My mistake...or was it?

As some of you know, I like to know trivia about movies. When I watch a movie I almost always read trivia about the movie immediately afterwards. For instance, did you know that after filming The Jackal, Bruce Willis and Richard Gere (reportedly) mutually decided to refrain from ever working with each other. It's been ten years and they haven't yet, either. My choice for a source of trivia is the internet movie database, found at www.imdb.com. Listed with the trivia there is usually a section of goofs, and I sometimes read those, but not always. The reason is because I find them to be overly nitpicky and I start to almost take them personally, like I'm getting offended on behalf of the filmmakers. Some of the things are extremely ridiculous, like saying that a microphone is visible in a shot, but when you look at the shot, the mic is visible for only one frame and you have to watch frame by frame and rewind it a couple of times to see it. I don't know, maybe I've been exposed to too many "Comic Book Guy" types, the type that is scornful of any little mistake that a director makes, despite the fact that they can't make anything even remotely creative on their own. I just don't like that sort of attitude.
But all of that to say this: I am introducing a new feature to the BLOG, called Incorrectly Regarded As Goofs. Because I think that it is much more interesting to look at 'mistakes' and to come up with rational (or wildly irrational) explanations. So I will take some of the goofs from a movie and explain why they aren't mistakes. For instance, in the movie Night At The Museum (starring Ben Stiller), there is a crew member visible in the background behind the character. That is the 'goof'. The fact is that the movie is set in New York, and that man is crazy. He thinks he is filming a movie and he goes around wearing movie crew clothing that doesn't fit his surroundings. It's NY City. It's possible. Incidentally, I looked a few times and I could never actually see the supposed crew man where they said he/she was visible. Anyhoo, without further ado, we begin:

First up - Elf.

The Goof: Continuity - When Emily is eating the breakfast that Buddy made her, an utensil switches between being in the bowl to on the table between shots.
The Fact: Emily used to be a master pickpocket, and her former life of crime has left her with the nervous need to play with something when confronted with strange situations (such as a man who thinks he is an elf). So while she appears calm, she is actually moving that utensil, but due to her former life, she is able to move it quickly and without sound.

The Goof: Crew or equipment visible - When Buddy chases Michael down the street from the school, a crew member in a yellow hat can be seen trying to duck back behind a doorway of a house on the street.
The Fact: That man is not a member of the crew. He is a young man, so the fact that he is not dressed for the winter weather doesn't mean anything. Young people tend to be a bit stubborn when it comes to the weather. Also, the reason he ducks down is because he has
anthropophobia (the fear of people or society), so when he notices Buddy and Michael, he ducks behind a doorway, trying to hide. He wouldn't even be out but he has to buy a new hat because the yellow one makes him too visible.

The Goof: Revealing mistakes: When Buddy discovers Santa in Central Park, a tether holding the lead reindeer in place is plainly visible, running from his harness off the left-hand side of the screen.
The Fact: Oh, I don't know, maybe Santa tethered the reindeer so they wouldn't go anywhere. I don't think he would want to have to chase them down if they ran away. (Editor's note - I may get sarcastic from time to time if I think the 'goof' is particularly silly or dumb).

The Goof: Continuity: After the boardroom meeting when Miles knocked Buddy over onto the floor and the picture fell off the wall, in the next scene the picture is back up on the wall. Also, Buddy is sitting down in an opposite position from the last scene when he got knocked down on the ground.
The Fact: The picture frame was actually from the North Pole, a special one modified to return to its place if knocked down. As it does so it releases a small bit of specially designed amnesiac gas so that no one remembers its movements. This also explains how Buddy got turned around - there was actually a small bit of movement by the characters, but Buddy, having just been beaten, was a bit wobbly and spun in a half circle.

The Goof: Continuity: The position of the blue book in the executive's hand behind Buddy when he first meets and sings for his father changes repeatedly between shots.
The Fact: Elves make that executive nervous, as does off tune singing. Using the powers granted to him as a master of Tai Chi he can move the blue book without anyone being able to see!

The Goof: Continuity: When the nun puts Buddy down he has a bottle, but when we next see him the bottle is gone.
The Fact: Baby Buddy ate the bottle.

The Goof: Continuity: When Walter and Buddy are in the "tickle fight" on the bed, there is a red piece of yarn or fluff that moves around Walter's shirt from shot to shot.
The Fact: That 'fluff' is actually a highly evolved being from a distant planet, sent to Earth to be an emissary of peace, bringing humanity into a new age of prosperity! The creature can move quickly using thousands of tiny little pincer feet. Sadly, he was lost in Walter's belly button shortly thereafter, thus dooming the world to total annihilation.

The Goof: Continuity: When Buddy and Michael take cover behind the snow bank during the snowball fight, rips in Buddy's tights can be seen in his inner thigh area during one shot, but not in the others.
The Fact: Is it so hard to believe that an elf, who we have just seen throwing snowballs at super speed, can sew faster than the eye can see, even while throwing a barrage of snowballs? I think not.

The Goof: Continuity: When Buddy goes to work with his dad, he has a coat on when greeting the secretary, but it has disappeared in the next shot.
The Fact: Adult Buddy ate it.

The Goof: Continuity: When Buddy is at the apartment having dinner with the family, the coke bottle is near Michael's right hand. When Buddy goes to drink the coke it is right next to him. He never asks for the coke to be passed.
The Fact: He didn't have to ask. Emily is a good hostess and she sees to the needs of her guests.

The Goof: Miscellaneous: During the central park scene when Buddy sees Santa, it shows the reindeer attached to the sleigh. At least one of the reindeer in the front makes no movement at all and they are obviously fakes.
The Fact: Santa's reindeer are all highly trained ninjas. While the others chose not to use there skills at that particular time, that one, we'll call him Dasher, thought that freezing in place would be the best camouflage. The reindeer may be ninjas, but they are still pretty dumb.

So there you have it, mistakes easily explained away.