raywest

16th Jul 2018

The Lost Boys (1987)

Question: As a vampire, Max wasn't allowed in the house until Michael invited him. How were David and his friends allowed inside since they were never invited? Also, how was Star, even though she was only half-vampire able to get into the house? She asked for permission but Michael said no.

Answer: In the film, being invited in isn't a requirement to enter. It's simply a way for the vampire to render you powerless (i.e. the tests the boys performed on Max).

Answer: As stated Star was half vampire, she has some of their powers not all. Max said, "Once you invite a vampire into your home, it renders you powerless." Which is why the holy water and garlic worked. They were not invited, they crashed in.

Answer: It's not that they can't "get in." Its that once you invite them.it renders you "powerless" (according to Max). Lets not forget that David and his friends were all killed. Max was stronger and probably would have won if Grandpa didn't crash into the house and impale him. Basically they can enter anytime...but being invited in gives them an advantage.

Gavin Jackson

Except they weren't invited in. Only Max was.

Answer: Obviously, they were all invited in, one after another.

Charles Austin Miller

Only Max was invited in. Nowhere in the movie does it show David and the others being invited. And again, how did Star get into the house when she wasn't invited either?

Star and the others didn't need an invitation to enter any house, and they do not lose their powers once inside. If someone invites a vampire in, then they give the vampire an additional advantage, i.e. holy water won't burn them, they are unaffected by garlic, a mirror shows their reflection, etc. It is the inviter who loses all power against a vampire.

raywest

10th Jul 2022

Thinner (1996)

Question: How could Richie get the gypsy's dogs to eat the strychnine laced food? Shouldn't the dogs have been able to smell it?

Answer: I believe strychnine is odorless, so a dog would not be able to smell it. At the same time, it apparently has a bitter taste, which would question why a dog would ingest it - but some dogs tend to "swallow" or gulp food without chewing it, so may not notice the strychnine's bitter taste.

KeyZOid

Answer: That doesn't mean the dog wouldn't eat it. Some dogs will eat almost anything, often voraciously, and it is not unusual for dogs to be poisoned in this manner.

raywest

10th Jul 2022

The Jungle Book (1967)

Question: Why did Shanti lure Mowgli into the village at the end? What was her reason for doing so?

Answer: She was a young girl who was instantly smitten by Mowgli (and he with her) and encouraged him to come into the village, hoping he'd stay. It shows that Mowgli has made the decision to live with humans.

raywest

10th Jul 2022

Jaws (1975)

Question: When Hopper asks the men in the boat if there are any hotels nearby, they say "Walk straight ahead" and Hooper's response to that was to laugh and say "They're all gonna die" - Why were the men going to die exactly?

Answer: The entire town went into a frenzy after Mrs. Kintner offered a reward to kill the shark. People who knew nothing about boats or seamanship were heading out on the ocean, armed with shotguns and explosives. When Sheriff Brody saw that the men were dangerously overloading the small outboard boat, he asked Hooper to warn them, which he did. The men ignored Hooper, then made the sarcastic remark about him walking straight ahead, which would lead Hooper off the end of the pier. They were idiots who Hooper believes will probably drown or blow themselves up.

raywest

10th Jul 2022

The Lost Boys (1987)

Question: When Max is having dinner with Lucy and her family, why does his reflection show in the mirror if he's really a vampire?

Answer: Max says later that because he was "invited" to come into Lucy's house, then certain identifying vampire traits are nullified and their enemies are rendered powerless. That was why he had a reflection, could eat garlic, which is supposed to repel vampires, and wasn't "burned" by the holy water being thrown on him.

raywest

Ya, but Max wasn't invited by the man of the house. That would be the grandfather. Plot error, then?

Shipper

When was it established that the "man of the house" had to invite them in?

It didn't need to be the "man of the house." When Max arrived for dinner, Michael opened the door. Max just referred to him as the man of the house in a leading way so he will be invited in, knowing it would protect him from being exposed as a vampire.

raywest

10th Jul 2022

The Hangover (2009)

Question: When Phil, Stu and Alan were being interrogated by police, why didn't they report Doug's disappearance? If they did, then Doug would have been found much faster.

Answer: They were probably afraid they'd be blamed somehow, especially if Doug turned up dead. Considering they don't have any plausible explanations about what happened, the police would likely be suspicious.

raywest

10th Jul 2022

Jurassic Park (1993)

Question: When John and Nedry are arguing in the control room, John tells Nedry "I don't blame people for their mistakes" - What was the mistake that Nedry made?

Answer: Hammond's comment is a reference to what Nedry said about the amount he bid for the project. It's implied that Nedry has financial problems, and Hammond is basically saying that those problems are not his concern.

wizard_of_gore

Answer: There wasn't one specific thing. Hammond was complaining about the number of computer glitches that were occurring while Grant, Ellie, and the others were on the car tour and also about Nedry's generally sloppy work. Nedry tries to blow off Hammond's concerns and makes excuses, falsely claiming the poor work quality is because he was the lowest bidder for the job.

raywest

9th Jul 2022

Die Hard 2 (1990)

Question: Is this true that there was a feud between Bruce Willis and John Amos on set? And, if it's true, then what was the reason behind their feud?

Answer: Amos said in an interview that there was tension on the set between him and Bruce Willis that was reflected on screen. He claimed Willis had humiliated him in public, though it wasn't specified what that was. Willis has a reputation of being difficult to work with and has had documented disputes with other actors, directors, and producers.

raywest

7th Jul 2022

Inside Man (2006)

Question: Why were the bank intruders digging a hole, finally reaching a large pipe?

Answer: The hole was a makeshift toilet in the hiding space where Dalton Russell stayed until he exited the bank some days later. One of the robbers, while it's being dug, comments about it being used for that purpose.

raywest

Question: When we first see Alan Grant, he and his team are excavating old dinosaur bones. Given that this is a time when Dinosaurs roam freely on earth, why is he even bothering? He could learn far more from simply studying a live dinosaur than its bones. And secondly, given that dinosaurs are alive and free, who is gonna have the slightest interest in bones that are millions of years old. I considered this a goof, but I'm opened to any explanations.

Gavin Jackson

Answer: The live dinosaurs are genetically tweaked recreations, they're not the "pure" dinosaurs of the past, which would still be of great interest. Plus just like any other archaeology or historical study, there's always more to be learned about the past, and a great many people are interested in what the past has to teach us.

Answer: Agree with the other answer but would add that while to date about 1000 species of dinosaurs have been identified, it is believed there are at least 1,000 more types that existed and are still to be discovered and studied. Only a tiny fraction of the known species were cloned by In-Gen and Biosyn, and, as noted in the other answer, they are not genetically pure. Also, there is much to learn about dinosaurs' habitat, range, species evolution and decline, mating habits, health and diet, the existing climate at the time, and so on. That would be why paleontologists like Alan Grant continue digging.

raywest

Answer: The existing answers are good. In the movie, Alan Grant actually asked, "Why do we dig?" and answered his question, "Because paleontology is science [fossil animals and plants], and science is about the truth. And there is truth in these rocks." [00:20:52].

KeyZOid

25th May 2004

The Great Escape (1963)

Question: Why is Hilts the only prisoner out of the 11 or so who are returned to the camp after the great escape the *only* one to be sent to the Cooler? Shouldn't the other escapees be sent there, too?

Answer: The other escapees undoubtedly faced some sort of punishment - Hilts was singled out for the Cooler as he caused the most disruption while free.

Tailkinker

Answer: Hilts was a habitual prison camp escapee. No matter how many times he was recaptured and punished, he continued to escape, agitating the Germans. He was called the "Cooler King" because of how much time he spent in isolation. That is likely why his punishment was swifter and more severe than the other prisoners. He also caused quite a bit of mayhem before being recaptured.

raywest

23rd Jun 2022

The Firm (1993)

Question: Why did Mitch tell his firm about being contacted by the FBI in D.C.? What purpose does it serve him? It probably only attracted more attention to him.

Answer: He's not sure if he believes the FBI, and if they're telling the truth he doesn't want the Mafia discovering he'd been talking to law enforcement behind their back. This way he can avoid taking sides just yet.

Brian Katcher

Answer: He knew the Firm was watching him and would probably learn about the meeting. To head off suspicion that he may be cooperating with the FBI, he voluntarily tells his superiors about it, all while acting naive and showing he has nothing to hide. He may also be displaying a (false) willingness to be drawn into any nefarious Firm activities, allowing him to learn more about it.

raywest

22nd Jun 2022

Evita (1996)

Question: In her death scene Evita sings a final solo and she cries out one line. What does she say? It sounds like "So soon" but I can't get the line. I've listened to the recording of both the film and the Broadway versions.

Answer: Within the movie version, when she is lying in bed singing her final song (titled "Lament"), I think you're referring to the words "how they shone, but how soon the lights were gone" near the end of this song. Also, the following may be helpful to you. This movie is available to watch free on Tubi. The full lyrics to the movie version of "Lament" are available here. For the "Lament" lyrics from the 1979 Broadway version, see here.

Super Grover

Answer: YouTube captions are often autogenerated and have no relation to what's actually being said.

I realise they are autogenerated, which is why I said that it "may" help to work out what the line was. While imperfect, they certainly are relevant to what is said. I've used it myself to figure out parts of movie dialogue. Also, streaming sites showing this movie might have closed captioned dialogue that is not auto-generated and is more accurate.

raywest

Answer: This scene is on YouTube and has the closed-captions option. This may help you determine what the line was.

raywest

21st Jun 2022

Titanic (1997)

Question: How can Jack carry around a case of drawings without them rubbing together, and smudging the graphite or charcoal? Many modern artists will spray those mediums with hairspray or art fixative, but I don't think those were available in 1912.

Answer: Artists at that time could use fixatives to protect graphite or charcoal drawings. I had a small foldable metal sprayer for my drawings. The small metal tube is inserted into a bottle of fixative. The hinged top of the sprayer is bent at a 45-degree angle. As the liquid is wicked up through the tube, you blow through the bent part and it sprays the fixative onto the paper. It's a little hard to explain, but it works. There were also hand-pumped misting sprayers and atomizers (like the old-fashioned perfume bottles). Artists made their own fixative with shellac and isopropyl alcohol and also used clear casein (made from diluted egg whites) to paint over drawings.

raywest

Answer: McKellen said he turned it down for two reasons: first, he had already played a famous wizard (Gandalf) and didn't want to do it again; and second, he didn't want to take over a role from Richard Harris after Harris had called him a "dreadful actor."

To clarify, Harris never said that McKellen was "dreadful." He was quoted in an article as describing McKellen as a, "technically brilliant, but passionless" actor. He was also including Kenneth Branagh and Derek Jacobi in that assessment and referred to them all as "nice actors" who were "careful." It was just his opinion about an acting style different from his own, which was more emotive.

raywest

Question: Why would Dracula need to put Wilbur's brain in the body of Frankenstein's Monster? I understand the Count wanted a Monster who would be much more obedient and easier to control, however it seemed like the Monster was that way already; he would follow Dracula's commands with "Yes, Master." So what did Count Dracula need Wilbur for again?

Answer: The monster may have seemed obedient, but its overall behavior is unknown to us. It's possible that it was at times defiant, obstinate, or just didn't follow instructions completely or competently. It's also just a plot device for a silly movie. There has to be some reason, however flimsy, why Dracula wants Wilbur's brain.

raywest

Question: Originally Christian says that when his biological mother overdosed he was taken to the hospital which is where Grace, his adoptive mother finds him. Then near the end of Fifty Shades Freed, they see the picture of the foster family where he and Jack were in the same foster home in Michigan. How was he in a foster home in Michigan, if Grace took him and adopted him when he was at the hospital?

Answer: Christian mentions he was in and out of foster homes for various periods of time before his mother overdosed and died. She had likely cleaned up enough to where Christian was returned to her custody, but she then reverted to her old ways and became involved with an abusive man before overdosing. Christian then met Grace at the hospital.

raywest

15th Jun 2022

Secret Window (2004)

Question: Why did Mort/Shooter kill Chico the dog? I don't think he wanted to upset Amy, because she never finds out that Chico is dead. She calls his name when she takes the divorce papers to the lake house, where Mort/Shooter kills her.

Answer: "Shooter" (actually Mort), killed the dog as a threat and a warning to Mort, implying this will happen to him if he doesn't cooperate. Mort, as himself, has no recollection of doing this and believed "Shooter" was threatening his life. Mort then reports it to the sheriff, which only fed into his delusion that Shooter was real and shows he's losing his grip on reality. It wasn't about Amy.

raywest

2nd Jun 2022

Dr. No (1962)

Answer: According to Internet info, Dr. No's prosthetic hands were robotic implants, giving him superior strength with limited mobility.

raywest

Question: Is this true that David Thewlis initially wanted to play professor Quirrell in this film before being cast as Lupin in the later movies?

Answer: Thewlis was one of several actors who auditioned for the role of Quirrell, but lost out to Ian Hart. Thewlis, of course, went on to play Professor Remus Lupin.

raywest

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