Question: When Clark gives his boss a Christmas present, he is told to put it with all of the others. There are plenty of presents there, but they are all the same, as they have the exact same shape. What are these presents?
kristenlouise3
2nd Jan 2016
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)
Answer: I've seen them in stores, it's a desk pen set with a matching business card holder.
Chosen answer: We don't know what is in the packages, but we can assume they are all the same, small, generic gift.
Answer: I think that they could all be tape holders.
28th Jul 2015
Criminal Minds (2005)
Question: The crew takes a private jet to most locations but always have the same black S.U.V.s. How do the vehicles get there as fast as the crew?
Chosen answer: Black SUVs are common police, military and dignitary vehicles around the world. It is not too much to assume they could be rented or owned by the police forces in the areas.
Other people have explained it but fore more information, federal cars would most likely be brought to the airport from the nearest agency, so they can drive out to their locations especially in rural situations.
Answer: There is only one BAU (or that's the impression the show gives, in reality there's 5 teams within the BAU), and they're based out of Quantico. However, the FBI has 56 field offices, each with their own vehicles leased from the over 200,000 vehicles that make up the Federal motor fleet. There are long term leases to federal agencies on these cars, in addition to there always being vehicles being made available to lease on an ad hoc basis for assignments. Plus, local and state police likely also have their own unmarked fleets, but due to the vehicles being mostly the same make/model/color in most episodes, they'd likely be borrowed from the nearest field office or other local federal office or ad hoc leased from the fleet for the assignment.
22nd Jan 2015
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Question: Several people have mentioned that the film makes a point of showing how Belle is the only literate person in her village. If that's the case then how does the village bookseller manage to stay in business? He couldn't possibly afford his shop and the collection of books he has if Belle is his only customer.
Answer: There is no definite proof she is the only literate person in her town, but the people we do see are not as interested in books as Belle. There is no information as to how he keeps his book shop open, especially if he is willing to lend books to other people in the town.
It's not a "bookshop", it's a library. And it doesn't seem like he only lends books.
15th Nov 2014
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
Question: In the book, Plutarch says that he never imagined Katniss being in the games, and gave her hints because he thought she would be mentoring the next tribute. However, in the movie, there's a deleted scene that shows him switching game plans, so he did make it so that Katniss and Haymitch/Peeta would be in the games again. Someone help me understand this?
Chosen answer: The dance scene took place long before the time when Plutarch would have been changing out the Quarter Quell box. He had plenty of time to change his mind.
3rd Nov 2014
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
Question: If Snape never wanted the Philosopher's stone, why did he attempt to enter the chamber on Halloween (when Fluffy injured his leg)? Quirrell later says that Snape stopped him from trying to get the stone on Halloween, so there should have been no reason for Snape to try and get past Fluffy.
Answer: Snape was heading off Quirrell and trying to protect the stone.
1st Sep 2014
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
Question: In the book, Snape and Lupin look at the Marauder's Map to see that Ron, Peter, Hermione, Harry and Sirius are all in the Shrieking Shack. How come Snape and Lupin didn't notice the second/future Harry and Hermione when they were near the whomping willow on the map?
Answer: They didn't notice the second ones because they weren't close enough to the tree when they were focused on that part of the map. There are hundreds of dots moving around the castle and it is possible they were just missed.
18th Aug 2014
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
Question: When Harry and Ron show up late at Hogwarts and are caught by Filch, why does Filch take them to Snape and not McGonagall? I know Filch does not like any of the students because he's a Squib (a pureblood with no magical power) and he knew Snape would tell them off severely, but as Ron and Harry are Gryffindor students, they should have been taken to McGonagall no questions asked.
Chosen answer: Filch wanted the boys to be punished and he knew Snape would inflict a harsher punishment than McGonagall.
18th Jun 2014
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
Question: After watching Professor Quirrell die in this school year, shouldn't Harry have been able to see thestrals?
Answer: In the novel, Harry passes out before Quirrell dies, meaning that he did not truly see the death and therefore was unable to see the Thestrals. In the movie, Harry does see Quirell die and therefore should have been able to see the Thestrals before witnessing Cedric Diggory's death. This was a movie mistake.
I thought the reason Luna told Harry that only they could see the thestrals was because they lost a loved one. Not that that they saw someone die.
26th May 2014
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
Question: Why do the Dursleys try to stop Harry from going to Hogwarts? It seems as though they would be happy to get him out of their house (except for summers).
Answer: Petunia and Vernon despise wizards and swore they would 'squash the magic out of him' (which obviously can't happen) when they took him in. They would rather have Harry around all the time and for him not to be a wizard than to allow him to go to Hogwarts where he would learn magic and be happy (It says in the books that the two things that Vernon Dursley despises most if magic and making Harry happy).
Why don't the Dursleys try to get Harry back if they don't want him to be at Hogwarts?
Because on the other hand they are glad to be rid of him.
Why do they despise making Harry happy?
Because they despise the fact he and his parents are wizards.
Or as Petunia states in the book "as soon as they had you I knew you'd be like them. A freak" The Durselys are very middle class who consider themselves high class. The fancy car, expensive house, private school for Dudley etc. And being associated with an outcast would in their eyes seriously hurt their social standings.
Answer: Vernon and Petunia are very concerned with appearances and maintaining a "proper" lifestyle. The books describe how they want a perfect lawn. Vernon judges men by the cars they drive. Petunia keeps the home very clean, etc. They hope to ignore the Wizard world and force Harry to live like a Muggle. In addition to that, Petunia was jealous of her sister. She wanted to separate herself from the Wizard world as much as possible. When Harry begins attending Hogwarts, she can no longer do that.
26th May 2014
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
Question: Do some Hogwarts students arrive at school before others? I ask because of the choir singing in this movie, on the first day of the term. Wouldn't they have needed at least a day to practice the song?
Answer: All the students arrive on the train, but it is feasible they took part or all of the afternoon on the train to practise. They also could have met a few times over the summer.
19th May 2014
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)
Question: A minor point, but does Professor Snape's body presumably get buried (or whatever treatment was given to the bodies of Tonks, Remus, and others) ? Some fans think that Nagini eats him, but it seems rather odd for a snake to leave dead prey for a while - since Harry has time to talk to Snape - and then come back to eat it much later.
Answer: Nagini does not get to eat him as she vanished with Voldemort before he knew Harry was there. (The same thing happens in the book, albeit in a different location). Snape's body would have been recovered after the battle when Harry made it known what he did and how he risked his life. He would have been given a proper burial.
5th May 2014
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Question: Why does Dolores give Professor Snape a hard time during her inspection of his teaching? Shouldn't she, like Lucius Malfoy, be under the impression that he is loyal to Voldemort (not knowing that he is actually pretending)?
Answer: Umbridge isn't working for Voldemort. She is truly just that evil and therefore would inspect Snape the same as any other teacher.
18th Mar 2014
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Question: During the Occlumency lessons, when Snape sees the memory of Aunt Marge's dog attacking Harry, why does he want to know whose dog it was?
Answer: There is no specific reason. It could simply be that he is curious.
10th Mar 2014
The Big Bang Theory (2007)
Question: I know the Big Bang Theory has hired scientists and physicists to write the technical science parts of the scripts and the white board equations. Since Mayim Bialik has a doctorate in neuroscience, does she collaborate with the writers to write those parts of the script?
Answer: She has helped them out when she can, but this is not part of her formal contract with the show.
2nd Mar 2014
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
Question: Hermione had to go to the hospital wing after partially transforming into a cat. How did she explain her condition to the hospital staff and/or teachers (if she had to miss classes), without revealing that she made the Polyjuice potion?
Answer: As there are lots of ways for young witches and wizards to get into various predicaments like this, Madam Pomfrey doesn't ask too many questions, she simply treats the students for whatever ailments they present with (this information comes from the books).
25th Jan 2014
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
Question: In the final scene with the Lonely Mountain in view, is the sun rising or setting? Does either actually work with their location?
Answer: The sun is rising. The sun is in the East which does make sense, but because Middle Earth is a fictional world it is possible for it to break the rules of our world. The important thing is that the sun remains more or less in the same location for the entire scene.
21st Jan 2014
The Big Bang Theory (2007)
Question: Is it out of character for Sheldon to be willing to donate sperm just for money considering that he has no interest in sex?
Chosen answer: Sheldon believes himself to be superior to all other humans and therefore his lack of desire for sex is only superseded by his desire to create a superior sub-species of human. This concept is also seen later in the series when he and Amy consider having a baby together to make a super smart child (by invitro of course).
Good answer. It also happens when Missy talks to Sheldon and he mentions something about storing eggs and finding the perfect donor.
2nd Jan 2014
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
Question: If Severus Snape could probe Harry's mind during the private lessons in this movie, why didn't he know certain other things about Harry in the previous movies/books - such as the fact that Harry really did *not* steal gillyweed from his stores (for the second Triwizard Tournament task)?
Answer: There are two possible answers to this question. A) Snape was so convinced of Harry's guilt that he felt it would be a waste of time to use Legilimens. B) It takes a lot of energy to properly use Legilimens so Snape decided it was not worth his effort to find out if Harry was telling the truth about trivial happenings around the castle.
29th Dec 2013
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Question: According to the Harry Potter Lexicon website (http://www.hp-lexicon.org/timelines/calendars/calendar_cs.html), exams would have taken place on June 3rd if Dumbledore had not cancelled them. But the students would go home on June 19th. My question is, what would students do between the 3rd and the 19th if there were no exams?
Answer: Swim in the lake, pack up their things, spend time with friends. As mentioned in later books, there are days when some students do not have exams while others are writing too.
11th Dec 2013
General questions
My question is about a movie where the two main characters are Woody Harrelson and Al Pacino - the two are professional sports gamblers?
Answer: Harrelson and Pacino have never starred in a movie together. Pacino was in Two for the Money (2005) with Matthew McConaughey, which is about the world of sports gambling.
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Answer: They are desk organizers.
I'm wondering maybe it was one of the gags in the movie where the boss got the same gift from all the employees. I know there's a lot of gags in the vacation movies.
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