Question: How come Kevin never told his parents or his family about the Wet Bandits? He also never told them in the sequel either.
raywest
31st Dec 2021
Home Alone (1990)
Answer: He never tells them onscreen, nor does the movie give any indication that they know, but realistically, Kevin was a witness to their crimes, and he would be called in to give statements and testimonies in order to put them away. So his parents would have to know about his encounters with them, otherwise it would be a major plot hole. Perhaps the film-makers thought it would be funnier and more in line with his character for Kevin to be secretive about it.
Not necessarily. The police caught them red-handed and one of the cops said their habit of flooding houses was proof as to which houses they hit. It's possible no-one knew Kevin's connection.
Answer: Adding to a previous answer, the cops arrested them at the site of a previous break-in. Even though Marley rescued Kevin, it's possible he didn't tell anyone about them either, so them breaking into the McCallister's house didn't matter. Not to mention, Marv blabbing about them having the calling card to the police didn't help their case either.
Answer: Why would he need to? The idea is that he outsmarted them alone, and his parents were none the wiser.
27th Dec 2021
Home Alone (1990)
Question: After Harry and Marv are taken away, how would Kevin have been able to get the tar off the steps in the basement? The other traps are quite easy but to remove tar would be nearly impossible.
Answer: Remember his neighbour takes him home so maybe he helped with the cleaning. He may have also helped with the tar on the steps as well, but they just didn't show it.
Answer: There's no reason that Kevin would be the one removing this, not could he. At some point, his family would know about him protecting the house. His parents would have the steps professionally cleaned or replaced.
There is no evidence to suggest that Kevin ever told his family about the wet bandits.
Considering the police were involved at the end, as well as the next-door-neighbor, and the two burglars were arrested in the house across the street, it's highly unlikely the parents would not, at some point, know what happened and Kevin's involvement. Kevin is a witness to the criminal activity. Also, the parents would also question why the steps were covered in tar.
28th Dec 2021
The Jackal (1997)
Question: When Declan was in prison, and the FBI director asked him what his deal with the Jackal was, he replied, "That's between me and him." What was that conflict between the two? Did they really know each other from something in the past? Or was he simply just trying to convince the director that he had seen him when he hadn't, just to get out of prison?
Answer: Declan Mulqueen's former lover, Isabella Zancona, is a former militant member of the ETA, a Basque separatist group. While in Libya, the Jackal wounded Isabella, causing her to miscarry her and Mulqueen's unborn child. Mulqueen wanted revenge.
8th Nov 2004
Back to the Future (1985)
Question: At the beginning of the movie, the brother is a loser who works at Burger King. At the end, he wears a suit and work at an office. As a presumably successful business man, wouldn't he have moved out of his parents' house?
Answer: Who says he didn't? Perhaps he lives close enough to come over for breakfast each morning. There isn't enough information in the scene to show that he still lives there; he is simply sitting at the table.
Answer: Even though the brother now has a steady career and would normally have his own place, this is a movie-plot device using a "suspension of disbelief." The audience needs to be able to see Marty's reaction and surprise as to how every McFly family member has changed for the better. We just accept the premise.
Answer: If we presume he's living at home, wearing a suit to an office job doesn't really reflect on his success or wealth, and he's still just 21 or 22 years old. He may still be in college and just working on the weekend and living at home to save money.
23rd Dec 2021
The King of Queens (1998)
Question: When Doug is telling jokes at the dinner, he asks the audience if they all received a number-two pencil. Then he tells a red-haired woman that he is just kidding. Would someone explain this joke?
Answer: A number-two pencil has long been standard for filling in the little boxes or circles on various paper evaluation forms, tests, and ballots. Doug didn't think he was funny enough to tell jokes at the roast and seems to be implying that his performance will be rated on a scale. For example, the audience would fill in a box somewhere between five for "excellent" to a one for "poor." He quickly clarifies he is kidding.
Also, as for the "Red" part: it's somewhat common for a red-haired person to jokingly be called that, just as a blonde person might be called "Blondie." I don't think her hair color was part of the joke; he just wanted to stop her from seriously looking for a pencil.
Answer: It's nothing more than him saying her red hair looks like the red eraser on top of a pencil. He's asking did every table get a redhead.
Pencil erasers are more pink. Is it a common joke for people to think that redheads look like pencil erasers?
There are some pinkish erasers, but a lot also have very red erasers. I don't know if it was common per se, but certainly something someone would come up with off the top of their head in that situation. Plus, he puts his hand on her shoulder to indicate he's talking about her and not just talking to the room.
13th Dec 2021
Jaws (1975)
Question: When Brody and Hooper find Ben Gardner's boat why does Hooper dive into the water to examine the bottom of the boat when he already knows there's a man-eating shark in the water? How does Hooper know the shark won't swim up behind (or underneath) him and devour him?
Answer: Because he is under the impression the shark has recently eaten and the digestive system of a shark works really slow so it won't be out hunting for a while. With a normal shark anyway.
Answer: Hooper wanted to inspect Gardner's boat as soon as possible to see what caused it to sink, and before the town locals towed it and possibly destroyed any evidence. As the other answer noted, Hooper knew the shark's eating habits. He was willing to take a calculated risk and which he was quite nervous about.
10th Dec 2021
Interstellar (2014)
Question: When Cooper is walking into Murph's hospital room (when Murph is on her deathbed), why do her family members appear to completely ignore him? Not even a "hello" or any kind of acknowledgement of his presence. You would think that because of what he accomplished in saving the planet or the fact the he is the reason all those people in the room even exist would garner some type of attention.
Answer: Cooper would have already met his other family members (grandchildren and great-grandchildren) when they first arrived at the space station and before going in to see the frail Murph, who made the trip while in-stasis. Because she is so frail, everyone would discuss beforehand how the meeting should proceed. Also, it is already a long-running movie, and adding an extended "meet and greet" scene would drag out the ending and lessen the emotional reunion between Cooper and Murph.
20th Nov 2021
13 Ghosts (1960)
Question: Is the lawyer who brought the will to the apartment in the beginning the same guy who died in the cube when they were capturing the 12th spirit?
Answer: No. The lawyer was played by actor JR Bourne. The victim in the box was played by actor Charles Andre.
There is confusion about this movie, made in 1960, and the later 2001 version, "Thirteen Ghosts." In the 1960 version, Martin Milner played Benjamin Rush, the lawyer who was killed by the bed. JR Bourne was in the 2001 film. He played lawyer Ben Moss, who was killed by the sliding glass panels. Charles Andrew played a team member who was also killed.
8th Dec 2021
The Simpsons (1989)
Question: What does Reverend Lovejoy mean when he says that he stopped caring, but nobody noticed because "it was the '80s"?
Answer: The 80s was known as the, "Me Generation," meaning people were so greedy, ambitious, and self-involved with only themselves, money, and material possession, that they were oblivious to or unconcerned about anyone else. A popular mantra of the time was "greed is good." Lovejoy is saying that no-one noticed how he felt because they were indifferent and uncaring.
21st Mar 2012
The Jackal (1997)
Question: Why does Major Koslova seem relaxed after the jackal presses her hand in the wound?
18th Mar 2012
The Jackal (1997)
Question: Why did the Jackal shoot only one bullet through the sofa?
Answer: The Jackal is a precise killer, as seen when he takes his sweet time lining up his shot on The First Lady near the end of the film. He only needed one shot for Koslova.
22nd Nov 2021
The Jackal (1997)
Question: Through the movie we always see The Jackal interacting with his victims in a detached and efficient manner. But during his interaction with Valentina he's more impassioned and provocative. He even lifts off the mask he used during his assault, so she can see his face. Why did Valentina cause such a reaction in him?
Answer: He wanted her to see the expression on his face, smiling and gloating that he won. Using all her vast resources and knowledge, but she became the hunted.
Answer: I agree with the other answers but would add that the Jackal interacts with Valentina the same way he was shown to treat other women differently from men, acting softer, gentler, and even sexual. He also wants to keep her calm so she understands the message he wants her to convey to Mulqueen.
I agree, and Valentina seems unable to resist him. She appears equally terrified and smitten by him.
Answer: I think he thought of her as a kindred spirit. Tough, ruthless and fearless. She didn't get those scars sitting behind a desk.
26th Nov 2021
Titanic (1997)
Question: Pardon me for asking a "what if" question, but this confuses me: what did Rose intend to do *before* the ship sunk? She had changed her mind about Jack, choosing him instead of Cal. However, she and her mother needed the security from Cal. They were in debt. Jack was poor. If Rose married Jack, Cal and his family would be offended by the broken engagement. They would not help Rose's mother. Would Rose just marry Jack and abandon her financially-burdened mother in New York?
Answer: Rose was strong-minded and determined but was thinking "in the moment" and had no real plan or idea about what to do if she'd left with Jack, had he survived. It's unknown if they would have stayed together and married. Rose had only told Jack she was going with him. At some point she might reconnect with her mother. Cal Hoxley probably would be so humiliated by Rose deserting him for a penniless artist, that he would have hushed it up and invented some story about the broken engagement. He likely had already paid off the DeWitt Bukater debts to clean-up any lingering complications or embarrassments before marrying Rose. He probably would also have made some minimal financial arrangement for Ruth, not from compassion but for appearances sake. As we saw, Rose faired quite well on her own once she did escape Cal and her mother.
Answer: Due to historical times, the "love birds" may have lucked out (had they survived). They would not have known WWI would start in 1914 (two years after the Titanic sank), but they would have hoped that their financial situation improved. Women were needed in the labor force.
Answer: That was her plan, assuming she would have been able to follow through with it. This would have left her mother high and dry, but that didn't seem to be a very big concern for her. However, in reality, between Cal, Lovejoy, and Ruth, Rose would find it very hard to even see Jack, much less marry him, if the Titanic had made it to New York in one piece. Women had very few legal rights in 1912, so once the marriage was performed, Cal could pretty much keep her imprisoned, for all intents and purposes, and Jack could do nothing about it, even if he wasn't a penniless vagrant...which he was.
Your last statement about Cal pretty much being able to keep Rose imprisoned has no factual basis. Women still had many legal rights, and while some states had more liberal divorce laws, by 1915, 1 in 7 marriages ended in divorce. By the 1920's, it had risen to 15%. Not to mention that in 1917, New York had given women full suffrage.
"Imprisonment" might be too strong of a word to use, but cultural norms at the time (such as those regarding marriage, the role of the wife/ homemaker, and divorce - taboo) didn't give women much freedom. Divorce statistics are notoriously inaccurate and, depending on the method used to calculate the number, percent, or rate, different figures are derived. Instead of 15%, the RATE of divorce (per 1000 PEOPLE) was 1.7 in the 1920s. Women's suffrage is hardly an indication of freedom, rights, or equality. [Just think how "effective" the 14th Amendment (1868) was in granting equal legal and civil rights.].
Regardless of any restrictions on "married" women, Rose was not yet wed to Cal. They were only engaged, and he had no legal right to impose anything on her at that point. If Rose wanted to walk off the ship with Jack, there was nothing Cal or her mother could legally do to stop her. If they tried to interfere, Rose could have the ship's officers or the White Star Line's personnel intervene.
22nd Nov 2021
Back to the Future Part III (1990)
Question: Considering what happened with Old Biff and the Almanac in 2015, why did Doc not bother to ask Marty about the whereabouts of the DeLorean upon returning to 1985 in the train? Wouldn't he want to make sure it wouldn't fall into the wrong hands again? I mean he can see a bit of debris when he leans out the window, but that could have fallen off a passing scrap metal train or anything.
Answer: He's already been to the future, so it's possible (probable, even) that he spoke to Marty then and found out that the DeLorean had been destroyed in 1985.
Answer: Many people theorized that since Doc technically was the one that told Marty what time enter on the keypad as when they would arrive in 1985. It's plausible that Doc had planned the DeLorean to be destroyed by the train when they arrived. Remember the original plan was for Doc and Marty to go back together but then Clara showed up and complicated the plan (again). It's quite possible that when they arrived together in 1985 Doc would have warned Marty what was about to happen and they would exited the car long beforehand then to witness the DeLorean's destruction.
Answer: There was actually much debris (the entire car) around the track that Doc surveys as soon as he arrives with the time-travel train. He'd know better than anyone that it was the DeLorean, particularly as he planned his arrival for just a few minutes behind when Marty arrived back in 1985. Marty couldn't have done anything with the DeLorean in such a short amount of time.
18th Nov 2021
Firestarter (1984)
Question: At the end of the movie why does Charlie go to live with the older couple on the farm?
10th Nov 2021
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
Question: Why did Roald Dahl hate this movie?
Answer: He hated it for a variety of reasons: the plot changes, what he considered to be sappy songs, and an over-emphasis on the Willy Wonka character rather than Charlie. He also disliked Gene Wilder being cast as Wonka and had wanted British actor/comedian Spike Milligan.
28th Oct 2021
Band of Brothers (2001)
Why We Fight - S1-E9
Question: Was the placement of the Opekta poster in the scene intentional? Opekta was the company that Otto Frank owned and it's headquarters on the Prisengracht in Amsterdam was the site of the "Secret Annexe" that housed Anne Frank and the others in hiding.
Answer: I did some Internet research on this. I didn't find anything specific, but considering how carefully historical movies usually are researched and the detailed way in which art directors create a set, it would be nearly impossible for this to have been coincidental. If I find any additional information, I'll update this.
5th Nov 2021
Hook (1991)
Question: How is it that Tootles still remembers everything about Neverland and Peter really being Peter Pan, but Peter completely forgets everything about it and his true identity?
Answer: It's not specifically explained, but it's implied this was subconsciously voluntary on Peter's part. After falling in love with Moira, Peter decided to leave Neverland forever to stay with her in the real world. As time passed, all memories of being Peter Pan were completely suppressed, probably so he would not be tempted to return. The memories had become so deeply buried that it took much encouragement from others for him to unlock them.
Answer: Tootles suffers from dementia, dementia turns old people back into children. The final scene is Tootles dying and going back to Neverland. Yes, it makes that scene infinitely harder to watch without crying.
1st Sep 2021
King of Kings (1961)
Question: Is there a scene involving Joseph violently hitting a soldier over the head during his escape to Egypt with Mary and Jesus? This would appear to be missing from all usual prints of the film though many attest to images of it being inside comic book versions of the film issued in cinemas when it was released.
Answer: I agree with the other answer. This could possibly be a scene in another movie from this era. Biblical films were quite popular and plentiful in the 1950s and early 60s. The Greatest Story Ever Told, Ben Hur, The Robe, Spartacus, The Bible, Quo Vadis, Demetrius and the Gladiator, are just a few. The movie you're thinking of could be one of those.
Answer: I've been watching "King of Kings" for decades, and I've never seen that scene.
4th Nov 2021
The Incredibles (2004)
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Answer: If your kid came to you and said he single handedly captured to two robbers, you'd believe him.