raywest

29th Jan 2018

Frasier (1993)

And the Dish Ran Away with the Spoon (1) - S8-E1

Question: When Frasier is in Donny's office, Donny says that he will sue Daphne for "breach of contract." How is this possible unless he and Daphne, at some point, created a verbal or written contract, in which Daphne specifically promised to marry him? Is accepting a marriage proposal the same as creating a verbal contract?

Answer: There are U.S. states that still have "breach of promise" tort laws, However, these are generally designed for one party to recoup any financial losses they may have incurred during the engagement (cost of the ring, engagement parties, pre-wedding costs, honeymoon expenses, etc). A party cannot sue for emotional damage, and any claims have to be within a certain time period after the engagement is ended. Donny is just upset, and he is mostly making an idle threat out of anger.

raywest

Question: The breaking of the Trident cures all curses. So why is Davy Jones still cursed in the end credits?

Answer: It's unknown why he is still cursed, though that will likely be answered in the next film.

raywest

Answer: My take on it is that the Trident only breaks curses if you want the curse broken. In the case of Davy Jones, he didn't want the curse broken as he enjoyed being a "monster." William however didn't get a choice as it was either he becomes Captain or he dies.

Answer: Fudge did not know if Mr. Weasley was in contact with Dumbledore.

raywest

22nd Jan 2018

Patton (1970)

Question: Did Patton really promise to control his temper before being assigned to the third army?

Answer: He most likely would have had to agree to monitor his temper and behavior and also his habit of making off-the-cuff, politically incorrect or politically charged remarks. He at times spoke or acted impulsively.

raywest

23rd Jul 2009

Capricorn One (1977)

Question: Okay, so the three astronauts are on the run but only James Brolin makes good his escape. What happened to the other two? They're shown as being caught, but what happened after? Anybody know?

CCARNI

Chosen answer: It's never stated in the film, however, as the astronauts have been declared officially dead and therefore cannot ever be allowed to contact anybody, they were most likely executed as soon as they were captured.

Tailkinker

Answer: How were they able to fire their flares, then?

Dave Messer

They both had just enough time to fire their flares when they realised they were about to be captured and that there was no chance of escaping.

raywest

Answer: O.J. Simpson would have had time to shoot his flare to show he was caught. With Waterson harder to believe, he had climbed the side of the mountain and was just coming to the top with the planes coming into view. Either he would have been dropped and died on way down, not getting the chance to shoot the flare, or he was grabbed from the edge. Unlikely to have time also to shoot the flare before being intercepted.

24th Jan 2018

Twilight (2008)

Question: Why does Edward bite Victoria, when he ends her? He obviously doesn't like it, couldn't he just rip her head off?

Answer: Probably because he was in a rage fighting for his life and protecting Bella. It also makes for a more dramatic scene.

raywest

Answer: Luna has an odd, quirky personality and does not interact well with people or view life as others normally do. Harry, knowing what it's like being an outcast, likes her, but she tries his patience. Ron does not particularly like her, and both he and Hermione generally avoided her at Hogwarts, even though she was a member of Dumbledore's Army. Harry, Ron, and Hermione know they need help from Luna's father. He, too, is rather eccentric, and the three are just preparing themselves for what the coming interaction is going to be like.

raywest

24th Jan 2018

The Holiday (2006)

Question: When Iris is driving to Amanda's house from the airport, they are driving southeast along the shore. But LAX is east of Santa Monica, which is where the cab turns to head inland. Am I the only person thinking this is wrong?

Answer: This is typical in many movies where a commute to a specific location is deliberately inaccurate. I live in Seattle and have seen movies that were filmed here showing someone driving to a real location in a direction that in no way would get them there. There are logistical considerations in filming, such as what locations are more scenic, physical barriers for film crews, obtaining permits, traffic considerations, and so on.

raywest

Question: After the Reliant ambushes the Enterprise, Kirk tricks Khan and hammers the Reliant into retreat. As Kirk turns to assess damage to the Enterprise, Scotty inexplicably appears on the bridge, carrying the charred body of Midshipman Peter Preston. Why on earth would Scotty bring the dying Preston to the bridge, rather than to SickBay with all the other injured? He had to deliberately bypass SickBay just to make an unnecessary appearance on the bridge.

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: At the time of the attack, most of Scotty's crew were attempting to flee a coolant leak caused by the damage. Cadet Preston (Scotty's nephew) remained at his post in the confusion, and was the reason the Enterprise was able to maintain minimal power with the energizers knocked out. Although he was wounded from the assault while rescuing another crew member, the coolant leak is what led to his ultimate demise, as the coolant was highly toxic. When Scotty brought him to the Bridge, he was himself quite disorientated from the events and was also devastated by his nephew's condition. Agreed it makes little to no sense, but Scotty didn't know what he was doing. His nephew was going to die, regardless of where he took him to. Going to sickbay would not have prevented it at this point. It seems like it was used as a mood breaker for the scene, crews celebrating their escape from death only to be confronted by it again in another form.

Answer: I believe Preston was already dead at that point. An earlier scene was edited out of the film that explained Preston was Scotty's nephew (his sister's son), and which may account for Scotty's rather odd reaction of first bringing him to the bridge.

raywest

Yet Preston is shown alive (still dying) in the SickBay moments later. Preston shares last words with Captain Kirk before he actually dies. So, this is a case of bad editing?

Charles Austin Miller

What was edited out of the film was an earlier explanation that Preston was Scotty's nephew-this was way before the Enterprise was attacked.

raywest

These scenes, which include several of Preston's lines which were cut, were restored in the 2002 Director's Edition. Curiously, when the film is aired on TV they still run the original video cut which has the scenes removed. The editing is really sloppy with the scenes cut out and the scenes establishing that Preston is Scotty's nephew add another emotional layer to the film. It makes Scotty's actions make so much more sense, he's overcome with grief over his nephew and anger at Khan. With the scenes cut what Scotty does makes very little sense.

BaconIsMyBFF

In the novelization, I believe it is explained that the ship is badly damaged enough that Scotty reached the bridge while attempting to get to sickbay because the computer glitched.

Question: When Luke surrenders to the Imperials on Endor, Darth Vader gives the Commander permission to search for other Rebels. Why does he say "Bring his companions to me" if he and Luke are about to leave for the Death Star?

Answer: Presumably, Luke's companions would be transported to the Death Star or wherever Lord Vader happened to be once they were captured.

raywest

21st Jan 2018

Taken 2 (2012)

Question: Why did Bryan risk his and Kim's life by forcing Kim to drive through the shooting soldiers into the courtyard of the U.S. Embassy in Istanbul? They just could've stopped in front of the guarding American soldiers and gotten help. The Albanian mafias who were pursuing after Bryan and Kim were even not behind them because they got already killed by the train. Why?

Bunch Son

Answer: I'd say there is no reason other than because it's a movie. Logic and reality are often supplanted in favor of more dramatic and exciting action scenes.

raywest

Question: How did Lupin know that they were staying at Grimmauld place? Arthur said do not reply as they're being watched so how did Remus find out? Did he just guess?

THE GAMER NEXT DOOR

Answer: It was an educated guess. Grimmauld Place not only belonged to Harry, having inherited it from Sirius Black, but it was the former headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix. Only a few Order members knew its secret location and how to enter. It was one of the safest and most secure places Harry could be at, and Lupin would likely check to see if he and the others were hiding there.

raywest

21st Jan 2018

Home Alone (1990)

Question: Why did it take so long for the police to arrive at the Murphy's House since Kevin called 911? Since he called them we went through the Spider Scene, Kevin cutting the rope, Marley rescuing Kevin and then after he returned Kevin home the cops finally arrived. Why did it take them so long to arrive?

Answer: A lot of things come into play during a police call and it's not all cut and dry. Proximity of units to the call, other calls happening at the same time, severity of other calls, location of backup units, etc. Realistically, anything under 10 minutes is considered a fast response time. I've personally waited in upwards of 40 minutes for police response at my job.

Answer: A lot of things happened after Kevin called the police but all of these things took place pretty quickly. And the movie is set in a suburban area so it took the police more time to get there that it would've taken, say, downtown.

Lol, suburban police respond in minutes. Big city police, even downtown precincts, can take 30 minutes or more.

This depends on where you live, and what the police department is like - i.e, being understaffed. I've heard of my local police taking three hours to respond. I live in a suburban area.

Answer: This is just one of many inconsistent and/or unrealistic details in this movie. Police would normally respond to an emergency call much sooner. If the movie were more realistic however, the plot could not play out in the funny way that it does.

raywest

What's unrealistic about it? There's a caller claiming to be in the house which is a possible hostage situation. In that case, you would want as many officers as you could get on scene, emergency call or not.

Answer: There had been a hoax call that evening already so perhaps this is actually much more accurate than initially thought.

Answer: Suburban cops usually do not respond quickly.

TommyS.

Question: Why was the camel left with the 2 murdered men?

Answer: It is stated very plainly that the Arabs left the camel behind because it was lame. This was a dramatic device to demonstrate the Arabs' ruthlessness: They murdered two human beings in cold blood, but allowed a lame camel to live. Note that the camel scene appears in the 1965 film, but not at all in the 2004 film.

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: It's unknown why they left the camel there.

raywest

21st Jan 2018

Patton (1970)

Question: During the slapping, what did George mean when he said send him up to the front?

Answer: "The front" means the front line, i.e., where the enemy is being engaged. He's saying that since the soldier isn't physically injured, he should be fighting, not (as Patton sees it) being a coward and shirking his duty.

Answer: He meant that he intended to send the soldier back to his unit where the main fighting with the enemy is taking place. This is referred to as "the front."

raywest

Answer: No, it is not known what he was selling, only that it was likely some kind of an illegal or unsavory business transaction. His business was to steal things then illegally sell them.

raywest

Answer: It was never a serious relationship. Ginny had always had a crush on Harry and only started dating Dean when she thought Harry would never be interested in her. Dean and Ginny got on well at first, but Ginny was always defensive if any other student, including Dean, was in any way critical of Harry. Dean, to keep the relationship going, worked hard to always appease Ginny and stay on her good side. Unfortunately, this tactic annoyed Ginny, and later led to her breaking up with Dean.

raywest

18th Jan 2018

Nerve (2016)

Question: When Sydney had to walk across the ladder she had to take out her phone to video tape it from her point of view. Why wouldn't she just give the phone to someone in the window to video tape it for her?

Answer: Having to video tape it herself while traversing the ladder makes the task more difficult to perform, thus heightening the risk and suspense.

raywest

15th Jan 2018

General questions

When sitcom TV shows have restaurant scenes, are these typically filmed in a real restaurant or is a set created?

Answer: Due to the logistics involved in filming, in most cases, a set would be created. In some cases, a real restaurant might be used, but it would involve compensating a business for lost revenue during the filming, obtaining special city permits, hiring police to monitor crowd control, etc. It is simpler and more economic to build a confined set.

raywest

The above is certainly true but a rare third option is filming in an old, closed business. The place is refurbished by the crew, it looks realistic and it is simple to move the action in and out of the venue. An example is the bar at the beginning of The Wolverine, set in the USA but filmed in an old, closed pub in rural Australia.

Answer: Star Station India was a Federation facility located in a sector adjacent to Gamma 7 sector.

raywest

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