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15th Jan 2018
Star Trek (1966)
Answer: If you're referring to Dress, Combat, etc, then the answer is obvious. If you're referring to green vs gold, then the answer is, "He didn't" - it was always green. The lighting and colour processing method of film back then made the green appear yellow on screen. Although there WERE a couple of green uniforms that were made of different material, one being more reflective than the other, so one always consistently looked yellow on screen, and the other occasionally looked its true green colour. But not often, the lighting AND post-processing had to be perfect to show the green.
11th Jan 2018
Mad About You (1992)
Question: Why is Ursula in this show portrayed differently to how Phoebe's twin is on Friends? They're meant to be the same character.
Answer: Just think about your own life, I am sure you do not act the same with your siblings or close friends as you do with a stranger (because that is what the Buchmans essentially are to Ursula). In Mad About You, she is an extremely bad waitress and in Friends she is a jerk - those are not mutually exclusive character traits. This can also be seen in the Friends episode when Jamie and Fran are in Central Perk and run into Phoebe who answers their questions in an aloof manner and they assume it's Ursula. Is Phoebe always aloof? No. But she was to strangers asking her weird questions. Also, Ursula has been aloof with Phoebe as well (like in the one where they all turn 30 or the one where the grandmother passes away, etc).
Answer: The writers have the freedom develop the character to suit the different shows' plots. They wanted to create a certain dynamic between Phoebe and Ursula that was rather contentious and strained because it made for more tension and conflict and showcased the differences that kept the sisters estranged.
11th Jan 2018
Parenthood (1989)
Question: Since Helen is one of the 4 adult Buckman children, and had been previously married to Julie and Garry's dad, why is Julie's last name also Buckman? I could see Helen going back to her maiden name, that's not uncommon but it would be unusual to have a teenager (in the late 80's) who had her mother's name rather than her father's. Or was this a plot hole that was created so that they could create the conflict of the photographs scene?
11th Jan 2018
Twilight (2008)
Question: How come in Twilight James' venom makes Bella scream and writhe in pain but in the last films she doesn't react to Edwards venom at all. I know they said in Breaking Dawn Part 2 it was because she has the shield ability, but wouldn't is also work the same with James' bite in the first film?
Answer: This is better explained in the books. Unlike the rest of the Cullens, Bella's transformation was planned in advance, so she was expecting the pain. When James bit her, she had no idea that the venom would burn like it did and that was her natural reaction. Also in the books, the morphine that Carlisle gave Bella during the transformation more or less made her unable to scream or even move. As the morphine wore off, she knew she would be able to move, but managed to stay completely still even though she was in intense pain. The reason she managed not to make a sound was out of love for Edward, because she was worried her screams would torment him and make him regret ever changing her.
11th Jan 2018
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
Question: When the Enterprise recovers Chekov and Captain Terrell, they just accept Chekov's and Terrell's false explanation, even though McCoy is standing right there with a medical tricorder. Why didn't McCoy's medical tricorder pick up the Ceti eels lodged in the brains of Chekov and Captain Terrell?
11th Jan 2018
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
9th Jan 2018
Moulin Rouge (2001)
7th Jan 2018
War of the Worlds (2005)
7th Jan 2018
Twilight (2008)
Question: After Edward saves Bella from a car crash, she sees him, Carlisle, and Rosalie talking in the hospital. What were they saying? I heard some of the words but not all.
Chosen answer: Basically, Rosalie is complaining that Edward having saved Bella by stopping the truck with his hand has risked him exposing their family as vampires. Edward responds saying what else could he have done and should he have just stood by and let Bella die. Rosalie thinks he should have if it protected the family. Carlisle then says they need to move the conversation to his office when he notices Bella watching them.
6th Jan 2018
The Exorcist (1973)
Question: What was the significance of the father being an absentee dad? Did that make Reagan more vulnerable to being possessed?
Answer: The demon wants everyone to lose hope for the girl and give up on her. Her father, having already flown the coop, just makes this goal that much easier.
Answer: It's possible it made her more vulnerable, but the mother, being a big movie star with an adolescent child would probably be divorced at this stage. It was more likely a literary choice by the author. Fewer characters make for a less complicated plot and eliminates the need to add an additional character who may not serve the story in a meaningful way.
1st Jan 2018
Stuck On You (2003)
Question: Some told me Stuck On You was based on a true story - is this true?
1st Jan 2018
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
Question: After R2-D2 helps fix the escaping ship, Queen Amidala thanks the droid in front of Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan and her handmaidens, but Amidala's decoy refers to her handmaiden as Padme. Why doesn't she refer to her as Sabe? Doesn't everyone know that Queen Amidala's first name is Padme?
Answer: Padme was impersonating a handmaid, using her real name. Sabe was playing her role of Queen Amidala. This was unknown to Qui-Gon.
But the point is that using the queen's real name seems like it's giving the game away a bit.
1st Jan 2018
Friends (1994)
Question: What does Joey mean when he says "quarters, or rolls of quarters?" when he replied to the lady that says she can "pick up quarters with her toes"?
Answer: She says quarters, but then starts sliding her foot up his thigh and demonstrates that her toes are more dextrous than he first realised.
Answer: This can be answered two ways. Joey could be asking if she is nimble enough with her toes to be able to pick up an individual quarter as well as grab an entire roll of them. However, this is Joey, and he is likely implying a sexual double entendre to the meaning of "rolls of quarters" by implying they are phallic in shape.
1st Jan 2018
Passengers (2016)
Question: If he can't afford more than crappy coffee and oatmeal, then how does he afford all the alcohol and fancy restaurants he goes to?
Answer: I think the breakfast is free, however the lower class doesn't get a fancy meal for free but a more basic type. The restaurants and bar on the other hand cost money.
Answer: Perhaps customers at the bar and restaurant are allowed to run a tab that doesn't have to be settled until they are leaving the Starship Avalon and about to go to Homestead II. (This could be risky given the different resources of the passengers.) Or maybe the bar and restaurant are included in the fee for some passengers and staff would typically be at the door to allow admission to these passengers; Jim - awake and roaming - may be assumed to be eligible to use the bar/restaurant when, under normal circumstances, he would not be permitted to enter.
Answer: I wondered about this, too. His lower-class passage limits his breakfast choice. However, it seems that any passenger should be able to upgrade their individual meals at anytime and order what they want, as he does in the multiple on-board restaurants. It may be that breakfast, for whatever reason, is exempt from that option.
Yeah but they simply push a button for the breakfast and actually order food from the restaurants. You might think he would just go ahead and go to one of the restaurants to get his breakfast, but maybe they aren't open yet at that time. The ship seems to be more of a cross between a luxurious cruise and boot-camp. The breakfast is perhaps standard ship protocol.
I agree the paid for bar and restaurant don't probably open until 'Evening time' on the ship (You don't want your workers getting drunk all day, Jim is work group). The ship has a day and night clock system as heard by the announcer. I suppose Jim could change his wake up and sleep time to get a decent breakfast in the Chinese, but then his dinner would be basic and he wouldn't be able to have a drink before bed. What would you choose? Basic breakfast, good evening meal with drinks or good breakfast, basic evening meal and no drinks.
1st Jan 2018
Fifty Shades Darker (2017)
Question: Why is Hannah always looking at Jack in a weird way? She does this at least twice in the movie: once when he's approaching Ana, and later after Ana left for José's photography exhibition. Is something going on between them or did?
18th Apr 2009
Twilight (2008)
Question: James lures Bella to the ballet studio with the threat that her mother will be harmed. She hears her mother's scared voice and I'd assume that Bella would be able to tell if it was Victoria and not her mother on the phone. Yet when she wakes up to her mother at the hospital, it's like this never happened. Can anyone tell me what I missed here?
Answer: When James was in Bella's house in Arizona, he had found an old video recording that Bella's mother had made of a very young Bella at the ballet studio. While filming it, Rene' couldn't find Bella, and was frantically calling for her. That was the portion of the tape that James played when he was on the phone with Bella, fooling her that her mother was James' captive. Bella discovered the deception when she arrived at the ballet studio and discovered that her mother was never there or in any danger. When Bella awakens in the hospital, there was no need for any explanation of what happened because her mother believed that Bella had fallen down a hotel staircase.
Answer: The mother was never on the phone with Bella; it was a recording of an old message that James used to lure Bella to the dance studio Mimi's.
Answer: I guess you missed the video recorder! When she thinks she's found her mom at the studio all she finds is a video recorder playing a video of when Bella was a child! He was never near her mother.
Answer: The mother was given a set of memories by the cullens, so that all this was explainable. The cullens could not let the mother know that vampire's existed. I assume that Bella was given similar memories so that she can keep up with the lie, Bella of course remember what had really happened.
25th Dec 2017
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017)
Question: What happens to Will's heart after the curse is broken? Last we saw it, at the end of "At World's End," Elizabeth had possession of it and promised to keep it safe. Did it just spontaneously return to Will at some point?
23rd Dec 2017
Fifty Shades of Grey (2015)
Question: I have read the books and watched the movies countless times but this part I still don't get; why was Christian so upset when he found out that Ana was a virgin? Neither the book(s) nor the movie expresses this in detail.
Answer: Christian was sensitive and compassionate enough not to want a young virgin to have her first-ever sexual encounter be a kinky BDSM experience. Ana would then have no first-hand knowledge of what a normal (or vanilla) sexual relationship was like. Christian liked introducing experienced women to a different type of sexuality, something Ana would be unable to compare it to.
I didn't think he was mad.
Answer: Christian wasn't mad. He says "where have you been" indicating he was looking for someone like her - a virgin whom he could mold into whatever he wanted since she didn't know any better.
22nd Dec 2017
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Question: Voldemort said Lucius has no need for a wand anymore. Without a wand he really is useless, so why not just kill him and his family earlier due to having no faith in them?
Answer: There's no known explanation. For one, it serves the book's plot to keep Lucius and his family alive throughout the series. For another, Voldemort liked mentally torturing his victims, stretching out their fear and misery for as long as possible for his amusement. He may also have felt that the Malfoy's usefulness had not yet entirely run out.
19th Dec 2017
Behind Enemy Lines (2001)
Question: Why does Reigart take orders from Piquet? He would have the right to not take orders from him, even in NATO since they are both from different navies.
Answer: If the task force is joint and under certain conditions then the command structure is set. Overruling an order would require removing the senior officer from the task force and replacing them with another who would be reissued the order. For many situations this is too cumbersome and political.
Answer: It doesn't matter if they're in different navies. If their military are officially allied in some way, as in NATO then Piquet is the ranking officer and Reigart is obligated to obey.
Even so ranking officers in NATO who are not from the US only have limited authority over admirals who are from the US navy. For example, in NATO a foreign three star admiral can give orders to a two star American admiral but a three star American admiral can overrule those orders.
In NATO, Reigart is not required by law to obey Piquet If Piquet is from another navy. In order for Reigart required by law to obey, Piquet has to be a member of the US navy, and he's not.
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Answer: There's no explanation. It could be that there are a variety of uniforms that personnel can wear, or regulations have changed. Most likely, it was a production choice to make subtle changes to the costumes.
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