Sierra1

22nd Feb 2017

Inside Out (2015)

Question: Near the beginning, in the new house, when Disgust, Fear, Anger, and Sadness mess with the panel, it turns into their colors including Sadness' color, then orbs came out with the colors of Disgust, Fear, and Anger, but why not of Sadness because she touched the panel too?

Chosen answer: If you mean the bit where the dad says the moving van won't be there until Thursday and they start pressing buttons, you see Sadness kind of tentatively reach for one of the buttons but then it cuts to the shelf, so you don't actually see her touch it.

13th Feb 2017

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Question: Did Starling know the deal was a lie?

Chosen answer: In the book, yes, Starling knew that Senator Martin was not aware of the deal she and Crawford were offering Lecter. However she only inferred it because Crawford wanted her to be able to swear under oath she was not told this explicitly.

Answer: In the movie, yes, she admits that the bio-research island was her idea.

6th Feb 2017

Angry Birds (2016)

Question: Whenever we see Terrence facing forward (the camera), why is his beak always seen sideways?

Chosen answer: In most shots he is looking from the side and downwards because he is so large. His beak appears almost always sideways because the shot is supposed to give the impression he is glaring menacingly or disapprovingly (i.e. Giving "side eye").

24th Jan 2017

Batman Returns (1992)

Question: When the Red Triangle Circus approaches the Batmobile to attach the transmitter, we see one clown with the schematics of the Batmobile. How the hell did they get hold of such plans? I highly doubt Batman/Bruce Wayne would let such information get out.

Chosen answer: In the novelization of the film, it is implied that Max Shreck used his money to bribe the original designer/fabricator (or one of their disgruntled employees) to give him the plans.

30th Jan 2017

Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)

Question: I am wondering what the deal is with Ahsoka Tano's chains in her hair. In season 1 episode 7 I think of the clone wars, Ahsoka gets her chain taken off and when she defeats the bad guy she takes it back and says "I think I have earned the right to wear this again" or something to that effect. I have tried Googling this many different ways and I can't find the answer.

Answer: They are called silka beads. Jedi Padawans from species with no hair (such as Togruta and Twi'leks) wear them in place of the Padawan braid.

23rd Jan 2017

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

Question: 3 questions: Was the planet Krennic goes to to talk to Vader supposed to be Mustafar? If so, why would Vader want to go there of all places? Lastly, what was the reason Krennic went to visit Vader?

Answer: Yes, Pablo Hidalgo from the Lucasfilm Story Group confirmed Vader's palace was on Mustafar. Gary Whitta who wrote the story, suggested that he lived there because "he wants to punish himself" for turning to the dark side. Krennic visits Vader because he wants him to arrange a personal audience with the Emperor and cut Tarkin out of the equation.

2nd Jan 2017

Ant-Man (2015)

Question: Where did that hydra boss go? I didn't see him on the helicopter.

Answer: Ant-Man punched him, knocking him unconscious, when they were in the vault, so he was presumably killed when the Pym Technologies building exploded.

1st Jan 2017

What Women Want (2000)

Question: Why is the Apple logo on Nick's laptop upside down?

Answer: Apple PowerBooks of the time (around 1999 to 2001) had the logo the right way up to the user when closed, supposedly to prioritise the experience of the user over that of onlookers. According to former Apple employee Joe Moreno, Steve Jobs later changed his mind and after 2001, Apple notebooks had the logo right way up when opened.

1st Dec 2016

Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015)

Question: At the very ending, now that Dennis is a vampire, can the sun harm him even if he is the son of a human and a vampire?

Chosen answer: Not in the vampire sense as he is half-human, but he prefers to stay out of the sun. He is also a redhead so would sunburn easily as a human would.

3rd Oct 2016

Hannibal Rising (2007)

Question: Hannibal is shot in the back, then turned over as the villian plunges a knife into Hannibal's thigh three times, saying, "He's paralysed, he can't feel this." But Hannibal stands up and is perfectly fine. There's no damage from the bullet or the knife. How is this possible?

Chosen answer: Hannibal has the Japanese dagger on his back, and when he gets it out you can see there is a bullet hole on it indicating that the bullet hit the dagger. Grutas just pokes Hannibal in the leg with the knife, he doesn't actually stab him, it doesn't even tear his clothes.

30th Nov 2016

General questions

I remember seeing part of a live action movie on TV that showed a puppy playing with an old woman who lived on the street and she later dies from an illness. The puppy also has dreams of a past life, and later joins with an older dog and he grows up with him in a junkyard. When he is all grown up he attacks a man for stepping on his tail and the man takes his revenge on him by kidnapping him and taking him to a place where he is used in some sort of a test. I didn't watch the rest of the movie after that because it bothered me so much. Can anyone tell me what this movie was called?

Answer: This is Fluke (1995), starring Matthew Modine at the voice of Fluke the dog.

30th Nov 2016

The Witches (1990)

Question: After having so many disappointments over the way that Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was filmed, Roald Dahl swore he would never be involved in any movie that was based on one of his books. How then was the rights to turn the novel "The Witches" into a movie acquired? Wouldn't the director have needed Roald's permission?

Answer: "The Witches" was made twenty years after "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory", and in that time television adaptations had been made of "The BFG" and "Danny the Champion of the World" of which Dahl approved, so presumably he had relaxed his view of adaptations of his books - however he did hate the ending of The Witches film.

30th Nov 2016

The Dark Knight (2008)

Question: At the beginning of the film when Gordon is turning on the Bat signal, Ramirez asks Wuertz something about an investigation on the Batman. Wuertz replies that is an ongoing operation and throws some rubbish into the bin. At that moment, you can see a board with pictures of "possible Batman suspects", and you can see a picture of a "Man in the mountains, dressed in black." This man dressed in black looks like the "suit" Bruce Wayne wore when he was training with Ras al Gul in Batman Begins. My question is, how did the cops get that picture?

Answer: It's not a photo of Bruce Wayne in the mountains. The three pictures on the board are Elvis Presley, Abraham Lincoln and Bigfoot - in other words the police have no idea who the Batman is.

13th May 2016

Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo (2005)

Question: This film is directed by Mike Bigelow, but I can't find anything else he directed or was a part of. Is this a fake name used by Mike Mitchell, the director of the first Deuce Bigalow movie? It seems too coincidental for this director to have the same last name as the title character (albeit an "e" and not an "a"), have the first name of the first director, and not have any other working credits. Plus, Mike Mitchell has worked on several kids films and may want to avoid association with this film?

Chosen answer: Mike Bigelow is a real television commercial director, but yes, "European Gigolo" was his only feature film and the similarity of the names is a coincidence.

11th Jul 2016

Spy Game (2001)

Question: Given that the whole break between Redford and Pitt is over Redford's willingness to sacrifice people [even Pitt's girlfriend is given to the Chinese] what explains Redford's sudden change of heart and willingness to risk all to save Pitt AND his girlfriend?

Answer: Muir has become frustrated with the CIA as a whole - now carrying out bugging ops on trade talks so the US can sell more "toaster ovens", as opposed to the 'righteous' work he's done all his career. This is compounded when he sees that the CIA are prepared to let a man (Bishop) be killed over it, which also cements his determination to stop it. Although he has underestimated Bishop's feelings and determination to rescue Hadley, that's not really the point. He sees that Bishop is doing something righteous, 'the right thing' so to speak, and sees rescuing Bishop and Hadley as a chance to a) do something worthwhile again before he retires, b) redeem himself for past sins (sacrificing people/Hadley), and c) poetically stick it to the CIA - using their own resources to carry out the rescue mission amidst the trivial 'work' they're doing now. Muir knows that when he retires he'll be broke, but he'll be able to live with himself - he did something that was morally the 'right thing', as opposed to being the cold calculating operator he's been all his career, with that conditioning being another reason he now resents the CIA (he doesn't like what he's become). He's kicked against the bureaucrats who are doing all the wrong work for the wrong reasons. Also, there's a parallel between Bishop's feelings for Hadley and his attempted rescue mission, and Muir's feelings for Bishop (he loves him like a son or a star student). Muir certainly sees Bishop as family, and you don't mess with an Amercan's family. Muir says as much in the film with the analogy about his uncle's plough horse. The student is now teaching the master - about doing things for the right reasons (love and loyalty as opposed to death and toasters).

Answer: Several reasons: Muir felt no loyalty to Elizabeth Hadley, but he did to Tom Bishop. Muir had faked a letter to make Bishop believe that Hadley had ended the relationship, so he was not supposed to know that she was in Chinese custody. Muir had underestimated Bishop's feelings for her, and his capacity to work out the deception and attempt to rescue her. Also, Muir believed that Hadley was a threat to Middle East ops, however as he was now retiring from the CIA he no longer had responsibility for this area.

19th Nov 2016

Angry Birds (2016)

Question: What's the story behind Red's job as a clown shown in the beginning of the movie?

Answer: It is almost certainly playing on the trope that clowns (and comedians) often have issues with anger or depression, although they are assumed to be happy and fun.

6th Nov 2016

General questions

There was a film, I can't remember what it was called but it's most likely from the 1970s but may have been a B-Movie or a TV movie. It featured a bomb on an airplane that would explode if the plane's altitude dropped below a certain level, but they only find out about it once they're in the air above that level. When the fuel in the airplane runs low the pilot eventually works out that he can (and does) land at an airport that is above that altitude and the bomb turns out to be in his briefcase that he's had all along in the cabin.

Chosen answer: This is "The Doomsday Flight", a 1966 TV movie written by Rod Serling of Twilight Zone fame.

19th Oct 2016

Red Dragon (2002)

Question: When it's discovered that Dolarhyde and Lecter have been secretly communicating with each other, a letter that was intercepted from Lecter was for Graham's house address. Since the FBI was able to retrieve the letter before it got to Dolarhyde, then how did he find out where Graham lived?

Answer: Lecter and Dolarhyde were communicating via coded classified advertisements in the newspaper, not by letters. The FBI managed to decode the content of the message, but because it was published in the newspaper, they could not prevent Dolarhyde from seeing it.

Answer: To answer the second part of your question. He found out how Graham lived by telephoning the fbi agency and reaching Crawford's assistant and pretending to be someone important who needed to send Graham something at his home address. (This is from the book).

31st Jul 2015

General questions

There was a game for the video game console, Sega Saturn. It takes place in a mansion located in the afterlife. All of the inhabitants are dead and they take the forms of butterflies. The player, along with one of the inhabitants, is looking into mysterious things that are occurring such as one inhabitant being destroyed which leads them to discover that one of the other inhabitants is working with an evil entity. One of the items that the player is given is a deck of tarot cards that represents each of the other inhabitants.

Answer: This game is "Mansion of Hidden Souls".

9th Sep 2016

Brave (2012)

Question: Marida's horse is called Angus. So why, when fixing the tapestry on his back, did she call the same horse Hamish?

Answer: When Merida says "Steady, Hamish!", she is talking to one of her brothers (the baby bears) who nearly falls, not the horse.

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