Best movie questions of 2017

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Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul picture

Question: Why didn't Greg simply apologize to Mr. Beardo and explain everything to him?

Answer: "Beardo" looked intimidating and could easily frighten a child (or adult, for that matter). He also became enraged in front of children over scratches on his van - something minor that might bother an adult, but certainly not serious enough to produce Beardo's over-reaction. Greg did deny that he caused the damage. However, Beardo did not come across as being a rational adult or someone who a 12-year-old would feel comfortable standing up to or simply trying to reason with. Greg saw Beardo as a "difficult" and irrational person, so rightfully wanted to get away from him as soon as possible.

KeyZOid

Answer: Mainly because when they first actually meet, the Beardo's daughter blames everything on Greg, so even if Greg did try to explain everything, the Beardo probably wouldn't believe him.

Answer: There's probably a combination of factors why Greg kept things to himself. Teenagers don't tell parents a lot of things for whatever reasons (e.g, not worth the hassle). Maybe Greg thought his parents wouldn't believe his side of the story and assume he was the instigator. Perhaps Greg's parents gave the boys a stern warning to behave themselves while on vacation - that they need/ want rest and relaxation or care-free days without trouble, especially from the boys (trying to avoid the "can't you even behave yourselves on vacation" lecture). Believing "ignorance is bliss", Greg figured what his parents didn't know couldn't hurt them. Telling his parents may not have been helpful or relevant; Beardo was acting like a lunatic or psycho on each encounter. It might have been difficult, if not impossible, to tell his parents without Rodrick overhearing. Some of the things Greg did (getting into bed with Beardo) were embarrassing; if Rodrick knew, they'd become the brunt of his teasing.

KeyZOid

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The Shape of Water picture

Question: Isn't this film blatantly derivative of Guillermo del Toro's earlier films, "HellBoy" and "HellBoy: The Golden Army"? It seems to me that the Asset in "The Shape of Water" is a direct knock-off Abe Sapien from the Hellboy films. The amphibious Asset is held at a top secret facility, as was Abe Sapien; the Asset is fed hard-boiled eggs, as was Abe Sapien; the Asset develops a love interest and romantic relationship with a female air-breather, as did Abe Sapien. To top it off, del Toro called in contortionist-actor Doug Jones to play the Asset in "The Shape of Water" (Doug Jones also played Abe Sapien in the HellBoy films). "Shape of Water" could almost be a spin-off the old HellBoy films, given Guillermo del Toro's involvement and recycling of familiar themes.

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: There are a lot of Hellboy fans who speculate this is an origin story of Abe, or at the very least the Asset is the same species, but del Torro has denied it. Abe is a copyrighted character that del Torro's Hellboy was based on, and he doesn't own the copyright. In addition, prior to The Shape of Water, del Torro was in talks with Universal about remaking "The Creature from the Black Lagoon", only making the movie center on the creature's (Gill-Man) perspective and getting together with Kay (the female lead). Del Torro has stated that the Amphibious Man is based on Gill-Man and this film is what he had pitched to Universal, but was turned down by them. Although, a creature developing a love interest in a human female isn't unique, nor is capturing a creature to study (both happen to Gill-Man, Abe, and Amphibious Man). But the fact that Doug Jones plays both Abe and the Amphibious Man only seems to strengthen theories of some connection to Hellboy, but at this point we only have del Torro's word that it's not and why he choose the creature to be so similar at this point would only be a guess.

Bishop73

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Fifty Shades Darker picture

Question: Maybe I missed it but is there a particular reason why Christian won't let Ana touch him?

Answer: Because he's extremely neurotic and is unable to have intimate relationships with women other than purely sexual ones. He also did not want to be touched in the area where he'd been physically scarred by his birth mother's abusive boyfriend.

raywest

That was her pimp/client, not her boyfriend. She was a prostitute.

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Downsizing picture

Question: For no obvious reason - except for the fun of it - the downsizing procedure included a complete shave-down. In the Norwegian colony they have horses, sheep and dogs. Were the animals also shaved before being downsized?

Answer: They apparently shave them because the process only works on living tissue. So yes, they would have had to shave the animals.

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Ghost in the Shell picture

Question: This movie is one of a few I've seen to display the title twice during the opening credits. It appears in a plain font at the start of the credits, then appears in a more stylized font at the end of the credits. Why do some movies do this? It seems a little redundant.

TedStixon

Answer: A lot of movies will put a title card at the end of the film before the credits. It's usually to cap off the movie so that it's the last thing you see or think about when you leave (especially back in the day when you didn't sit around to watch for an extra scene). They want it to be redundant so you don't forget (repetition is the key to learning). Most movies (if not all) also have the movie's name at the very end of all the credits too. But I assume for copyright or other legal reasons, the same way a book publisher might print the book's title on every page of the book.

Bishop73

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Freedom Fighters: The Ray picture

Question: If Overgirl is Supergirl from Earth X, and Supergirl gets her powers the same way that Superman does, from sunlight, then how is The Ray, whose powers are based on using yellow light, able to hurt her with his powers? Wouldn't his blasts help her?

Quantom X

Answer: My understanding is the Ray uses pure light for his powers while Superman and Supergirl get their power from the solar energy of a yellow sun, not yellow light.

Bishop73

I see. But if it was from pure light, wouldn't his powers have a white glow and not a yellow glow?

Quantom X

Most likely just a styling choice. I just know the basics details of his powers and not sure why it comes out yellow (or if it's even stated.) Perhaps for the the same reason the sun appears yellow, short wavelength light becomes scattered.

Bishop73

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Answer: A nod to the original show.

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Professor Marston and the Wonder Women picture

Question: Assuming people knew, how did Marston avoid trouble for living with two wives?

Rob245

Answer: Though it may be considered immoral and socially unacceptable, particularly during the film's 1940s time frame, it is not illegal to live with multiple people in a sexual relationship. It is only illegal to be married to more than one person at the same time. Marston was not a bigamist. He was legally married to his wife, Elizabeth. They engaged in a consensual polyamorous (not polygamous) relationship with Olive, who was not married to Marston.

raywest

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The Space Between Us picture

Question: Wouldn't Earth's gravity cause Gardner's feet and leg to ache, given that he is from Mars, a planet with much lower gravity, and has lived there his entire life?

Answer: Any answer would be speculation at best, although it does seem likely that being on Earth would cause various pains. But it also depends on his conditioning while on Mars (for example, soldiers in the military often train with heavy packs on). The reason astronauts experience pain upon return to Earth after long stints in space is mainly due to muscle atrophy, similar to someone being bed-ridden for months. Additionally, being weightless in space with 0-g's (not zero gravity), their spine elongates and then back on Earth, it compresses back to normal, which can be painful. Gardner may not experience pain since his muscles aren't atrophied, and he may not experience spinal compression.

Bishop73

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The Star picture

Question: What happened to King Herod after his soldier falls to his death and both Thaddeus and Rufus reform?

Answer: He continued ruling with an iron fist. The prophecy of the blessed child was forgotten until Jesus came forth.

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The Mummy picture

Question: How many injections does Jekyll need to take to prevent himself from turning into Hyde? The first time Jekyll speaks with Nick, he feels himself about to transform but takes a serum to prevent it but, later, when Jekyll's talking to Nick again, he feels himself about to change again and tries to take another injection.

Answer: As many as needed, Mr. Hyde was asserting himself, trying to take over. Like "Blade," he needed to take more and more injections of the serum, because the vampire blood was getting stronger and stronger.

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Answer: He was a fictional character. However, Apatow says he was playing a version of himself, though he didn't initially realise that when being cast. He claims he is not that bad in real life; his character is also an amalgam of other producers.

raywest

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Transformers: The Last Knight picture

Question: Is this movie supposed to have floating mattes? This is killing me! It's constantly shifting aspect ratios throughout the entire movie.

Answer: The constantly shifting aspect ratios are due to the fact that Michael Bay shot the film with several different camera types. Most directors who use multiple types of camera find a way to hide the shifts a little better, but Bay appears to have been unconcerned with this issue. There are several scenes where the aspect ratio changes from shot to shot. The aspect ratio shifts were also present in the theatrical release, and were a major source of ridicule then, but they are arguably more noticeable on a smaller screen.

BaconIsMyBFF

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The House picture

Question: Is there any indication how much of this film was unscripted or how much Amy and Will improvised their lines. I can't tell if it's just the acting style the actors chose, or if it was the way the director wanted it, but a lot (especially the opening scenes) comes across as bad improv. Or am I the only one that gets that vibe?

Bishop73

Answer: A lot of the time with modern comedies, they'll usually do a scene as written, then do a number of improv takes where the actors and director come up with jokes on the fly. Then in editing, they'll pick the (presumably) best bits from both the scripted and improv takes to put into the finished film. And Will Ferrell confirmed that there was indeed a lot of improvising on-set of "The House." Unfortunately, without a copy of the shooting script, it's basically impossible to tell exactly how much of the finished film is made up of the unscripted improv. But it's fair to say that at least a decent chunk of the movie was made up of improv comedy. So chances are it's not just you.

TedStixon

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Underworld: Blood Wars picture

Question: Do we know that Michael is dead for sure? It seems way too abrupt, against character and anti-climactic for him to have died in the manner alluded to in the film. Or should we assume that not seeing his corpse or hearing 100% confirmation of his death means he might still be alive?

TedStixon

Chosen answer: Selena herself said, that Michael was dead. The actor who played him really didn't want to return to the role.

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The Dark Tower picture

Question: If Jake's father died a year prior to the film, why would his mother remarry so fast? Also, why would she marry Lon if he's abusive to her son?

Answer: People unfortunately make bad choices.

Ssiscool

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Wonder Woman picture

Question: If she can destroy Ares with her hands then why does she even need a sword and shield? Perhaps for merchandise?

Rob245

Answer: For the majority of the movie, Diana believes the sword to be the only weapon capable of killing Ares. She doesn't realise until she fights him that the sword is just an ordinary weapon and thus, useless against a god. She carries the shield because it is useful. She uses it in combat most prominently to block gunfire.

BaconIsMyBFF

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I, Tonya picture

Question: Did people actually care about figure skating? I wasn't alive when this happened, but apparently it was one of the biggest sporting controversies of all time. Well I find that quite hard to believe, since before this movie came out, I'd never heard anyone talk about figure skating, I barely even knew what it was. Was figure skating ever actually a big thing, or do people just like controversy?

MikeH

Answer: It used to be a lot more popular. The Harding/Kerrigan Winter Olympic figure skating competition was the 6th highest rated program in TV history as of 1994, with 48.5 million viewers, no doubt helped by the controversy. It's slowly declined over time - from 1998 to 2018 viewing figures for the US championships declined by 1/3. Opinions about its loss of appeal range from a change in the scoring (used to be judges rating out of 6.0, now it's a more complicated points system), to a lack of "star power", with recognisable names grabbing people's attention. In the UK at least, skater team Torville and Dean were household names for a long time, but I'd imagine a lot of people would struggle to think of skaters with that level of popular recognition nowadays. That said, viewing figures for the 2018 US championships were 60% up on 2017, and membership of the US figure skating organization has risen for the last four years - these things wax and wane like any other.

Jon Sandys

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Answer: Jamming the gate by blocking the sensor delayed Joe Bang's brothers long enough for Mellie to come and collect some bags full of cash. Jimmy specifically did not trust them to know his entire plan. This part of the ruse allowed them to steal a separate stash of money so they could pretend to return the stolen money, whilst secretly keeping some to distribute later.

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A Dog's Purpose picture

Question: As a non-native English speaker, I ask: At the dinner, Jim says to his boss, "I was thinking, with the numbers so high, maybe it's time I get off the road and take an office position." What occupation did he have? And what does he mean "get off the road" here?

Bunch Son

Chosen answer: I don't know what his specific occupation was, but the term to "get off the road" would refer to someone who constantly travels, either domestically or internationally, for their job, but they now want to work in their company office every day. The most common trope would be the "traveling salesperson" who was constantly "on the road," going town to town, selling their product.

raywest

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