Question: In the movie, the team of snatchers were able to smell Hermione's perfume through the protective spells that she put up. This may seem silly, but why did she have perfume on? It seems quite careless on her part and there was absolutely no reason for her to have it on for their mission, so why the perfume?
Garlonuss
2nd Oct 2013
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)
Answer: Hermione may have wanted to smell as fresh as possible while living in such cramped quarters with Harry and Ron, but the only reason she is shown wearing perfume is because it is a plot device. It shows how the protective charms around the camp work and that they are not completely full-proof as loud sounds, smells, etc. can penetrate them. It was also to build suspense by having Hermione face-to-face with a snatcher who can smell her presence but not see her. One bad move on her part, and the Trio could have been exposed.
25th Jul 2013
Star Trek (2009)
Question: Uhura indicates that the Enterprise crew is in an "alternate reality" based on Nero coming from the future and changing events. Kirk later on says to Spock prime that Spock had "changed history." Is this an actual alternate reality with the prime timeline intact, or has the prime timeline been changed?
Answer: Yes, the new Star Trek movies are occurring in an alternate reality. The writers talked about it and are specifically using a "quantum reality" approach to the timeline where dramatic temporal events cause a branching of known realities. Specifically, everything that happened in previous movies and series remains intact in the Prime timeline, and these new movies are a new timeline that is occurring at the same time, but in a different reality. Hence "alternate reality" rather than "altered timeline".
15th Jul 2013
Total Recall (1990)
Question: How was Hauser and Cohagen's plan supposed to work if Quad never went to Recall? Why are Cohagen's workers trying to stop him from going to Recall? His wife is constantly trying to talk him out of going to Mars and Recall, so how would Quad ever lead Cohagen to the mutant physic if he'd not gone?
Chosen answer: We're never told the details of their actual plan, but they indicate that his trip to Rekall activated him prematurely. The whole point of his new life was to give him a credible cover story. For it to work, they need him to stay there for enough time to make it believable under a background check. They could have intended to have him win a trip to mars from a lottery or something, but the point is that they simply weren't ready for him to up their timetable right then.
26th Jun 2013
Inception (2010)
Question: Does anyone understand how the function of the architect works? As told in the movie, the architect creates the world of the dream, and then the subject is brought into that dream and fills it with their subconscious. So doesn't that mean the architect must be the main dreamer, with the subject and others acting as the participants of that dream so that the architect can set the infrastructure for the subject to populate? Otherwise, the story would need to explain how the architect has the power to override the dreamer's dream framework.
Chosen answer: The architect designs all of the dream layouts then teaches those layouts to the people who will be the main dreamer for each level. They could be the main dreamer on one of those levels, but by having the architect teach the layout to different people, that means that the architect can move into each successive level along with the group and you can always have someone in the group who is very familiar with the layout of each dream level.
26th Jun 2013
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
14th Jun 2013
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
Question: When the sorting hat is speaking, can all children hear it, or only the one who is beneath it? I ask this because when the hat shouts 'Gryffindor!' everyone in the hall seems to hear it.
Chosen answer: In the book, the only words the hat said out loud for everyone were the house assignments. Everything else was said telepathically with the one wearing the hat. In the movie, since we can see the hat's mouth moving the whole time, we're led to believe that everything is spoken out loud.
6th Mar 2013
Full House (1987)
Radio Days - S6-E4
Question: I was wondering, when Rebbecca was doing the interview at the hospital, she called herself Rebecca Donaldson. I was wondering why she wasn't using her married name.
Chosen answer: Celebrities and people in the public eye often decide to keep their name, at least when doing their performance or public appearances. It creates a continuity for fans who knew and followed them before their marriage. Anna Faris is married to Chris Pratt, but still uses Anna Faris as her name. Rebecca could easily change her name in her private life but remain Rebecca Donaldson when in the public eye.
26th Feb 2013
Planet of the Apes (2001)
Question: Shortly after Leo enters a pod to try and save Pericles, the crew of the Oberon receive a distress signal from an old man. Who exactly was that guy?
Answer: It's Lt. General Vasich. It's a message from the future--or from the past depending on how you read the timeline--made after they attempt to rescue Captain Davidson and get thrown in time to well before Leo arrives on the other side. That's why Vasich looks so confused after seeing the message.
27th Feb 2013
Wreck-It Ralph (2012)
Question: Ralph is only the bad guy of the video game during the hours when the arcade is open, just like the other villains. In fact, when he is not playing his role, he acts like a good guy which he prefers, though some other video characters, including the Nicelanders, fear him, knowing he is supposed to be a villain. Particularly, Gene mistreats Ralph since he doesn't approve of Ralph's behavior of wrecking the building. Why is Ralph still treated like an enemy by Gene and the Nicelanders despite the fact that being the bad guy is only his role? Even if the Nicelanders know their game will be unplugged without Ralph being present?
Answer: Because it's easier for them to simply tell themselves that that's what he is. Especially since he can still accidentally destroy an entire apartment without intending to. And they simply wouldn't imagine that Ralph would leave, because he'd end up just as homeless as them if he did.
30th Dec 2012
The Simpsons (1989)
30th Dec 2012
Monk (2002)
Question: If Monk is afraid of germs, then why does he keep touching things that could possibly have germs on them like parking meters or books?
Answer: Notice also that in the opening credits scene when he is touching parking meters her also wipes his hand on his clothes each time he does it.
Answer: That's the thing about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. It's not something rational. He just has to touch things like that. It's not something he can rationally think through. However, since part of his disorder includes an obsession with cleanliness, he also has an assistant walk around handing him wipes periodically. It's like when he gets a cold and uses both a humidifier (because that's what you use when you're congested) and a dehumidifier (to counteract the effects of the humidifier). He may spout rationalizations after he does something, but his compulsions exist outside of any rational thought whatever.
30th Dec 2012
Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010)
13th Dec 2012
Hotel Transylvania (2012)
Question: I don't quite understand, when all the other monsters find out Jonathon is actually a human, why does he suddenly decide he hates monsters? Wasn't he impressed with monsters even when he initially thought the ones at the hotel were people dressed in costumes?
10th Dec 2012
Toy Story 3 (2010)
Question: In Cars 2, it was decided not to bring back Doc Hudsen out of respect for the late Paul Newman. So why was slinky recast for this film? Didn't the filmmakers feel that Jim Varney deserved the same respect? Considering they didn't bring back certain characters like Bo-peep etc, I find it insulting that they felt so little of Varney.
Chosen answer: Well, with all due respect to Mr. Varney, he's no Paul Newman. You respect different actors in different ways. Paul Newman is much more of a "remember in silence" type actor, when Varney's much more relaxed and silly style lends itself more toward celebrating the character over the actor, in which case removing the character would not necessarily be the best decision. I don't know if these were things the Pixar crew specifically thought of, but that's how I view it.
22nd Nov 2012
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Question: I was hoping someone could clear this up for me. Did ET really die and somehow return, or did he simply fake his death to fool the authorities?
22nd Aug 2012
Total Recall (2012)
Question: Maybe I wasn't paying attention but Hammond (the man on the phone) and Hauser himself tell him about a key, which he finds in the piano. When did he use this, and why did they make such a big deal about it, mentioning it twice, he would "know how to use it"? How did he know the safety deposit box (number 10549) Hauser and Hammond never said this.
Answer: First off, they made such a big deal about it because it was the key to a more involved message from Hauser and they wanted to make sure that he knew it was important. But regarding the safety deposit box, after the phone message from Hammond, Quaid got a text message that told him a bank name and a box number.
Answer: Early in the movie, Quaid says he wants to learn how to play the piano.
24th Mar 2012
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
Question: What is the purpose of the guns and cannons that the Oompa Loompas are firing in the elevator scene?
2nd Oct 2011
General questions
I'm looking for a movie about a boy who always dreamed of a circus in his backyard. As he gets older he becomes sick and is in a wheelchair. So his family gives him a present and surprises him with a circus in his backyard.
Chosen answer: That sounds like "My Life" with Michael Keaton and Nicole Kidman. He's been diagnosed with cancer, she's pregnant, and he's not certain he'll live to see the birth of his child. Throughout the movie we get flashbacks to moments from his past as he deals with his condition and makes peace with the skeletons in his closet.
23rd Sep 2011
General questions
I am looking for a movie from the 80's. The movie begins with a family being chased in the woods. Each family member has a bracelet with multiple lights on it: one for each family member. When a member dies, the light goes out. I believe that both parents die. Any ideas?
Answer: This sounds like the second of the made-for-TV Star Wars: Ewok Adventure movies - Battle for Endor. The bracelets appear in the first one and the kids use them to assure themselves that their parents are still alive, but at the beginning of the second one, the ewok village where they've been living is attacked and all but Cindel (the young girl) are killed and the lights go out.
16th Sep 2011
Sphere (1998)
Question: After what seems like several hours of conversation between the crew and "Jerry", did the letters J and E occur in the text before the sentence "Don't call me Jerry" appeared and Dustin Hoffman realised the translation was wrong? I haven't watched the film a second time but surely we see words that contain J and E and still make perfect sense?
Answer: It's been a while, but as I remember it, this is explained better in the book. If I remember it correctly, since the translation program was made by Harry, he subconsciously added a section that simply mistranslated "Harry" to "Jerry". That doesn't mean every H became a J or anything like that. It only affected that word.
Answer: I did not read the book but I will say from just watching the movie I believe Jerry was changed to Harry during the duration of the movie with the idea that Norman wanted to believe Harry was the cause of all the problems. That is why we do not see a random J in all the words that needed an H earlier in the move. Or it was a giant error on the directors part but there were a lot of unanswered questions in the move.
Answer: The "Harry" is "Jerry" has little to do with transposed letters. Norman is a psychiatrist, so by nature he likes to talk to discover new information. The entire conversation is Norman's subconscious thoughts being projected on the computer so that Norman can do his job of being the psychiatrist and talk to an entity. He has no other reason of being there. Norman is basically talking to himself. So in psychoanalysis Norman has to find a twist, which is My name is not Jerry. Ted and Harry didn't mess up the code they are too smart.
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Answer: They aren't exactly staying in 4-star hotels and showering every day. Camping is dirty, and with that comes certain odors. And that can get unpleasant in close quarters. It's likely the perfume was her way of countering that. In that instance, sure, her perfume may have been a tip off, but it's not unreasonable to assume that that doesn't come up all that much.
Garlonuss ★