Question: I've heard that Lucius was right in Voldemort's inner circle so why is he treated even worse than Pettigrew?
raywest
25th Mar 2018
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)
27th Jul 2015
Sixteen Candles (1984)
Question: Has Samantha's birthday ever been officially said? She says she looks the same as she did that summer and all that shows is that she doesn't have a tan left. People are still wearing tank tops, dresses, skirts, shorts, etc. throughout the movie. It appears to be early to mid September but nobody says anything in the movie. Does anybody know?
Answer: The brother is constantly wearing Chicago gear. I'd bet Chicago. You can lose your tan in one month. That's a long time to a kid back in school. Plus the dance they go to is called the New Faces dance which may be a beginning of the school year.
I did a little checking on the movie production. According to the Wikipedia entry for this film, "Sixteen Candles was filmed primarily in and around the Chicago North Shore suburban communities of Evanston, Skokie, and Highland Park, Illinois during the summer of 1983." The summers in this region are usually quite hot and humid which may account for why the cast was wearing lighter clothing throughout the film, even though it was supposedly taking place in Autumn.
3rd Aug 2005
War of the Worlds (2005)
Question: At the end, a tripod collapses after behaving erratically for an hour, because the aliens inside were dead or dying. If so, wouldn't the tripod just stop moving and stand there because the aliens were too sick to operate it?
Answer: Or they had a mental link with the tripods.
The tripods are a mech suit for the aliens.
Answer: Depends on exactly how the disease affected the aliens. They might have entered a state of dementia and started piloting erratically, or even just have muscle spasms that knocked the controls around inside the cockpit.
Answer: Remember, when the tripod is spotted acting erratically, a cloud of birds are seen swarming the vehicle (presumably feeding on the dead/dying aliens inside). We can speculate that, although the aliens inside were incapacitated by disease, the tripod itself was probably functioning on auto-pilot with no precise operator control. Vulnerable, the staggering tripod was then an easy target for the military rocket-propelled ordnance, which easily brought the tripod down.
The birds weren't feeding on the dead aliens. Ray noticed that they were landing on top of tripods, showing that the force fields that had protected the machines and were impenetrable to military weapons were no longer operable. The military could then destroy them.
In the original H.G.Wells story, it is plainly stated that the birds were feeding on the dead aliens. So, the aliens are already dead, even though some of the tripods were still staggering around on autopilot.
Answer: Its theorized the tripods are bio-mechanical (half organic half machine) and so the system itself can get infected.
Answer: In the original H.G.Wells story, it is plainly stated that the birds were feeding on the dead aliens. So, the aliens are already dead, even though the tripods are still staggering around on autopilot.
Answer: It's a vehicle. If the driver dies or begins to die and is unable to control it properly, it's not going to be a smooth ride. Just like someone might drive erratically when sick or incapacitated, the tripods are going to movie a little "wonky" due to what's happening to the drivers.
30th Jan 2018
Flightplan (2005)
Question: How come Julia wasn't listed on the flight manifest?
Answer: It is never explained. Stephanie, the flight attendant who was in on the conspiracy, claimed that only Kyle's name was on the manifest and the seat next to her was unoccupied. Whether she somehow manipulated the manifest or someone else in on the plot was able to remove Julia's name, is unknown.
There is probably no way she could have manipulated the flight manifest since you can't access it from on board a plane.
Wait a minute, I thought a passenger's name wasn't put on the flight manifest until he or she boards the plane.
It's possible someone off the plane hacked into the flight manifest sometime after Kyle, and Julia boarded.
23rd Jul 2009
Capricorn One (1977)
Question: Okay, so the three astronauts are on the run but only James Brolin makes good his escape. What happened to the other two? They're shown as being caught, but what happened after? Anybody know?
Chosen answer: It's never stated in the film, however, as the astronauts have been declared officially dead and therefore cannot ever be allowed to contact anybody, they were most likely executed as soon as they were captured.
Answer: How were they able to fire their flares, then?
Answer: O.J. Simpson would have had time to shoot his flare to show he was caught. With Waterson harder to believe, he had climbed the side of the mountain and was just coming to the top with the planes coming into view. Either he would have been dropped and died on way down, not getting the chance to shoot the flare, or he was grabbed from the edge. Unlikely to have time also to shoot the flare before being intercepted.
24th Jan 2018
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
Question: After the Reliant ambushes the Enterprise, Kirk tricks Khan and hammers the Reliant into retreat. As Kirk turns to assess damage to the Enterprise, Scotty inexplicably appears on the bridge, carrying the charred body of Midshipman Peter Preston. Why on earth would Scotty bring the dying Preston to the bridge, rather than to SickBay with all the other injured? He had to deliberately bypass SickBay just to make an unnecessary appearance on the bridge.
Answer: At the time of the attack, most of Scotty's crew were attempting to flee a coolant leak caused by the damage. Cadet Preston (Scotty's nephew) remained at his post in the confusion, and was the reason the Enterprise was able to maintain minimal power with the energizers knocked out. Although he was wounded from the assault while rescuing another crew member, the coolant leak is what led to his ultimate demise, as the coolant was highly toxic. When Scotty brought him to the Bridge, he was himself quite disorientated from the events and was also devastated by his nephew's condition. Agreed it makes little to no sense, but Scotty didn't know what he was doing. His nephew was going to die, regardless of where he took him to. Going to sickbay would not have prevented it at this point. It seems like it was used as a mood breaker for the scene, crews celebrating their escape from death only to be confronted by it again in another form.
Answer: I believe Preston was already dead at that point. An earlier scene was edited out of the film that explained Preston was Scotty's nephew (his sister's son), and which may account for Scotty's rather odd reaction of first bringing him to the bridge.
Yet Preston is shown alive (still dying) in the SickBay moments later. Preston shares last words with Captain Kirk before he actually dies. So, this is a case of bad editing?
What was edited out of the film was an earlier explanation that Preston was Scotty's nephew-this was way before the Enterprise was attacked.
These scenes, which include several of Preston's lines which were cut, were restored in the 2002 Director's Edition. Curiously, when the film is aired on TV they still run the original video cut which has the scenes removed. The editing is really sloppy with the scenes cut out and the scenes establishing that Preston is Scotty's nephew add another emotional layer to the film. It makes Scotty's actions make so much more sense, he's overcome with grief over his nephew and anger at Khan. With the scenes cut what Scotty does makes very little sense.
In the novelization, I believe it is explained that the ship is badly damaged enough that Scotty reached the bridge while attempting to get to sickbay because the computer glitched.
1st Jan 2018
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
Question: After R2-D2 helps fix the escaping ship, Queen Amidala thanks the droid in front of Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan and her handmaidens, but Amidala's decoy refers to her handmaiden as Padme. Why doesn't she refer to her as Sabe? Doesn't everyone know that Queen Amidala's first name is Padme?
Answer: Padme was impersonating a handmaid, using her real name. Sabe was playing her role of Queen Amidala. This was unknown to Qui-Gon.
But the point is that using the queen's real name seems like it's giving the game away a bit.
1st Aug 2017
The Godfather: Part II (1974)
Question: At the start of the movie, Connie hates Michael. Was it just the death of their mother that made her change her feelings towards Michael? Or were there other factors?
Answer: Connie always hated Michael for ordering the death of Carlo (unaware that he was responsible for Sonny's murder) however she puts away her hatred to get Michael and Fredo to make up.
Connie didn't hate Michael. In the book, she was initially upset and angry that he had Carlo killed and confronted him, but within a few days, she apologized, telling Kay, Michael's wife, that it was all a mistake. Carlo was a physically abusive husband who never loved Connie and only married her because she was Don Corleone's daughter. Connie quickly realised she was far happier and much better off without Carlo.
Answer: Connie never hated Michael. Their relationship became strained because he disapproved of her jet-set, life-style, she was neglecting her children, and he dislikes the men she has relationships with. She is dependent on her brother for money and resents having to beg for more. She changes somewhat towards the end of the movie, partially because of her mother's death and Fredo being killed, and after Michael so cruelly cut Kay out of his life. Gradually, Connie starts to become more like Michael and by the third film, takes a more active role in the family business.
Answer: In the movie Connie says to Michael when she wants to come back that she hated him when Carlo died, and she did things to hurt Michael and herself, but she had come to realise that Michael is only doing what he has to do for the family, being strong for the family. She wanted to come back and take care of Michael and the children.
15th Nov 2017
Titanic (1997)
Question: If Rose is recalling her story on the Titanic to everyone, it's one thing where the scenes involving Rose herself or anything she witnessed could be retold... but how is it all the rest of the scenes (not involving Rose) be shown accurately in her story when she was not there (other passengers, crewmen conversations, etc.)?
Answer: Of course, Rose couldn't possibly relate incidents and conversations that she didn't personally witness. Rose's story merely serves as a dramatic conduit by which the audience is transported back in time to experience the last days of the Titanic.
I read somewhere that the scenes that Rose didn't specifically witness may have been filled by other eye witnesses and recorded in the inquiry after the sinking. Eg: when the Captain is told by Ismay to light the remaining boilers to get into New York on Tuesday and surprise the press there is a women in the background drinking tea who glances up and towards the Captain and Ismay apparently over hearing the conversation. She could have survived and told the inquiry what she overheard.
Answer: While we can accept that the scenes involving Rose are accurate (or as accurate as can be after 85 years) the rest is just shown to be for entertainment purposes.
While parts are fictionalized, much of what was depicted in the movie was based on the recorded narratives of the Titanic survivors, both crew and passengers.
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Answer: In addition, Lucius is directly responsible for the destruction of his first horcrux, the diary, for the frivolous reason of trying to discredit Arthur Weasley.
Greg Dwyer
Voldemort was angry with Lucius because he repeatedly failed him. Lucius smuggled the Diary Horcrux into Hogwarts via Ginny, the plan failed. Lucius also failed to retrieve the prophecy orb from the Ministry of Magic, resulting in a huge battle and certain Death Eaters being sent to Azkaban prison. Voldemort usually severely punished anyone who failed him.
raywest ★
Except Voldemort was still in hiding in Albania when Lucius did this. He never told Lucius to give it to Ginny.
Greg Dwyer
Lucius took advantage of an opportunity to use Ginny to get the Diary into Hogwarts rather than as an act to discredit Arthur. He couldn't risk giving it to Draco, who he would not have trusted to carry out the mission.
raywest ★
Except that Lucius putting Tom Riddles' diary into Ginny's cauldron happened in "The Chamber Of Secrets." Not in this movie. The question was why Voldemort treated Lucius even worse then Pettigrew.
It might have happened in an earlier movie, but that doesn't mean Voldemort forgot.
lionhead