Question: Is it true that if the monarch wishes to abdicate (even in the exceptional circumstances as presented in the film) it can or could only be done by an Act of Parliament as happened with Edward VIII? In other words, The Queen can't just sign a piece of paper and end of discussion?
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Untitled Griffin Family History - S4-E27
Question: When Peter talks about his ancestor that was a silent movie star he mentions that they called World War 1 International Civil War 2 or something like that - I don't remember the exact wording. What is the joke here?
Answer: The line was International Civil War 2. When WWI happened no one called it that (especially since they didn't know a 2nd one would happen), it was referred to as "The Great War". America had already fought their own Civil War and the joke is really just calling it Civil War II, only it was international.
Question: Why, during the folk festival, does Max make a point of telling the audience that Captain Von Trapp will be going to fight for the Third Reich after the festival is over and not mention that he is doing so against his will? Wouldn't this make the audience (most of which know The Captain or at least know of him) believe that he is joining the war and not being forced into it? Would it not have been better for Max to say The Captain is being taken against his will to fight a war he doesn't wish to be part of, if only to try and save the Captain's reputation?
Chosen answer: Max announces that Captain Von Trapp will be leaving Austria to join the forces of the Third Reich as rationale for the encore of "So Long, Farewell, " during and after which the family makes its escape. Recall that the chief representatives of the Third Reich in Austria are sitting in the front row. As such, it would be unwise for a capitulating Max to overtly irritate them, or to incite their wrath and suspicion toward the Captain at that moment. Meanwhile, Captain Von Trapp has pretty much done his own public relations job by singing his "love song" to Austria, "Edelweiss, " and encouraging the audience to join in with his words, "I hope you all share this love, and that you never let it die." I think his sentiments are clear, and he gets his message across that he is displeased with the turn of events in his country. Everyone in the audience has just lived through Hitler's Anschluss, and most were acutely aware of the pressures brought to bear on Austrian patriots like Captain Von Trapp. His reputation was probably not tarnished.
Answer: It's obvious it's against his will and all the audience understand this. Everyone understood that fighting for the Nazis (an occupying army) was not something you would choose. Plus there are those officials waiting to 'escort' him. Herr Zeller is not happy because he knows Max is saying this to clarify the family's situation and gain the audience's support and understanding.
Question: When Nicky Shivers is being held hostage, De Niro is about to belt him in the face with a metal pipe and make him fall into a hole. This most likely would have been fatal. But De Niro has a change of heart and walks away. Then Nicky sardonically comments "Well geez, that was pretty painless." Given that he was just spared from a painful ending, why would he make such a smart-alec comment?
Chosen answer: That's how he dealt with facing certain death and then not being killed. Some would be silently grateful as you suggest, others wouldn't. Everyone reacts differently.
Question: I have two questions. Firstly after beating up the guy in the hotel kitchen, Frank returns to the room and tells Delaney that he is quitting. Why was he so ticked off? And secondly, if Nicki was the one who hired Portman to kill Rachel, why did Portman kill Nicki and why did he try to molest Rachel in the bedroom?
Chosen answer: I think he was ticked off because he was being so personally affected by Rachel. He talks about being disciplined. He tries to keep emotions away from his job, but he liked Rachel. Also, Rachel at the time was angry with him, but also showed a lot of disregard for her own safety (as you remember, when he got back it was just after she and Tony went shopping without telling Frank). So yeah, I think it was frustration for the overall situation. To answer your second question, from the conversation with Frank at the lakeside house, Nikki had asked around at a club she went to, but she herself didn't hire Portman. Someone named Armando did the hiring.
No Country Club for Old Men - S11-E22
Question: Stewie says "Megs Benedict" after Carter pukes all over her. Why is it funny?
Question: How come Sadness was the only one who could change the emotion of the memory orb? Don't we sometimes look back at things we thought we were scared of or sad about, and laugh at them? How come the other emotions can't change them the way Sadness can?
Answer: Sadness can change the memories because of Riley's current situation: she has left the home she loved to move to a new city. This makes her happy memories more susceptible to being changed to sad memories. As she remembers things that used to make her happy they now make her sad because she hasn't accepted her new house as home yet. Presumably under the right circumstances the other emotions could do the same thing, just not all the time.
Question: What exactly did Shane do to Bernie?
Answer: If you're talking about in the past, he actually didn't do anything. Shane was going to tease/hurt Bernie with the stick, but Bernie grabbed it. Shane then lied to the zoo about Bernie attacking him which led to Bernie being moved. Although prior to Griffin kicking Shane's ass, Shane ended up cutting Bernie in the face.
Question: Do Sylvester Stallone and Carl Weathers actually punch each other full on at the end?
Answer: No. One or the other would have mentioned it in an interview by now. Likely, they stopped just short and posed so Leroy Neiman could paint them.
Question: Why would Solo compare the descending elevator to an Eaton's department store, when these only existed in Canada?
Question: Why would NASA decide to send a botanist on a mission to Mars? A planet where no plants can grow.
Answer: Part of his job, aside from also being a mechanical engineer, was to use soil taken from Earth to Mars, mix it with Martian soil then grow seeds in it to see how Martian soil is for growing crops. This would be preparing for a longer term mission where growing full crops to feed the crew would be part of the mission.
Answer: Botanists going to mars can study the ground and the dirt so they could make life on mars. Botanists are also helpful due to oxygen in space, he grows plants on the spacecraft for the oxygen that they give off.
Question: After Fredo gives away that he already knows Johnny, Michael gives the nod to his bodyguard to assassinate Roth. But he earlier told Fredo that he was going to kill Roth before the New Year, so he must have known that Fredo would warn Roth. So why make the attempt?
Chosen answer: Michael knows that Fredo will not warn Roth. Fredo is now running for his life, both terrified and horrified by what he'd done. He wants to hide from Michael's retribution. He had naively believed that there would never be an assassination attempt on Michael's life, and thought what he'd done was relatively minor and would only result in him earning a lot of money.
Question: I've always wondered this even as a kid. I never read any of the novels associated with the movies so it might have been addressed there. If a computer system became self aware and a computer system is what launched all the nukes, then what created the first Terminator? I get how they're all made on an assembly line but someone or something had to make the machines and equipment that makes the Terminators.
Chosen answer: Skynet being an artificial intelligence, it could take control of existing machines to repurpose them. It doesn't become self aware until 1997, by which point robotic technology would be much more advanced than in 1984 (and it had already been somewhat self-reliant before that point, so presumably a degree of military fabrication was already set up to be controlled automatically). With its vastly accelerated rate of development and intelligence, it could use existing factories to create basic machines, use those to retool and create more complicated machines, etc. From what Kyle says the ultra-realistic Terminator model we see here is a relatively new development (he comes from 2029) so Skynet has had about 30 years to set up a series of self-improving machines and its own murderous infrastructure.
Question: At some point Ari asks to Vince: "You want to be Shaq or Kobe? Michael or Scotty? Damon or Affleck?" Who are "Michael or Scotty"? (The other pairs seem quite obvious in comparison).
Chosen answer: Michael Jordan and Scotty Pippen of the Chicago Bulls.
Question: In this episode, Chandler and Monica go on a small trip together. They have a fight because Chandler is too obsessed with watching a car-chase on TV and Monica keeps switching rooms. When they come home, they have a conversation in Monica's apartment where Chandler says "I guess it's over now", to which Monica replies "Why, exactly?" Chandler says " Cause we had a fight" and Monica's respond is "That's silly. If you were going to give up every time you had a fight with someone, you'd never be with anyone longer than...OH!" They both seem to realize something here. What is it??
Chosen answer: They both realise that one of the reasons Chandler hasn't had a long term relationship is because he assumes a fight means the end of things (together with his generally rocky attitude towards relationships!). Monica never realised that's how he thought, and Chandler never realised that was wrong.
Answer: Is that the entire answer? The way Monica responds makes it sound like she's finally understanding an incident that occurred many episodes or seasons before. Like they expect the audience to realise it's the punchline to a joke long-ago uttered.
Question: Why doesn't the daughter just ask her mother who her real father is? Also, couldn't the mother just tell her daughter who her father is? I apologize if I'm missing something, but what is the mother or daughter's motive for not doing something that's common sense? I understand this is the point of the story, but still...
Answer: Her mother honestly doesn't know. She had a relationship with all three men around the same time, and it would take a blood test to know the truth.
Answer: When discussing her dad with her friends, Sophie states that everytime she'd ask, Donna would say it was a summer romance and he left before she even knew she was expecting him. Then most of the movie it's suppose to be a huge secret that Sophie knows it's one of the three and that she invited them. Then during the wedding scene, Donna states that Sopie's dad is also present. Sophie proceeds to admit she invited him. Donna asks how because she doesn't know which one he is. So it all builds up to the truth.
Question: If the beach house is in the Hamptons, why is the sunrise from the west?
Answer: It's probably just a movie inaccuracy. For whatever reason, probably technical, economical, or for artistic considerations, the scene could have been staged and shot during sunset rather than sunrise. Oftentimes, scenes are not actually filmed when and where they are supposedly set. Locations are often substituted for ones that are more private, more scenic, have easier physical access, are in a less expensive economic region (such as Canada), and so on.
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Chosen answer: Abdication does have to be agreed by Parliament, however the monarch could refuse to sign any new laws should the abdication be turned down. This would effectively prevent the government from operating as a result. As a general rule, the monarch agrees to sign laws, and the government would respect the wish of a monarch to abdicate.