Question: I'm not sure how accurate this is, but someone told me in a story they read about The Thing being able to beat Mac's blood test. So, forgive me if this is a dumb question, but is it at all possible for The Thing (in any context, story or movie) to beat Mac's little "blood test" and remain hidden, or is the blood test absolutely impossible for The Thing to beat?
BaconIsMyBFF
12th Mar 2024
The Thing (1982)
12th Mar 2024
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)
Question: Luke tells Darth Vader that he won't turn sides, so Vader will be forced to kill him. Later, though, he tells the Emperor, "Soon I'll be dead, and you with me." Is he predicting that his father kills him, then retaliates against the Emperor for making him do it?
Answer: No, he means that they'll all be dead once the Rebels destroy the Death Star. Luke had resigned himself to his fate once Vader refused to turn back to the light side and leave with him. Luke is unaware that Palpatine knows about the Rebel attack. This is the reason Luke attacks the Emperor; he believes there's a chance the Rebels could fail now that he knows they walked into a trap and that he must take this opportunity to kill the Emperor.
28th Jan 2024
Cool Runnings (1993)
Question: Was there really someone named Irv Britzer in the 1972 games that cheated and cost the USA the gold medal? If not, what really happened in 1972? Because I am thinking that in the scene where he goes to the Alliance and says 'go ahead, disqualify me, banish me, do whatever you want, but do it to me', it seems that if they had, they would have still been disqualified because they would have been without a coach.
Answer: Irv Blitzer was a character created for the film. His real-life counterpart is Howard Siler, who was a successful U.S. Olympic bobsledder and coach and was the man who coached the Jamaican team. However, unlike Blitzer, Howard Siler did not cheat and leave the sport in disgrace. He coached the Jamaican team because he found them to be dedicated athletes and was annoyed by their representation in the film as happy-go-lucky goofballs. None of the characters in the film existed in real life, the film is loosely "inspired by" the story of the first Jamaican bobsled team.
5th Jan 2024
Star Trek: Voyager (1995)
Question: Throughout the entire show, why is Harry's rank an ensign? Janeway has been seen promoting or demoting other crew members, so why doesn't she promote him?
Answer: In Season 7, Episode 19 "Author, Author," Harry's parents outright ask him why he hasn't yet been promoted. Harry replies, the ship is operating without a full complement of staff, and there is little opportunity for him to be promoted. This, however, was likely added to the script to address complaints fans and Garrett Wang himself had about the character never being promoted.
20th Dec 2023
Godzilla (2014)
Question: Why does the male MUTO mate with the female if she is already pregnant?
Answer: The female produces the eggs, and then the male mates with her to fertilize them. She is technically not "pregnant" until after the mating.
7th Dec 2023
One Piece (2023)
The Pirates Are Coming - S1-E4
Question: Luffy says to the crew, "From now on, it's all gonna be smooth sailing," and then an explosion is heard outside. Nami says to Luffy, "You had to open your mouth." What does she mean by this? I'm a non-native English speaker who studies English by watching shows. Shouldn't she have said, "You shouldn't have opened your mouth"? (00:57:00)
Chosen answer: "You had to" or "you just had to" is a sarcastic way of saying "you shouldn't have".
7th Dec 2023
Star Wars (1977)
Question: I'm not an English native speaker. This can be more of an English-related question. There's a line of Han Solo that I don't understand. He said this line twice, during the conversations with Greedo and Jabba: "Even I get boarded sometimes." What exactly does he mean? What is "get boarded" here?
Answer: To "board" means to step foot on a craft. Han is referring to random inspections, where stormtroopers will come onto the Millennium Falcon to search for contraband. He is saying it isn't his fault he had to dump Jabba's shipment. Even being as good a pilot as he is, he still can't stop the Empire from searching his ship from time to time.
Chosen answer: Getting onto a ship or plane is called "boarding." Han is saying the authorities have come onto his spaceship (boarded his ship), which is why he had to get rid of whatever he was smuggling (bringing in secret and illegally) for Jabba. By saying "even I get boarded", he means even though he's the best smuggler, there's still times he gets his ship searched.
29th Sep 2023
They Live (1988)
Question: When Nada first puts the sunglasses on, when walking on the sidewalk, what did he see on the ground that made him realise something was wrong and different?
Answer: The glasses use a filter that makes everything appear similar to black and white television. This was not immediately noticeable to Nada until he recognized that the grate on the sidewalk appeared a different color with the glasses on (dark gray instead of bronze).
11th Sep 2023
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2 (2013)
4th Aug 2023
Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
Question: After Cage loses his power to reset the day, he and Rita go back to the barracks and try to recruit J Squad for their own small mission. If this was the next day, wouldn't J Squad already be dead by then? If it's the same day, how is it possible for them to do all that at the general, get knocked out for a while, and catch J Squad before they get sent out into battle?
Answer: Time resets 24 hours before the original battle, so everything happens in one "day." On the final loop, Cage escapes the barracks, meets with the general, then loses his powers after being injured. That night, J Squad is recruited for the mission. The attack on the Louvre happens just hours before the original battle on the beach that started Cage's time loop, during the time when J Squad would have been sleeping the night before the battle.
14th Jul 2023
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Question: At the start, she was to drive the truck to get gas. She never got there, and yet was able to drive all over. How?
Answer: Furiosa was not getting gas for the war rig; it is presumably fully fuelled. Furiosa was to fill the tank with gas to bring it back to be used for other vehicles.
If you're going to get gas, why have a full tank in the war rig? Put enough in it to be able to get to Gas town, pulling the attached round tank. Fill the round tank and fill up the war rig. Return with lots of gas in a full round tank and a full war rig.
I believe there is some confusion here with how the gas tank system works on the war rig. The truck itself has its own gas tank; the tank that is being towed is completely separate. It's exactly the same as real-life gas trucks.
Why does that question even need to be answered? You're going to use gas going there and coming back. It doesn't matter if the war rig was full or not when it left. Assuming they're going to be gassing the war rig up once they get there to collect the gas, it's going to come back with the exact same amount of gas no matter what. So it really makes no difference whatsoever. Also, what happens if they get delayed along the way? If they only have enough gas to get to Gas Town, but something happens, they'll just get stuck.
I agree, it's not very smart to fill the war rig with just enough gas to get to town. But it sounds like they're saying take whatever you can out of the war rig, and you'd have that much extra gas when they get back. For example, if the rig held 25 gallons and only needed 5 gallons to get to town, you can take out 20 gallons. The rig then arrives in town empty, fills up, and comes back with 20 gallons in the tank. So now you have 40 gallons instead of just 20 (plus whatever the tank holds).
I think the big point is what Furiosa was planning. She filled the gas tank of the truck up to be able to go further with it; she wasn't planning on getting the gas anyway.
Ok, I can understand that... but I still don't see why it's a question that needs to be answered, hahaha. Maybe it's just me, but I don't see why every tiny detail needs an explanation or answer, especially when it doesn't really matter for the story.
Answer: What she did most likely took months of planning. Who she could trust to help her. How exactly she could smuggle the girls out, and most importantly, gaining the trust of the boss to the point where he believed she was his obedient slave who could never betray him.
Answer: Nobody knew the war rig was full of gas. They thought she was going to fill the tanker and come back, not smuggle out the girls.
Sorry, can't believe that. The boss guy controlled everything. He would know where and how much gas there was. Also, lowering the truck empty would be a lot different than lowering it fully loaded.
The truck was supposed to be empty when it left. She was taking an empty tank to be filled, but smuggled the wives inside. It weighed probably 300 pounds more than it was supposed to, but that would be imperceptible to the people operating the elevator. The war rig likely weighs several tons.
It's not empty, it is filled with water. The wives were hiding in the tractor.
14th Jul 2023
Bullitt (1968)
Question: Who is Chalmers? He seems to have a lot of power, but his position is never identified. The plot synopsis says he's the District Attorney. But Bullitt's Captain says, "He's grooming himself for public office." Isn't the D.A. already a public office?
Answer: He's the district attorney. "Public office" in this context means "politician." The Captain is saying the D.A. is grooming himself to enter politics as a senator or mayor, or what have you.
30th Jun 2023
Above the Rim (1994)
Question: Why, in the beginning scene, would they be playing basketball on the rooftop with the hoop set up with no screen or rail to protect them and the ball from going over? The premise makes no sense. (00:00:01 - 00:01:53)
Answer: There is no in-film explanation for this nonsensical scene. It's a dilapidated hoop on a roof, so maybe we can assume there used to be safety netting there at some point, but it has since been removed or destroyed. The real-world answer is the filmmakers wanted the death to be a freak accident. It also had to be something Shep would be legally blamed for (the police thought Shep threw Nutso from the roof) and something that would make Shep feel immense guilt (he bet Nutso couldn't jump higher than he could). And of course, to make it topical to the plot of the film, it also had to occur during a basketball game. This is apparently the best they could come up with, and we are left with a classically ridiculous death scene that makes no sense at all.
7th Jun 2023
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
Question: How old is Mayday supposed to be in this movie? It's supposed to take place 16 months (one year and four months) after Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which makes no sense. Peter would've had to re-marry MJ in his universe just like that and nine months later, their daughter is born, so Mayday is three months old?
Answer: Who's saying they got married first? They reconciled, she got pregnant at some point, and they got married whenever. Do we even know if they are married? Mayday could be as old as 7 months. She's crawling and seems to have basic motor functions like pulling her hat down, so she's likely at the older end of that scale. While she's big-ish, she's not talking or anything, so she can't be that old. Plenty of younger babies still have a lot of hair, plus we can't be 100% sure how his universe works, in terms of child development or indeed be sure that time passes at exactly the same rate as Miles'.
Okay, you made a fair point on the whole marriage thing.
Answer: She is an infant; she appears to be around 3 or 4 months old.
12th May 2023
The Wicker Man (1973)
Question: At the finale of The Wicker Man Howie/Edward Woodward is placed in a wooden cage high above the ground. The cage is set alight. When the cage began to burn and disintegrate, wouldn't he have fallen out of it onto the ground? As the cage burns, the wood must become brittle, so why can't he just force his way out? (Yes, he is surrounded by the islanders, but if anybody was being burnt alive, and they could get out of the flames, wouldn't the self-preservation instinct kick in?).
Answer: He would likely die from the heat or smoke inhalation long before the wood would deteriorate enough for him to fall out. The film also makes a point to show that Howie has given up trying to fight the villagers and has accepted his fate, so even if he could have forced his way out he no longer had the will to do so.
16th Apr 2023
John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)
Question: Regarding the scene where people catch fire after John Wick shoots them with a particular gun, what exactly is causing them to catch fire? I recall an earlier scene showed men carving lines into the tips of their bullets, though I don't remember if the two things are related. If so, is there something about carving the bullet that causes it, or is it the particular gun?
Answer: These are dragon's breath shotgun shells. The shells are filled with magnesium pellets and ignite when fired. The film seems to exaggerate the stopping power, making it seem almost like an explosive round rather than incendiary. These are not the same rounds that we see the men carving into. Carving grooves into a bullet is done so the bullet expands upon impact and causes more damage similar to a hollow-point round, though the effectiveness of this method is debated.
15th Dec 2022
Die Hard 2 (1990)
Question: When McClane crashes the bicycle into the bad guy, as he's trying to get back up airport police hold a gun on him and ask him for his ID (allowing the bad guy to get away) The airport police was with the janitor who let John into baggage area in the first place. He could've collaborated with John' story and confirmed he saw his ID previously but instead he just stands there smiling. Why would he not tell the airport police they've got the wrong person straight away?
Answer: As Captain Lorenzo explains (in very colorful language) what McClane does is improper. He has no authority to order the janitor to let him in an employee-only area by flashing a badge from the LAPD. All the janitor knows is that some cop (not airport police) showed his badge and asked to be let into the baggage area, which should sound suspicious to airport police right off the bat. It is likely they intended to detain anyone they saw in the baggage area, including McClane, and confirm their ID. The airport police officer apologizes once McClane's badge is found (off-screen) and gives it back to him, saying "Sorry, officer. Had to check." Even after all this Lorenzo suspects the men were simply stealing luggage and castigates McClane for getting into a shoot-out and killing a man on a hunch, especially since he has no jurisdiction in the airport.
20th Nov 2022
Alien (1979)
Question: Using the motion tracker with the screen when Dallas is in the vent, is it top-down or side-view?
Answer: It actually appears to orient both ways, presumably Lambert is switching back and forth between orientations. When Dallas turns; it shows on the readout as a 90 degree turn. When Dallas goes down the ladder the first time the readout shows the dot travelling downwards on the screen. It can't do both unless Lambert is switching them. And it makes sense that she would, she knows where he is because he is calling out his location as he goes. Lambert likely knows the path Dallas intends to take and switches orientations when he does. This confusing set-up is purposefully meant to disorient the audience, so they, like Dallas, have no idea from which direction the alien is coming. Lambert seems to have also become disoriented (this seems an impossible task with no line of sight) and can't give Dallas a direction to escape. She has the screen oriented so "forward" is to the right, Dallas goes down towards the alien, so she says "No! Not that way! The other way! God!"
6th Nov 2022
Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
Question: Cochran's plan hinges on kids still having the Trademark tags on their mask, and for some strange reason they keep those tags on. Marge even said they trademarks shouldn't come off easily. Why? You'd figure the first thing you and your kid would do after buying a mask is to remove the tags, so they don't rub against your skin.
Answer: It is not a hanging price tag like you would typically find on a rubber Halloween mask. It looks more like a large silver button that is attached to the mask itself. Removing the button would leave a large hole in the back of the mask which would not be desirable. It also appears that the button has a front and back, meaning it was put onto the mask in two pieces. Presumably Marge is saying it would be very difficult to remove the buttons by trying to "open" them. The one child in the test run we see wearing the mask, albeit briefly, doesn't appear to be uncomfortable. That is until snakes and insects burst out of his head.
25th Sep 2022
Shane (1953)
Question: Am I the only one that has seen an alternate ending to Shane? I saw it once where he comes riding back from over the hill.
Answer: During the 1960's, there was a TV Series, "Shane," which ran for one season on ABC. The premise was Shane returned to the ranch to help the now widowed Starrett and her son.
Thanks for the reply, but my daughter already suggested that one. That definitely wasn't it though. I've never even seen that TV show. The one I saw first was Allan Ladd and no other. All the other actors the same as well. There is no other movie that I have ever thought this about.
Answer: As far as I know there is no alternate ending. I've watched it for over forty years.
Yeah, that's what everyone says. So far no-one has seen what I saw. My best guess is that I saw an alternate version of the movie that they accidentally released briefly to my local Dayton Ohio TV station in 1970. Then again maybe I was briefly transported to an alternate universe where that is their version? Just kidding... I think?
Mandela effect.
I saw Shane for the first time in 1970. I do remember it well. It was a slightly different version. I've seen it several times since and it is a different version. The first one I saw was like this... The father was not as good of a husband and father. Shane and the woman had a bit more than just an attraction. The farmer knocked Shane out and the farmer went to town and got himself killed. After leaving, Shane came back over the hill. The boy, with tears in his eyes, yelled "Shane you came back".
This is a perfect example of the Mandela Effect. No alternate version of the film exists where Shane comes back over the hill. There would be no reason for the studio to spend the money to script, shoot, edit, and distribute two versions of a film that vary so wildly. That there is no evidence of this alternate version other than "memories" should indicate that it doesn't actually exist. It is possible you are conflating elements of the film and the 1966 television series.
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Answer: Please, there is no such thing as a dumb question. Hard to answer without knowing exactly what you heard, however: based on what we see in the film it is not possible for the creature to beat the blood test as it is shown. Every cell of the Thing possesses a sense of self-preservation and will recoil from pain instinctively. Any stories written after the film that suggest otherwise (ex. The Thing focuses really hard to not react to the pain; it kills the cells so they won't react, etc.) would create a plot hole in the original film. It knew exactly how the test worked and if it could pass, it would have.
BaconIsMyBFF
I found it in a Thing movie fan group. No official source but claim was it was the movie from The Thing's point of view. Including the blood test and how The Thing mostly managed to beat it except for Palmer (Palmer was freshly assimilated). The Things' goal was turn humanity into a collective species for the "greater good" as it believed. Again no official source, but was just curious if the blood test part has any merit to it.
Mlp1327