best unsolved movie mysteries?

[lordsmurf]

What's something that is NEVER EXPLAINED and has NO COMMON SENSE ANSWER?

My favorite is the "three sea shells" in the bathroom in Demolition Man. I have no idea how that works. Never seen a theory either.

[guns1inger]

"Close is a lingerie store without a window" - Lethal Weapon 3. What the hell does it mean ?

Sean Connery in First Knight. Why ?

[lumis]

definetly the contents of the briefcase from pulp fiction

[guns1inger]

marcelus' (spelling ?) soul is one theory that did the rounds.

[thevoelk]

Contents of the case in Ronin.

[lumis]

marcelus' (spelling ?) soul is one theory that did the rounds.

i havent heard that theory.. there are lots of theories, but none have been confirmed.. but its not like it ever could be confirmed, unless there was a "pulp fiction 2", which would just be horrible.

but maybe it is marcellus' soul, it was mentioned that it was his "laundry" or "dirty laundy"..

QT said he looked inside the case while filming, he said there was a battery, some wires & 2 lights.. but i dont think that counts

[adam]

Tarantino said that there is no answer, at least he had nothing in particular in mind. Its just a red herring. You're supposed to think its contents are an important plot point but they really have no meaning, apart from being valuable whatever they are.

[Cobra]

definetly the contents of the briefcase from pulp fiction

As soon as I saw the thread in here, I thought of that. You beat me to it, though...

I have often wondered what is in it. When I first saw the film, I just assumed it was gold or something, but that made me wonder why Jules (sp?) could whip it up onto the counter with one hand.

[smearbrick1]

I'm still trying to figure out the "mysteries" of the last two Matrix films.

[BJ_M]

What's something that is NEVER EXPLAINED and has NO COMMON SENSE ANSWER?

My favorite is the "three sea shells" in the bathroom in Demolition Man. I have no idea how that works. Never seen a theory either.

It is an "advanced" version of a bidet. One to wash your backside, one to air dry and the third to apply a perfume or deodorizer/sanitizer so that the "perfect" society won't stink. The sea shells are cosmetic. In a "perfect" society, there can be no ugliness. The shells cover / hide the function of it. Quite a few people in the United States are not familiar with a bidet. But you can now buy such a device as this with the same functions.

[lumis]

What's something that is NEVER EXPLAINED and has NO COMMON SENSE ANSWER?

My favorite is the "three sea shells" in the bathroom in Demolition Man. I have no idea how that works. Never seen a theory either.

It is an "advanced" version of a bidet. One to wash your backside, one to air dry and the third to apply a perfume or deodorizer/sanitizer so that the "perfect" society won't stink. The sea shells are cosmetic. In a "perfect" society, there can be no ugliness. The shells cover / hide the function of it. Quite a few people in the United States are not familiar with a bidet. But you can now buy such a device as this with the same functions.

makes sense to me..

[Guest]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulp_Fiction#The_mysterious_briefcase

[Doramius]

In Pete's Dragon, Why does the doctor have a book on making potions and healing agents out of dragons when he thought they didn't exist in the first place?

Always bothered me.

[adam]

"Close is a lingerie store without a window" - Lethal Weapon 3. What the hell does it mean ?

The original line was going to be close doesn't count, or close only counts in horeshoes... or some other stupid saying, they weren't sure which. She is responding to Rigg's comment that he almost got the bad guy. While filming the director thought it'd be funny to throw in a similar but meaningless sentence and Rene Russo just came up with it on the spot.

[adam]

Maybe not exactly what this thread is about but...how about Superman's disguise. All he does is put on a pair of black glasses and act like a dork and suddenly nobody recognizes him.

Also in Superman the Movie, he goes back in time to save Lois but won't all those events just happen again? He'd still have to go and stop all the missiles over again.

[Doramius]

In 'Song of the South' Just what is it that the boy's father is writing to make people so upset with him? I assume it has to do with slavery in the south, but his family still owns slaves, including Uncle Remus. So is he Pro or Anti slavery?


Labyrinth - The whole movie lost me. And David Bowie didn't help.

[BJ_M]

Labyrinth has to do with a girl's sexual awaking ..

Legend was much the same thing

[AlecWest]

Here's a movie mystery that started out as a song mystery.

Back in 1967, country singer Bobbie Gentry released the song "Ode to Billie Joe." The song is still popular and being sold on CDs by CD marketers like CDuniverse.com (lyrics). Many people who heard the song assume that the narrator and Billie Joe were tossing an aborted baby off the bridge. But, what was tossed off the bridge was never explained by Gentry at the time.

Later in 1975, author Herman Rausher was preparing to write a "novelization" of the song ... as well as a screenplay, which eventually became a movie:

http://imdb.com/title/tt0074995/

This is where the mystery behind the song takes a real spin. While many people think the song is about two young lovers (the narrator, being a girl, and her boyfriend) and their tragedy ... the unwanted pregnancy, the abortion, followed by the boyfriend's suicide ... I've always thought it was something altogether different.

Notice that the song, marketed as "Ode to Billie Joe," made a teensy change when it became a book and later a movie ... released under the title, "Ode to Billy Joe." I suspect that Bobbie Gentry did a number on her record label (and her fans) by slipping a Lesbian love song past the censors ... involving two young girls, not a girl and her boyfriend. The spelling "Billie" is traditionally a girl's spelling of the name while "Billy" is the boy's spelling.

When Rausher interviewed Gentry in 1975, she claimed there was no backstory behind the song ... that she'd just written it to show how unfeeling a family can be when a tragedy like suicide hits close to home. But I think there's more to it than that. Nowhere in the lyrics is Billie Joe specifically referred to with a male identifier. It's just "assumed" the person was a boy.

P.S. In the book, Billy Joe and the girl were tossing the girl's teddy bear off the bridge to (ahem) symbolize the end of their childhood. In the movie, Billy Joe accidentally knocked the teddy bear off a bridge railing. But, the song clearly indicates something was "tossed." Frankly, I don't know of a guy anywhere who'd get all emotional and teary-eyed over tossing a teddy bear off a bridge. Two girls? Move believable.

[BJ_M]

it says "him" all through the song:

It was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty Delta day
I was out choppin' cotton and my brother was balin' hay
And at dinner time we stopped and walked back to the house to eat
And Mama hollered out the back door "y'all remember to wipe your feet"
And then she said "I got some news this mornin' from Choctaw Ridge"
"Today Billy Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge"

And Papa said to Mama as he passed around the blackeyed peas
"Well, Billy Joe never had a lick of sense, pass the biscuits, please"
"There's five more acres in the lower forty I've got to plow"
And Mama said it was shame about Billy Joe, anyhow
Seems like nothin' ever comes to no good up on Choctaw Ridge
And now Billy Joe MacAllister's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge

And Brother said he recollected when he and Tom and Billie Joe
Put a frog down my back at the Carroll County picture show
And wasn't I talkin' to him after church last Sunday night?
"I'll have another piece of apple pie, you know it don't seem right"
"I saw him at the sawmill yesterday on Choctaw Ridge"
"And now you tell me Billie Joe's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge"

And Mama said to me "Child, what's happened to your appetite?"
"I've been cookin' all morning and you haven't touched a single bite"
"That nice young preacher, Brother Taylor, dropped by today"
"Said he'd be pleased to have dinner on Sunday, oh, by the way"
"He said he saw a girl that looked a lot like you up on Choctaw Ridge"
"And she and Billy Joe was throwing somethin' off the Tallahatchie Bridge"

A year has come 'n' gone since we heard the news 'bout Billy Joe
And Brother married Becky Thompson, they bought a store in Tupelo
There was a virus going 'round, Papa caught it and he died last Spring
And now Mama doesn't seem to wanna do much of anything
And me, I spend a lot of time pickin' flowers up on Choctaw Ridge

And drop them into the muddy water off the Tallahatchie Bridge

[BJ_M]

The Supremes, Tom Scott, Tammy Wynette, the Ventures, Tina Turner, Chet Atkins, Ramsey Lewis, Earl Scruggs, and Buddy Rich, Sheryl Crow and Jimmy Smith also sang this song

[AlecWest]

In 'Song of the South' Just what is it that the boy's father is writing to make people so upset with him? I assume it has to do with slavery in the south, but his family still owns slaves, including Uncle Remus. So is he Pro or Anti slavery?

Well, the movie takes place after the civil war is over. That's why Remus could come an go freely ... even though most slaves had nowhere to go after the war and tended to just keep doing what they were doing (at first). True, that mystery (what he was writing) was never explained. But, I suspect he was an abolitionist, against slavery, and was seen as a person whose writings might make postwar slaves "uppity."

[AlecWest]

it says "him" all through the song:

Not "all through the song," only twice in one paragraph. And you're possibly taking it out of context and the song may have been written cleverly. During the dinner table conversation, the narrator does a lot of the talking for others:

And Mama said it was a shame about Billie Joe anyhow.

And is the "him" referred to Billie Joe ... or is it "Brother?" For example, did the following sentence indicate "Brother" was sitting at the dinner table ... or was it a recollection of the narrator:

Brother said he recollected when he and Tom and Billie Joe
Put a frog down my back at the Carroll County picture show.

Either way, nothing in the song suggested that "Brother" was still living in the home. He's assumed to be adult enough to marry Becky Thompson the next year and buy a store in Tupelo. In short, the "him" being referred to in the song could have been "Brother" ... from the narrator's viewpoint ... or the narrator's mother's viewpoint.

P.S. If the song was just fine as-is, why did Rausher bother to change the title from "Billie" to "Billy?" There must have been a reason. And who was more likely to be seen at a sawmill ... a "Brother" old enough to marry and buy a store the next year ... or a teenage boy in love with a teenage girl? There are a lot of ways to look at those lyrics.

[BJ_M]

the whole stanza

And Brother said he recollected when he and Tom and Billie Joe
Put a frog down my back at the Carroll County picture show
And wasn't I talkin' to him after church last Sunday night?
"I'll have another piece of apple pie, you know it don't seem right"
"I saw him at the sawmill yesterday on Choctaw Ridge"
"And now you tell me Billie Joe's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge"

is the brother talking ... clear as anything .... nothing hidden there ...
he clearly calls Billie Joe a "him" twice ...


and Billie IS a common spelling in the south ... for boys and girls, in fact it was the top name in that area (spelled that way) from 1920- 1935
for boys



for girls

[BJ_M]

he changed it from billie to billy because by 1975 the name was associated with feminism (billie jean king, Billie Burke) and was not considered in the north a boys name ..

she originally wrote the song in 1962-3 and in that time , where she grew up, it was still common for boys spelled like that ...

[AlecWest]

in fact it was the top name in that area (spelled that way) from 1920- 1935

And in 1967 when the song was written? Or '62/'63?

[AlecWest]

the whole stanza

And Brother said he recollected when he and Tom and Billie Joe
Put a frog down my back at the Carroll County picture show
And wasn't I talkin' to him after church last Sunday night?
"I'll have another piece of apple pie, you know it don't seem right"
"I saw him at the sawmill yesterday on Choctaw Ridge"
"And now you tell me Billie Joe's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge"

is the brother talking ... clear as anything .... nothing hidden there ...
he clearly calls Billie Joe a "him" twice ...

If he was at the dinner table (and I do mean "if)), it's only clear he said the first 2 lines of that stanza. The third line where the word "him" appears? Not all that clear. Sounds more like the mother. But, I don't think "Brother's" appearance at the dinner table is all that certain.

[AlecWest]

P.S. BJ_M, you could be right, hehe. I belong to a mystery literature forum and the song came up in our discussion. The "Lesbian love" angle came up and, according to one lady, has been hotly debated in the gay community for a long time. According to one lady, Gentry has been interviewed by some gay publications and has never outright refuted the contention ... choosing to stick to her story that there's no backstory (as she told Rausher in 1975).

[BJ_M]

she had a rough draft of the song in 62/3, but even in 1967 it was still in the top 40% of boys names .....

[Guest]

The Crying Game

[BJ_M]

The Crying Game

The true twist is that the former IRA terrorist who is heterosexual finds himself reluctantly but relentlessly in love with a boy-turned-girl and serving time in jail to save him/her. Remember the little tale that's told twice in the movie?

This movie is a wonderful portrayal of human nature. About how you cannot resist what you are born with. Despite being a terrorist, he cannot resist being a kind person. And despite being a boy, he cannot resist being a girl, and a sickeningly girlish version of a girl, for that matter. She behaves like a little girl. She would be excluded from big girl's club for her foolishly vulnarable incapability to look after herself. But she cannot help it. Remember how she was dressed so sexy and behaved so merrily when she visited him in the jail, happily taking the role of a loyal girlfriend of a prisoner who will patiently wait for his return? That's how he/she is, and he/she cannot help it. And the terrorist cannot resist the urge to protect him/her, for he cannot resist his own kindness.