Question: When Watney causes an explosion while trying to hydrate his plants with hydrogen, he states that it was because he didn't account for the oxygen he'd been exhaling. We exhale carbon dioxide, with only trace amounts of oxygen. Could such tiny amounts of oxygen actually be calculated in his circumstances?
Aerinah
29th Apr 2022
The Martian (2015)
29th Apr 2022
The Village (2004)
Question: Why didn't Edward get the medication instead of letting Ivy go? I understand elders shouldn't be seen to go because they are trying to stop young people thinking it's safer to go now that an elder has. But this is his daughter! She is blind! And he knows the route, and it would have been much quicker for him, meaning less chance of the guy dying. Instead, he wants to put going through the woods, blind, onto his daughter when he could have done it in double time.
Answer: As his wife says, "You have made an oath, Edward, as all have, never to go back." In other words, when they founded the Village, the adults all swore never to go back to our world, and this is a promise they take very seriously. So Edward can't go, and neither can any other founding adult. Ivy, however, never took such an oath (she was born in the village and doesn't know anything about the outside world), so she can go.
Answer: In addition to the other answer that I agree with, Edward never intended for Ivy to go alone. She was supposed to be escorted through the woods by the two boys. They became scared and ran off. Ivy, knowing the truth, was determined to continue on to get the medicine to save Lucius, who she loved.
10th Nov 2021
General questions
I need to know what movie 2 guys hold their hand over a candle to see who can last longer. I'm sure the record is like 2 minutes 25 seconds or something...the vet gives up and the other guy keeps going, and they say OK you've proved your point.
Answer: This also happens near the beginning of S3E3 of the British TV show Ultimate Force, exactly as you describe. They compete to hold their hands over a candle with a glass of water balanced on top. Henno (the leader) held the old record, at 2 minutes 20 seconds, but this time he loses. The other guy, Ed, keeps going until 2:32, even though Henno and the others are urging him to stop, saying he's won.
Answer: There's a scene in "Will: The Autobiography of G. Gordon Liddy" where he holds his hand over a candle flame. There's also a scene in "The Odds" (2018) where the first game contestants have to hold their hand over a candle flame the longest. But it's a woman and the contestants are in separate rooms.
Answer: Something like this happens in Lethal Weapon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm_0VN2T2no.
4th Mar 2018
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Question: Can someone please explain what the difference is that they're talking about at the end of chapter twenty three?
Answer: They're talking about the difference between free will and fate - choosing for yourself vs. being forced to do something. Harry feels trapped by the prophecy, because he thinks it means he is obligated to fight Voldemort to the death, whether he chooses to or not. Dumbledore explains that this is not the case: while it's true that ultimately, one of them will end up killing the other, it doesn't have to be that way: Harry has a choice. It's just that, because Voldemort killed his parents and threatens everything he cares about, Harry will never be satisfied till he has destroyed Voldemort; and because Voldemort thinks Harry is a threat to him, he will never be satisfied till Harry is dead. The difference, then, is that Harry will be choosing this fate, rather than being dragged into it with no say in the matter: he has control of his own choices and his own life, and that makes "all the difference in the world."
18th Apr 2018
U-571 (2000)
Question: At first we learn that Tyler is not getting his own submarine, but then a few scenes later and he's being fired from the navy. What happened?
Answer: Technically he's not getting fired, but Dahlgren did not recommend Tyler for his own command, and he won't get a promotion without Dahlgren's recommendation. Therefore, Tyler's only choices are to keep being an executive officer (which is possible but not what he wants, not to mention Tyler feels betrayed by Dahlgren and isn't sure he wants to continue working with him), or leave the navy entirely.
13th Nov 2018
World War Z (2013)
Question: About the world health organization in Cardiff, what does Gerry want? Why does he think this will work? What does he want to do with it? How does he test his theory? This part of the movie was a little bit confusing to me.
Answer: Gerry gets an idea on the plane: he has noticed the zombies ignore some people, and realises this could be because they somehow sense those people have a life-threatening disease or infection and thus are not ideal carriers of the zombie plague. So, maybe such diseases can be used as camouflage (as long as they're treatable): if you infect someone and then give them the cure, they will live but will still have the disease in their blood, meaning (hopefully) that the zombies won't attack them. This doesn't cure or kill the zombies, but it will "hide" people from them if it works, keeping people safe and giving them time to deal with the zombies some other way. He realises he needs to find a place where deadly diseases are studied (and therefore where there will be live samples of the diseases), so he calls Thierry and has him find the closest such place that the plane can get to. This is the WHO lab in Cardiff. As he explains to the scientists there, he wants to get some of their deadliest disease samples from the vault, infect someone with one of them, and then expose them to a zombie to see if the "camouflage" works. He gets trapped in the vault, though (by the zombie who will kill him as soon as he opens the door), so he has no choice but to infect himself and hope his idea works. He injects himself with some disease (we don't know which), waits a while for it to spread throughout his bloodstream, and then exits the vault. And it works: all the zombies ignore him because they can now sense he has a deadly disease and is no longer a good host for spreading the zombie plague. When he gets back to the others they inject him with the cure...but the disease is still in his bloodstream so he will remain "invisible" to the zombies.
24th Nov 2016
Star Trek Beyond (2016)
Question: McCoy joins Kirk for a drink, revealing a bottle he found in Chekov's locker. Firstly, what was he doing in Chekov's locker? Secondly, what's with the two of them clinking glasses with a third drink? The locker and the clinking might suggest Chekov was dead, as they might have to fill in if Anton Yelchin had died before filming was complete, but that's not what happened. Chekov is very much alive in the next scene.
Chosen answer: Why Bones might have been going through Chekov's locker is addressed in another answer. The third glass is not for Chekov - who, as you point out, is alive - it's in memory of Jim's dad, George Kirk, who (as Bones mentions in this scene and as shown in Star Trek 2009) died on the same day Jim was born. Because of this fact, Jim's birthday always reminds him of his dad's death, so they pour a glass, and raise a toast, in his honour every year.
The director reportedly said the 3rd glass was a late addition. Perhaps it can serve both purposes, the scripted intention as well as a subtle tribute. See #7 in https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/star-trek-beyond-justin-lin-simon-pegg/.
11th May 2016
The Abyss (1989)
Question: Bud and Catfish decide to go outside of the rig, swimming out the bottom of one of the hatches. Also, when Bud and Lindsey are in the wrecked submersible they decide Bud will swim with the drowned body of Lindsey back to the rig. How could these three have made it by entering the outside pressure of the Abyss at 1 or 2 miles below sea level without wearing a dry suit like Bud wears while saving Lindsey? They all would have been crushed the instant they left the habitat or submersible.
Answer: At the depth you're asking about, the water pressure is not enough to crush a diver's unprotected body (which is mostly solid/liquid and thus relatively hard to compress). The only thing they have to worry about is their lungs (gases, and therefore things containing gases, are much easier to compress). This worry is addressed by the pressure and composition of the air that they breathe on the rig, in their submersibles, and in their air tanks - this air has different proportions of gases (especially oxygen) compared to surface air, and is also at a significantly higher pressure - high enough to counter the pressure of the water that deep. (Side note: another way you can tell the atmosphere they are breathing in the rig is set at the same pressure as the water at that depth is that there is open water in the moon pool - and it's not rushing in to fill the entire rig, which it would if the air pressure was less than the water pressure).
11th May 2016
General questions
I am trying to find a film... I can only recall one scene though. An old man living in a nursing home, but walks up to the woods everyday. I think he has a shed. He is over 100 and cannot die. I don't have anything else other than that. Thanks in advance.
Chosen answer: This is part of The Green Mile, based on the Stephen King book of the same name. The main character (played by Tom Hanks while young, and Dabbs Greer while old) is "infected with life" by miracle worker John Coffey - and so was Mr. Jingles, the mouse he goes to visit in the shed on the grounds of the seniors' home he now lives in.
20th Feb 2013
General questions
I'm after the title of a cartoon. I remember watching a cartoon when I was young i.e. in the late 90s (animated film) that had hillbilly style animals that would play bluegrass music. I remember the grass actually being blue in the cartoon. I remember one scene where the 'good character' was versus the 'evil character' in a musician's competition and the evil character was playing so hard that the guitar smoked and blew up. Another scene was when the good character was being told to keep on practising and he would get better at playing his banjo. This sounds really vague, I know, but any help would be appreciated.
Answer: Are you thinking of The Devil and Daniel Mouse? This was an animated short movie made by the Canadian company Nelvana. You can find it on Nelvanamation Vol. 2 or in the DVD extras of Rock & Rule (another, and even better, Nelvana film).
30th Dec 2012
General questions
I am trying to recall a movie with the following synopsis. It is a family (mother/father) with two daughters. One (I believe the younger) is playing outside and gets hit/killed by a car, while chasing her ball into the street. The family's grief is strong and they try to reach out to her in the "spirit world" which triggers the dark side as well. The only other detail that I can recall is that at the end of the movie, her family is in trouble and she returns (in Spirit) to save them from the evil forces. They are able to see her and her them. Please help me! I have been looking for this movie for over 7 years now.
Chosen answer: This could be Hideaway (1995), based on a book by Dean Koontz and starring Jeff Goldblum and Christine Lahti, and Alicia Silverstone as their teenage daughter. Their younger daughter, Samantha, was killed (I think as you describe) and while they try to recover from her loss, they get supernaturally mixed up with a serial killer (the father becomes linked to him because they both have near-death experiences). The killer comes after Regina (Silverstone), and in the climax of the film, when her parents are trying to rescue her, they all have a brief vision of Samantha helping them.
20th Sep 2007
General questions
This is a movie I saw on Lifetime, where a mentally retarded woman is pregnant. She had red hair, and there was one scene where she said "I could have this baby at any minute." I believe it had the word "Abnormal" somewhere in the title, but I'm not sure.
Answer: This sounds like Profoundly Normal, 2003, starring Kirstie Alley and Delroy Lindo. They are both mentally challenged, her more than him, and face legal obstacles when they decide to get married and have a baby. There was a scene like the one you describe, where Alley is yelling at Lindo (as her social worker looks on) because he wants to go play basketball, but she wants him to come to their prenatal class with her.
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Chosen answer: It's not about calculating the precise amount of oxygen. What Watney means is he failed to take into account the fact that he would be exhaling some oxygen, so he wasn't careful to make sure his exhaled air didn't get anywhere near the still (by wearing a sealed, airtight helmet/spacesuit). (Also, there's more than just a tiny trace of oxygen in our exhaled air - for example, it's enough to support someone receiving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation - as Watney recalls in the aftermath of the book version of this scene).
Aerinah
I did check the book, then did further research. You were right-we exhale about 16-17 % oxygen. I understand what you were saying about the percentage not being the issue now. Thx for the informed reply.
Smokyoak
I looked it up before asking the question. That's how I found out only trace amounts were being exhaled. I'll recheck the book as you stated.
Smokyoak