Question: Why was it necessary for Michael to kill Sollozzo and McClusky? Sonny knew where the meeting would take place. He could have sent in a team of assassins any time during the meal.
raywest
24th Feb 2019
The Godfather (1972)
Answer: Michael was used as bait to set up a meeting with Sollozzo and McClusky so that they could be set up for assassination. Michael was picked up in a neutral spot and driven to the cafe; if Michael wasn't there Sollozzo would have remained in hiding under protection.
24th Feb 2019
Collateral (2004)
24th Feb 2019
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
Question: Why does this film reuse almost none of the musical themes from the first two movies, given that John Williams is credited with writing all three scores?
Answer: A variety of reasons. The core melody written by John Williams is always there, but the score has evolved over the course of the different films to reflect the changes in the plot and mood as it became darker, more complex, and more tragc. It also avoids boring repetition. Also, different composers have written their own original music.
22nd Feb 2019
Mary Poppins Returns (2018)
Question: P.L. Travers hated Disney's film adaptation of Mary Poppins so much that she refused to have Disney make any more adaptations of Mary Poppins. How could a sequel be made without the consent of Travers, especially since she died in 1996?
Answer: Travers was never entirely opposed to having a sequel made. She initially refused Disney's sequel ideas, and attempted to impose her own demands and concept on what any additional film would be. In the 1980s, Travers and a friend wrote their own screenplay. The Disney company, now with different management, considered it but eventually dropped the project amid casting problems and other issues and conflicts that emerged. After Travers' death, Disney could then negotiate directly with Travers' estate.
Answer: The short answer is *because* she died. Control then passed to her beneficiaries/estate. She didn't forbid Disney from making a sequel, and she couldn't legally prevent it either. The deal she had with Disney just meant that they had to agree on it as she had creative control, and despite their (and apparently her) best efforts, they could never find a sequel idea everyone was happy with, especially given her dislike of the original film. Her will stated: "Any payments received by my Trustees in respect of or any future commercial production or exploitation in any form whatsoever of any books I have written (including any sequel to the film "Mary Poppins") shall be held by my Trustees upon trust to distribute..." On her death creative control passed to her trustees, in terms of sequels and the stage show, and they managed to agree on a sequel idea.
21st Feb 2019
The Big Bang Theory (2007)
The Tangible Affection Proof - S6-E16
Question: Why did they get rid of Alex after this episode?
Answer: Plot-wise, there was no reason given for her exit. She was a minor character, not a regular, and writers often write them out of a series without an explanation. The actress, Margo Harshman, did go on to work in a web series the next season and, following that, had a more substantial role on NCIS.
21st Feb 2019
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
Question: I don't quite understand how Harry beat that monster book?
Answer: If you mean how he got it back under control, he lured it out from under his bed and then stepped on it. He was then able to put the binding back on. The book stops moving if the binding is around it.
No I meant how did he lure it out. I don't get how that works.
The book isn't a very smart creature. No reason for attacking is given so it probably attacks anything that is in front of it, too close maybe, or anything that moves. Like a shoe.
15th Feb 2019
Aliens (1986)
Question: Why did Ripley attack the hive near the end of the film? Firstly, she had Newt with her, she knew that the planet was going to explode, she had little time to get out, and if she hadn't attacked the hive, the Alien queen wouldn't have gone after her. Ripley utterly hated the Aliens, but she is intelligent and Corporal Hicks had earlier praised her tactical thinking - attacking the hive was foolish.
Answer: In her haste to escape, Ripley accidentally entered the egg chamber and found her only exit routes blocked by xenomorphs. Correctly suspecting that the queen was intelligent, Ripley assumed a threatening posture, and the queen cautioned the other xenomorphs to back off, clearing a path for Ripley to leave. However, Ripley also suspected it was a trap and that she would be quickly ambushed by the xenomorphs when she tried to flee. Ripley thought this was her last living act; so, she defiantly blasted and burned the egg chamber, taking out as many eggs as possible before her death. As it happened, the ensuing chaos allowed Ripley to escape the egg chamber.
Answer: One of the eggs had started opening and presumably more would also begin hatching and the newly-born facehuggers would pursue and infect Ripley and Newt. That was when Ripley torched the nest. Even if Ripley had not burned the eggs, the alien queen would have chased them, wanting bodies to incubate more creatures.
Answer: Like the Queen would let her just leave. Ripley knew they would come after them, more host bodies.
No I don't think so, the queen was in the process of laying eggs through a large tube and was being protected by her warriors, so in order to chase Ripley she had to tear herself away from the tube. She did this because she was furious about what Ripley had just done and wanted to get revenge.
Answer: Ripley wasn't there by accident; she had to rescue Newt. Newt was stuck in some sort of sticky goo, so Ripley had to make her way through the nest of eggs to get Newt. Newt was being held prisoner by the queen who saw her as prey for her offspring, so Ripley got on her bad side when she destroys the nest.
Answer: I would imagine Ripley did do a bit of tactical thinking, she probably made a logical guess that if she destroyed the nest, the Queen would likely want to get revenge personally rather than getting her "minions" to do it. Fighting off one Queen would be a lot easier than fitting off a few dozen Xenomorphs.
12th Feb 2019
Doctor Strange (2016)
Question: Why didn't Strange heal his hands and continue being a surgeon?
Answer: Medically, he could not heal his hands. He spent his entire fortune trying to return to being a surgeon through experimental procedures. Once he completed his training to become a sorcerer, he realised there was more to the world than he realised. The Ancient One correctly stated that he was a surgeon for his own ego; he wanted to prove he was the best and helped people for that reason only. By joining the sorcerers he was given a greater purpose and chose this over returning to his former life.
His hands were healing, just not quickly enough for his needs. This was showing his egotistical attitudes.
Answer: For now, he is still in the midst of studying the mystical arts that he has not yet mastered and may not be able or interested in returning to his former profession at this time. He has also assumed the role as caretaker of the New York Sanctum, and is dedicated to helping protect Earth (along with the London and Hong Kong Sanctums) from threats by the other dimensions.
8th Feb 2019
Disclosure (1994)
Question: So who turned out to be A. Friend? I just got lost on that issue. (04:53:00)
Answer: It's a little confusing. Stephanie Kaplan, who was promoted to replace Meredith at the end of the film, had a son named Spencer. Spencer worked as a research assistant to a Professor Arthur Friend (A. Friend) at the University of Washington. Stephanie was feeding clues to Tom via her son, who had access to Prof. Friend's computer and email account. Prof. Friend was supposedly on a leave of absence and unaware his email was being used.
7th Feb 2019
End of Days (1999)
Question: Why exactly did the Devil keep Jericho alive? Why didn't he just have his followers kill him while they were tying him up?
Answer: It is never explained and is considered by many to be a major flaw in the film. Presumably Satan wanted to torture Jericho, he definitely seemed to enjoy tormenting him throughout the film.
Answer: It's not explained why he didn't kill him then. Any answer is speculative, but the obvious one is that Jericho is the main protagonist in the story and the plot needs to be allowed to play out in a contrived way to provide a satisfying conclusion. Abruptly killing off the character would end the story.
7th Feb 2019
Tangled (2010)
Question: Mother Gothel chains Flynn to the post and says it is to keep him from following her and Rapunzel after Rapunzel heals him. My question is how was Flynn supposed to escape the chains when they were gone? Was he just supposed to starve to death?
7th Feb 2019
Where Eagles Dare (1968)
Question: During the opening dialogue, it is explained that Carnaby's plane was brought down after a raid on Nuremberg. Later in the same scene, it is explained that he was on his way to Egypt when his plane was shot down. Which one was it?
Answer: The way I interpret it is that "following" the raid on Nuremberg, the plane was then on its way to Egypt when it was shot down by the Germans, prompting the mission to rescue Carnaby.
The "saturation bombing of Nuremberg" was a separate raid which should have lured all the fighters away from the Austrian border. The "General's" plane, on its way to Crete, was shot down by a roving Messerschmitt.
6th Feb 2019
Cats (1998)
Question: What is the story behind Grizabella? Why do the other cats seem to hate her and shun her?
Answer: It's a bit vague, but when Grizabella was young, she left the other Jellicle cats, turning her back on them to live another life, thinking she was more glamorous than the others. Now that she is older and has fallen on hard times, she returns, wanting to rejoin the tribe. The other cats are resentful that she considered herself better than them, and they are put off by her shabby appearance, so do not want her back.
6th Feb 2019
Ghost Ship (2002)
6th Feb 2019
Interstellar (2014)
Question: What made Cooper think that Amelia was in love with Edmunds? Cooper asks Amelia about Edmunds, she tells him about him but she never says anything to indicate that she's in love with him.
Answer: Cooper was able to read more into Brand's comments and her emotions than she openly stated. When he questioned T.A.R.S. (the robot) about any relationship between Brand and Edmund, T.A.R.S. declined to answer, citing a discretionary protocol, leading Cooper to believe there was something. Brand also pushed for the team to land on Edmund's planet even though evidence showed that Mann's was the better prospect. Cooper strung different clues together and was guessing, but when he questioned Brand, she answered honestly.
2nd Feb 2019
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)
Question: Since it takes two people (usually the captain and first officer) to arm and disarm the self-destruct sequence what would happen if one were killed and couldn't concur to disarm? I am supposing it would go to the next ranking officer but if they are the only ones on the ship (like in "11001001") what would happen then?
Answer: If one or both commanding officers were incapacitated in some way and unable to disarm the self-destruct, then presumably the ship would explode and they would be killed. That is the inherent risk in such a system. However, being as its a TV series, there is always some technical loophole that saves the ship.
1st Feb 2019
Black Narcissus (1947)
Question: This follows on from the continuity mistake about Sister Ruth wearing makeup. Sister Ruth has been a nun, living under religious vows for many years. After the nuns start their mission in the Himalayas she becomes infatuated with English expatriate, Mr. Dean. Eventually she puts on a fashionable dress, assumes an attractive hairstyle, and even applies lipstick (at the time it was somewhat controversial for any woman to wear lipstick). She then tries to seduce Mr. Dean. Could a woman who has lived a life of religious self denial change into a convincingly steaming seductress?
Answer: There's no way of knowing. For the purpose of the movie's plot and to heighten the drama and underlying sensual passion, the Sister Ruth character was probably portrayed as being more sexually savvy than a lapsed nun normally would be. She may also have dated a lot as a teenager, watched many romantic movies, or read romance novels before becoming a nun. Also, not all nuns are sexually inexperienced before joining the church. Some enter when they're older, have previously been engaged, married, and so on.
18th Mar 2007
Star Wars (1977)
Question: Does anyone know how or if Obi-Wan was going to pay Han for taking him and Luke to Alderaan, if they had gotten there? If he had 17,000, why didn't he just pay the 10,000 that Han originally wanted?
Answer: In the next scene, after leaving the bar, Obi-Wan says, "You'll have to sell your speeder" to Luke. He replies, "Good, I'm never coming back here again." He also agrees to the price for passage, the extra is to insure that Han delivers them. No double crosses or selling them out to the Empire.
Answer: He didn't have it - he was presumably expecting that Bail Organa would provide the money on their arrival. That's why he upped the fee, to get Han to take him and Luke despite not receiving much money up front.
Answer: Obi Wan does not know or trust Han Solo. He had no money other than the 2,000 for Luke's speeder, but even if he had the full amount, he would not have paid Han the additional 15,000 until he had safely delivered him, Luke, and the droids to Alderan. He offers the higher amount knowing it is less likely that Han will just take the 2,000 and run out or turn them over to the Empire for a reward. Obi Wan had no doubts that the Alderan government would pay the remainder of the fee, considering he was there at Princess Leia's request and how important the information was inside R2D2.
26th Jan 2019
Philadelphia (1993)
Question: Can someone please explain the scene in the hallway at the basketball game? It seems to suggest that Andrew actually wasn't fired because of his sexuality or AIDS. But I thought the point of the movie is that he was.
26th Jan 2019
Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
Question: How did the Phoenix land on Earth after the warp display for the Vulcans? It looked like a non-reusable rocket to me.
Answer: While the main fuselage was a re-purposed intercontinental ballistic missile, and they separated from the ascent stage of the rocket, the payload section housed two deployable prototype warp nacelles capable of achieving lightspeed. Beyond that, the payload also contained the prototype warp core (which was powered by matter/antimatter annihilation), the warp core coolant, elaborate magnetic-containment systems, and probably even impulse drive and landing thrusters (It kind of goes without saying that thruster and impulse technology would have existed before warp technology). There was no space left over in the payload section for conventional rocket propellant, and Zefram Cochrane's enormously-expensive and one-of-a-kind warp components would not be expendable; so he must have devised a way to safely bring the Phoenix down for re-use. Since the Phoenix's return and landing were never addressed in the film, my assumption is that the payload section was powered entirely by the warp core, including its impulse drive and landing thrusters.
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Answer: The plan was to make the murders look as if the Corleones were not involved and that Michael was falsely accused and forced to disappear to protect himself. If Sonny's men went in and just started blazing away, deliberately killing a police captain, the Corleones would have lost Mafia allies and political power. Michael was also the only person who could get close enough to kill Solozzo because he was not considered a threat. It was a tactical element of surprise. Sonny and Hagen also wanted to avoid a bloody gunfight that would have killed innocent bystanders, something all the Mafia families disdained. After enough time had passed, the Corleones bribed a condemned prisoner to "confess" to murdering Sollozzo and McClusky, offering him a large sum of money ensuring his family would be taken care of. Michael was then exonerated and returned to the USA.
raywest ★