raywest

Answer: No, he did not kill her. It appeared he was about to, but someone came into the room and he left.

raywest

15th Feb 2022

Night Court (1984)

Show generally

Question: In one of the episodes after Phil's death, it was revealed that Phil was actually a rich man. If Phil was very rich, why did he choose to live his life as a vagrant?

Answer: He was a chronic miser who obessively hoarded money, stashing whatever he could in various offshore bank accounts. Some people, no matter how much money they have, are terrified of losing it, therefore, never spend anything. Some suffer from severe neurosis or other mental issues. Others grew up in extreme poverty and fear being poor again. A family friend was just like this. She lived in a small, run-down house, never bought anything, was always terrified she would lose everything, and so on. When she died, her estate was worth over $2,000,000.

raywest

14th Feb 2022

Titanic (1997)

Question: When Cal and Rose first arrive at the Titanic, they get out of a white car. Is this the same model of car that was on the ship? They both look similar, albeit different colors.

Answer: It's the same type of car (1912 Renault replica). I suspect the same replica car was used for both scenes (the dock and the cargo hold), but the fenders were painted differently to make it appear as if it's two separate vehicles.

raywest

Question: If Hal is supposed to be this flawless computer that never makes a mistake or gives false information why then does it tell the astronauts Frank and Dave that a system will fail when that turns out to be wrong?

Answer: This is gleaned from the Internet: The novel explains that HAL is unable to resolve a conflict between his general mission to relay information accurately and the specific orders requiring him to withhold the mission's true purpose from Bowman and Poole. HAL reasons that if the crew is dead, he would then not need to lie to them. He fabricates the failure of the AE-35 unit so that their deaths would appear accidental. In other words, HAL is asked to lie, and he doesn't take to it very well, to say the least. The conflict between his mission objectives backs him into a corner where he has to make some pretty big (and cold) leaps in logic in order to reconcile the paradox in his programmed orders.

raywest

Answer: In the sequel, "2010" it was revealed HAL was programmed with all the information about the mission to the monolith, but Frank and Dave were not. HAL was programmed not to reveal anything until the scientists were taken out of hypersleep. When Frank and Dave tried to uncover the mystery surrounding the mission, HAL was forced to lie in the only way he knew how. He was not programmed to lie.

Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered - S1-E8

Question: Che says to Miranda that she has been f**king her for 3 weeks yet in previous episodes, they had sex in Carrie's kitchen, and then we watch seasons pass as Carrie wrote her book, so how has it only been 3 weeks?

Answer: Che's referring to when they officially began their affair (right after the fund-raiser auction) and had declared their feelings for one another. The kitchen incident was a separate, one-time encounter with a long gap in-between, though with an open invitation for future meet-ups.

raywest

Question: In the 1941 movie "The Wolfman", the poem about werewolves ends with "And the Autumn moon is bright." In this movie, why was it changed to "And the moon is full and bright"?

Answer: It was more folklore than an actual poem. As people verbally repeat fables, legends, and myths to others, the precise wording continually changes.

raywest

3rd Feb 2022

Inside Man (2006)

Question: Near the end Frazier marches into a restaurant and delivers to the mayor a phone number related to war crimes. Presumably he is ensuring that Case gets his just desserts and is exposed/prosecuted. But why the mayor? And what has the Jodie Foster's character got to do with it? She looks so happy but also took Case's tainted money.

Giamanman

Answer: My thought: The mayor is the highest-ranking person in the city and Frazier, being a NYC cop, is openly letting him and everyone know that he (Frazier) is taking credit for uncovering Case's war crimes, leveraging it for a promotion, a commendation, and full exoneration for the missing money he was suspected of taking. He was also not going to allow the bank heist and Case's crimes to be covered up, as his superiors wanted. Frazier had earlier taped the mayor's and White's conversation when they threatened to ruin him and used that as added insurance. White is someone who, for a price, cleans up difficult situations, regardless of most circumstances, for wealthy and powerful clients, including those connected to the mayor and city politics. She is cool, dispassionate, and unflappable. Her bemused expression is mostly a "mask" to appear unaffected by Frazier confronting them. She probably enjoys seeing the mayor put in this situation, as they do not particularly like one another. She took Case's money because she considers it payment for services rendered.

raywest

Opie's Rival - S3-E10

Question: When Peggy is mad at Andy and storms away she gets into a car with the steering wheel on the right side. I'm just curious as to why?

Answer: Steering wheel looked like it was on the right hand side. Maybe the car was an import from England.

Answer: From what I see, the steering wheel is on the left hand side. She just happens to get in on the passenger side, to avoid going around the car into the street or the bushes were blocking her way.

Bishop73

Answer: I answered a similar question about this show, and I'll repost what was from the Internet as a possible reason: This could be production-related in setting up the shot. For example, getting in on the passenger side can be shot as a locked-down tripod shot. Getting in on the driver side means the character has to walk around the car, requiring at minimum a pan/tilt/zoom and probably a dolly shot to make it look good (they didn't have Steadicams back then, so any time the camera had to move, a dolly track had to built for it to roll on). That would add expense and time to what was really just an establishing shot. This was a low-budget, weekly TV show, and scenes would shot in the easiest, fastest, and most economical way possible, even if it seems somewhat illogical.

raywest

Except the way the shot was set up, the camera wouldn't have had to follow her walking around the car. Being equipment-related is the least likely reason.

Bishop73

3rd Feb 2022

Titanic (1997)

Question: Does anyone know if during filming the cargo hold scenes, did they use a real Renault car or was it just a prop made to look like one?

Answer: Online sources indicate that the 1912 Renault Type CB Coupe de Ville seen in the film was an exact replica vehicle that James Cameron had specially built. It is a copy of the one that was known to be in the Titanic's cargo hold.

raywest

Question: When Dani and Grace are in the vehicle that drops out the back of the plane...how then is it possible that the plane is able to nearly come down upon them if it was moving in a forward motion at a great speed in opposite direction? The plane would naturally have gone down miles away from them and not nearly collided with them.

Answer: The simplest answer is, this is a movie, and movies often exaggerate, change, or fabricate details that logically could never occur in real-life. This is a perfect example of a deliberately faked action sequence that is contrived solely to entertain the audience by employing a 'suspension of disbelief.' It's more exciting and suspenseful to be able to see the plane crash, even though, as you point out, it realistically would be miles away by that time.

raywest

Question: When Doc and Marty hijack the train, they are both wearing masks. Marty zooms straight ahead as the train behind him goes off the tracks and explodes at the bottom of Shonash Ravine. When he comes back to 1985 there's a sign that says Eastwood Ravine. How could the people of Hill Valley know Clint Eastwood was on that train when he immediately took off and disappeared after defeating Buford Tannen?

Answer: In the novelization, the people of Hill Valley believed that 'Clint Eastwood' died trying to save the train from the bandits and was remembered as a hero.

Answer: Presumably, Doc, who remained behind in the 1880s, and Clara gave their version of the story about "Clint Eastwood" and influenced the naming of the ravine.

raywest

Question: Why was Frank told to button his collar? And if it is a rule why did prisoners only button their top button when moving around the prison or meal times?

Answer: If I'm not wrong it was an actual rule in the prison and in the movie it shows how strict the prison is.

Answer: It is mostly a plot device that shows the growing antagonism between Morris and the warden. The warden develops a personal grudge against Morris and singles him out by particularly nitpicking and harassing him about any small infraction. It is meant to evoke sympathy for the fictionalized version of Frank Morris who, in real life, was an intelligent but dangerous criminal. Warden Dollison was a fictional character. Olin Blackwell was the actual Alcatraz warden at the time.

raywest

10th Jan 2022

Peter Pan (1953)

Question: What kind of medicine was Nana bringing into the nursery to give to the children?

Answer: They never officially confirmed; but it was likely castor oil or morphine. Both were used around this time period as a common "medicine" for children.

Cocaine, heroin, and alcohol-based elixirs were also commonplace at that time and considered "safe and effective" for children.

raywest

Answer: It wasn't exactly an ad-lib. While filming the scene, Isaac forgot what curse he was supposed to say, so it came out as the start of 'Avada Kedavra', the only one he could remember. It was decided to use that take in the movie. As I recall, in the book it was never specified exactly how Malfoy threatened Harry, but it was enough that Dobby used his elf magic to protect him.

raywest

In the book it states that Lucius raised his wand at Harry at which point Dobby steps in to protect him. So no, it isn't specified what incantation Lucius was going to use.

Ssiscool

19th Jan 2022

The Jungle Book (2016)

Answer: It was a threat to Mowgli, hoping to lure him back in grief and to save the younger wolves from the same fate.

Answer: Shere Khan was angry that Akela would not turn over Mowgli to him. It was retaliation.

raywest

10th Jan 2022

The Woman in Red (1984)

Question: What caused Joey to scream and swear when he came home to an empty house?

Answer: The fact that his wife left him with nothing.

Rob245

Why did his wife leave him? Was she cheating on him?

He was cheating on her.

raywest

She found out that he was cheating on her.

She found a picture of him cheating.

10th Jan 2022

The Fugitive (1993)

Question: As a janitor, when tending to the boy in the lift, the boy tells Kimble his chest hurts. Why does Kimble write the notes on the board - while pressing on his chest? He could've held the board in his hand.

Answer: I just watched the clip on YouTube. The paperwork is in a manilla (paper) folder, not on a clipboard, so it is practically weightless. Kimble places the folder on the boy's lower abdomen rather than the chest and opens it. He is holding the left-hand side of the folder with one hand, slightly lifting as he writes new instructions. He is not pressing on the boy's body at all. Because the folder is flimsy, Kimble could not have written on it efficiently if he was completely holding it up.

raywest

7th Jan 2022

Stalag 17 (1953)

Question: I've heard that, because the film was shot in sequential order, some of the actors were unaware who the spy is until the last three days of filming. When they were offered their roles, wouldn't they have received a copy of the script to read in advance to learn their lines?

Cubs Fan

Answer: The cast would have received copies of the script but with parts of the last scene omitted. They would be given the missing pages during the last days of the shoot, in which time they learn their lines, rehearse, then film the ending. Considering the time involved in filming a movie, actors do not necessarily memorize the entire script beforehand, but do so as each scene is shot. Also, it's questionable as to whether or not any of the cast did not know the ending as the movie was based on the Broadway play.

raywest

2nd Jan 2022

Divergent (2014)

Question: Why does Natalie look upset at the end of the Choosing Ceremony? The book says she smiled at Tris. That and why is Jeanine presiding over it? Marcus did this in the book.

Rob245

Answer: For one, Natalie is upset that both Tris and Caleb have chosen different factions from her and Andrew's, which means they will have little future contact with their children. Also, Tris chose Dauntless, the faction that Natalie was born into and chose to leave. The movie audience has to be able to see how Natalie truly feels about this and a smile would give the wrong impression. Also, Jeanine presiding over the Choosing Ceremony instead of Marcus is a common book/movie type of change that often occurs in films. Here it introduces and places emphasis on Jeanine and foreshadows the importance her character will play.

raywest

Question: Hagrid is determined to be innocent after this year, so why is he still banned from using spells and charms?

Answer: According to J.K. Rowling in an interview with Southwest News Service, Hagrid was allowed to openly use magic after he was exonerated. However, because he never completed his training, he was always a bit inept. The movies just glossed over this as there was little need plot-wise to show him casting spells.

raywest

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