raywest

25th Jan 2019

Dark Shadows (2012)

Question: Why did it take so long for Dr. Hoffman to become a vampire? I'm referring to at the very end when she was underwater and opened her eyes.

Bryanna Norris

Answer: It's unknown how long it took for her to become a vampire. She was tossed into the bay and sunk to the bottom, lying there unconscious for a period of time. She may have turned early on, but did not awaken until much later.

raywest

She had teeth when she was being bit by Barnabus. She had turned before he confronted her. He just drained her to a weakened state and she woke back up in the bay.

Answer: Phasma is apparently dead, and Last Jedi director Rian Johnson says there are no plans to revive the character in the next film. However, the ending was ambiguous enough that it leaves open the possibility of the character returning.

raywest

Question: This is about both the first and second film, and the Lion Guard. How did only one cub born occur about four times in a row (Simba, first cub of Simba whose name is unknown, Kiara and Kion). Why weren't there more than one born at once for this long amount of time?

Answer: Because this a fictional animated movie that bends reality in order to better serve the plot. Having too many lion cub characters being born would be confusing and clutter the story line.

raywest

Plus it could be assumed that not all of them survive.

Ssiscool

Maybe, but being this is a Disney movie, morbid facts like that are usually kept to a minimum.

raywest

Agreed. Which is why only 1 cub is ever seen.

Ssiscool

Question: What did Dr. Hirsch mean when he said to Alex how he witnessed "some form of mass neurosis in East Proctor"?

Joey221995

Answer: He was referring to the local residents that lived in the area who, unknown to the doctor, knew about and were terrorized by the werewolf that roamed the countryside during a full moon. The doctor thought they suffered from some type of mass mental illness.

raywest

20th Jan 2019

Deep Impact (1998)

Question: Referring to Leo and Sarah: What parent would let their young daughter not go to the Ark when given the chance?

Answer: It was Sarah who decided she would not go to the Ark. She chose to stay with her parents.

raywest

Leo then decided not to go to the ark, either, went back and got Sarah and the baby.

Charles Austin Miller

15th Jan 2019

Wishmaster (1997)

Question: The only way for the Djinn to rule the world is if the person who freed him had all three of his or her wishes granted. What were to happen if the person who freed the Djinn didn't make any wishes at all?

Answer: There's no known answer to this, but one thought is it would be very difficult for anyone, at some point and without thinking, not to wish for something, particularly something frivolous. Something like, "I wish it would stop raining." Theoretically, the Djinn could then use a "loophole" by granting the person's wish three times without them realizing it. If the person somehow never wished for anything, then presumably the Djinn would remain captive.

raywest

Question: Every time Florence would perform before a live audience, people would respond by either laughing at her or booing at her. With these kinds of reactions, how could Florence not realise that it was because nobody liked her singing and that they considered her a terrible singer?

Answer: People believe what they want to believe and can have an uncanny ability to filter out anything negative or unwanted. Eventually, she realised the truth.

raywest

Also, Florence's friends and supporters protected her and would do whatever they could at the concerts to suppress any audience member who reacted negatively.

raywest

Question: After Daniel breaks the slabs of ice and after walking out of the bar Miyagi divides the bet money with Daniel. The money is US dollars. Shouldn't they be using Yen?

Answer: Okinawa is also the site of a number of US military bases, so US currency is likely to be somewhat common there.

zendaddy621

Answer: Most nations will accept another country's currency which can then be converted at a bank or other financial institution. About the only issue is the exchange rate, as converting one currency to another is usually not equal (i.e. a U.S. dollar is not worth the same as a Canadian dollar) and the exchange rate always fluctuates. A fee is also charged by the institution whenever currency is exchanged.

raywest

Answer: It may be a country that accepts both types of currency. In Canada, for example, many businesses accept both Canadian and American money.

15th Jan 2019

The Edge (1997)

Question: Does Charles kill Bob in the end? Why does he hold his fingers down on what looks like his nose and or mouth when he covers his face as the helicopter circles?

Answer: Charles repeatedly reassured Bob, saying, "I'm going to get us out of here," and "Don't die on me, Bob"; which would seem to indicate that Charles intended for them both to make it out alive. Indeed, if Charles had any intention of putting Bob out of his misery, he could have done it much earlier. So, no, Charles didn't kill Bob.

Charles Austin Miller

Hello I thought Steve hurt himself running down a hill, this version I'm watching had him cut himself while trying to make a spear.

You must have misremembered. It is an important plot point as the blood from his knife wound ends up on the cloth Bob neglected to bury; thus leading to the bear attack and Stephen's resulting death.

Answer: He didn't kill Bob. He died from his injuries. Charles may just have been touching his face to close his eyes or mouth after death. It may have just been a gesture for some unknown reason.

raywest

Question: Bayfield and McMoon buy every copy of the New York Post in their neighborhood and throw them in the trash so as to not upset Florence if she ever found out the truth of what people thought of her singing. Wouldn't this have been a waste of time, especially if somebody just came right up to Florence at any time and told her what they really thought of her singing?

Answer: They had no way of knowing whether or not someone would do that, but they did whatever they could to keep her from reading the bad reviews.

raywest

Answer: He means she only saw it as a valuable archeological object to be found and exploited. She did not truly understand its religious significance and magical power.

raywest

Specifically, he meant that Elsa considered the Grail a prize for The Fatherland (the German Third Reich), just as the Nazis considered the Ark of the Covenant a "prize" in the first movie.

Charles Austin Miller

Not quite. Elsa wasn't in it for the Nazis...it was made clear at several points that she didn't believe in Hitler's cause, but she was complicit. The first explanation is more accurate.

10th Jan 2019

Room (2015)

Question: Why did Joy's father not want to talk to Jack, and why could he not even look at Jack when Joy asked him?

Answer: It's not explained. For whatever reason, he apparently is unable accept that his grandson is the illegitimate product of rape. He may consider his daughter to now be sullied from the experience, and possibly blames her in some way, even though she was a victim. It is also possible he may believe that he somehow failed to protect her.

raywest

Answer: Jack was conceived through rape. Robert is unable to come to terms with it.

Phaneron

Question: Considering how powerful and dangerous the Ark is, why would Indy hand it over to the United States government, instead of putting it back where it was found and to ensure it's never located, lie to them and say him or the Nazis never found it?

Answer: Indy and Marcus Brody believed that the Ark needed to be studied. They certainly didn't want to put it back where it was found. They believed that the U.S. government would find the best archaeologists, researchers, and scientists in the world to study the Ark. They are both upset that instead, the government has decided to simply lock the Ark away. This is why Indy says, "Fools. They don't know what they've got there," as he is leaving the building.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: To add to the previous answer, there is no way that the ark could have been secretly returned to where it was found and then conveniently forgotten. Too many people already knew of its existence and location. It would only be a matter of time before someone more sinister would retrieve it.

raywest

29th Dec 2018

Pale Rider (1985)

Question: What does "Spider" pull out of the stream bed? I really don't think it's gold. Gold isn't porous, and I don't think he'd be able to hold it with one hand.

Answer: It's a gold nugget. It is not real gold, of course, but is a movie prop. That is why it looks like some other type of substance.

raywest

Or it's a piece of quartz with a lot of gold in it.

Answer: Lava.

Question: How come Connie knew Michael killed Carlo, but she believed Fredo drowned?

MikeH

Answer: When Connie says the part about "Poor Fredo, drowned, but it was God's will...Michael, I love you. I'll always help you," she is really telling Michael that she knows he had Fredo killed, but she forgives him.

Answer: Fredo lived for a long time after his betrayal of the family, plus when their Mother died Michael hugged Fredo in front of everyone after Connie talked to him about forgiving Fredo. I believe that Connie believed that Michael had forgiven Fredo that day and it was an accident. Anthony was supposed to go with them that day and she is the one that stopped Anthony from going, so I also think that plays into why Connie believes it was an accident as well.

Answer: It's less that she believes it than that she chooses to believe it. In the first film, she's naive about Michael, her father, etc., and so doesn't understand the realpolitik behind Michael's killing of Carlo. By the third film she's become much more inured to the family business (as well as more cynical and world weary), and so accepts the "official" explanation for Fredo's death even though she knows, deep down, it isn't true.

I'd add that by the time of Fredo's death, Connie knew Michael had grown more powerful and was becoming more dehumanized. She feared him enough to know to never confront him directly. After her husband's execution, she knew that any disloyalty to the family would be severely punished. She was also totally dependent on him for money and would not risk losing that.

raywest

Question: We were made to believe that they would be helpless without the holo device to spot the pods. Weren't all of the pods triggered by movement? Couldn't they just throw rubble ahead of them as they progressed? They would have to anyway as there could be additional pods that weren't shown by the holo device.

Answer: Knowing where the pods are exactly gives them a major advantage over throwing rubble. We are shown a pod that triggers machine guns. They know the pod is ahead of them so they take cover behind the stone structures. If they just randomly threw rubble and the pod was to the side of them, they would have been hit by the machine guns.

Ssiscool

Answer: It saves time, energy, and is safer and more efficient if they can specifically pinpoint where the pods are located rather than randomly throwing rubble in an attempt to find them.

raywest

6th Jan 2019

Room (2015)

Question: If Jack thinks the room is the whole world and that space surrounds the room, where does he think Old Nick is coming from when he walks in the door?

Answer: He's a five-year-old child and lives in a very structured, controlled, and unnatural environment. He isn't capable at that age to really begin questioning how and why something should or shouldn't be. He believes what he is told.

raywest

Well, except when Joy tells him that something outside Room exists and he doesn't believe what she tells him and immediately questions how that could be possible.

And that is certainly a starting age point of where a child will begin to have an ability to analyze and interpret their environment and question what they are told. They begin asking "why" to whatever they are told.

raywest

Question: What was that black liquid that filled up the courtyard, and how did Mitchell die?

Answer: The liquid acts like tar leaving residue when it goes. It's toxic and or acidic as it destroys everything it touches. Mitchell I believe is the person who gets caught up the massive snare trap. So He could have been killed by the snare, the black liquid or just died from drowning in the liquid.

Ssiscool

Answer: In regard to the black liquid, it is some type of a (fictional) toxic, tar-like substance that kills instantly upon touching living organisms. Mitchell is killed during the assault on the capital. When Peeta experiences a flashback, he attempts to kill Katniss. Mitchell pounces on Peeta to protect her, but Peeta throws him off, and Mitchell gets caught up in netting from a pod. The others are unable to free Mitchell, and he dies as the black tar washes over him.

raywest

Question: Why do we never see Sarah or Henry in school?

Answer: Film makers have to make choices about what can be shown in a movie. They are limited by the running time of the film, what best serves the overall continuity of the plot, and also the logistics of setting up and filming many different scenes. Sometimes scenes are filmed, but later are cut out entirely. If showing Sarah or Henry in school does not directly serve the storyline, then there is no reason to have it in the film.

raywest

4th Jan 2019

The Mummy (1999)

Question: In the scenes where Rick lights a match to use on a stick of dynamite, he does so by striking the match against either his own ear or the ear of Ardeth Bay. Is there an explanation to how he does this?

Josh West

Answer: He's lighting the match on his beard-stubble by raking it down his face. He's not striking the matches on his ear. It's not practical at all (and in fact, it's basically impossible unless you have beard-stubble like sandpaper), but it's just a cute way for the movie to show how much of a bad-a** he is. In reality behind the scenes, they actually had a strip of matchbox taped to the actor's faces that they were striking the matches on to light them. But with the right camera placement, it looks like they're lighting them on their faces.

TedStixon

Answer: Matches in those days were friction matches, with added red phosphorous so you could light them on basically any surface, as long as you generated enough heat. Some prefer the bottom of their boots, or a wall, but others light them on their own body, or someone else's.

lionhead

Bare skin does not provide the necessary friction to light a match. It's possible to light one using one's fingernail by flicking it hard against the match head, but not with skin. There has to be a hard textured surface to create a spark.

raywest

Rough stubble?

Those matches are known as 'strike anywhere matches', because of the phosphorous coating on the matchhead they can be used on any suitably frictional surface. That's why Rick used Ardeth's stubble beard to strike the matchhead against.

Answer: I don't think he was rubbing the match on bare skin, more likely the edge of where the beard grows. The rough hairs would make the area of skin able to produce enough friction to light the match as long as it was rubbed fast enough.

scaryterri

That is very unlikely, and even if it was possible, it would cause deep pain and injury to the skin.

raywest

Don't be ridiculous. It's not a sanding stone you are rubbing with, it's just a match.

lionhead

Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btTR7-HfM-k.

lionhead

Answer: There's no explanation, but really, this is just a movie invention.

raywest

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