Episode 6 Great Movie Mistakes

Hello and welcome to Great Movie Mistakes 2.

Even more goofs, gaffes, mess-ups and blunders

that Hollywood's brightest thought we wouldn't notice.

Wrong! Guess they weren't counting on crack team of... noticers.

They've pored over literally hours of film footage to compile

another classic collection of cinematic clunkers.

On tonight's show...

If it's so difficult for movie-makers to get the weather right,

then why don't they just write scripts where it's always nice?

Singing In The Rain could just become Singing In The Dry,

The Perfect Storm could become The Perfectly Pleasant Afternoon,

and in An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore could just reveal

that it's going to get quite mild, much more convenient.

Anyway, here's some weather that we can really complain about.

Let's start with a clip from romantic comedy, Enchanted.

Plenty of snow on the pavement.

It's clearly the middle of winter.

But hang on, a little later in the same scene, the pavement is suddenly snow free.

This has ruined an otherwise completely realistic movie for me.

Here's the opening scene from comedic turkey Paul Blart: Mall Cop.

But the animal we're interested in is the dog.

See how there's a clear shadow underneath the pooch in the bright sunlight?

Well, not in the close-up.

This is actually only the second worst mistake, right after having made the film in the first place.

A small ship on stormy seas. It's being thrown all over the place

in the opening scene of this Brit flick.

We're about to get our first glimpse of the famous Boat That Rocked,

only problem being that the boat that rocked isn't rocking at all.

Unlike the small boat, it's in much calmer waters.

Here's a fully grown man kerb-crawling for schoolgirls.

How did the concert go?

You can see from the rain on the car that it's absolutely pouring down.

-What are you playing?

-Elgar.

Ah, I think it's a shame he spent so much time...

We can always hear the rain, but she's clearly walking in the sunshine.

Looks like the film's continuity person needs a bit of an education.

George Clooney looking for a bit of love action in the winter snow.

So I was in the neighbourhood...

But keep an eye on the snow that's coming down.

It's everywhere,

except in this shot, when the snow machine obviously went on the blink.

And it's snowing again. And not. And snow.

And finally, a clip in which some frozen teens

complain about being frozen, in the movie Frozen.

They're stuck on a chairlift and clearly really, really cold.

Frozen, even.

It's frigging cold up here!

So why can't we see their breath in this scene?

Probably because they're in a cosy, warm studio, that's why.

Props are a regular source of terrible movie mistakes.

Sometimes it's a thing that doesn't look quite right,

like a heavy rock that's clearly made out of polystyrene.

Or something that shouldn't have been in the film in the first place,

like Ray Winstone in the last Indiana Jones movie.

Prop mix-ups could have disastrous consequences.

I mean, what if The Man With The Golden Gun had lost his golden gun?

It would just be called The Man.

And I've not seen the film myself, but what if Schindler had lost his shopping list?

It IS a shopping list, isn't it? Yeah.

If there's one man you can trust in Hollywood, it's Richard Gere.

Here's a scene in which he promises to look after some letters.

Popping off letters for my dad, my mom and my sis.

Don't worry, still got them.

Oh, Richard, you've lost them.

You're neither an officer nor a gentleman.

If you don't mind me saying, you're still angry.

Rupert Everett now, someone else with no letters.

-Even though he is holding a letter opener.

-I'm not angry.

I'm just very, very, very...

Very confused because now the letter opener is a dart.

Disappointed.

Here's Billy Bob Thornton as Bad Santa,

relaxing after a hard day's being miserable.

But keep an eye on the bottle he's swigging from.

You can see it's made of thin plastic.

Shouldn't smash like glass then, eh?

Bad Santa.

It's futuristic sci-fi hit Moon now, which features an epic plot clanger.

Keep your eye on the table for an unexpected reworking

of Little House On The Prairie.

High five.

Only in the future,

it's called Little House On The Ping-pong Table. Weird.

-John Travolta appears to be running out of time.

-I think I need to pray.

As we can see on the black-faced watch he's wearing.

Give me a minute.

Only the next time we see his watch, it changes to a white one.

And there's the black one again.

-Should we tell him?

-Tell him the truth or a lie?

Tell him the truth.

Why do extras insist on being referred to as background artists?

Artists? They're standing in a lift or pretending to eat at a diner.

They're not flipping Rembrandt. But whatever they call themselves,

they need to remember that just because they're in the background

doesn't mean we can't see them.

And their mistakes. As these clips show.

Being an extra isn't so hard. There are just a few basics to get right.

Watch the guy playing a French reporter in mystical blockbuster,

Angels and Demons. His left arm is up.

And now it's down.

Poor workmanship, monsieur.

In this rousing scene from Legally Blonde 2,

Elle's colleagues are shoulder to shoulder in the close shot.

Extra fries.

But in the wide shot, they're suddenly miles apart from each other.

Miles! OK, inches.

Come on, sneak a peek!

Here's Uma Thurman with a hairdo so terrifying it turns people into stone.

And even stone extras screw up their part, as we're about to see.

She grabs the girl's wrist at elbow level.

And now it's down by her waist. The snakes will be very angry.

-How are you?

-Very well.

-Watch out for the extra playing a waiter.

He really doesn't want to miss his big moment.

-May I have a drink?

-A drink, of course.

He walks through shot, but then you can see him waiting for his cue right there in the reflection.

-He didn't see me.

-Waiter?

-I will have a martini.

-Blimey, that's quick service.

Keep an eye on this guy. All he needs to do is clap normally

and not look like a complete weirdo.

Unfortunately, he can't do either.

See you in four years, yeah?

Presumably, because he's been told to clap silently and not ruin the soundtrack.

Let's have one more look at this fine extra work.

-Wow, he stands out like a Jamaican in the Winter Olympics.

-Yeah, man.

-Oh...

First thing you learn at the academy of not being a crap extra

is don't look at the camera.

This girl manages to do it once...

Twice.

Who wants to see my big ass dancing anyhow?

Three times. Cut!

And finally, here's an extra in the crowd

who's doing absolutely everything wrong.

The audience has been told not to react to the band, but not this guy.

He's mugging at the camera and generally having a one-man party.

Sir, we salute you.

Movie folk aren't always the smartest tools in the box,

and this is apparent when they're asked to write something.

If the clips we're about to see are to be believed, then apparently, it is impossible

to put pen to paper on screen without making some massive error.

Well, if that really is true, then I've got a word for you.

Ooh, hang on. No, that's right. Roll the clips.

St Trinian's, and no, the mistake here isn't the whole movie.

Keep an eye on the blackboard behind Russell Brand.

Nothing written next to number five.

Search for the criminal inside yourself. Yes?

-TOGETHER:

-Theft.

Then suddenly, writing has appeared on Russell's blackboardy-woardy.

Good work.

Here's a newspaper that clearly says it's from the year 1980.

But hold the press, what's this?

TheEmbreyStar.com?!

A web address in 1980?

The World Wide Web didn't exist until the 1990s.

Here's a film about a hotel for dogs called Hotel For Dogs.

One of the dogs staying at the hotel is called Henry,

as can be seen from his name written in green ink in the guest register.

Note the lovely red heart above.

But later in the film, when Don Cheadle reads out his name,

it's written in red pen and no sign of a heart.

Don, you're an Oscar winner.

You're better than this.

To decide that she will cheat on the math test.

X marks the spot here in mystery thriller Donnie Darko.

Good. Good, very good.

Mr Darko?

The biggest mystery, though,

is why that X becomes almost invisible in the next shot.

We'll just chalk this one up to experience.

Another Oscar winner now.

Look at the word "direktor" being written on Oskar Schindler's door.

But later in the film, the letters look completely different -

much bigger and in a different font.

I'm sorry, you can't blame this one on the Nazis.

I imagine you sitting in a dark basement room,

bent over papers and computer screens.

And finally, a chilling scene from Hannibal.

When crazy old Dr Lecter signs his letter to Clarice Starling,

there is no hyphen between "Hannibal Lecter"

and "MD".

'PS. Clearly...'

But when Starling reads the letter, there's a hyphen.

Someone's head should be served on a platter for this mistake.

Maybe with some minted peas and a nice cabernet sauvignon.

HE SLURPS

-OUT OF SYNC:

-You know what I hate? Those moments in films

when the actor's mouth isn't synched up with what they're saying.

Sometimes their mouth isn't moving, sometimes it's moving but nothing's coming out.

Still, it's better than watching Twilight,

where you can see Robert Pattinson's mouth moving, but what you hear is absolute drivel.

In the movie Collateral, Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx

go to a jazz club that's so groovy, it ignores the rules of physics.

It's off melody. Behind the notes. Not what's expected.

Listen as the trumpet note continues even though the trumpeter's stopped blowing.

Nice!

-Have I told you about Sammy Jankis?

-Mm. Yeah.

Memento now, and watch the guy on the right's mouth.

You think he's still here?

Another one talking without actually moving his lips.

-You think he's still here?

-Who?

Johnny G, the guy you're looking for.

..others exceedingly cruel...

Now, this woman is talking so much, you can still hear her when her mouth isn't moving.

Watch closely as she's put down on the sofa.

..coffee shop downstairs.

Not that I'd trade a day, an hour, a moment of it for anything!

I don't know what came over me!

The Windsor plantation.

And here is a classic mouth-wrong from the film The Notebook.

Take note - just because a scene is dimly lit does not mean you can dub over completely different words.

Be careful it isn't broken.

Look at that.

Oh, this place is gigantic!

Yeah, a gigantic piece of...

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