Answered questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: After Elizabeth is brought to the Pearl, she threatens to drop the medallion overboard. Barbossa feigns disinterest but when Elizabeth pretends to drop it, the pirates gasp in panic. Why? So she drops it, big deal. They can't drown, the gold "calls to them" so what does it matter if she were to drop it?

Jacordx

Chosen answer: Because they'd have to find it. The gold may "call to them", but it obviously doesn't function as a millimetre perfect homing beacon or they'd never have missed the medallion years earlier when they attacked the ship carrying the young Will. Elizabeth drops it into the sea and they're going to have to spend what could be months trying to locate it - currents could take it well away from the dropping point. They've found the final missing piece; they're potentially just hours away from finally being cured. The last thing they want is to see it thrown into the sea.

Tailkinker

Well, if the crew was anxious to get the medallion then why did they act like they weren't interested in it before Elizabeth pretended to drop it?

Reverse psychology.

Ssiscool

What do you mean by reverse psychology?

By showing they are not interested in the medallion they are hoping Elizabeth will just drop it on the floor or chuck it to them as it's of no real value. However when she releases a bit of chain and the medallion drops, and the pirates lurch forward revealing that they really want the medallion and as such Elizabeth now has the upper hand in negotiations.

Ssiscool

I'm guessing Elizabeth wasn't fooled when the pirates showed disinterest in the medallion.

That's not called reverse psychology, which is used to encourage someone to change his or her mind. Doesn't work with a threat. They are feigning indifference to hide the importance of the object.

lionhead

Question: Why are there transports in the Battle Of Endor? It doesn't seem sense that transports were to go into to battle without any armament at all. Also, the Death Star II is seen firing on one of these transports. Wouldn't it be more reasonable to fire on Home One?

Answer: According to the novelisation of Return of the Jedi, the transports were loaded with large quantities of explosives, with the intent of using them in a kamikaze role. Given that role, it makes sense to target them as a priority, before they could be used to destroy a major Imperial ship, plus the premature detonation of the explosives could damage or potentially even destroy surrounding Rebel ships, weakening their fleet.

Tailkinker

Question: What was the technicality that got Seth Baxter's sentence reduced from life to 5 years?

Russco

Chosen answer: We are never told what the technicality is. Although it is likly to be something to do with the police's investiagtion.

Ssiscool

Question: I can't figure out how Rapunzel had the tiara to give back to Flynn in the boat scene, yet Mother Gothel found it in its hiding place after Rapunzel left the tower and gave it to the Stabbington brothers. Did I miss something important that explained this?

Answer: After tempting the brothers with the tiara, she got them to join up with her and she had access to the tiara again. Then, when she met up with Rapunzel in the forest, she gave it to her and told her to see if Flynn would still stick around if she gave it back to him.

Garlonuss

Chosen answer: No. It is a common misconception that he has a cameo in all of the movies/TV movies based on his works.

wizard_of_gore

Question: At the end of the movie, we see that the cure eventually wears off, but doesn't this mean that Rogue and Mystique's powers will return, and that she would join Magneto again, and Rogue stays as an X-Men?

M0vi3

Answer: It is shown in X-Men: Days Of Future Past that both Rogue and Magneto have their full powers back (for Rogue, you would have to watch the extended edition, aka "The Rogue Cut", which was officially released on DVD). So yes, the cure was temporary.

jshy7979

Chosen answer: This is just a little tease thrown in at the end of the movie. Magneto's still got some power left. Will he get his full power back? They don't say. Will other individuals also get theirs back? We don't know. If another film in the series is made that follows this one, some of these questions may be answered - without that, speculation about what characters might do based on a tease shot is, for the most part, pointless. Their powers might return. Mystique might rejoin Magneto, although she might well not - she was pretty angry at him for abandoning her. Rogue might stick with the X-Men. That's it. A whole load of "might".

Tailkinker

Question: Every time I watch the movie, I can't work out why Batman tells Gordon that he is going to save Rachel (so that Gordon's unit saves Dent), but lies and saves Dent (Gordon unit are at Dent's place but Batman enters from the back door, leaving Rachel to die). Why would he do that to Rachel as she is his oldest friend?

Answer: Hate to say it, but you've got the situation completely wrong. Bruce thinks he's going to save Rachel, but the Joker lied to him, he reversed the addresses where the two were being held. So Bruce shows up, expecting to find Rachel, but finds Harvey instead and rescues him. Meanwhile, Gordon and his men, who think that they're going after Harvey, arrive at the place where Rachel's being held, but the bomb detonates before they can get into the building to save her.

Tailkinker

Question: In the first appearance of Laurence Fishburne where he starts by saying, "Over here," that sounds so much like when Mac wants to remove the scorpion from Dillon in the original Predator 1. I haven't found anything though, if it should be some trivia. Can anyone tell me if it is a trivia or just me thinking that it should be?

Wollabille

Chosen answer: Yes it is trivia. There are many homages to the original movie in this movie. Some are subtle some are cleverly hidden. From the big mini-gun used by a certain character, the stand-and-fight challenge by another character and even covering themselves in mud will camouflage them from the Predators. So many more obvious homages.

XIII

Question: I don't know anyone who stammers so I'm asking here: That trick Lionel pulled when he had Bertie reading with the earphones on and the music blasting - does it really work? Bertie obviously thinks he's still stammering, but don't stammerers sense if they're doing it even if they can't hear themselves speaking? And if it does work, why the drama with the radio broadcasts? Bertie could have put the earphones on and simply read the broadcast like he did "Hamlet".

Answer: The technique is called "masking" and all though it can sometimes help those who stutter it is not 100% reliable. It will make some stutter less, others will not notice any difference. It would probably be very inconvenient to Bertie not to hear himself at all during an important speech, not to mention that those around him might find the whole thing strange. You can read more about research on this technique and other similar ones here: http://ajslp.asha.org/cgi/content/abstract/16/1/77.

littlestar

Question: The sorting hat considered putting Harry in Slytherin. But if your parents or a past generation was put in Gryffindor, then wouldn't he have to be in Gryffindor? If not, then is it by luck that the Weasleys have been in the same house for so long?

moviefan2345

Chosen answer: No, there's no specific requirement that any individual has to be in the same house as their paren'ts or siblings. It's not uncommon that that's the case, admittedly, particularly as character plays a major part in the sorting process, so individuals brought up in the same household might end up in the same house simply by virtue of bearing similar character traits, but there are a considerable number of examples of family members being in different houses. Sirius Black, for example, was sorted into Gryffindor, despite his family's traditional presence in Slytherin. The Patil twins, who one might reasonably expect to end up in the same house, ended up being sorted differently, Parvati into Gryffindor and Padma in Ravenclaw (in the book, in the movie they are both in Gryffindor). So while it's quite common that house assignment runs in families, it's by no means a certainty.

Tailkinker

Question: When Jasmine is pretending to be in love with Jafar, why does Jafar look shocked? It wouldn't make sense for him to be, since he wished for Jasmine to fall for him and as far as he's concerned, his wish has been granted.

Answer: Yes, but the genie hadn't done anything yet. Quite obviously hadn't done anything. Jafar was in the middle of 'persuading' the Genie when she suddenly had this change of heart.

Garlonuss

Question: When Eduardo discovers the dilution of his percentage, he asks Mark if he did it because of the "article about the chicken", which accused Eduardo of forced animal cannibalism. Sean Parker hears this and says, "What's he talking about?" and then says "Seriously, what's the chicken?" Is this implying he was the one who gave the chicken story to Mark's lawyer so he could use it in the previous scene where he mentions it?

Answer: No, earlier when it came up in the lawyers office, Eduardo thought it came from Mark, but the lawyer stepped in and said they were able to find it themselves. Sean really had no idea what he was talking about, but didn't use it against him.

nbafanscw

Question: In the dentist office scene, Tim almost chokes to death when the toy puffer fish falls into his mouth, but the nurse saves him by pulling it out. Nora should be next, but Tim gets crushed by the glass pane anyway. This is a major mistake on death's list.

M0vi3

Chosen answer: No it simply means that Tim was not supposed to die by the puffer fish. He was meant to be saved so that he could die later. The movie shows multiple instances where someone almost dies, but at the last second is saved. It's a common way to build suspense.

shortdanzr

Question: In the scene where Malone is shot by Nitti, he crawls to a room and when Ness comes in he finally gets Ness to see the paper about the man coming into the train station. If that information was so vital why was he just roaming around his apartment instead of going to Ness to show him?

Answer: Ness was coming to Malone's apartment to discuss the information with him there, Nitti and his men just got there first.

Captain Defenestrator

Question: Why didn't the toys even talk about coming alive and talking to Andy? Seems they were desperate enough for him to play with them that somebody should have considered this option.

Answer: Because they simply don't do that, it's a fundamental rule of their existence. They're played with as toys, not as sentient moving creatures. Plus there's every possibility that Andy would simply freak out - imagine how you'd feel if all your childhood toys suddenly revealed that they'd been intelligent, with lives of their own, all along. Woody revealing himself to Sid in the first film was a unique case to prevent the deaths of more toys, and Sid was a sufficiently disturbed child that nobody would be surprised if he suddenly freaked. With Andy, it's a normal situation that he's simply grown up and doesn't play with them any more - there's no possible grounds for breaking the rules there.

Tailkinker

Question: Is the fact that the penguins that pull Oswald Cobblepot to his watery grave are obviously not real penguins count as a mistake? They blend well into the background throughout the course of the movie up until this point where it is blatantly obvious.

THGhost

Chosen answer: Unless you can pinpoint something that proves they are not real penguins (exposed seams, zippers on the costumes, etc) it is not a mistake. They were indeed portrayed by 'little people' in penguin costumes, but to say that they 'just don't look real enough' would be an opinion, not a mistake.

BocaDavie

Question: If Malcolm is dead how does Cole's mother see him in the movie?

Answer: The answer is simple: she doesn't. If you watch the movie carefully, you'll note that the only one who actually ever acknowledges Malcolm's presence is Cole. For the rest of the movie, you only assume that everyone sees or acknowledges Malcolm simply because of the way the scenes are shot. When a scene starts by showing Malcolm sitting in a room with Cole's mother, we as a movie-going public have been trained to assume that means they have been talking. However, we never actually see that happen.

Garlonuss

Answer: It is established that ghosts "gloss over" evidence that they are dead. Malcolm probably has a general sense that he spoke with the mother, and would only realise he didn't if he deliberately thought about it or if Cole had pushed him to remember.

Question: Towards the end of the film after Ripley refuses to give herself up and tells "No" to Bishop and closes the gate, Bishop and the men in white go back down the stairs. As we cut to the long shot, we see one of the men in white running up to the metal fence and grabbing hold of it as though he is trying to climb over it carrying what appears to be a shoulder mounted camcorder. He is not part of the production crew because he is wearing the same costume as the other actors, but this is not dwelled upon so it seems like a pointless prop. Was this to add a similar feel to the previous films of recording footage on the planets?

Chad_Bronson

Chosen answer: While no details are given in the film, he's presumably present to document their interactions with Ripley for future reference - this is, after all, a very important moment for the company, where they believe that they may finally get their hands on the specimen that they've been waiting for for years.

Tailkinker

Question: At the end of the film, the Genie asks Aladdin to wish for the Nile. Why? Aladdin can't wish anymore, since his third wish was used to free the Genie.

Answer: The Genie's simply relishing his new-found freedom - he asks Aladdin to wish for something outrageous simply so that he can have the pleasure of saying "no". The fact that Aladdin has no wishes left anyway is purely a technicality. There is also a hidden joke - Genie said "wish for something. The Nile, wish for the Nile" (sounding like 'denial'). So when genie said "no", it was granting Aladdin's wish while denying him his wish at the same time.

Tailkinker

Question: If Mothel Gothel could fly at the beginning of the film, even if her age was alternating, then why doesn't she use that magic ability of hers throughout the rest of film? It's obvious why she couldn't reveal her powers to Rapunzel, but why didn't she even fly at other times when Rapunzel wasn't in her presence, including the scene when she realizes Rapunzel is no longer in the tower? Since the lack of Rapunzel's answer indicated to Gothel she was gone, couldn't she have flown up to the top of the tower to check through the window, instead of having to climb the stairs?

Answer: She didn't know for a fact that Rapunzel wasn't in the tower until she investigated for herself, hence why she went to the trouble of pulling the rubble from the hidden doorway and entering through the floor. What if Rapunzel was simply asleep or injured, if she flew up to the window and Rapunzel saw her, she'd have lots of awkward questions to answer, and she has jealously guarded Rapunzel to stay young for nearly 20 years, she's not going to risk a mistake.

GalahadFairlight

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