Best Christmas movie questions of all time

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Elf (2003)

Elf picture

Question: When The Central Park Rangers are called in action it mentions the Simon and Garfunkel concert and their actions being under speculation - was this a real event (their questionable actions), and if so what was the problem, or was it just a fictional jokey reference?

Answer: This was a real event. The Simon and Garfunkel free concert drew a crowd of over half a million people and the Central Park Rangers were investigated for being a little "over-enthusiastic" in their methods of crowd control. It was 1981 though, not 1985 as stated.

Absolutely correct and thank you - I was there at the concert and it was 1981. I love the movie Elf but that incorrect reference is a slight irritant - LOL.

Answer: I believe that this refers to an incident I was involved in. I was a new ranger riding Captain Cutter, an ex-race horse that we had Nick named Captain Goofy due to his propensity to suddenly spin in circles without warning. We were leading buses of handicapped people through shoulder-to-shoulder crowds when Goofy did his thing sending people scattering in all directions. It was over pretty quickly. I did not realise at the time that it was news.

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National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation picture

Question: Was there a deleted scene where Cathrine and Ellen were talking while making the turkey in the kitchen and/or doing something resulting in the bird being "overdone" totally and showing up in the scene at dinner causing the turkey to literally explode in a cloud of dust when carved by Clark? It just seems there was a scene missing there!

Answer: YES! You are 100% correct about the deleted turkey-cooking scene! Both my husband and I remember this scene. It was Catherine and Eddie that cooked the turkey to thank Clark and his family for being hospitable. They had never cooked a turkey before and they thought cooking it at a low temperature for a LONG time would be ideal. It looked great, but completely dehydrated. THIS is why Catherine is so upset when the turkey pops open and steams - she ruined the turkey for everyone.

Answer: I have a DVD with the exploding turkey scene It's a classic.

Answer: There was never a scene as described in the film, nor was there anything in any of the special features. Also, there is no mention of it in any of the commentary.

Answer: I also remember vividly the scene where Catherine is cooking the turkey and have been trying to get a copy of the film where that scene is not deleted. Also checked with my wife, she recalls it too. I think we might have seen it on a very early VHS or LaserDisc version.

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Krampus picture

Question: How does the movie really end? Are the family trapped in a snow globe for all eternity, or were they given a second chance and Krampus is just watching them?

Answer: The ending is that they are all alive and Krampus gave them a second chance. Evidence of this comes from the director's commentary and the comic book prequel "Krampus: Shadow of Saint Nicholas".

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Home Alone 2: Lost in New York picture

Question: After Peter yells at Kevin "You spent $967 on room service?!", where does Kevin run off to? It's not clear from what's onscreen.

Answer: He's heading back to the hotel most likely to apologize for spending such a huge amount.

Answer: It's Kevin's dad who screams out. You can tell because Buzz looks at the bill, smirks, and says, "Oh, Dad." I've always interpreted it as Kevin running away. The joke is that Kevin's dad screams so loud from the hotel room that Kevin can hear him from the park. So Kevin wouldn't want to face his dad.

Bishop73

I just watched the clip on YouTube and yeah you're right, it is his dad. The sound of his voice when he yells "Kevin" sounds exactly like Buzz, so it probably conditioned a lot of viewers such as myself to accept it as Buzz's voice for the whole line.

Phaneron

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Rocky IV picture

Question: Why and who were the guys following Rocky in the car when he was training?

Jcbhager

Answer: They were Rocky's chaperones. They were even seen in the cabin Rocky was staying in and playing chess with Duke.

Chosen answer: People who worked for the Soviet government assigned to spy on Rocky.

Greg Dwyer

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Answer: It is never stated.

Answer: As the other response says, the number of years is never stated. Physically, I think he is supposed to look about twenty years old. Bill wants him to start a proper business. None of the adults seem to think that he should be in school.

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The Polar Express picture

Question: What kind of instrument was the bum playing when we first meet him?

Answer: The instrument is called a Hurdy-Gurdy. It is a type of wound string instrument.

Answer: Violin.

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The Nightmare Before Christmas picture

Question: Sally tries to prevent Jack from taking over Christmas using Fog Juice. How will fog stop him?

Answer: As seen in the movie, the Fog Juice made it difficult to see anything. Sally had hoped that with no way of seeing where he was going, she would be able to stop him from leaving Halloween Town and save his life.

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Love Actually picture

Question: Does Kiera Nightly's character ever split up with her husband and go to his best friend? They show her with the husband at the end of the movie, but it seemed to me that she really loved the best friend. I was sure she would choose him over her husband.

Answer: No, Keira Knightley's character is not in love with the best friend; her kiss is one of compassion and affection, not love. Richard Curtis mentions this on the DVD commentary - he says something about Juliet being the sort of girl who would be used to men falling for her and treating them gently and kindly, which is what she does here.

STP

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Home Alone picture

Question: Maybe I missed it, but did the McAllisters even bother to call home? I don't remember them calling the house at all. Why wouldn't that be the first thing they do? Kevin seems to be pretty independent for his age. He might have not answered the door, but I'm sure he would have answered the phone.

Carl Missouri

Chosen answer: They did but the power and phone lines were down due to a tree branch that had fallen on them the night before the family left. A flight attendant on their plane mentions that attempts had been made to call the McAllisters' home but "the phones are still out of order".

Jeff Swanson

But how did he call the police at the end if the phone lines were down.

That was several days later. Clearly the phone lines were repaired over the course of the film.

The film takes place over 3 or 4 days.

Ssiscool

After the storm the lineman tells them the power has been restored but the phone lines are "a mess" and that it would take several days to get them fixed. They were out initially, and then in various stages of repair afterward.

Also explains calling for a pizza.

Ssiscool

It's ridiculous though that the phones are apparently working by the time they land (Kate's SIL calls everyone on their street). Yet none of them try the house again.

Answer: That is also how Kevin was able to order his cheese pizza from Little Nero's.

zredman

Answer: The phone lines were fixed by the end of the movie. Remember, this takes place over the course of several days.

Answer: It's also possible they don't think he's at the house still since the cops did attempt to stop by and see if he was home, but received no answer after ringing the bell. Or they did try to call and left a message, but Kevin may not have thought to check the phone messages if he was out of the house and didn't expect anyone to call. He also didn't want anyone to return until the day prior to Christmas, by which point the mom was already en route and the dad and remaining kids had a plan to come home on Christmas morning.

Answer: The next day, after the cop shows up to check the house, while the Wet Bandits are in the house next door, the phone rings and the answering machine picks up, allowing Peter to leave a message. If the next-door neighbor's phone is working, wouldn't it only make sense for Peter to immediately call his own house? Even if Kevin hasn't returned home from shoplifting a toothbrush and doesn't answer the phone, Peter should still be able to leave a message on an answering machine and most likely keep calling over and over until Kevin answers the phone.

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Chosen answer: It's just something the kid came up with. He is not quite all there. It's just something that illustrates how odd the kid is.

Grumpy Scot

Answer: My guess is that they are characters of the Christmas story.

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Die Hard picture

Question: On the some versions (TV), when Al walks in the lobby to check it out, right before he gets to the elevators and then leaves, the camera pans to the left and you see a terrorist with a machine gun waiting for him. On other versions (VHS) you don't see this terrorist. Why? NOTE: I've seen both on the same TV set.

Answer: The most likely reason is that the two versions have been "panned and scanned" differently. In the original theater version, both things are on screen at the same time at opposite sides of the screen. In one version, the person who did the TV P&S (not someone associated with the making of the film) chose to move the view from one side of the original picture to the other, showing the terrorist, while the person who did the VHS P&S stayed focused on one side of the frame, only showing Al.

Myridon

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Die Hard 2 picture

Question: Why was McClane introduced in the first Die Hard movie as a New York badge, and in the second Die Hard movie as a L.A. badge? Then in the third Die Hard movie, he's again a New York cop.

Answer: In the first movie he's a New York cop visiting his wife. In the second Die Hard, he tells the airport officer that he's LAPD and moved there because of his wife's job. In the third Die Hard film, he most likely went back to New York because of marital problems and became a New York cop again.

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Trading Places picture

Question: Why are Dan and Eddie in wool sweaters on a tropical beach when the women are in bikinis at the end of the movie?

Answer: Character choice. I've seen people doing exactly that if they are not happy with their body image.

Ssiscool

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Chosen answer: We know that Tilly (Matilda) Bailey is not Uncle Billy's daughter, because when Billy "loses" the deposit money and rushes back to BBB&L, George tells him that Harry's on the telephone and we hear Tilly say, "Hurry up Uncle Billy, long distance from Washington," so presumably she's George's cousin and Uncle Billy's niece. (When there's the run on the bank we see her desk, and there are a few photographs of men, one of which may be her father).

Super Grover

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The Santa Clause 2 picture

Question: The premise of "Santa Clause 2" is that the new Santa must find a wife or he goes back to being a normal guy. So, what happened to the prior Mrs. Claus, the one that was married to the Santa that fell off the roof in the first movie - or for that matter, the ones married to any of the prior Santas? Do they just disappear when their husbands are no longer Santa?

Answer: They become widows, presumably, stop being "Mrs. Claus", and go back to living a normal life.

Phixius

Answer: When a Santa dies, the previous Mrs. Claus goes back into the human world and loses all memory of the north pole and Santa.

Answer: The previous Santas probably didn't have wives and then would die or retire before the elves could find out about the marriage clause.

But that doesn't make sense because Scott Calvin, the current Santa, automatically started to reverse naturally without the elves doing anything.

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Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer picture

Question: Yukon has a gun - why he didn't just shoot the snow creature at the cave?

Answer: It's a kid's show, not Game of Thrones.

Answer: Plot wise, if the snow creature had been killed, it would have ruined the happy ending. Yukon has a kind nature, and he probably wouldn't kill anything.

raywest

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Batman Returns picture

Question: What kept the police from going into the sewers to retrieve Oswald?

Answer: Nothing was stopping them. After Penguin's true nature was revealed, they most likely started searching the entire sewer system but couldn't find where his lair actually was so they had no choice but to give up.

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Gremlins picture

Question: I have the original VHS version and I've noticed that some cuss words have dubbed over on the DVD. Yet The original VHS is still rated PG any reason why, other than the fact to make it more of a family film.

Answer: The original film was released before the PG-13 rating existed (it was one of the films responsible for its creation). Producers decided to remove some of the language and violence for the DVD release to avoid complaints about the PG rating.

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How the Grinch Stole Christmas picture

Question: Where exactly is Whoville located? And what year is the movie meant to take place?

Answer: Then why does it appear as a tiny speck in Horton Hears A Who?

In "Horton Hears a Who", both the book and the animated film, the speck of dust lands on a clover. In the 2000 Grinch film, the speck of dust has now landed on a snowflake because it's winter time. It should be noted that it's only the 2000 Grinch film that has Whoville as a speck similar to Whoville in "Horton Hears a Who." In the book and other adaptations, Whoville and the Whos are normal sized and probably located somewhere in Massachusetts.

Bishop73

Where are you getting Massachusetts from?

Brian Katcher

Dr. Suess was born in Springfield, MA and there are some that claim the drawings in the book are similar to Easthampton, MA and Mt. Tom (although others say it's La Jolla and Mt. Soledad in California). Residence of Easthampton put on an annual "Whobalation" to celebrate the legend Whoville is based on them.

Bishop73

Answer: According to the introduction, Whoville is located on a snowflake. Therefore they don't keep time like we do.

Brian Katcher

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