) happen is daft and contrived. And yes, it is a dialogue that is supposed to reinforce that 'incredibly charming' quality you mention but it is written in such a childish way that undermines it, also considering that he told her he already studied Homer in his previous school and he is not exactly a kid.
30th Sep 2019
Bird on a Wire (1990)
Stupidity: The system prompts a message for the bank clerk saying that the subject trying to withdraw cash is armed and dangerous and to alert the local authorities. It also alerts the 'subjects' themselves though, since it beeps a persistent alarm tone! Seems a rather poorly designed system that would endanger the staff. (00:50:10)
30th Sep 2019
Agatha Christie's Poirot (1989)
30th Sep 2019
Dragonball Evolution (2009)
25th Sep 2019
Security (2017)
Stupidity: The supposed criminal mastermind had exactly what he wanted right at the beginning; all he wants is killing the girl, and he knows (he says it himself) that he is facing just mall cops who carry no weapons. But he utterly wastes for no reason the 'first contact', when his intentions are not known to the occupants. If only he had a gun, or brought along a guy hiding a weapon instead of 'suitcase full of bribe money dude' (which only shows how easy it would have been for him to have backup), he could have easily killed everyone through the doors when they were sitting ducks, with no fear of retaliation whatsoever. Nobody as ruthless and daring as he supposedly is, would show up unarmed for no reason.
20th Sep 2019
Lucifer (2015)
Lucifer, Stay. Good Devil. - S1-E2
Stupidity: It takes an awful lot of pointless visits and oblique thinking to simply investigate the known (and apparently only) collaborator and protege of the suspect, who also was on the crime scene. You'd think interrogating the business associate would be standard procedure.
20th Sep 2019
The Boy Next Door (2015)
Stupidity: During the final climax, Kevin has enough rope free to turn the handle of the vise once his mom helped him the first time, and Garrett's feet touch the floor - but he insists on gripping the ladder instead of reaching down to loosen the knot. Both basically move their hands left and right randomly, taking ages to free themselves with the strangest methods.
20th Sep 2019
The Boy Next Door (2015)
Stupidity: Noah sends the little punk home with, according to the vice principal, a fractured skull. He's not a minor (the victim may or may not be), and with a savage beating ending up with damage of property and hospitalization of a kid, at school, should have led to something way more severe than 'being expelled' (which seemingly happened because he called her a c*nt, rather than the rest). And hilariously enough, a couple scenes later, the principal reprimands her for giving him, the nearly murderous maniac student, a slight push to keep him at distance (instead of say, checking if she had been assaulted herself).
20th Sep 2019
Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
Stupidity: Cyborgs have amazing jumping capabilities, but the assault on Zalem basically failed because the whole platoon of United Republics of Mars blindly shooted at the defense ring with puny rifles and never trying to avoid it (and they were fully aware of its presence). The novelization at least makes more sense since they have better weapons and it's the tube giving out that wipes them out - here, it happens after it already killed everybody except Michelle Rodriguez.
20th Sep 2019
Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
Stupidity: In the wanted poster for Hugo (he's the only person named "Hugo" in the world, apparently) his bounty for one murder is 30,000 credits, 50% higher than the notorious villain Nyssiana who slayed 7 people (and who knows how many other felonies). Obviously the system is rigged, but one wonders why do they even bother to keep appearances up when murders obviously not committed by a person (Zapan's Damascus Blade is one-of-a-kind, so at most they could have pinned the murder on Alita who shares the tech...but who cares since there's no real law-enforcement or trial?) can just arbitrarily be pinned on others with whatever bounty.
20th Sep 2019
Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
Stupidity: She does not go through with the plan, but the idea that Alita would for no particular reason literally rip her heart out, ask Hugo to sell it, and then think about looking for "a cheap replacement" (when Hugo has almost a million bucks collected anyway) is really getting your priorities wrong, especially considered that in the movie, cyborgs seem to have a circulation not too unlike humans', so without heart she'd not be able to even walk.
19th Sep 2019
Agatha Christie's Poirot (1989)
Stupidity: As far as I can tell this is not a problem introduced by the novelization, but already coming from the original story: without Poirot's involvement, called upon by the murderer, the police would not have suspected murder at all, and still would have a witness with a rock solid alibi to talk about The Dream. If they really wanted another witness, they could and should have summoned a psychiatrist and do to them the same stage act they did with Poirot, they would have been much more qualified witnesses to frame it as suicide. Even to Poirot himself, it's the murderer who suggests the thought there could be foul play involved, at all! The plan makes zero sense because Poirot is not the ideal witness and they want to suggest the victim was mentally ill and suicidal, not that someone wanted to kill him.
19th Sep 2019
Security (2017)
Stupidity: The villain has a couple dozen able men fully equipped with lights (plus vehicles, obviously), but instead of using them to run after the kid who has a minute tops head start on him and is running blindly in soaked mud fields on her little legs, he uses his manpower to clean up the road from blood, spikes and various other traces of the precise location of the shootout. Rather pointless move since the feds are gonna come anyway in the area because of the communication loss with the convoy, with a decent approximation of their position. It appears unbelievable that he would have his priorities so wrong and just leave the girl to run free like that.
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.