raywest

Question: Is there a reason why John McClane's previous exploits aren't mentioned in this film? He is known, and mentioned for his association with, Nakatomi in DH2 and for Dulles airport and Nakatomi in DH3 but in this one, none of his past "adventures" are mentioned bar a couple of subtle almost hidden quotes (eg. the agent Johnson scene). Is this due to any kind of copyright thing or ownership issues between the films or just that they weren't mentioned by any characters? Just seems strange to me that the previous exploits aren't talked about even a little bit.

The_Iceman

Chosen answer: The screenwriters probably felt it was unnecessary to keep rehashing the same old information in every film. It becomes tedious and stale to an audience that is already familiar with the franchise's story line. For anyone who has not seen the previous movies, it would probably be meaningless.

raywest

8th Dec 2013

Taken (2008)

Question: Would Bryan just have left the country with Kim (possibly using his CIA connections)? He had torn up Paris in the space of 2 and a half days and killed countless people. He may have gotten away with that when employed on CIA business but in the movie, he's basically just breaking the law. Seems if he took Kim to hospital, questions would be asked and he would be arrested (not to mention shooting Jean-Claude's wife and assaulting him). Yet Kim looks cleaned up, etc.

The_Iceman

Chosen answer: Bryan may not have taken Kim to a hospital in Paris. We also saw earlier that he has some medical training and was able to help the other girl who had been drugged. Bryan likely has many connections who could help get him and Kim get out the country quickly, and he has enough knowledge about police and government corruption that he could spill to the press. Most likely the authorities wanted him gone as quickly as possible to avoid a public scandal and would do little to prevent his leaving.

raywest

Question: Could Professor Snape really get away with putting Neville's toad in danger (when he feeds Neville's potion to the toad at the end of class, saying that it might poison the animal)? I know that he is already a unfriendly teacher, but it seems that there would be some sort of rule against killing an animal that belongs to a student, and parents of other students might be outraged if they heard about it.

Answer: Snape would never actually poison, kill, or otherwise harm any student's pet. He was just being his usual unpleasant self to Neville and any other student not from his own school house (Slytherin). If any Hogwarts teacher actually did something like that, they would be likely be dismissed.

raywest

Question: When someone dies in the dome, the body is taken away by a hovercraft. At the end, Katniss' body is taken by what seems the same hovercraft, which can do this because the dome collapsed. If so, how can the hovercraft enter the dome in the earlier scenes?

Answer: It is not the same hovercraft. It is one that was either stolen or otherwise obtained by the growing rebellion faction that had planned Katniss' rescue. For the other hovercraft that have regularly retrieved the dead tributes, it can be assumed that one is already stationed inside the arena for this purpose or there is an entryway into the dome that one can fly in and out of.

raywest

4th Dec 2013

Carrie (1976)

Answer: It's unknown what happens to Mrs. White but, at the end of the novel, a woman says that her daughter has been showing telekinetic abilities and is actually very accepting of this. This implies that Carrie had been reincarnated and been born into a more loving family.

Answer: It was never revealed what happened to their souls after they died.

raywest

Parallels - S7-E11

Question: Whenever I see this episode rerun, they leave out the scene where Picard suddenly appears at Worf's surprise party. This is a somewhat crucial scene, in my opinion, because it is one of the first clues (other than the cake switching flavors) that something isn't quite right. Why is this scene no longer shown? Is it simply due to the desire for more advertising time? Are other episodes cut like this?

Matty Blast

Chosen answer: The most common reason rerun TV series are edited is to allow for more advertising time. They can also speed up the show's running time, which is unnoticeable but gives more seconds to be sold to advertisers. Cable TV channels are allowed to have more advertising than network TV channels, and they do whatever they can to increase revenue. It does result in episodes often being choppy and the story line a bit confusing. Now channels are also overlapping the end of one show while showing the start of another one by using a split screen, giving them even more time to sell to advertisers.

raywest

11th Nov 2013

Billy Elliot (2000)

Question: Toward the very end of the movie, when Tony and Jackie are going to see Billy dancing, it seems almost as if Jackie is reluctant to go on, and is seen walking slowly and looking all around. What is the significance of this?

Answer: Some time has passed since Billy left home and became a professional dancer. Jackie is older now and not as physically active as he once was. He has also seldom left his small, provincial town, and being in a major city like London is a little daunting for him, so he is a little uncomfortable and out-of-place.

raywest

I'd agree with "overwhelmed" (or in awe), but not to the point of being "daunting" because he was eager and excited to see what Billy had become and was not trying to avoid going there. (It was more like he was trying to not let on how excited he actually was).

KeyZOid

Question: In the chapter called "Horcruxes", Dumbledore says he thinks Voldemort meant to create 6 Horcruxes. He created 5 of them before attempting to kill baby Harry. Dumbledore then tells Harry, "I am sure that he [Voldemort] was intending to make his final Horcrux with your death." However, as we all know, Voldemort's curse on Harry rebounded, and he lost his powers."After an interval of some years, " Dumbledore then tells Harry, "he used Nagini to kill an old muggle man, and it might then have occurred to him to turn her into his last Horcrux." My question is: if Voldemort was planning to use 1-year-old Harry's death to make his sixth and final Horcrux, but it hadn't yet occurred to him to use the snake as that Horcrux, what was he planning to use instead? He had already used the diary, the ring, the cup, the locket, and the diadem for the first five Horcruxes. So, if he wasn't originally going to use the snake as the sixth, what was he going to use, and what happened to this mysterious object? He must have had something to use, since he went to baby Harry's house fully intending to kill Harry and create the Horcrux. So he must have had the Horcrux object with him. What was it? (Please understand this is not a hypothetical question about what sorts of objects Voldemort might have theoretically wanted to make into Horcruxes someday - I already know the answer to that - but rather a practical question about what Voldemort intended to use that night, the night he went to kill Harry, since he didn't have Gryffindor's sword, or anything else of Gryffindor's that we're aware of).

Aerinah

Chosen answer: It was never revealed what object Voldemort intended to use to make that particular horcrux, or indeed if that was what he actually intended to do when killing Harry. As you pointed out, Dumbledore was merely speculating.

raywest

Question: Why did everybody in the courtroom go silent when Tom said that he did chores for Mayella because he felt sorry for her?

Answer: At that time in history, Tom, a black man, was considered inferior to Mayella, a white woman. When he says he "felt sorry" for her, it is interpreted as him thinking he is above her or better off in some way. Regardless of his good intentions, for him to think of himself as being in a superior position to help her was considered unacceptable because it was seen as a black person rising above their lower place in society.

raywest

18th Sep 2013

The Sweeney (2012)

Chosen answer: Yes, it does. The movie is based on the British TV series.

raywest

17th Oct 2013

Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

Chosen answer: Most likely to conceal her naturally bright red hair. If that fact is known, it would make it easier for the enemy to identify and target her, either for surveillance, to be kidnapped, killed, etc.

raywest

27th Oct 2013

The Green Hornet (2011)

Question: Nicolas Cage was originally cast in the role of the film's villain, Chudnofsky. But he left the film just days before shooting. I have searched around on the net trying to find why, but I keep finding unclear and conflicting reports. So why did Cage leave the film?

Quantom X

Chosen answer: There were creative differences between Cage and the film's director, Michael Goundry. For one, Cage, who wanted an unconventional character, suggested the villain have a Jamaican accent. The director rejected that idea and there were others conflicts between the two about how the character should be played. Cage decided to turn down the role.

raywest

Chosen answer: It's because it's a computer generated image. Renesmee, Edward and Bella's daughter, grows almost three times as fast as a normal human child would, maturing in about seven years. To achieve the effect, a young actress was used for the motion capture and the as the framework for what Renesmee would look like at various stages of her development. CGI effects have come a long way, but it's still imperfect and can look unnatural.

raywest

Chosen answer: According to information on Wikipedia about FD3, the character's middle and last name is a nod to film director and producer, Robert Wise.

raywest

22nd Jul 2013

Splash (1984)

Question: In the special features on the DVD, there was a deleted scene in which Madison met a sea hag. Had this scene been in the movie, what would have transpired between the two?

Answer: The sea hag gives Madison a set of instructions she has to carry out, and tells her that she can only survive out of the ocean for six days. She also tells her she has to wet her tail every day, which is why Madison is seen in the bathtub.

raywest

That's why she took a bath that night and got her legs wet turning them into fins.

Question: Why is it that Nearly-Headless Nick and some other ghosts can visit the Hogwarts students, but other deceased people - such as Harry's parents - can't?

Answer: Nearly-Headless Nick explains this to Harry in the book, Order of the Phoenix. After Sirius has died, Harry thinks he might come back as a ghost, but Sir Nicholas tells Harry that a person becomes a ghost because they were afraid to move on to the next world after dying and now are trapped on Earth. That is why Sir Nicholas and the other ghosts are at Hogwarts. He tells Harry that Sirius was not a man who feared death and that he has crossed over to the other side.

raywest

11th Sep 2013

General questions

I remember watching a movie about 4 teenagers who gain powers. Two of them are siblings and the sister becomes evil. I think the movie is from the late 1990s or the early 2000s. Other than that, I don't remember much. If you could tell me the possible name of the movie, I would appreciate it.

Answer: This sounds like the 1996 movie titled The Craft, starring Neve Campbell.

raywest

Question: If Dumbledore knew who Tom Riddle/Voldemort really was, then why take him to Hogwarts to teach him magic, since he would eventually grow up to be evil?

Answer: Dumbledore did not know when he first met the young Tom Riddle that he would one day become the evil wizard, Lord Voldemort. He even tells Harry this when they are discussing him. Riddle took the name of Voldemort when he began his rise to power some time after he left Hogwarts. Dumbledore always had suspicions about his behavior while he was a student and kept a close watch on him, but at that time he was unaware of who and what he would become.

raywest

Not to mention, Hogwarts is not the only school of magic. Dumbledore didn't know exactly how dangerous he would become, but he knew this kid had the potential to become dark. He'd be better off at Hogwarts than at a place like Durmstrang, where he'd learn much more dark magic and be more likely to grow up as a dark wizard.

3rd Sep 2013

Oliver (1968)

Question: Fagin and the gang want Oliver back out of fear that he might tell about them. But there are some things I don't understand. 1. How long Oliver had been with Brownlow is unknown (Bill says it had been three days since he saw him during the "Who Will Buy" song), but since no police had arrived at the hideout during that time, surely they'd think Oliver hadn't said anything by now. 2. And even if they did think the above, why would they still think Oliver might say something later on? (01:34:50 - 01:37:00)

JohnShel91

Chosen answer: They're probably concerned because he's a child. He might unintentionally say something without meaning to, or after some time has passed and more is learned about Oliver's past life at Fagin's hideout, it's conceivable he might be questioned more intensely. A child would likely give more information under pressure.

raywest

2nd Sep 2013

Batman Forever (1995)

Chosen answer: The box can steal other peoples' thoughts and their intelligence, beaming that information into the Riddler's and Two Face's minds.

raywest

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