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Movie's little mysteries...

post #1 of 70
5/7/06 at 11:09pm
Thread Starter 
I was watching Monster's Inc. with my 2-year old daughter for the millionth time (thank God she likes quality!), and I was reminded of a little tidbit of mystery in the movie: Why were Bigfoot, A. Snowman, and Nessie actually banished? Mentioning them was a cute, little sidejoke to explain why there were monsters living in our world. I wanted to know more...

This led me to think about the other unanswered little things in other movies:
1. What's in the briefcase in Pulp Fiction?
2. What does Evelyn whisper to Adam in Shape of Things?
3. What causes the zombies to rise from the grave in Night of the Living Dead?
4. How do you use the 3 seashells in Demolition Man?

Now some movies have go onto spawn sequels to explain these things. The Star Wars prequels go onto explain why Anakin became Darth (with mixed results) and the Psycho sequels go onto explain why Norman had so many "Mommy issues". Some mysteries are better left unexplained. Now, I know it's all too easy to drag David Lynch's resume into this discussion, but most of his movies are complete mysteries.

Does anyone else have any other little favorite unanswered movie questions? Plotholes aren't what I'm getting at. The examples I gave don't really take away any enjoyment of the movies... just curiosities...
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post #2 of 70
5/7/06 at 11:11pm
How the fuck did Scully and Mulder get out of Antartica?
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post #3 of 70
5/7/06 at 11:14pm
They are McGuffins... not important.

SP
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post #4 of 70
5/7/06 at 11:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DARKMITE8
3. What causes the zombies to rise from the grave in Night of the Living Dead?
Wasn't there a news report that mentioned a satellite had crashed?
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post #5 of 70
5/7/06 at 11:20pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hewlett
Wasn't there a news report that mentioned a satellite had crashed?
They mention that in the original? Or in Dawn or Day?
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post #6 of 70
5/7/06 at 11:22pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by SneakyPete
They are McGuffins... not important.

SP
Thanks. I understand they're not important... they're trivial... hence my quote: " Does anyone else have any other little favorite unanswered movie questions? Plotholes aren't what I'm getting at. The examples I gave don't really take away any enjoyment of the movies... just curiosities..."

Just thought I'd start up a conversation about trivia... specifically, movie-related... Also why I started it under "Movie Miscellany"...
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post #7 of 70
5/7/06 at 11:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DARKMITE8
They mention that in the original? Or in Dawn or Day?
I'm pretty sure it's in the original.
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post #8 of 70
5/8/06 at 2:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hewlett
I'm pretty sure it's in the original.
It is, but it's not really a decisive explanation.

I love the lack of explanation for the zombie apocalypse in Romero's originals as well as the Dawn remake.
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post #9 of 70
5/8/06 at 4:51am
Tarantula scene in Fulci's The Beyond.

Making no senseee.
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post #10 of 70
5/8/06 at 8:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by RathBandu
How the fuck did Scully and Mulder get out of Antartica?
A spare canister of gas on the snowcat for the trip back to whatever place Mulder got the snowcat from?
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post #11 of 70
5/8/06 at 1:28pm
who the fuck shot nice guy eddie?
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post #12 of 70
5/8/06 at 3:50pm
Every clock in Pulp Fiction is set on 4:20
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post #13 of 70
5/8/06 at 3:54pm
Speaking of Pulp Fiction, isn't it widely accepted that it's Marcellus' soul in the briefcase?
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post #14 of 70
5/8/06 at 5:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by JGButler
Speaking of Pulp Fiction, isn't it widely accepted that it's Marcellus' soul in the briefcase?
Widely? No, but it is the favored interpretation of the few people who feel it needs one. The other that I like is that it is the diamonds from the heist in Resevoir Dogs.
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post #15 of 70
5/8/06 at 7:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DARKMITE8
4. How do you use the 3 seashells in Demolition Man?
Simple. Press 1, then 2, and then 3.... You may want to press 1 more than once if you're messy...
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post #16 of 70
5/8/06 at 11:33pm
What was in the trunk of that car in Repo Man?
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post #17 of 70
5/9/06 at 4:29am
In Donnie Darko, how exactly did... oh wait, no, Richard Kelly explained the fuck out of that one.
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post #18 of 70
5/9/06 at 12:05pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by UberNeuman
Simple. Press 1, then 2, and then 3.... You may want to press 1 more than once if you're messy...
Your quote played out like an info-mercial in my head... "It's just that easy!"
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post #19 of 70
5/9/06 at 12:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Randolph Carter
What was in the trunk of that car in Repo Man?
Shrimp Platter. Or miniaturized nuclear reactor for the UFO/Time Machine/Car. Why do you think everyone was dying from radiation poisioning?

Funny gag, that. The one with Estevez walking down the street only to become even more non-plussed at the scores of dead, blind, burned people being attended by HAZMAT teams.
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post #20 of 70
5/9/06 at 12:54pm
EYES WIDE SHUT

What did young Leelee Sobieski whisper into Tom Cruise' ears?

LOST IN TRANSLATION

What did Scarlett Johansson whisper into Bill Murray's ears?
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post #21 of 70
5/9/06 at 1:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Randolph Carter
What was in the trunk of that car in Repo Man?
Whatever it was... it looked like sausage.



So this thread is for unanswered questions that are purposely left unanswered (or left to the viewers' imaginations)?

Let's go with a classic, a film that was robbed of many Oscars, a film that should've starred Sylvester Stallone to make it absolutely perfect.

That film is Predator 2.

1) How the smeg would Jesse James (or whomever the old gun belonged to) defeat a Predator? As an aside, Predators in the Wild West is so obvious, it's perfect.

2) What were those other skeletons on the Predators' trophy wall? We can clearly see the xenomorph (H.R. Giger's Alien, for you philistines), but what else? In particular, the larger one with big teeth interested me.


I could go the rest of my life without having those questions answered, FYI. But they did make the film more fun.
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post #22 of 70
5/9/06 at 2:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Myers
LOST IN TRANSLATION

What did Scarlett Johansson whisper into Bill Murray's ears?
She didn't whisper anything--Bill did that talking in that moment. There's a line for that part in the script, but I don't remember what it was. In any case, Murray apparently said something totally different and did so in a way so that his mic wouldn't pick it up.
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post #23 of 70
5/9/06 at 5:08pm

Pulp fiction Mystery

Yeah, I like to believe it was the diamonds from Res. Dogs that was in the briefcase, but like mentioned, it could be Wallace's soul, to many weird things in the movie that make it seem more supernatural...Esmeralda, Butch's taxi driver, kinda a giveaway that shes Esmeralda the Witch....Grace the name of the motorcycle that Butch drives off on in the end, because he was given grace by Wallace...The flashing lights when they kill the guys in the apartment...the code on the Briefcase- 666...the band-aid on the back of wallace's neck- Because that's how the devil can steal your soul, through the back of your neck
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post #24 of 70
5/9/06 at 5:13pm
Plus when Jules opens the case for Pumpkin, he says "Is that what I think it is." If it were diamonds, 1) he'd say "Are those..." and 2) if they were diamonds he wouldn't be questioning what they are.
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post #25 of 70
5/9/06 at 5:34pm
I always had trouble with the idea of Ringo inherently knowing what a soul looked like, but it makes more sense than diamonds.
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post #26 of 70
5/9/06 at 5:41pm
No but I don't find it that far-fetched that a soul would be somewhat recognizable. I'm not even saying that's what I necessarily think it is, but for me it's a theory that holds a little more weight than diamonds (sorry guys).

Anyway, Lord knows there have been terrabytes of messageboard posts covering this very topic so I'll apologize for the derailment.

Carry on!
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post #27 of 70
5/9/06 at 7:23pm
The three seashells!!! I have always wondered that... It is one of Hollywoods last laughs... but "He who laughs last thinks the slowest. " :-P
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post #28 of 70
5/9/06 at 7:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dariodevil
1) How the smeg would Jesse James (or whomever the old gun belonged to) defeat a Predator? As an aside, Predators in the Wild West is so obvious, it's perfect.
Wouldn't the fact that the Predator had the gun indicate that whoever owned the gun was defeated?

Quote:
2) What were those other skeletons on the Predators' trophy wall? We can clearly see the xenomorph (H.R. Giger's Alien, for you philistines), but what else? In particular, the larger one with big teeth interested me.
There was always a small part of me that thought it was supposed to be a rancor.
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post #29 of 70
5/9/06 at 7:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by JGButler
Plus when Jules opens the case for Pumpkin, he says "Is that what I think it is." If it were diamonds, 1) he'd say "Are those..." and 2) if they were diamonds he wouldn't be questioning what they are.
Unless that heist became somewhat infamous among the criminal element (and considering the outcome at the end of Dogs, that's pretty likely). Then it'd be more like, "Is that what I think it is?" in the sense of "Is that the haul from The Diamond Heist?"
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post #30 of 70
5/9/06 at 7:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard Dickson
Unless that heist became somewhat infamous among the criminal element (and considering the outcome at the end of Dogs, that's pretty likely). Then it'd be more like, "Is that what I think it is?" in the sense of "Is that the haul from The Diamond Heist?"
Ahhh. Touche.
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post #31 of 70
5/9/06 at 7:53pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard Dickson
There was always a small part of me that thought it was supposed to be a rancor.
That little bit o' wishful thinking just made my day. There's a battle I'd love to see...
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post #32 of 70
5/9/06 at 7:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DARKMITE8
That little bit o' wishful thinking just made my day. There's a battle I'd love to see...
If a newly-trained Jedi can beat a rancor with a well-tossed rock, I don't see one giving a Predator much trouble.
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post #33 of 70
5/9/06 at 8:02pm
Quote:
If a newly-trained Jedi can beat a rancor with a well-tossed rock, I don't see one giving a Predator much trouble.
But that was a domesticated Rancor. Imagine one in the wild!
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post #34 of 70
5/9/06 at 10:19pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard Dickson
If a newly-trained Jedi can beat a rancor with a well-tossed rock, I don't see one giving a Predator much trouble.
Well it was ROTJ Luke, in his defense, the same Jedi that defeats Vader later in the same movie... Also, the Rancor's hunting skills were atrophied from Jabba's consistent trap-door policies. And judging by the response of the rancor-keeper when the beast is slain, I'd say he was probably a pretty spoiled puppy too... God, I'm such a geek.

Judge Luke by his size, do you?
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post #35 of 70
5/9/06 at 10:46pm
The mystery in the suitcase in Ronin. What's in there? Secret documents,
an enigmatic weapon. It will always remain a cool mystery.
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post #36 of 70
5/9/06 at 11:02pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ForsakenNoMore
The mystery in the suitcase in Ronin. What's in there? Secret documents,
an enigmatic weapon. It will always remain a cool mystery.
The Classified McGuffin Files?... or Top Secret orders to De Niro to sabotage his own career after that decent movie?
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post #37 of 70
5/9/06 at 11:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ForsakenNoMore
The mystery in the suitcase in Ronin. What's in there? Secret documents,
an enigmatic weapon. It will always remain a cool mystery.
Ebert suggested that the brief case from Pulp Fiction was in the case from Ronin.

I like that explanation.
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post #38 of 70
5/9/06 at 11:40pm
Quote:
Originally posted by DARKMITE8
The Classified McGuffin Files?... or Top Secret orders to De Niro to sabotage his own career after that decent movie?
hehe...

Quote:
Originally posted by JuxtaPosition
Ebert suggested that the brief case from Pulp Fiction was in the case from Ronin.

I like that explanation.
I've yet to see Pulp Fiction. Maybe I'll watch it, looking for the briefcase--LOL.
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post #39 of 70
5/10/06 at 11:44pm
Why, oh why does the original Jurassic Park (one of my very favorite flicks) spend so much time on the sick Triceratops mystery without bothering to resolve it. Ellie picks up the crucial clue that leads to the revelation in the book, but a resolution wasn't even scripted if memory serves me. This isn't a "why isn't this or that part from the book missing" bitch-session like LOTR and Potter diehards debate endlessly over, but a genuine head-scratcher. I know the spectacle of the beast and the hands-on experience was a crucial story element for Grant, but other than just an excuse to show a woman dig through a giant pile of dino-dung why even bother to devote so much screen time to it?
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post #40 of 70
5/10/06 at 11:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mad_Kinski
Tarantula scene in Fulci's The Beyond.

Making no senseee.
Fulci's The Beyond.

There's your answer.
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post #41 of 70
5/10/06 at 11:48pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by bobblemonkey
Why, oh why does the original Jurassic Park (one of my very favorite flicks) spend so much time on the sick Triceratops mystery without bothering to resolve it. Ellie picks up the crucial clue that leads to the revelation in the book, but a resolution wasn't even scripted if memory serves me. This isn't a "why isn't this or that part from the book missing" bitch-session like LOTR and Potter diehards debate endlessly over, but a genuine head-scratcher. I know the spectacle of the beast and the hands-on experience was a crucial story element for Grant, but other than just an excuse to show a woman dig through a giant pile of dino-dung why even bother to devote so much screen time to it?
Didn't read the book. What's the crucial clue that leads to what revelation? The changing sex thing?
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post #42 of 70
5/10/06 at 11:51pm
Well, it doesn't change the plot or anything, but the herbivores getting sick are ingesting poisonous plants when taking in stones to assist in the breakdown of particulate matter (these rocks are called gastroliths or "gizzard stones").
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post #43 of 70
5/11/06 at 1:58am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by bobblemonkey
Well, it doesn't change the plot or anything, but the herbivores getting sick are ingesting poisonous plants when taking in stones to assist in the breakdown of particulate matter (these rocks are called gastroliths or "gizzard stones").
Why is that a revelation? I've heard of the gizzard stones theory before... Maybe a revalation b/c it's actually witnessing a real paleontological theory before their eyes. Like the raptors hunting in packs & the herbivores herding behavior...
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post #44 of 70
5/11/06 at 2:11am
It isn't in the biblical sense, only in the strict definition of the term, a revelation. One missing from a film full of them. It's just a scene that goes on too long for my tastes to not give viewers any answers.

Perhaps not something that fits with the general lighthearted nature of other examples in this thread, but not really a plot hole either. Regardless, it does little to hinder my enjoyment of the film, as it enraptured me at a young age and has stuck with me 13 years later.
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post #45 of 70
5/11/06 at 7:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dariodevil


1) How the smeg would Jesse James (or whomever the old gun belonged to) defeat a Predator? As an aside, Predators in the Wild West is so obvious, it's perfect.

.
Actually, it's an old flintlock pistol and it says, "Raphael Adolini 1715."

Carry on.
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post #46 of 70
5/11/06 at 11:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DARKMITE8
Well it was ROTJ Luke, in his defense, the same Jedi that defeats Vader later in the same movie... Also, the Rancor's hunting skills were atrophied from Jabba's consistent trap-door policies. And judging by the response of the rancor-keeper when the beast is slain, I'd say he was probably a pretty spoiled puppy too... God, I'm such a geek.

Judge Luke by his size, do you?
Actually in the Expanded Universe they go on to say the Rancor in ROTJ is only a juvenile, and that the fully-grown ones on Dathomir are like 3 times its size. And you call yourself a fuckin' geek?!

Personally I can't even fathom what it would be like to have a Rancor that big in a movie, let alone see someone trying to fight it.
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post #47 of 70
5/11/06 at 11:27pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stormin
Actually in the Expanded Universe they go on to say the Rancor in ROTJ is only a juvenile, and that the fully-grown ones on Dathomir are like 3 times its size. And you call yourself a fuckin' geek?!.
Some on this site would say that I'm not a geek because I headed the advice of others and avoided the EU stuff...

Actually... I never learned how to read... It's true except for the reading part.

3X the size, you say? Hot damn... I remember the old SW RPG tabletop mentioning that Jabba's Rancor might be the only one of it's rare kind. And then the Wildlife of Star Wars nature/art book by Terryl Whitlatch shows the Rancor in its Mommy mode with twins on its home planet of Dathomir. Hmmmm....
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post #48 of 70
5/12/06 at 12:12am
"Taxi Driver".

SPOILERS?

After the bloody gunfight, is Travis dead? If not, how is he in such good condition? How could he survive that? I mean, the film doesn't nod to the rest of it being a dream sequence, but really... who survives that?
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post #49 of 70
5/12/06 at 12:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by fabfunk
"Taxi Driver".

SPOILERS?

After the bloody gunfight, is Travis dead? If not, how is he in such good condition? How could he survive that? I mean, the film doesn't nod to the rest of it being a dream sequence, but really... who survives that?
The 'Taxi Driver' thread somewhere here goes on a bit about that. I second whomever said that - since it was Travis' mad delusion, he metaphysically (or whatver) instantiated his redemption and hero worship, and subsequent 'I'm over you' scene at the very end.
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post #50 of 70
1/24/12 at 4:56pm
Thread Starter 

It was brought up here, but how do Indy and Marion get back with the Ark at the end of Raiders after the Nazis are eliminated?

 

How do they get KONG on and off the Venture?

 

What happens in TDK after Bruce's party? How does the Joker get away?


Edited by DARKMITE8 - 1/24/12 at 5:06pm
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