Question: At the beginning of Lover's Vow, Preston's art is not selling. Why is it that after Carola helps him, his art suddenly becomes a success? Is she controlling the people in charge of the art business?
raywest
1st Dec 2024
Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990)
1st Dec 2024
Waterworld (1995)
1st Dec 2024
Scarface (1983)
Question: At the fancy restaurant, when Tony is yelling that the other patrons "don't have the guts to be who they want to be." What does he think they "want to be"?
1st Dec 2024
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
Question: When Eddie is trying to pull the trailer up and the T-Rexes reappear, why didn't he turn the wipers off and stay still? The T-Rexes wouldn't have seen him, meaning he might've lived.
17th Nov 2024
Girl, Interrupted (1999)
Question: According to the counsellor at Susanna's school, she is the only student who isn't going to college. In the 1960s, wasn't it still common for female students not to attend college? And also young men who came from low-income families? Surely Susanna would not be the only one.
Answer: In that era, college was less common for middle-class females and also males. However, the movie is based on author Susanna Kaysen's memoir. She was raised in an affluent, well-educated New England family and attended private schools. Girls from upper-class society generally attended college. Many attended a women's Ivy League school like Smith, Radcliffe, Wellesley, etc. A prevailing joke was that girls attended college for the "MRS" degree, meaning to find a husband. It was also typical that prominent professional men had educated, refined wives.
17th Nov 2024
Gilligan's Island (1964)
Question: Why is the Skipper so superstitious? In the Season 1 episode "Waiting for Watubi," the Skipper thinks he's cursed, and in the Season 3 episode "Up at Bat," Gilligan gets bitten by a bat, and the Skipper thinks Gilligan will turn into a vampire. For a level-headed man, this seems quite strange.
Answer: Sailors are also very superstitious for various reasons, and through the adventures the Skipper had while on the open sea (including his service in WW2) and before beginning the tour business with the Minnow, the Skipper would have made his superstitions a huge part of his life and would have been easily susceptible to superstitious beliefs.
Answer: Many people are superstitious, regardless of age, personality, temperament, background, and so on. It's usually something they grew up with and is ingrained into their thinking. It was particularly more prevalent in the era (first half of the 20th century) that the Skipper grew up in and may have been influenced by culture, family beliefs, religion, limited education, etc.
Answer: The Skipper never thought Gilligan would turn into a vampire. When the bat flew out, that's when Gilligan said, "I'm going to turn into a vampire." When his odd behaviour started up, the Skipper began to believe it.
15th Nov 2024
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Question: To create a horcrux, a witch or wizard must first split their soul by intentionally and deliberately murdering someone without any guilt or remorse for their actions. Since Tom Riddle murdered countless people, shouldn't his soul have been split into more fragments rather than just seven?
Answer: The other answer is spot on, but I would add that it requires casting a specific spell while simultaneously killing someone to make horcrux and split one's soul. (The movie downplayed this and the spell name is never revealed in the book.) Professor Slughorn had told the young Tom Riddle that the act involved dark magic, though he did not provide details. Riddle apparently discovered what that dark spell was to make horcrux.
Answer: Next to the act of murder, one also has to purposefully turn an object into a horcrux in order to make a horcrux. Your soul splitting doesn't automatically send that piece of soul into an object; your soul will be split but still connected to your body. As for when Voldemort's killing curse rebounded onto Harry, his real body was destroyed, and his fragmented soul shattered because it was frail and unstable, causing a piece to detach and lodge onto Harry.
The question wasn't about how to make a Horcrux. It was about why each murder Tom committed didn't shatter his soul more. For example, if Tom killed 11,000 people, then shouldn't his soul have shattered into 11,000 pieces?
I think your soul splits when you kill someone, but doesn't split again when murdering someone else (which part would?). Once you murder, your soul is split and will stay split until you detach a part of your soul. It's not like Tom could have saved up on fragments of soul by killing and then put pieces of his soul into objects one after the other. He had to murder and then purposefully put that split part into an object, and only then be able to split his soul again with another murder.
To further clarify, according to J.K. Rowling, random killing damages a wizard's soul, but does not split it. That requires using Dark magic and deliberately storing the soul shard into a vessel, making it a horcrux. Riddle chose six significant objects for the horcruxes and left one soul piece in his body. When Riddle cast the Killing Curse at baby Harry, it rebounded and simultaneously destroyed Riddle's body and sheared off another soul piece. Harry's forehead scar was an accidental seventh horcrux that Riddle never knew existed. It was Lily Potter's love and sacrificing her life to save Harry that protected him from the killing curse.
15th Nov 2024
Flightplan (2005)
Question: I don't see any motive for her to open the coffin, for which only she had the lock combo. Her motive was to find her daughter. Her daughter could not possibly have gotten into the coffin. This makes the plot too loose, in my opinion. It bothers me every time I try to re-watch the movie to find a reason why she would search the coffin. Or does the plot suggest here that she gave the combo to Julia, Julia somehow climbed down there, somehow found the coffin, opened it and climbed in? (00:59:10)
Answer: By this time, Kyle believed Julia was not hiding but forcibly taken. She is investigating every possible place, however improbable, where her daughter might be, including the casket on the off chance someone obtained the lock code or there was an alternate default code. As it turned out, the funeral home was in on the scheme. Kyle suspected Julia could be drugged or dead and her body hidden. Kyle's an aerospace engineer who's methodical, determined, detail-oriented, and a problem solver. After systematically eliminating one possibility, she moves on to others.
13th Nov 2024
Ad Astra (2019)
Question: When Roy travels across the Martian landscape, he is in an enclosed buggy. Why aren't these used on the Moon, where they would offer greater protection?
Answer: Unlike the moon, Mars has an atmosphere, weather, and winds that can reach up to about 60 mph. Mars also has severe dust storms that quickly cover objects in a thick, gritty layer of toxic Martian soil. An enclosed rover protects the driver, equipment, and other sensitive instruments from the elements. This is actually a concern for when humans eventually colonize Mars.
But if there is hostile activity on the Moon, why isn't there more protection?
There are plenty of examples on earth of soldiers and similar being sent into situations with unsuitable or minimal equipment. Most likely hostile activity isn't significant enough to warrant a buggy redesign, and/or given the weapons involved, the only protection that would make any actual difference would be too heavy to be worth transporting to the moon, or impossible to make on-site. As such people take their chances.
13th Nov 2024
The X-Files (1993)
Never Again - S4-E13
Question: When Mulder is on the phone with Scully and hears that she has a date, why does he make the punching motions after they hang up? Is he jealous?
Answer: It's not about Scully having a date. Mulder, who is vacationing at Graceland, Elvis Presley's home, is frustrated when Scully calls and says the Pudovkin investigation is not an X File case and she's turned it over to the Philadelphia office. After hanging up, Mulder humorously expresses his frustration by mimicking Elvis' karate moves. Many Elvis imitators do this as a parody.
13th Nov 2024
Pretty Woman (1990)
10th Nov 2024
Young Frankenstein (1974)
10th Nov 2024
A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
Question: When the Baxter House is lit on fire, everybody comes out the front door and is promptly shot. Was there no rear exit or window?
Answer: A house that size likely had a back door and windows. Being made of wood, the fire could spread quickly, and the flames may have blocked the rear exit, as well as thick smoke making it difficult to breathe and see where one is going. The front door was probably the closest exit. Of course, the point of the plot is that they all get shot when they run out.
10th Nov 2024
Face/Off (1997)
Question: Did Nicolas Cage and John Travolta get along while working on this movie? Was there any feud between them?
Answer: There's no report of any conflict, and they spent two weeks working together before filming started to develop their characters. There are some reports of a Face/Off sequel being made with the original cast, but nothing is verified. If true, the two must be on good enough terms to be willing to work together again.
10th Nov 2024
Angels & Demons (2009)
Question: What was the point of putting the first murder victim somewhere they were unlikely to be found?
29th Oct 2024
Midsommar (2019)
6th Nov 2024
The Godfather: Part II (1974)
Question: I see this as an (unavoidable) mistake, but during Vito's path across the rooftops prior to killing Fanucci, the buildings, bricks, and chimneys are obviously old (brick wear, missing mortar, patches). When, if the scene took place at that time, most of the rowhouses in NYC would have been built circa 1890-1920, so they would have been essentially brand new. Does that seem accurate?
Answer: I just spot-checked real estate in the filming location (per web sources, Little Italy in NYC). Similar to my old Italian neighbourhood in Philly, the houses I checked were built in 1905, 1905, and 1910 (the exteriors are similar, like my 1917 Philly row house). So I think the obvious age of the buildings in the movie was an unavoidable inconsistency.
Answer: I would say not entirely accurate. New York tenement buildings were built as early as the 1820s, but the majority in the mid-to-late 1800s, so many were fairly old during this scene's timeframe. There are numerous other factors related to that era, including poor maintenance, inferior building materials, shoddy construction practices, lax government regulation, inspections, oversight, etc. All would contribute to the tenements' poor condition.
29th Oct 2024
The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
Question: What is Jason holding when the helicopter arrives? A child? From where?
Answer: The French lady's child, who was trapped in the cab when they were all heading to the library. Emmy Rossum was translating for her when the cop was trying to get her out. Hope that answers your question.
29th Oct 2024
Halloween Kills (2021)
Question: Why would the police cover up Hawkins' accidental shooting of Pete McCabe in the 1978 flashback?
Answer: As you point out, it was a cover-up, probably to protect their reputation and one of their own. They would want to avoid any negative publicity, public outrage, and mistrust. It could also create accusations of police incompetence, leading to a civil lawsuit, firings, internal investigations, etc. There may be other things going on that the police want to avoid being scrutinized too closely.
27th Oct 2024
General questions
When a show has locations that are shown often enough, but not in every episode, how is that set handled? Is it created and put aside somewhere, or rebuilt whenever needed? For example, Niles' apartment in "Frasier," Deacon and Kelly's apartment in "King of Queens," Walter Skinner's office in "X-Files," the Mighty Weenie restaurant in "Family Matters," etc.
Answer: Sets not used in every episode are usually built in sections that can easily be dismantled and reassembled as needed. I've noticed in some shows that one shell structure is often repurposed with minor changes into whatever is needed. In "Friends," one set was used for Chandler's work office, also as Rachel's office at Ralph Lauren, for Joey's new apartment when he briefly moved out, etc. The same with "Roseanne," where Crystal's house was also used for David's home, for "The Fifties Show" episode, etc. Darlene's Chicago apartment set was also used for Becky and Mark's Minneapolis apartment.
Answer: Carola isn't controlling people but is able to make better connections, promoting Preston's work and getting it seen by prospective buyers. She's acting as an effective PR agent.
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