Sierra1

Question: When Bourne interrogates Nikki (under duress) in the underground station, Nikki insists that Bourne had never worked in Berlin, much less completed his first mission there. But it is established that Bourne had killed the Neskis in Berlin on what is described by Conklin as his first mission. Assuming Nikki has no reason to lie and that she would have accurate information about Bourne's activities, what might explain that issue?

Dusibello

Chosen answer: Conklin ordered Bourne to kill the Neskis, telling him it was a training mission, when in fact it was an unofficial, off-the-books assignment to cover up his and Abbott's corrupt dealings with Gretkov, which Neski was about to expose. Nicky did not know about this Berlin mission as it was not an official Treadstone operation.

Sierra1

Conklin did not tell Bourne that it was a training mission. Conklin told Bourne "this is not a drill soldier...this is a live project, you're a go."

Partially correct. After Bourne eliminates the Neskis, Conklin says "Congratulations soldier, training is over." This implies that while the mission was real, Bourne was still an asset in training, and off the books.

By "not a drill" and "live project", Conklin is telling Bourne to actually kill the Neskis - like killing the hooded man for Hirsch, it's training him to do anything for Treadstone. It could be that the edit is out of chronological order, but the order of the scenes implies that after Bourne has done the job and returned to the car, Conklin says "Congratulations, soldier. Training is over."

Sierra1

Answer: Conklin was using Bourne for an off-book hit on the Neskis because Neski knew about the stolen money and the oil leases. Bourne was told it was a genuine "hit" for patriotic purposes, but it was not.

Question: When Bourne and Marie arrive at his Paris apartment, Bourne phones a hotel to inquire if a 'Jason Bourne' was a guest there. When told no, he then asks if his other alias - John Michael Kane - was registered. He is told by hotel staff that Mr. Kane has been killed in an accident. (This is before Treadstone's Rome operative tries to eliminate Bourne in the apartment.) So I'm guessing this first report of Kane's accidental death had been arranged by Treadstone? To cover Bourne's trail to Wombosi's yacht?

Dusibello

Chosen answer: That's correct. Nicky arranged for a substitute corpse to appear as if "John Michael Kane" had died in a motorcycle accident, to cover up the connection to Bourne's mission once Treadstone realised Bourne had failed and disappeared. However, Wombosi saw the body at the morgue and deduced the deception, and Bourne later discovered that body is "taken" by the brother so deduced that it's a setup all together.

Sierra1

21st Jan 2016

La Confidential (1997)

Question: How was the Mexican girl connected to the story? The three Night Owl suspects abused her and then burned their blood-stained clothes. She is found tied up at a house (why?), and later she says "Would anyone care that they raped a Mexican girl if they hadn't killed those white people at the Night Owl? I did what I had to do for justice." What does she mean?

Neulwen

Chosen answer: Inez's statement that they left her at midnight meant the suspects had time to commit the Nite Owl massacre at 1am. However when Exley questions her about the time, she implies that she only said that so they would be in the frame for the Nite Owl and would be arrested (and likely killed) by the police. No one would care about her rape, so she indirectly accused them of the killings "for justice".

Sierra1

Question: How do James Bond and Camille Montes manage to get back from the sinkhole to La Paz? They're in the middle of the desert with no water or access to shelter - you would have thought that the chances of hitching a lift would be slim.

Louisa Radice

Chosen answer: They find a whole dam full of water in the sinkhole, so that isn't a problem. The sinkhole is an old river bed, and there is a village nearby which they walk to in a few hours, then they catch a bus to La Paz from the village.

Sierra1

10th Dec 2015

American Sniper (2014)

Question: When Chris and co are having dinner with an Iraqi family, why does Chris react the way he does when he sees the mark on the Iraqi father's left elbow? What does Chris think it is?

kh1616

Chosen answer: Chris has "shooter's strawberries" on his elbows, which are red callouses caused by lying in the sniper's position for long periods. He notices the same marks on the elbows of the father, and realizes that he too is a military sniper.

Sierra1

4th Dec 2015

X-Men 2 (2003)

Question: I think Storm and Jean trusted Nightcrawler pretty easily. But what make them think that he wouldn't have tried to escape from them? It could have been possible so maybe it would have been easier to tie him up, gag him and lock him into the X-Jet instead of letting him sit in the back seat?

Answer: Tying Nightcrawler up wouldn't work as he is a teleporter! Jean could use her power to stop him from teleporting, so it's possible she was stopping him on the X-Jet, but they probably did just trust him. Restraining him would pretty much ensure he wouldn't trust them.

Sierra1

30th Nov 2015

Life on Mars (2006)

Show generally

Question: When Sam reads someone their rights why does someone else tell him he's saying it wrong? This happens few times in different episodes.

strikeand

Chosen answer: Sam is using the modern wording of the right-to-silence caution prescribed by legislation such as the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. In the 1970s, the wording would have been different, if it was used at all.

Sierra1

11th Nov 2015

Charlie's Angels (2000)

Question: What did Drew say in the bloopers of Charlie's Angles Full Throttle at 0:41? I don't understand what she is saying.

Answer: If you mean the bit in the welding costumes, she says "Ahhhh, there's an ember in my ass!"

Sierra1

12th Nov 2015

Underworld (2003)

Question: In the first movie when Selene went to get Michael, she got stabbed by a blade in the shoulder by Lucian. Why didn't she heal? Don't vampires heal?

Answer: Selene's wound does heal rapidly, but not instantly. When she regains consciousness after Michael has bandaged the wound, only a scar is visible. When Michael wakes up in the coven's mansion, the wound and scar have healed completely.

Sierra1

9th Nov 2015

The Martian (2015)

Question: How can you tell the speed of a spacecraft from the inside when there is no way to measure it in relationship to anything else?

Answer: Using readings from an inertial guidance system (accelerometers and gyroscopes) a computer calculates the current velocity by detecting every instance of acceleration, deceleration and trajectory change. Another way is to measure the Doppler shift in radio waves from the spacecraft to mission control.

Sierra1

10th Nov 2015

General questions

Looking for the title and actors in a 50's something TV show / movie about a guy in advertising or marketing who had to deliver a marketing plan, but had nothing. A word in a newspaper caught his eye and he started building upon it, without any idea of what product he could market on that lead. The strict, blue-eyed, blond iceberg of a career woman who had to work with him, despised him because, knowing he was a big player, she guessed that he had nothing. In the end he worked towards a secretive product that he revealed to the company as sweets filled with liquor. After tasting too much, the woman ended up in his apartment, wearing only his light blue pajama jacket the next morning, furious with him. In the end he and a hastily commandeered preacher caught up with her while she was rushed towards a hospital labor room on a trolley; the preacher sputtered the holy matrimony questions and the woman, still furious, screamed a pain filled "Y-e- s!" before disappearing into the labor room with the doors closing behind the trolley and nurses and doctor. So funny! I need a good laugh so I need to lay my hands on this movie. Title please?

maybecillie

Chosen answer: This is "Lover Come Back" from 1961, starring Rock Hudson and Doris Day.

Sierra1

2nd Nov 2015

The Mummy (1999)

Question: After the ferry boat goes down in flames, following the Medjai night attack, what town/city do O'Connell and the Carnahans end up in, on their way to Hamunaptra? It's the one where they buy the camels and Evy's new outfit.

KrystalFlare

Chosen answer: It's not a town, it's an unnamed Bedouin trading post. It's possible that a town was later built there, but it could have been a nomadic temporary camp.

Sierra1

2nd Nov 2015

Batman Begins (2005)

Question: Wouldn't the towers that hold up the train have cut Batman's cable long before he makes it to the train?

Answer: Batman fires the grappling cable into the side of the train carriage, not the bottom, so it does not touch the rails or the supports.

Sierra1

It is a three level train, the train is not on the upper track so YES, it should've cut Batman's cable at the first column.

2nd Nov 2015

Blade Runner (1982)

Chosen answer: No-one was murdered in Leon's bathroom, Deckard just finds a scale from Zhora in the tub. There was a deleted scene of a dead woman in a bathtub in the Bradbury Building at the end when Deckard is fleeing from Batty.

Sierra1

Question: How does the contact lens that Lane uses on his henchman (at the opera in Vienna) and Benji work? He seems to be able to see what they see (via his phone and laptop), and in the case of Benji, use it to communicate with Ethan verbally.

Heather Benton

Chosen answer: It's a highly-miniaturized camera and transmitter. The lens cam only transmits video - the verbal communication is via an earpiece with a microphone Benji is also wearing. There is no speaker, Benji hears what Lane is saying on the earpiece and says it to Ethan.

Sierra1

8th Apr 2015

Blitz (2011)

Question: Does Nash call Tom Brant by his real name when at the train tracks when Brant (aka Jason Statham) tries to attack the killer. I thought I heard Nash say "Jason, calm down Jason"?

Answer: No, Brant does yell "Jesus Christ!" and then Nash says "Calm down, calm down", so you may have misheard that as Nash saying "Jason".

Sierra1

Answer: Yes; he definitely says Jason.

Answer: The answer is "no, he doesn't say Jason." After Nash says "get this piece of s*** our of here", he turns to Brant and says "Just calm down."

Bishop73

Question: When the police go to Lisbeth Salander's old apartment - the one Miriam is living in - thinking Lisbeth lived there, so they can search the place, one of the policeman says, "How come the name-plate on the door says 'Salander'?" The other policeman says, "I have no idea." But they are there to search Lisbeth "Salander's" place! Can someone please explain to me why they are there if they don't believe it is the Salander place?

kh1616

Chosen answer: They are looking at the mail which is all addressed to Miriam Wu, and medicine in the bathroom cabinet which is prescribed to her. So they realise someone called Miriam Wu is living there (or Lisbeth is living there under that name), and wonder why the name plate still says "Salander".

Sierra1

27th Aug 2015

Meet Joe Black (1998)

Question: Where is the birthday party for Bill held? On whose estate?

Answer: The script calls it the "Parrish country estate", so it belongs to Bill Parrish and his family.

Sierra1

Question: How does Mikael know where Lisbeth's father and half-brother live? Lisbeth found the post office box address from the rental car rego plates, and then staked it out, for quite a while, and when a young man opened it and got the mail out, she followed him straight to her father. Mikael did none of that, so how was he able to arrive like a knight in shiny armour at the exact time to save Lisbeth's life?

kh1616

Chosen answer: Malin tells Mikael that "Karl Axel Bodin" lives at "the address for PO Box 612, at Gosseberga". Gosseberga is not a town, but the name of the farmhouse property near Nossebro where Zalachenko and Niedermann live, so it is the only place with that name near Gothenburg.

Sierra1

Question: When Miriam gives Mikael Lisbeth's keys - Lisbeth dropped her keys while she was visiting Miriam in the hospital - Mikael looks at them and says, "It looks like a post box key." Can someone please explain how Mikael is able to find the right post box and the right number (none of these are printed on the key), so then he can go to her place?

kh1616

Chosen answer: Lisbeth let Miriam stay in her old apartment on the condition that she forward any mail sent there to a post office box, so Miriam would have known the box number and location.

Sierra1