# Movies with WTF?!? moments you still can't figure out **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [October 15, 2026, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861 "2026-10-15T17:39:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2026, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/121 "2026-10-22T02:34:39Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > fereakin’ enormous ore-hauler with way too much oxygenated space. Speaking of, the Sulaco had a farking barn door open to space for like five minutes and didn’t seem to have any noticable air pressure drop. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2026, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/122 "2026-10-22T11:01:31Z")
Yeah, that one bugged me as well; in the books, Frodo keeps nearly _putting on_ the ring when faced with one of the Nazgûl, but it’s made very clear that he’s being befuzzled into thinking wearing it will help him escape and so keep it (while of course it will actually just make him easier to target), there’s no hint of him wanting to give it over to them. It’s his wish to keep it that’s being manipulated. It’s obviously hard to show the internal struggle in a film, and they clearly wanted to escalate the drama from the previous Nazgûl encounters, where he nearly put it on first time, then second time did put it on and got stabbed. They wanted an even more extreme action, but I agree the scene makes no sense. Faramir doesn’t really know how the ring affects people, it’s not like he’s even shown interacting with the ring and feeling its power or anything. He can’t even hear the spooky dramatic music or see the slow-mo. From his perspective in the film, he finds the hobbits wandering around with the ring, decides to take them back home to Dad after hearing their story, then watches Frodo wander off and try to carry out an action which would kill everyone, and rather than reacting as ‘Oh wow, I found them just in time! Get them safely locked up in Gondor ASAP!’ responds by suddenly flipping his previous decision, and basically going ‘Ohh, you’re losing your mind! Why didn’t you say? Please continue with your task!’ It makes no sense at all from the perspective of the actual character. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2026, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/123 "2026-10-22T14:02:33Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > Faramir doesn’t really know how the ring affects people, it’s not like he’s even shown interacting with the ring and feeling its power or anything. He can’t even hear the spooky dramatic music or see the slow-mo. From his perspective in the film, he finds the hobbits wandering around with the ring, decides to take them back home to Dad after hearing their story, then watches Frodo wander off and try to carry out an action which would kill everyone, and rather than reacting as ‘Oh wow, I found them just in time! Get them safely locked up in Gondor ASAP!’ responds by suddenly flipping his previous decision, and basically going ‘Ohh, you’re losing your mind! Why didn’t you say? Please continue with your task!’ It makes no sense at all from the perspective of the actual character. That’s actually not true. There is a moment where Faramir feels the power of the Ring in the form showing his father his “true qualities” by using it as a weapon to defend Gondor. Sam snaps him out of it by revealing how Baromir thought the same thing and it killed him. I think at that point Faramir realized this plan was made way above his pay grade and the best course of action was to let Sam and Frodo go their merry way. Otherwise at some point Faramir or one of his men would feel the power of the ring and end up trying to take it. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2026, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/124 "2026-10-22T15:05:40Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > That’s actually not true. There is a moment where Faramir feels the power of the Ring in the form showing his father his “true qualities” by using it as a weapon to defend Gondor. Sam snaps him out of it by revealing how Baromir thought the same thing and it killed him. Well, Sam yells at him, yes- yells that Boromir died because the ring drove him mad and he tried to kill Frodo, which is also bizarre, given that Frodo had also told Faramir that they had no idea Boromir was dead. Logically, one of those statements has to be a lie or at least guessed. Given that they also lied about not knowing who Gollum is it wouldn’t fill me with confidence. Faramir can’t know if Frodo’s unusually good at fighting the power of the ring and the madness would happen to everyone, or if he’s a murderous lying fruitloop under the thrall of Sauron who possibly even murdered Faramir’s own brother. I wouldn’t trust them with a butterknife at that point if I was Faramir, let alone break the law, declare my own life forfeit and release them. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2026, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/125 "2026-10-22T15:11:56Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > or at least guessed. Sam’s just making a reasonable inference, that Boromir trying to grab the Ring from Frodo likely compromised him from that point onwards, leading to the Uruks easily killing him. He and Frodo definitely didn’t know that he instead regained his wits and fighting mojo and died an honorable death trying to protect their hobbit compatriots. ---
**Author:** ![nate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nate/32/13085_2.png) [@nate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nate)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2026, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/126 "2026-10-22T15:38:46Z")
From the Naked Gun: Frank: “That’s a honey of an ankle bracelet you got there” Jane: “Ugh… did it slip down there again?” I still think about this joke from time to time. Maybe one day it’ll make sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2026, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/127 "2026-10-22T15:53:51Z")
> [@nate](#): > > Frank: “That’s a honey of an ankle bracelet you got there” > Jane: “Ugh… did it slip down there again?” The bracelet was on her wrist and, via absurdist comedy logic, somehow slipped down to her ankle. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2026, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/128 "2026-10-22T16:06:36Z")
Hee hee. This was always one of my favorite bits from the movie, and until now, I never even considered that it stands out from the style of the rest of the film, though of course you’re right; that’s at the heart of what makes it funny (to me).But, I’m biased, as it remains one of my all time favorite movies, including the train scenevwith EM and Dan Aykroyd as Rastafarians Nenge Mboko and Lionel Joseph. What I get stuck trying to figure out is the rest of the story that ends with the line “…and she stepped on the ball” (women at the country club scene). ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats2)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2026, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/129 "2026-10-22T16:23:04Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > **Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid** - Fantastic film, I’ve seen it many times and still have no idea what the bike scene and musical number is all about. Also, when that movie came out, there was a fad for putting a musical interlude in movies whether it belonged in the movie or not.. _What’s Up Tiger Lily_ has a WTF Lovin’ Spoonful song about fishing in it, against Woody’s wishes. _Play Misty for Me_ is a slasher flick with a gooshy WTF Roberta Flack song in it. (Although the end of the scene has a nice creepy killer looking on in the bushes touch.) It was a short fad, thankfully, but very noticeable. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2026, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/130 "2026-10-22T16:28:27Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](#): > > Also, when that movie came out, there was a fad for putting a musical interlude in movies whether it belonged in the movie or not. My favorite is the lounge singer (“The words get stuck in my throat…”) in _War of the Gargantuas_. It makes no sense until she gets eaten by the monster. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2026, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/131 "2026-10-22T16:41:39Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](#): > > What I get stuck trying to figure out is the rest of the story that ends with the line “…and she stepped on the ball” (women at the country club scene). As I remember, the same line about the ping-pong ball is told by Patrick Dennis’s snobby girlfriend Gloria Upson in the film version of _[Mame](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mame_(film))_. In both cases, the young woman is meant to be shown as empty-headed. And Trading Places is also one of my favorite movies. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2026, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/132 "2026-10-22T16:42:07Z")
Well, yeah, it’s not unreasonable that Sam would think Boromir maybe died as a result of the interaction with Frodo, even if he was unharmed when they left. Given that he doesn’t have much of a filter, it’s not even that odd that he’d make the comment. What _is_ odd is that it _helps_. It’s objectively suspicious as hell. A reasonable inference from Faramir is that they killed his beloved brother, especially given that Frodo goes into a murderous rage and nearly stabs Sam a few seconds later. I get why they felt they needed to spice it up a bit, the book version just has them talking it all out which works fine on paper but on film would just be a bit dull, but the film shows Faramir takes a crazy leap of faith based on the hobbits acting like lying maniacs, rather than quietly and bravely taking a stand based on thought, evidence and good character judgement. The fact his troops beat up Gollum in the film rather than just keeping him captive also bugs me. Yes, Faramir is one of my favourite characters in the books, how did you know? ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2026, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/133 "2026-10-22T16:46:15Z")
I didn’t mind him becoming more cynical in the film (then again I only have read them once, right before movie 1), as given the pressures put on him by his father, always seen as the 2nd best son, his angst makes quite a bit of sense, but yeah that whole sequence just didn’t…no. While I liked his soliloquy when his men killed the guy riding the elephant, him not explicitly telling his men to give Gollum a break did seem out of character. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2026, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/134 "2026-10-22T16:52:08Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > As I remember, the same line about the ping-pong ball is told by Patrick Dennis’s snobby girlfriend Gloria Upson in the film version of _[Mame](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mame_(film))_. In both cases, the young woman is meant to be shown as empty-headed. It showed up a few decades later in an episode of _Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt_. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2026, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/135 "2026-10-22T17:35:00Z")
Googling, the line (stepped on the ball) was also in High School Musical 2. And here is a YouTube clip of the scene from the 1958 film Auntie Mame (not the 1974 musical Mame). > **[Auntie Mame - "I stepped on the ping pong ball"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kj7i88LQ9DE%2F)** > > Clip from the classic 1958 motion picture Auntie Mame starring Rosalind Russell in the role of Auntie Mame, Gloria Upson (played by Joanna Barnes) underwhelm... ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2026, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/136 "2026-10-22T17:48:07Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > > [@nate](#): > > > > Frank: “That’s a honey of an ankle bracelet you got there” > > Jane: “Ugh… did it slip down there again?” > > The bracelet was on her wrist and, via absurdist comedy logic, somehow slipped down to her ankle. Also, the setup is a line from Double Indemnity. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/sPp6O3DD5_c/maxresdefault.jpg "One Honey Of An Anklet") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPp6O3DD5_c) ---
**Author:** ![Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8baadc/32.png) [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nicest_of_the_Damned)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2026, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/137 "2026-10-22T18:16:55Z")
Reminds me of one of my favorite little bits from “Brazil” where the Monty Python humor slips in: > Sam Lowry: Give my regards to Alison and the twins. > Jack Lint: Triplets! > Sam Lowry: Triplets? Oh, God. How time flies. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2026, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/138 "2026-10-22T18:22:36Z")
Tom Stoppard took credit for that one. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2026, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/139 "2026-10-22T19:02:39Z")
> Blockquote > The first time I saw the movie that whole scene had been edit out for some reason so my WTF moment was was when they were departing for Bolivia Butch throws the bicycle aside with, “The future’s all yours, you lousy bicycles!” Maybe that’s the key. Technology is changing the world and those guys want none of it. “Don’t you get it! Your times are over! You’re nuttin’ but a bunch of two bit criminals out on the dodge.” Turns out they have modern telegraphs even in Bolivia which might be important… ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2026, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861/140 "2026-10-22T19:18:51Z")
Yeah, the old West outlaw was dependent on distance, wilderness and borders giving them somewhere to run to. _Very_ briefly, automobiles and highways that could put you out of state overnight sparked the careers of such as Bonnie and Clyde. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-wtf-moments-you-still-cant-figure-out/1033861.md?page=8)