Twotall

Question: Everyone says Rambo only kills one person in First Blood. But I watched it a few months ago, and I'm sure I remember him blowing up some police cars in a chase. What happened there?

MikeH

Chosen answer: He is never shown on camera to definitely kill more than one person (the shooter in the helicopter); the police cars flip over and crash, but the people inside are not shown to be dead, so it is possible they survived.

Twotall

Question: Why does Mad Eye point to his left while Harry is looking at him, right before the hedges close in the maze?

Answer: It's a hint. Mad-Eye (rather Barty Crouch Jr., masquerading as Mad-Eye) would want Harry to win the challenge and get sent to the graveyard, so he gives him a little help.

Twotall

It actually looked like he was pointing at Dumbledore, hinting Harry to look at him.

That wouldn't make any sense; it's just a coincidence.

15th Nov 2014

1408 (2007)

Question: When Mike gets a postcard about the Dolphin and room 1408, he writes on the back for a moment as he figures something in his head and circles a (=13). He then says cute. How exactly did he figure 13 from 1408? I am confused by that part.

Quantom X

Chosen answer: He sums up the individual numbers: 1+4+0+8 = 13.

Twotall

11th Jun 2013

General questions

I have been trying for years to find the title or anything about a terrifying gorilla movie I saw in the early 50's. It was in color and the first scene was a detective in a destroyed apartment, kneels down by a fireplace and a dead young woman falls headfirst (has been pulled up). As the movie progresses, each young woman killed was given a bracelet with a little bell on it. As with King Kong, the gorilla won't kill the last girl and is killed by police. Can you help?

Answer: This sounds a lot like "Phantom of the Rue Morgue": http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047348/.

Twotall

Question: Is the correct grail made of wood or metal? Was the comment "the cup of a carpenter" referring to the grail looking simple or the substance it was made of? It looks like gilded wood but makes a sound when picked up like it was metal.

Answer: It seems to have had a layer of metal foil applied to wood or clay.

dizzyd

Answer: It is made of wood, possibly with a metal base. The line about it being the "cup of a carpenter" is primarily referring to the fact that it's simple and unadorned, but could also be interpreted to include the material.

Twotall

It was actually made of clay.

1st Jun 2013

Iron Man 3 (2013)

Question: Was the kidnapped official supposedly shot by the Mandarin a part of the whole extremis plot? I'm pretty sure Trevor didn't actually shoot him in the head for real but he's never mentioned again after his supposed killing.

Gillbillvolume1

Chosen answer: Most likely, to preserve the illusion to Trevor, his gun held blanks and he did not really kill anyone. However, the official would be too dangerous a witness to be left alive, so Killian would have his goons drag him out and execute him in secret after the taping.

Twotall

Answer: Watch the end credits. When Ben Kingsley's credit appears there are brief shots of the official getting up and shaking hands with the "Mandarin."

Answer: Alternatively, the official was in on the plot and was just a really good actor.

27th Aug 2011

General questions

I hardly remember the movie and it maybe came out in the 90's or early 2000's but I think Anthony Hopkins was in it. He was like a strange man in a small town who might have been boarding at this little boy's house. It's narrated by the boy, and he helps the boy overcome the bully. The boy's mom (subplot) is single and is falling for a coworker/boss. They went on a trip somewhere for business but he ended up getting drunk and beating her. I'll get back to that later. Anthony Hopkins calls out the bully on watching his mother change, and the bully lashes out on the little boy's friend (a girl) by beating her with a bat by the river. Her books float away, and she is taken to the boy's house where Anthony Hopkins helps her put her arm back in her socket. Now enters the mom who had just been beaten and she's bitter/mad and thinks Anthony is molesting the girl. That's all I remember.

Answer: That's "Hearts in Atlantis". http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0252501/.

Twotall

3rd Jun 2011

General questions

I watched a movie (in the nineties, maybe late eighties) and I could have sworn a character was played by Kevin Bacon, but I have checked his films. The movie was based on a young woman who moved or arrived back into a town and she keeps on seeing a ghost of a little girl. There was also maybe an apparent murder or mystery in that town and Kevin Bacon was a young local who worked in a car workshop. From my memory she was warned off him, he was somewhat frowned upon, maybe from locals? She eventually got into a relationship with him and as I recall they had a love scene in a lighthouse? I just cannot remember the name of the movie or any actors. (This is not Stir Of Echoes as previously answered. In Stir Of Echoes Kevin Bacon and his son see the ghost of a teenage girl murdered in their house. He was already married and no scene in this movie took place in a lighthouse). So another answer to this question will be appreciated.

SAZOO1975

Chosen answer: Could it be "Buried Secrets" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115788/)? If that is the case, the actor was Channon Roe, not Kevin Bacon.

Twotall

25th Apr 2011

Star Trek (2009)

Chosen answer: Most likely, the Federation sent a ship to pick him up after the events of the movie. After all, some time passes between the destruction of Narada and the ceremony of Kirk's promotion.

Twotall

11th Apr 2011

The Prestige (2006)

Question: Could someone tell me what Borden says to himself about two seconds before he dies? I've seen this movie several times now but I can't make out what he says.

Answer: He whispers "Abracadabra".

Twotall

17th Mar 2011

General questions

I watched this movie when i was small (in the 90's),wherein the lead actor or the villain (I'm not sure)has a severely burnt face and wears a mask always.towards the end there is a scene showing him without his mask, his lips have been burnt off and you can only see the teeth. The last scene shows him walking away as the woman he rescued (not sure) stares at his retreating figure. I really have to know the name of this movie. I know it's not adequate,but this is all i can remember. Hopefully you can help. Thank you.

Answer: That sounds a lot like Sam Raimi's "Darkman": http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099365/.

Twotall

Question: It's been stated that Elsa and Donovan knew how to get through the path to the Grail because Henry was talking about the way as he lay dying. But I'm still confused about when they get across the cliff. Indy threw some sand and stones across the path he 'believed' was there, but would they still be sitting there, basically in mid air for the bad guys to get across? Did they truly believe in the Grail as much as Indy and Henry did and so could walk across the non-existant path?

jenn_s_h85

Answer: The bridge was actually camouflaged into rock looking as if it was invisible (you can see this in movie).

Of course, any "camouflage" would only work from one perspective (from the doorway at one end of the bridge). As soon as Indy took a step out onto the bridge, the "camouflage" would be revealed, as it would no longer be aligned to the background from his new perspective. Viewed from the opposite end of the bridge, the "camouflage" wouldn't work at all and the bridge would be perfectly visible.

Charles Austin Miller

Not necessarily. They could have fashioned the stonework so it rendered the bridge invisible from both directions.

The sand and pebbles broke the camouflage of the bridge so when Donovan and Elsa came they would see through the illusion and just see a bridge.

lionhead

Chosen answer: The way I see it, the bridge is there, but is invisible. The true test is to step out into mid-air when you don't know there's a bridge there, trusting in God to rescue you. Indy passed this test, then threw the stones to see whether it really was a bridge there all along, or if it was a matter of faith in the moment you step out (or just to mark his way back). The pebbles stayed, proving the bridge was physical and real, only invisible. When Ilsa and Donovan came along, they could see the pebbles in mid-air, and figured out this as well. Originally, you would have to believe and trust in God to step on to the bridge, but Indy effectively "disarms" this trap by proving that there is a way to cross safely for anyone.

Twotall

As stated previously, the bridge is not invisible. It is simply camouflaged so that it's not visible from the position Indy had to stand. This is demonstrated in the film when the camera angle changes and shows that the reason Indy can't see it is the marbling of the stone lines up perfectly from one angle. He throws the pebbles onto it once he's across to make it easier for him to see when he returns.

But the camouflage is only going to work from one direction (the approach). Going in the opposite direction (the retreat), the bridge would stand out like a sore thumb, pebbles or not.

Charles Austin Miller

However, in the film, Indy turns around and throws the pebbles on the bridge, which is not visible until the pebbles are there.

Maybe, maybe not. Perhaps the original builders altered the vertical stone walls in the "coming back" direction so that the bridge blended from this reverse perspective as well.

Okay, he didn't actually mean invisible, more like "invisible from a certain perspective"

22nd Jul 2010

Iron Man 2 (2010)

Question: Can someone please tell me why Stark brought strawberries when he visits Pepper in her office? He knows that she is allergic to them and we know that he likes/loves her, but it was a spiteful and mean thing to do. Not to mention insensitive. If he did that just to get the model, couldn't he had done it differently? The whole idea just doesn't make sense to me.

Answer: He wanted to do something nice for her, but since he is a pretty self-absorbed, shallow multi-billionaire, he forgot about her allergy. He remembered that there was SOMETHING about her and strawberries, but misremembered and thought it meant she really liked them. He makes a simple human mistake, not out of meanness or spite, but because he honestly does not remember.

Twotall

Answer: I've only watched this movie once but I think he got the strawberries from the man on the side of the road, and he just didn't want them. The man did just place them on the seat of Tony's car.

He stopped on the side of the road to get the strawberries. The man didn't throw them into his car as he drove by.

lionhead

2nd Jul 2010

Watchmen (2009)

Question: Who really killed the Comedian? I've always assumed it to be Veidt but after watching it again the other night, I saw that the assailant's mask is raised to show his face and it wasn't Adrian. The attacker seemed to have a salt and pepper mustache, but that might have been a trick of the lighting of the scene. (The Comedian's killer is shown in a series of flashbacks when Adrian explains everything to the other Watchmen while they are in Karnak.)

Answer: It was Adrian Veidt. Most likely, he was disguised in case anyone should see him entering or leaving Blake's apartment, or, in case he should not be able to defeat the Comedian.

Twotall

Answer: It could only have been Veidt, as Comedian was still at peak physical condition. To beat him would require superhuman (bullet catching) speed and strength.

19th Apr 2010

Carrie (1976)

Question: If I'm correct, Carrie's mother (in both the movie and book) believes that Carrie had her period as a sign of some sin. However, the Bible itself has verses that mention periods. Being a religious fanatic who has most likely read the Bible several times, why isn't Carrie's mother aware of menstruation being natural?

Answer: Carrie's mother is not just a fanatic, she is also completely insane. To her, menstruation is a sign of Original Sin, the one committed by Eve in the Garden of Eden, and a mark that all women (and men!) are sinful in themselves.

Twotall

Question: Why did Elle kill Budd? Was it really just to get her hands on Kiddo's sword? or was it more to it? As poor as he was seems like she could have just offered him a small amount of money for it. Why kill him?

Carl Missouri

Chosen answer: The way she talks to Budd as he lies dying, seems to indicate that she has disliked and hated him for years, plus the fact that she feels that he was not "worthy" of killing Kiddo (seeing how Kiddo was a fantastic warrior, while Budd is an alcoholic hick). However, it would be difficult for her to get close enough to kill him earlier, as he would not buy any excuse why she just came visiting. But when Budd actually invites her over, she gets a chance to get back at him, and in the same while take the credit for killing the Bride and retrieving her Hanzo sword for Bill. Vengeance and personal gain in one swoop.

Twotall

Question: John Connor knows about the future because of the experience he had with the Terminators sent to kill him and the tapes his mother left him. But what about Skynet? How does Skynet know who Kyle Reese and John Connor are and their importance on the future? How does Skynet knows that Kyle Reese will, or has, become John Connor's father? Because that isn't happening in the future, but in the past where Skynet didn't even exist.

Answer: Sarah Connor told her story to lots of people, the guerilla fighters and mercenaries she trained with, the psychiatric hospital she was locked up in, etc. Many of these could have left records (the hospital is even shown to have videotaped several of her sessions in T2). In addition, John himself could have told the entire story to resistance fighters, who were later captured and forced to reveal everything they knew.

Twotall

28th May 2009

General questions

I am looking for the name of a 1980's movie (I believe). I don't remember much, but i do remember the weapon and the hero had to go on a journey to rescue a lady. The weapon was a silver star with blades that popped out. The movie is not "Legend" with Tom Cruise.

Answer: Sounds like "Krull" from 1983. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085811/.

Twotall

19th May 2009

Maximum Overdrive (1986)

Question: One of the early posters of this film shows a bearded guy (who is not in the film) coming through a wall crack and holding puppet strings with one hand. Who is this guy supposed to be and what does he represent?

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: He does bear a striking resemblance to Stephen King. King was both the writer and director of this movie, and as such, was certainly the guy in charge of all the character's fates and pulling all the strings.

Twotall

Answer: It is Stephen King.

Question: Why wouldn't the Adamantium procedure that Wolverine undertook, work on Sabretooth? To my knowledge they both have the ability to regenerate. So why not?

MusicalPurist

Chosen answer: Sabretooth's healing abilities are not as good as Wolverine's. As we can see in the movie, Wolverine himself almost died from not healing fast enough from the trauma of having metal grafted to his bones. Sabretooth would have taken even longer to heal, meaning that the process would have killed him.

Twotall

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