raywest

3rd Dec 2017

The Village (2004)

Question: If the creatures were actually the elders in disguise, why did the elders kill Ivy's guards in the scene where she is allowed to get medicine? And what is the protection they speak of from those rocks?

Answer: The guards were not killed. They were becoming too frightened to continue the journey with Ivy, and she agreed to them leaving, knowing the creatures were not real. The "magic rocks" was just a fabricated story by the elders to fool the two boys into believing they would be protected by them. The elders, knowing the two boys believed the creatures were real, were attempting to alleviate their fear.

raywest

13th Dec 2012

The Godfather (1972)

Answer: Being a Don for such a long time, Vito has probably seen most every dirty trick used by the other families.

Answer: Because at the end of the olive oil war in 1934, Vito used the exact same plan to execute his falling enemy Mariposa, and the traitor in Mariposa's family was his capo Emilio Barzini, and Vito figured out that Barzini will use the same plan to get rid of Michael, an unexperienced boss of a falling family (as known to Barzini).

Answer: The five Mafia heads have periodic meetings to discuss various issues. The Corleones are the most powerful of the New York Five Families. With Don Corleone now retired, the other Dons would appear to want to discuss Michael's new role. Michael is perceived as an inexperienced and weak successor, making him an easy target at a closed meeting. Vito knows this and that if Michael were assassinated, the Corleone empire would fall apart and their territory taken over.

raywest

Chosen answer: Because that's how he would organize a hit like that.

Captain Defenestrator

1st Dec 2017

The Duchess (2008)

Question: Why did the Duke refuse to divorce Georgiana and marry Bess, as Georgiana herself even suggested? They lived in the 1700s. Henry VIII divorced multiple wives in the 1500s. It was possible for a nobleman to end a marriage if he wished.

Answer: Marriage was far more complicated at that time and divorce was rarely an outcome. Henry VIII, being king, could more easily break conventional rules without suffering the same consequences others would face. Historically, marriages were seldom about romantic love and were unions that were arranged by the families. In upper classes, a marriage contract was drawn and a substantial dowry by the bride's family was bestowed to the groom. It was also about forming advantageous social, economic, and political alliances. Dissolving a marriage purely to marry someone else that you preferred could result in forfeiting whatever was gained from matrimony.

raywest

30th Nov 2017

Flightplan (2005)

Question: How did Carson know Kyle had worked out he was a terrorist near the end of the movie?

Answer: At the end, when Kyle is speaking to the captain just before he disembarks the plane, she then realises that everyone believes she is the terrorist. She works out that Carson is the likely person behind the scheme and had been manipulating everything happening during the flight. When Kyle starts pretending to the captain that she is the terrorist in order to get what she wants (to find her daughter), Carson then realises that she likely now knows that he is in on the plot.

raywest

Question: Why did Christian confess what happened to his real mother while Ana was asleep? Was it just hard for him to talk about until Fifty Shades Darker came around?

Answer: At that point, he's simply unable to express to anyone anything about his feelings or his past. He's taking "baby steps" to change into a different person by telling Ana about his mother while in her presence but when she is asleep. Eventually he is able to tell her when she can hear him. This is also a plot device known as "exposition", used to provide the audience with story information that other characters do not know.

raywest

Question: When Hermione says "I'm sure Madam Pomfrey will fix it in a heartbeat" was she trying to be comforting or was she annoyed that Ron was over reacting about his leg?

THE GAMER NEXT DOOR

Answer: Ron was overreacting but Hermione's response was typical of what anyone would say to a person who's been injured, doing what they can to calm and comfort them. Ron always had a somewhat excitable personality.

raywest

Answer: Ron's leg had been injured and he couldn't walk any further. They needed to tend to him before going on. If Lupin had not transformed into a werewolf and Pettigrew not escaped, one of the others probably would have gone on to get help transporting Ron back to the castle.

raywest

Answer: She wasn't sad. They'd all just been through a rather harrowing and scary experience inside the Shrieking Shack, and she has been emotionally affected by it all. She's also worried about Ron, whose leg was injured.

raywest

Answer: Hermione was telling Harry to go over to Sirius, who had gone a little further ahead. Harry was torn between tending to Ron, who'd injured his leg, and wanting to talk to Sirius. Hermione thought it more important for Harry and Sirius to talk while she stayed with Ron. Harry had only found out moments before that Sirius was not responsible for murdering his parents, and he had much to discuss with his godfather.

raywest

23rd Nov 2017

Brave (2012)

Question: Elinor at first didn't seem to care about burning Merida's bow, especially since she didn't approve of Fergus giving her the bow, and became furious after Merida shot for her own hand. What made Elinor rescue the bow from the fire?

Answer: Elinor tossed the bow into the fire in a fit of anger, then regretted what she did and rescued it.

raywest

To add to raywest's answer, she threw it in a fit of rage, yes. As a parent, you sometimes disagree with your children's passions, while you try to steer and guide them, they love what they love. She may have disagreed with Merida having the bow, but she also knew how important it was to her. Its hard to explain, but basically while she objected to Merida having it, she knew it was the one thing that made her happy... she loves her daughter and wants her to be happy. She destroyed it in a fit of rage, and then realised she destroyed, for lack of better words, her daughter's "happiness." Marrying her off was one thing, burning her only joy is another.

Question: In the tavern, the dwarves emphatically tell the huntsman that dwarven females are so repulsive that dwarf reproduction only happens accidentally, in bad lighting and under the influence of drink. Which sounds quite repulsive. But, when the huntsman and male dwarves are later captured in the net trap, the female dwarves turn out to be perfectly lovely, even quite sexy. Then, even stranger, one of the male dwarves later apologizes for the appearance of a lovely female dwarf (who is standing right next to him in plain sight), claiming that she was hit in the face with a rock. So, what was the purpose of the male dwarves obsessively lying about the beauty of female dwarves? Or were the male dwarves blind to true beauty for some reason?

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: Most likely it was to protect dwarf females by deterring other males' interest in them with tales of their ugliness. Men are less likely to pursue unattractive women.

raywest

22nd Nov 2017

Jurassic Park (1993)

Question: Why did everyone at the park have to leave? It doesn't make much sense that no one would be there to tale care of everything (i.e. dinosaurs, security etc). I can understand having to leave when things became chaotic, but they were leaving before that even happened; John couldn't handle all this on his own.

Answer: It didn't make any sense that everyone would be evacuated off the island and leave the animals and the systems unattended because of a storm. A facility such as that would have to be built to withstand hurricanes, which in that part of the world, would happen every year. Non-essential staff might leave, but not the caretakers.

raywest

Not everybody left, the essential personnel like Arnold and Muldoon stayed. Probably more stayed and were evacuated later when the animals escaped. The island was evacuated because of a hurricane and no boats would be present to take people to safety, they would have been stuck on the island.

lionhead

20th Nov 2017

Die Hard (1988)

Question: What's with the scene where the cops drive towards the Nakotami building, but then turn around? Didn't Hans order 911 to be called so the FBI could be called out?

Answer: It was all about timing. Hans' plan did require having the police and the F.B.I. involved eventually, but John McClane set off the fire alarm before Hans was ready for the authorities to intervene. That was why Hans then ordered Eddy, the terrorist impersonating the security guard at the front desk, to call 911 and cancel the alarm.

raywest

It was just the Fire Department that responded.

18th Nov 2017

Taken (2008)

Question: Why didn't Bryan just guide Kim out onto the balcony/window edge of the bathroom (like he did when he got to the apartment later after she and Amanda had been kidnapped) and to safety instead of letting her be taken?

Answer: Even if Kim had gone out on the balcony/ledge, she'd still be found and taken by the kidnappers or else she'd fall one storey down and be killed or seriously injured. Bryan knew that.

raywest

Answer: The kidnappers would've heard the window open or seen her come out (as they were directly in-front of the bathroom) Also, you've got to note that Bryan was in the secret service and had learned skills that were extraordinary as well as gained strength and know how to cope with situations (like not get panicked), if she did prevent the kidnappers from; seeing her or hearing her, most probably, she would've; 1. Either fell because she couldn't keep her balance 2. Fell because was was hurriedly trying to get out.

18th Nov 2017

Secret Window (2004)

Question: Why does the lady in the post office where Johnny Depp got his UPS package acts strangely when she sees him (I assume he was shooter in this moment) once again in the grocery? The lady tried to flirt with him before. I didn't get why suddenly she's too uncomfortable with him in that scene.

John Edther

Answer: The woman was afraid of him because by that time, it was pretty well-known in the town that Mort was suspected of having murdered his missing ex-wife, Amy, and her fiance, Ted (and also Tom Greenleaf and Ken Karsch), but it had not yet been proven.

raywest

5th Apr 2004

Titanic (1997)

Question: While the ship is sinking, Rose must use the lifts to get to Jack. The lift man tells her the lifts are closed. She then pins him against the wall, yells something, and then screams 'Now take me down to E deck'. Just what does she yell?

Answer: She said, "I'm through being polite, God damn it, now take me down. E deck."

Answer: I just watch the clip on YouTube. Rose says, "I'm through being polite, god damn it. Now take me down."

raywest

12th Nov 2017

Twister (1996)

Question: What exactly is Preacher's role in the group? He only has a few lines and never appears to be really doing anything of use.

Kyle G.

Answer: Based on his scenes, he seems to be a photographer for the team. He was taking pictures of Jo, showing how Dorothy worked, and was setting up a camera when Bill and Jo were going after the F5 at the end.

Answer: He's one of the scientists who works with Jo tracking tornadoes, gathering data, etc. He's a minor character, and therefore plays a lesser part in the story but is a part of the scientific team.

raywest

28th May 2011

Titanic (1997)

Question: When Cal goes down to where the Steerage passengers from the Titanic are, on the Carpathia, is he looking for Rose? And if he is, then 1) how does he know she is alive?, and 2) why would he care if she was, considering he got angry because she chose Jack over him, and had attempted to kill them whilst still on the Titanic?

Answer: He was going down there on the off-chance that she was alive, and probably looking in steerage in particular, because he was anticipating that if she had survived alongside Jack, then they would, together, have boarded the Carpathia as steerage passengers. And that if Jack were in fact dead, he might be able to 'reclaim' her.

Answer: Cal was looking for Rose simply to recover his precious Heart of the Ocean.

I think he wanted Rose back, partially because of pride. He still felt a need to "win" by keeping her. As he said to Jack: "I always win...one way or another." If he could find Rose and still marry her, then the deceased Jack would "lose" after all. Also, Cal is a wealthy, upper-class man with a certain social image. Proceeding with the wedding would be ideal.

Answer: Cal was looking among the steerage survivors to see if Rose was among those who'd been rescued. If she was alive, he assumed (correctly) that she'd probably be there rather than with the first class passengers. Cal, despicable as he was, really did love Rose, and he'd still have wanted to marry her. He did not attempt to kill her while still on the Titanic. In the heat of the moment, he was aiming only for Jack, wanting to permanently eliminate his rival and reclaim his fiance.

raywest

Answer: He was hoping that she might still be alive because, as said in a commentary, he still had feelings for her. Because of this, maybe he was taking a chance on either them or just apologizing for his actions; you can be the judge.

Answer: The reason the Crouches gave for her being fired was for something that was a relatively minor offense, not normally warranting dismissal. Sirius suspects that Winky was actually fired for having done something more serious and that the Crouch family was covering it up. He was correct because Winky was fired because she had failed to keep Barty Crouch, Jr. (who was kept hidden under an invisibility cloak) under her control while at the Quidditch World Cup. Barty got away from her and was the one who cast the Dark Mark in the night sky with Harry's stolen wand.

raywest

Question: In the sixth book Dumbledore says that Voldemort has never wanted a friend, so why does he keep referring to the death eaters and Nagini as his friends?

THE GAMER NEXT DOOR

Answer: He falsely calls them "friends" only to flatter them and maintain their loyalty and servitude. He cares nothing about them or anyone except for what they can do for him.

raywest

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