The Northern Air Temple - S1-E17
Plot hole: They specifically say there is a door no-one but an Airbender can open, but then when it is opened, we learn the Mechanist uses it. How did the Mechanist get in?
dizzyd
1st Sep 2020
Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005)
1st Sep 2020
Dune (2000)
Question: Is there any reason they can't introduce sand worms to other planets in the Duniverse, there to proliferate and produce a greater, more widely distributed quantity of the spice? The newborn worms are called sandtrout, by virtue of being more or less the size of such. Should be easy enough therefore to capture some, surround them with sand in the spaceship to imitate their homeworld, and take them to some other planet the Empire is willing to give up for any other use, then let them grow and produce spice? Much greater abundance, much surer supply (the proverbial eggs in one basket), much closer at hand for any other world in the Universe?
Answer: If Spice is even half as useful as the novel says, those are all trivial inconveniences compared to the payoff that would make it worth a try.
Next to the fact the unique conditions of Arrakis is what makes the spice melange (not just the worms, but also the planetary conditions) you have to also understand that having the spice production on one planet makes it much easier to control. Whoever controls the spice controls the universe. It wasn't until much later (hundreds of years after the death of the god emperor) they were able to replicate the spice, but before that they didn't even know how the spice was even made. A large reason for this is they had no AI (forbidden) to help analyze the spice melange.
Fine, I accept the monopoly theory.
17th Mar 2020
Toy Story 2 (1999)
Question: When the main body of the toys and the "false" Buzz, and then also the "real" Buzz are climbing up the elevator shaft to rescue Woody, how do any of them know which specific floor/vent intake to get off at?
25th Sep 2019
Getting Even With Dad (1994)
Factual error: Macaulay Culkin hides the gold coins in the duffel bag of a mall mannequin, Problem is, gold is heavy. It would rip the plastic arm, the duffel bag, or yank the mannequin over (and assumes store people won't change it anyway).
18th Jun 2019
Ratatouille (2007)
Question: Is it understood or implied that the old woman at the beginning is Anton Ego's mother? It comes together when he flashes back to his boyhood; literally the way mother used to make?
Answer: It is his mother. It's not that Remy made it exactly like his mother did. It's along the lines that as a food critic in Paris, he's used to eating only very high quality haute cuisine. A dish as simple as ratatouille is something that he loves from childhood but probably hasn't had in decades.
25th Feb 2019
Titanic (1997)
Question: Over the course of the film we learn all the middle portion of Rose's life, but how did she get through life without any paperwork such as a birth certificate? Getting married, driving/flying, all need documentation the "renamed" version of herself wouldn't have.
Answer: Record keeping at the turn of the 20th century was still incomplete and inaccurate. Many people were born without a birth certificate being issued. Tens of thousands of immigrants entering the country often lacked those types of papers, and many had their surnames changed when they arrived. It was also much easier to get alternate documentation to prove one's identity or, in certain situations, may not have required proof, as it does now.
31st Oct 2018
Monsters University (2013)
Question: Is Mike's dream where he says "But you are a princess and I am a stable-boy" a nod to "The Princess Bride", which has essentially that plot with a cameo by Billy Crystal?
Answer: Yes, the line "Mmm, I know, you're a princess and I'm just a stable boy..." is absolutely a nod to The Princess Bride. Though Billy's role, with all his genius improvised ad-libbing, is quite a bit more than a cameo.
29th Aug 2018
Dracula (1992)
Trivia: The marriage scene between Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder was performed by an actual Romanian Orthodox priest. Contrary to rumours this made the marriage legal, that wouldn't be possible without corresponding paperwork, which of course they wouldn't have had.
24th Jun 2018
Happy Gilmore (1996)
Plot hole: The bet between Happy and Shooter is prohibited, probably legally, but also definitely according to PGA regulations. It is prohibited for any professional athlete to gamble, on their sport in general and certainly on their own performance. Both of them could get suspended or banned from Pro Golf for this, and Shooter would certainly know it (there is room for Happy Not Knowing though, as he of course has never gotten particularly far in even his favorite sport).
18th Jun 2018
The Green Mile (1999)
Question: Why is Paul on active prison guard duty with a debilitating medical condition, as opposed to some form of sick leave, or at the very least a desk job? On several occasions we see him either made vulnerable or even out-and-out helpless.
Answer: He's one of those people who is dedicated to his job and will say he is OK even when he isn't, and keep working. He will power through and not let anyone know how sick he really is.
They are in the midst of the Great Depression. No one wants to give their employer the opportunity to fire them. They are all fighting to keep their jobs.
1st May 2018
Deliver Us From Eva (2003)
31st Mar 2018
A Wrinkle in Time (2018)
Question: Why didn't Mrs Whatsit turn into a winged centaur as she did in the book? What made them alter the magic creature into a living leaf?
Answer: Like any other such change from the source material, it's just artistic license.
Answer: The biggest critical complaint about this film is that director Ava DuVernay and her screenwriters essentially gutted Madeleine L'Engle's award-winning children's book and turned it into nothing more than Disneyesque eye candy, discarding many important elements of L'Engle's story and arbitrarily refitting it with lightweight (and boring) motivational platitudes. In other words, DuVernay made the movie her soapbox for "social messaging" and tossed out much of the wondrous (and even miraculous) detail that made L'Engle's original book a huge success. Consequently, this movie was a colossal financial failure.
Interestingly, Disney had adapted this story for the screen before (in 2004), and the earlier version did include the flying centaur (albeit a bad CGI rendering). Unfortunately, the 2004 version was also a box-office failure for Disney, and for the same reason as the 2018 remake: Disney removed the magical and spiritual qualities that gave L'Engle's original story its depth.
Disney's previous adaptation was released in 2003 as a TV movie, so it wasn't a "box-office failure", it was just a terrible movie.
21st Mar 2018
Planet of the Apes (2001)
Question: To prevent spoilers/plot leaking to the public, Tim Burton made five endings to keep people guessing. Is there anywhere I can see any of the other four?
Answer: There were five different endings to the movie and late actor Michael Clarke Duncan saw them all. So far, no website seems to have all five endings. Just the one we're familiar with.
Answer: You might be mistaken, there was only ever one ending shot for this film: the ending we all saw at the Lincoln Memorial. There were different planned endings (one was a similar ending to the theatrical but set at Yankee stadium with apes playing baseball) that were each rejected for various reasons. The ending we see is the one that is in the script.
20th Feb 2018
Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005)
The Siege of the North (Part 2) - S1-E20
Question: When Aang is told by Roku that he must ask questions of the centipede monster, why can't Roku ask the centipede monster the questions, then relay the answers to Aang? Roku is already in the spirit world, and would have course have much more experience in these matters. Aang is already taking on enormous burdens simply by knowing his full identity at 12 instead of, as they say several times, 16, then having to train by going on this enormous journey.
Answer: As the Avatar, Aang's main function is to be the bridge between the spirit world and human world. Roku, being a former Avatar knows that Aang has to learn how to interact with spirits. He's certainly under a heavy burden but that's mainly his fault for running away from his responsibilities in the first place. Difficult or not, this is simply a lesson Aang must learn.
2nd Nov 2017
Game of Thrones (2011)
Question: Just what size relationship would the dragon eggs be compared to the adults? In season one, we see the eggs as being roughly the size of eggplants or a child's football, at the start of Season 7, the dragons thereof have grown to 747 (whale?) size. Just how big would the laying mother have been? Even if she reproduced in the equivalent of a teenage pregnancy, the size of the dragons in past seasons, her offspring would have been dust motes compared to her. If Season 7 represents them fully-grown (and think about it if they are not!), the dragon's biological mother would have been truly gargantuan compared to her offspring.
Answer: In the universe shown in this series, dragons can technically grow indefinitely. They continue to grow throughout their lives. They will stop growing, however if they live in captivity in a confined space. There is therefore no standard size for an adult dragon.
Answer: The dragon of Aegon the Conqueror, the first king of the Seven Kingdom Balerion the Black Dread was so massive it could attack the megacastle of Harrenhal by itself. Free dragons not locked up in confinement can grow to whatever length it can. This is why Drogon is larger than his brothers Viseriyon and Rheagal.
12th Aug 2017
Starship Troopers (1997)
Question: Is there any reason the humans can't simply use nukes, chemical weapons, fuel-air bombs, or bioweapons,, any kind of especially powerful, destructive bomb, shot from long distance, dropped from a plane, or better still, orbit, to fight the bugs? Yes, of course there are big downsides to any such action, but this does not strike me as a society restrained, patient, enlightened or with sufficient foresight to care about those.
Chosen answer: They do use nukes (to clear out bug caves) and fuel-air bombs (like they do before landing troops). It's possible biological and chemical weapons don't work on the bugs because of their physiology. Only nukes and Thermobaric weapons work.
Answer: Nukes, chemical, and bio weapons would render the planets uninhabitable. Not a goal when they want to colonize.
I have already stated these people are not that far-thinking.
5th May 2017
Alien (1979)
Question: Is there ANY reason the smaller "lifeboat" ship (think they call it the Narcissus) Ripley evacuates into at the end, couldn't have been used as a lander to travel down to the planet in the beginning too (simply leave the Nostromo in orbit, with or without skeleton crew)? It seems, actually is, much less likely to be damaged in the initial landing, and, for that matter, much easier to take off afterwards (being much less massive). It also would have provided one more layer of quarantine containment for the people who stayed in the lander (who may or not be all the other four, in fact one would probably be just fine (Ripley manages the Narcissus just fine at the end), and it would have been a lot faster for the singleton to simply put on their own spacesuit if/when trouble is encountered, and in so doing, preserve their own personal uncontaminated space). The three explorers and the lander guard could simply see to trouble in Narcissus' sickbay-laboratory, without tainting the three back in the mothership, give Kane first response while taking him up to the main lab on the ship, while giving the orbit people warning to put on their suits/have some form of mobile quarantine ready for him.
Answer: It's not apparent whether the shuttle is capable of landing at all, much less launch itself back into space afterward even if it could.
Chosen answer: The small "lifeboat" ship was not equipped for the entire crew's long-term survival. As they are in deep space, there is no where close for them to land. They would just be adrift in space, as it takes years to travel from one destination to another. To survive long voyages, the crew needs to be in hibernation. The small ship would be a last resort in the hope that any survivors would be found before they died of starvation and/or lack of oxygen.
6th Apr 2017
Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
Question: Why do they call the aliens Mimics when we never see them actually mimic anything?
Chosen answer: First it should be noted that this film is based on the Japanese novel "All You Need is Kill" by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, which is where the term "mimics" comes from and could be something lost in translation (they adapted to alien planet environments by mimicking the biology of the planet's life, not necessarily making themselves look like a certain species). However, in the film itself it, was said the aliens "mimic our every action", militarily speaking. This is of course because the aliens were resetting the timeline when an alpha died and knew what the military would do, but to the military (and news reporters) it looked like they were just copying our fighting style.
3rd Apr 2017
Lexx (1997)
Question: How in blazes do 790 and the other robot heads, when they are attached to cyborg bodies, eat, drink and breathe for their biological bodies? I never see anything like either a functional nose/air intake or functional jaw and mouth (for food intake, as opposed to speech) for these things. I never see any such bio-interface on the bottom of 790's head when he is held upside-down etc... Also, what is the power source for 790's kind's actual robot head, since we never see him plug into an outlet, fuel up etc.
3rd Apr 2017
Lexx (1997)
Question: Why do the robot heads get attached to human bodies?? Doesn't make sense when you consider how much more advanced they could make robot bodies for such. Also, why not put human brains in robot bodies? We know they have that ability.
Answer: From what I'm seeing, the answer seems simple. The robotic heads allow the control of the body they need. However, no mater how advanced you make a robot's body, it will never quite be as flexible and versatile in it's movements and actions as a flesh and blood human body can be in most cases. And if they do put the effort into creating a robotic body with the capabilities they need, and be durable enough to last... it would cost a lot of money. The Cluster has a large influx of constant prisoners that they use for feeding the Lexx and other needs, so human bodies are easy to come by and in vast quantities. Them simply producing robotic heads with the ability to interface with the human nervous system and placing them on the decapitated bodies of expendable prisoners is a hell of a lot more cost effective and easier to do with the technology they have. It's just a cheaper, more effective option for them to have thousands fo 790 Units in production and use without the cost of manufacturing a fully functional and durable robotic body for them.
Answer: There could be a number of reasons: introducing non-native species can be devastating to an environment; the sandworms may only be able to survive in certain conditions that other planets lack; they may be unable to reproduce once introduced to a different environment; moving the number of worms needed to produce an adequate supply may be cost-prohibitive; it may be decades before the worms are old enough to produce the spice, the new environment might change the quality and chemical composition of the spice that is produced; political conflicts, and so on.
raywest ★