Corrected entry: In the close captions (Prime Video) Goodman on the boat in the dark says "So much that Nancyand I are going to do together", missing a space. (00:21:50)
Sammo
13th Apr 2020
Death in Paradise (2011)
21st Mar 2020
Star Trek: Picard (2020)
Corrected entry: Investigating the communications logs from Dahj's apartment, Picard reacts with extreme surprise at the notion that the message from her sister does not come from Earth. But Earth is the center of the Federation, made of hundreds of planets, with thousands of space stations, ships, where travel between planets at least in the solar system and certainly in nearby systems is a matter of mere hours if not minutes. Most messages Picard ever received in his life have been off-world messages, and he's talking with an alien in that very moment! Where does that surprised reaction come from? It could have easily been a message from a ship or a research station somewhere. It's routine. (00:14:00)
Correction: Picard wasn't shocked that Dahj's sister was not on Earth. He simply wanted to make sure Laris was certain that the messages originated from off-world before begging a Starfleet admiral to give him a ship.
Like I said, he reacts with extreme surprise, and the director cues a hilariously bit of dramatic music to it. It is a scene played as if the mere notion that a person being 'off-world' and 'nowhere on Earth' were something extremely uncommon, as if space travel wasn't the norm and Earth wouldn't be just a part of thousands of installations in space and parts of the Federation. The small-scale thinking that this show practices all the time starting with the way it treats a huge Empire that can't muster resources to evacuate its home world and somehow ceases to exist as such.
25th Feb 2020
Seinfeld (1990)
Corrected entry: It's just a parody/absurd sequence, but it's odd that with over two dozen bullets shot from barely a dozen feet of distance, just a couple entry wounds appear on the body of the runaway Seinfeld. Of course no blood either, but that's a necessity given the type of show. (00:08:55)
Correction: It's a dream sequence. It doesn't have to follow the rules of reality. I frequently have dreams that logically make no sense.
I know, I know, but never been a big fan of giving a free pass to dream sequences for things like continuity, poor stunts etc. If anything, it'd get a pass because it's a comedy and violence and realism are toned down by default.
The very nature of dreams give them a free pass for just about anything. I will have dreams where I'm talking to a certain person or holding a certain object, and in the next moment the person will be someone else or the object will be something else. I have dreams where I am back in high school and the layout of the building will frequently change, or the class I go into will change subjects. If you put that to film, it would be a change in continuity.
What you say is true for dream sequences played specifically with the purpose to give the viewer a sense of disorientation, experience something obviously 'off', a deliberately disjointed and creative scenario that breaks reality. As I said, I am not a fan of being unable to nitpick scenes or even movies who happen all in someone's head for trivial mistakes that are not something as amazingly obvious as the ones you explained. Your examples are something the viewer would notice and would register as deliberate choice and part of the plot, but Seinfeld wearing earbuds or 2 gunshot wounds instead of a dozen are not really something I can put in the same category. If the dream scene is played 'straight', as that one has been, I don't believe we have to just assume that any take can be edited together since continuity is not an issue, props and tricks can be visible or act weird because who knows what can happen in a dream, etc.
You make a fair point (which is also why I didn't submit a correction for your separate entry of Jerry wearing ear protection). However, the basis of this submission is that Jerry only has a couple entry wounds and no bleeding after being shot numerous times. That can just be chalked up to how his mind dreamed the scenario. I don't think a sense of disorientation or something being off needs to be established (especially when the sequence is played for laughs) for viewers to accept details like that can suddenly change within a dream since we all dream and understand that those things happen.
Not necessarily "established" but "with purpose", which can be seen in hindsight. Anything can happen in a dream, but if he imagined to be shot in such a dramatic fashion so many times and die, the fact that he dies with a cheap effect is hardly serving any narrative purpose. Again, I could see why ultimately the mistake could be seen as stating the obvious since "the scene is played for laughs", which was my first caveat posting the scene, the last being the lack of blood for censorship purposes. They didn't thoroughly cover Jerry Seinfeld with squibs and things like that just for a gag - explanation of the 'mistake' rather than justification, but fair. But as far as the dream goes, the point of that dream scene is to do something more 'violent' and unexpected than you'd see in the 'real life' scenes, not tone it down through a marginal detail that has a clear explanation.
6th Oct 2019
Captain Marvel (2019)
Corrected entry: Fury is laughing off the idea of Vers being an alien and asks a normal cop to put her under arrest. But then, it would not make sense SHIELD even bothered to arrive on the scene (assuming Fury was in LA already) if they did not detect also the crash of the escape pod, the huge ship exploding in atmosphere and thus treat the problem as serious. They also arrive simultaneously as the cop, in daylight, when Vers crashed at night.
Correction: Their knowledge of aliens was the same as anybody in those days. Fury just thought she was some crazy person, with perhaps some forbidden weapons and/or communications technology. They arrived after the security guard called it in, since there were multiple incidents at that location they decided to send in SHIELD agents (regular agents) besides a regular cop in case there was a connection. Since they arrived in daylight I'd say they had quite a drive to get there.
Just a note: was not just regular agents, Keller is on the site as well, he's the first to arrive even (I did not notice it the first two times I have watched the movie, partly because the deleted scene in the office made me imagine a different scenario). So it's important enough that the top brass from SHIELD (plus rookie Coulsen and whoever drove Keller) arrive but at the same time they waltz in with the odd normal cop as backup. They can't be there because of some dude said there's a lady in a suit, did they even notice a spaceship blow up (you'd expect so but the movie and MCU ignore it later when larger ships suffer the same fate)? I don't want to repeat myself too much and I agree with what you wrote: to me the dynamic seems quite strange. In such a long time the first respondents (in the middle of a city) arrive only when SHIELD arrives, an hour after they've been called. And no cop or fireman arrived before on the impact zone? The response to this crisis is pure 'movie logic'.
Right, Keller being there is weird already, since he just disappears when they confront Carol. Couldn't be Talos in disguise either or he would attack her. His questions at the autopsy suggests he replaced Keller after the chase. If that's got to do with deleted scenes though, not sure how to handle that. I agree that's weird, but a plot hole? The security guard called in the lady asking wierd questions, probably nothing about the crash. Anyway the response can still be explained by SHIELD taking over and have the regular law enforcement not respond until they arrive as well. Again, even in the 90's SHIELD seems to have a lot of power and control. You can only guess at what they really know or think.
In the deleted scene, Talos in disguises enters Keller's office thanks to the real Coulson kindly opening the door for him and the real Keller is discovered knocked out, bound and gagged there indicating he took his place. But deleted scenes are always tricky and in case of this particular movie they have to be discarded altogether I think, since some contradict the movie (Vers begins the movie meeting Jude Law as he is training some kids and does not visit him in his room; Vers bullies the biker guy into giving her the bike, etc). Anyway yes, we both agree the situation is weird, I understand you being as usual more cautious than me when it comes to call a contrived and scarcely logical behaviour a "plot hole" and I appreciate it, matter of opinion, we both pointed out what's wrong and what sort of explanation, lack thereof (or perhaps no need of) there is.
7th Oct 2019
Captain Marvel (2019)
Corrected entry: The date on the pictures of the crash site is 06/23/1990, contradicting what Fury says (and what the movie establishes elsewhere), with the crash happening in 1989. (00:47:25)
Correction: The date on the picture is in the classification section and refers to the date of classification, not the date of the crash. The markings however are incorrect for a classified document for multiple reasons, including not including a level.
Thanks for the specification, that is interesting! However, would something of this importance be processed a whole year after the fact?
Yes. Whenever a "new" document is created, its classification date is the date that the classification was determined and formalized. If a picture wasn't processed for a year, or if a blowup was later made (transformations count as new), then those "new" documents would show the date that the classification officer did the review. I was for a few years a classification officer, and sometimes had to review older material that someone never bothered to have reviewed until later.
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Correction: While subtitles on an official DVD normally count as a mistake, on streaming services I'd be more tolerant, because that's more Amazon's responsibility, and they're often corrected once alerted to the problem.
Jon Sandys ★
Will remember that in the future! Thanks. I understand the part about the fact that it's easy for them to fix and therefore the mistake could be corrected very easily (although I could take a screenshot, which is hardly worth the hassle for very minor mistakes of this nature) and is in fact corrected if reported (that's a bit like bugs submissions for games tho?), not sure about the responsibilities, since DVD subtitles too are normally done by external companies as well.
Sammo ★
True, I guess my attitude has generally been that by the time it's crystallised onto a DVD it's been signed off by the distributor/filmmakers, and the whole thing is sort of a package, whereas if Amazon/Netflix get the subtitles wrong or make a strange edit, etc. that's more a one-off, plus can be fixed after the fact. Grey area though!
Jon Sandys ★