Question: How did the bad guy have a gun on the flight? He pulls a gun in the airfield chase scene so he had to have it on the plane as he jumped off it.
raywest
30th Jul 2019
Bullitt (1968)
13th Jul 2019
The Legend of Tarzan (2016)
Question: In real life, had Tarzan been raised by apes from the time he was a baby, would he have actually been able to be educated to act and speak like an ordinary person?
Answer: I'd have to disagree with the previous answer. Being that Tarzan was raised by apes from infancy, there are many higher-level brain functions that he (in real life) would never have completely developed, such as upright walking and other motor skills, cognitive and speech abilities, social interaction, and so on. There are some vital human-brain capacities that if not learned at certain stages of early-childhood, cannot or can only partially be learned later. However, it is highly unlikely an infant could survive long in such an environment.
Answer: Any answer would be speculative at this point since we don't have enough examples of feral children living in the wild until Tarzan's age. Most children that become feral either start out at an older age, 5 or 7, where they know how to speak a language, or are found before they hit puberty. This makes teaching and integration somewhat easier. There was a case of a boy living in the wild for 15+ years that still had difficulty interacting with society even in his 60's and 70's. He had the ability to speak but eventually lost it as he became more feral and he had huge difficulties understanding technology, like radio and cinemas. In all probability, Tarzan, and similar characters, would not be able to learn how to communicate, even if he could learn to speak English. He would have an even more difficult time learning how to socialize and live as "normal" adults do. And I could not see any possibility he teaches himself how to read and speak English, or any language.
Answer: In the books, Tarzan was self-taught after he discovered the house his father built. He learned to read English using the elementary books his parents brought with them to teach the child they were expecting, these books were in the house. While studying these books, he mimicked many of the things he saw in pictures, which could have included walking upright. He did not learn to speak English until he was a young adult after traveling to Europe. Also, after rescuing Paul D'Arnot in Africa, the French officer taught Tarzan French as the two of them left Africa for Europe.
Yes, but the question was could he "in real life" be educated and learn to speak like an ordinary person if he had been raised by apes from the time he was a baby. You are only describing how Tarzan accomplished that fictionally in the book. In real life, that could not have happened.
28th Aug 2006
Secret Window (2004)
Question: What is the meaning behind the Morton salt and other groceries that Mort buys at the end of the movie?
Answer: Mort Rainey buys the salt, butter, and napkins for eating the corn he grew in the garden above Ted and Amy's graves. The "Morton" brand of salt uses the advertising slogan, "when it rains, it pours." Mort Rainey's name can be translated to "raining death." The "Vanity Fair" napkins could be a refernce to Mort's personality.
The term Vanity Fair was coined (I believe first) by John Bunyan in 1678, as a place in a story called ‘The Pilgrim's Progress'. Mort is referred to as ‘Pilgrim' by a few different characters in the film, including himself, without much explanation until the serviettes. Brilliant. Vanity Fair in John Bunyan's story is a never-ending fair of frivolity, which is similar to Mort's charade of denial. Found this info when I searched the meaning of Vanity Fair on vocabulary.com.
Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress was also the inspiration for William Thackeray's 1847 novel, "Vanity Fair."
20th Jun 2019
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
19th Jun 2019
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
Question: When Mola Ram is smiling, what is he looking at? Is he looking at the Maharajah or is he looking up at Willie, Indy and Short Round? (01:01:45)
Answer: It doesn't look as if Mola Ram is smiling at the trio, because they're standing to Mola Ram's upper right. The Little Maharaja is seated in front of the Thuggee high priest, but I don't think he's specifically looking downward, directly at the boy either. To me, it seems as if Mola Ram is smiling because while he's confident in his control of the Little Maharaja, it's the fact that he knows another human sacrifice is being brought out for the Kali sacrificial dark ritual.
The question gives the exact second.
Great, but I don't currently have a DVD player or have a copy or access to every movie someone asks a question about. If someone is asking a question, they shouldn't expect anyone to actually take the time to set up and watch the film in order to answer a question for them. Just give a brief description of the scene.
That's what the time stamp feature is used for. The question is asking what exactly Mola Ram is looking at in a specific second of time in the movie. Explaining the scene wouldn't help anyone answer the question. To answer, you will have to look at the movie and pay specific attention to that time stamp. If you can't do that then you can't answer the question and should just ignore.
I get what you're saying, but I've been able to answer many questions without having to re-watch a movie because the question contained enough specific information so that I knew which scene they were referring to. Based on the information given in the question, I can check movie clips on YouTube or get the answer by reading online movie synopsis. Every little bit of info helps.
Tough luck I guess?
24th May 2019
Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986)
Question: What happened to Dana?
Answer: According to IMDb, a scene was scripted, but never filmed, explaining that she was away at college. The actual reason for her absence was because Dominique Dunne, the actress who played Dana in the first film, was murdered by her boyfriend shortly after the theatrical release of the first film.
20th Apr 2019
Aliens (1986)
Question: Why did Ripley not yell for Newt and Bishop to hold onto something before she opened the air lock?
Answer: I wondered about this, too. Ripley may simply have overlooked doing this due the extreme duress she was under, focused on killing the creature. She intended to act quickly and save Newt if needed, but the creature grabbed onto her leg, delaying it being shot into space. Ripley may also have believed that Newt was still hiding under the grates, and that Bishop, ripped in half, was already "dead." I also think it's something of a plot hole.
I know I'm answering my own question here but when I look back at the scene, you do see her press the button that triggers the alarms before she pulls the latch to open the air luck. Probably a form of telling them what she is about to do. And looking back at the scene it's pretty obvious what she's doing, unless Newt was all of a sudden oblivious to what was happening.
Newt was not exactly oblivious, but she was a frightened child who was reacting, as would be normal for someone her age, impulsively and without much forethought. She was also unfamiliar with the ship, its operation, and probably would not know what the warning alarm was. Her instinct was to jump out of the recessed floor space to see what was happening to Ripley. I don't think Ripley turned on the alarm separately. It would just automatically go off as soon as someone started opening the hatch. It's the same as a back-up alarm on the truck.
True she's unfamiliar with the ship but even when you move to a new school or building, you're still aware of the fire alarm.
Newt had never been on the ship before and had only been there for about five minutes when the mayhem started with the alien queen. A child going to a new school might be aware of the fire alarms, but only after they are taught about safety issues by an adult and not during a panicked emergency. Newt, terrified, had no understanding of what exactly was going on when the alarm sounded or how to react to it.
29th Jul 2014
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)
Question: Is there any other way that Hermione could have possibly protected her Muggle parents from Voldemort and his followers besides erasing their memories, like casting a protection spell over them similar to what was done with Harry for the past 17 years or taken them to the Burrow to be protected, or even Grimmauld Place?
Chosen answer: Any of those options would provide some degree of protection, but, should Voldemort ultimately triumph, it's extremely likely that those measures would eventually be circumvented by his forces, leaving her parents entirely at his mercy. By erasing herself entirely from their memories, they cannot be used against her, as they cannot be linked to her (it's reasonable to assume that Hermione would also have arranged for any files linking her to them or that address to be destroyed or altered as well). Erasing their memories also has the side effect of sparing her parents from grief should she fall in the ensuing conflict.
In the book, in addition to erasing their memories, Hermione also sent her parents to live in Australia, further removing them from danger. She not only erased their memories to prevent them from being tortured and divulging any information, but if she was killed, they would not grieve the loss of their only child for the rest of their lives.
4th Apr 2017
The Godfather (1972)
Question: A "war" started when McCluskey and Sollozzo were killed at the diner. Wouldn't the murder of the heads of the other families cause another war that would leave the Corleones outnumbered 4 to 1?
Answer: Perhaps, but it would be a war the Corleones could win fairly easily. The murder of the heads of the other families would also render them leaderless and with multiple potential heirs, and while they fought amongst themselves for control, the Corleones would be able to fill the power vacuum the infighting created. But more likely, outside of a few hotheaded revenge killings, the other families would see this swift and brutal demonstration as a sign that the Corleones are too powerful to take on (Michael's powerful position in the next film would seem to attest to this).
27th Jun 2016
General questions
From what I vaguely remember it's about a woman in a fancy big house. There is a party going on. This guy is being nice to her and they are flirting. She says she has to go somewhere. He begs her to stay with him - she promises to come back, then she goes off, races back, and when she comes back the house is old and some person tells her no one lived there for over 100 years. I think if she had stayed the spell would have been broken. If someone has any ideas please put me out of my misery.
Chosen answer: It sounds like you're thinking of "Brigadoon". A Scottish village is under a spell where it only appears for one day every 100 years (which was done to preserve the way of life of the villagers.) When two men find it, one falls in love with a woman villager and if she were to leave the village, the spell would be broken and the village of Brigadoon would disappear forever, along with everyone in it (if he stayed he'd have to leave the real world behind). There's been a lot of adaptations of the story, so not sure which version you saw. Two versions I know of are a 1954 film and a 1966 TV movie.
The movie described in the question is not "Brigadoon." For one, the entire village disappeared and there was no old house with someone in it that remained in the intervening 100 years. Also, in Brigadoon, it was the man who came upon the village, not the girl.
Possible, but I've noticed when people only have a vague memory of things, they confuse what they saw with another film or mix up some points. The key points of 1 day and 100 years and a broken spell pointed to "Brigadoon." But there's been adaptations of the film that the person might have seen which may have alternate minor plots that I'm not familiar with, which I mention so the person could have a reference to look for in case I was wrong in guessing what they saw. I've noticed with these general questions that the original posters sometimes reply if the suggest film is not what they were thinking of.
19th May 2017
The Godfather (1972)
Question: What was Fabrizio saying in Italian to the Italian soldiers when they were driving by?
Answer: They weren't Italian soldiers, they were American. He was jestingly suggesting they take him with them back to America, as well as a few names of famous Americans. He says: "Hey, hey, take me to America! G.I.! Hey! Hey, hey, hey, take me to America, G.I.! Clark Gable! Hey! America, America, ha! Take me to America, G.I.! Clark Gable, Rita Hayworth!"
This foreshadows Fabrizio's treachery. He badly wants to emigrate to America, so he betrays Michael for money to get there, only to be executed on Michael's orders some years later.
In what movie is Fabrizio murdered?
Strangely enough, Fabrizio is killed in in both Godfather 1 and 2! In Godfather 1 Michael calls on the pizzeria Fabrizzio owns and kills him with a shotgun. (In the book this is done by one of Michael's henchmen). In Godfather 2 he is killed by a car bomb planted on Michael's orders. Both scenes were deleted by Francis Ford Copolla, leaving a sense of mystery about what actually happened to Fabrizzio.
10th Mar 2019
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
Question: Why was Hermione being chased by Ginny in the tent? Hermione isn't the kind of person who'd do a harmless thing and make someone chase them for a joke.
Answer: Hermione is a 14 year old girl, having fun with a close friend. Of course they will horse around and tease and play. Hermione might be serious as a student and quite mature for her age, but she also knows how to have fun.
She is almost a year older than Harry, so that explains the maturity.
Answer: If you're referring to the tent scene at the Quidditch World Cup, I don't remember Ginny chasing Hermione, but the twins, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Harry are in high spirits after their favored team has won. All are jumping around, laughing and singing in celebration. If that's not the scene you're referring to, can you be more specific?
Ginny was chasing Hermione when Fred and George said "feet off the table"
I watched the clip on YouTube. Ginny and Hermione are excited after the group arrive inside their rented tent. The girls rush into where they will be sharing a room and drop off their gear. They then rush over to the other side of the tent, probably to where the kitchen is. Hermione is just running ahead of Ginny and is not being chased.
14th Mar 2019
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Question: Where were the Durmstrang and Beauxbaton students during lessons? I never saw them in any and surely they weren't excused from their final year of education?
Answer: The Durmstrang and Beauxbaton students slept inside their respective vehicles while at Hogwarts. The Durmstrangs arrived by ship and the Beauxbatons on the flying carriage, which in the book was the size of a house. In the movie, they probably would have enlarged the interior with an extendable charm (like the Weasley's tent at the Quidditch World Cup. As most of the visiting students likely didn't speak English well, classes would be probably be taught separately, inside their living quarters or a designated space within the Hogwarts castle.
I thought there was one line in the books about the Beauxbatons students rooming with the Ravenclaws and the Durmstrang students with the Slytherins-or were those just their table assignments for meals?
I'd say it was only for meals and maybe the common rooms. The Hogwarts house dorms had a limited number of beds. There may have been some unassigned ones but not enough for all the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students.
14th Mar 2019
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
Question: What happened to Cinna? It looked some men came into the room and started beating him up. But what happened to him after?
Answer: They don't show what happens to him in this film, but Katniss is told in "Mockingjay" that they think Cinna was killed during interrogations. Even in the books his death is unclear. In "Catching Fire" she sees him dragged away, bloody and unconscious. And then in "Mockingjay", Katniss tells the readers "Plutarch's sources believe he was killed during interrogation."
There is also a line where she asks President Coin at the end of this film (been a while since I watched these) where she bluntly says, "They killed him. Cinna. Didn't they?" And the response is a simple yes.
25th Feb 2019
The Fugitive (1993)
Question: Wouldn't Dr. Kimball lose his medical license for changing the boy's orders in the hospital and signing the form, forging someone else's identity?
Answer: He's a convicted murderer, he's already lost his license. If you mean after he's been exonerated, the other doctor admitted he saved the boy's life. I doubt the AMA would prosecute him for doing that.
Also, as he was wrongly convicted of murder, he was wrongly deprived of his medical license.
Assuming he gets exonerated for the murder charge (I'm not a lawyer but I assume, in the messed up US legal system, this still takes evidence even though the actual murderer is in custody), he would still technically be guilty of breaking out of prison and fleeing police. It would be very interesting to hear the end of the story - everyone assumes they just let him go but in reality, it wouldn't be that simple and again, even if you are wrongly convicted, it's against the law to escape prison.
25th Jan 2019
The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (1998)
Question: This is about both the first and second film, and the Lion Guard. How did only one cub born occur about four times in a row (Simba, first cub of Simba whose name is unknown, Kiara and Kion). Why weren't there more than one born at once for this long amount of time?
Answer: Because this a fictional animated movie that bends reality in order to better serve the plot. Having too many lion cub characters being born would be confusing and clutter the story line.
15th Jan 2019
Florence Foster Jenkins (2016)
Question: Every time Florence would perform before a live audience, people would respond by either laughing at her or booing at her. With these kinds of reactions, how could Florence not realise that it was because nobody liked her singing and that they considered her a terrible singer?
Answer: People believe what they want to believe and can have an uncanny ability to filter out anything negative or unwanted. Eventually, she realised the truth.
5th Jan 2019
The Godfather: Part III (1990)
Question: How come Connie knew Michael killed Carlo, but she believed Fredo drowned?
Answer: When Connie says the part about "Poor Fredo, drowned, but it was God's will...Michael, I love you. I'll always help you," she is really telling Michael that she knows he had Fredo killed, but she forgives him.
Answer: Fredo lived for a long time after his betrayal of the family, plus when their Mother died Michael hugged Fredo in front of everyone after Connie talked to him about forgiving Fredo. I believe that Connie believed that Michael had forgiven Fredo that day and it was an accident. Anthony was supposed to go with them that day and she is the one that stopped Anthony from going, so I also think that plays into why Connie believes it was an accident as well.
Answer: It's less that she believes it than that she chooses to believe it. In the first film, she's naive about Michael, her father, etc., and so doesn't understand the realpolitik behind Michael's killing of Carlo. By the third film she's become much more inured to the family business (as well as more cynical and world weary), and so accepts the "official" explanation for Fredo's death even though she knows, deep down, it isn't true.
I'd add that by the time of Fredo's death, Connie knew Michael had grown more powerful and was becoming more dehumanized. She feared him enough to know to never confront him directly. After her husband's execution, she knew that any disloyalty to the family would be severely punished. She was also totally dependent on him for money and would not risk losing that.
6th Jan 2019
Room (2015)
Question: If Jack thinks the room is the whole world and that space surrounds the room, where does he think Old Nick is coming from when he walks in the door?
Answer: He's a five-year-old child and lives in a very structured, controlled, and unnatural environment. He isn't capable at that age to really begin questioning how and why something should or shouldn't be. He believes what he is told.
Well, except when Joy tells him that something outside Room exists and he doesn't believe what she tells him and immediately questions how that could be possible.
4th Jan 2019
The Mummy (1999)
Question: In the scenes where Rick lights a match to use on a stick of dynamite, he does so by striking the match against either his own ear or the ear of Ardeth Bay. Is there an explanation to how he does this?
Answer: He's lighting the match on his beard-stubble by raking it down his face. He's not striking the matches on his ear. It's not practical at all (and in fact, it's basically impossible unless you have beard-stubble like sandpaper), but it's just a cute way for the movie to show how much of a bad-a** he is. In reality behind the scenes, they actually had a strip of matchbox taped to the actor's faces that they were striking the matches on to light them. But with the right camera placement, it looks like they're lighting them on their faces.
Answer: Matches in those days were friction matches, with added red phosphorous so you could light them on basically any surface, as long as you generated enough heat. Some prefer the bottom of their boots, or a wall, but others light them on their own body, or someone else's.
Bare skin does not provide the necessary friction to light a match. It's possible to light one using one's fingernail by flicking it hard against the match head, but not with skin. There has to be a hard textured surface to create a spark.
Rough stubble?
Those matches are known as 'strike anywhere matches', because of the phosphorous coating on the matchhead they can be used on any suitably frictional surface. That's why Rick used Ardeth's stubble beard to strike the matchhead against.
Answer: I don't think he was rubbing the match on bare skin, more likely the edge of where the beard grows. The rough hairs would make the area of skin able to produce enough friction to light the match as long as it was rubbed fast enough.
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Answer: Airport security in the late 1960's was not nearly as thorough as it is in present day. Metal detectors didn't become commonplace at airports until the early 1970's.
BaconIsMyBFF
It was the D.B. Cooper hijacking of a Boeing 727 commercial jet in 1971 that radically changed how airport security was handled. Before that, there was virtually little to no pre-boarding security checks.
raywest ★