Phaneron

18th Nov 2006

Saw III (2006)

Question: Originally, the character Detective Mathews was written to be in the movie. Then the actor (Donnie Wahlberg) supposedly left due to creative differences. But nevertheless, he is in Saw III. Does anyone know the details of the matter?

Answer: Simply put the creators of Saw III did not want you to know that Donnie was going to be in the movie, so they put that up there so you could be suprised when you saw him.

Unusual

Answer: It could also be due to the death of Gregg Hoffman, one of the producers of Saw and Saw II, who unexpectedly died during the making of Saw III.

Why would the death of a producer make the people involved in the film deliberately mislead fans about Donnie Wahlberg leaving the project?

Phaneron

It literally says on the Saw III Wikipedia that Wahlberg didn't want to return for Saw III, but because of Hoffman, he decided to return for his honour.

Answer: I believe it was mentioned in an issue of Wizard Magazine that the show was cancelled because of low ratings, and reportedly the show's creative shift in the second season had a part to play in the low ratings, as the changes alienated fans.

Phaneron

11th Oct 2021

Venom (2018)

Answer: If you saw the mid credit scene at the end of Venom 2, that crossover has happened and Venom seems to have an appetite for Spider-man.

The Venom and MCU Spider-Man crossover is official, but it remains to be seen if the Tobey Maguire version of Spider-Man crosses over with one or both.

Phaneron

Answer: The two films don't take place in the same universe, and although a crossover with Spider-Man: No Way Home seems likely, they are not bound by each other's rules.

Phaneron

16th Sep 2021

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Question: At the end when Gamora and the Good Nebula are speaking, Gamora asks Nebula what happens in the future and Nebula responds that she tried to kill her many times, but they eventually became friends. Why didn't Nebula bother to tell Gamora that Thanos killed her to get the Soul Stone. Seems odd that she left that out.

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: Nebula already alluded to Gamora being killed by Thanos earlier when she said something along the lines "You know what he does to you?" In this scene in question, Gamora is already disillusioned with Thanos and frees Nebula from captivity to battle him, thus it's not necessary to show the audience Nebula telling Gamora what Thanos did to her. She may have told her offscreen while they were on their way to find the evil Nebula.

Phaneron

Answer: It's called a Bantu knot and it is similar to other historical Afro-texture - also known as kinky - hairstyles. Within the context of the show, the reason for the hairstyle is she probably just likes the look. Within the context of producing the show, they might have felt the hairstyle helped accentuate her deranged facial expressions.

Phaneron

5th May 2019

Dexter (2006)

Dirty Harry - S4-E5

Question: In some episodes they mention an officer's romantic relationships can be used by attorneys to somehow discredit the officer and get the suspect off. In this episode specifically, Deputy Chief Matthews says the department can't risk a defense attorney turning Lt. LaGuerta and Sgt. Batista's romantic involvement a courtroom sideshow every time they work a case together (and thus Batista needs to be transferred out of Homicide). But why would it matter? Is this just "Hollywood" exaggeration for plot purposes? Wouldn't the prosecution object based on relevance if the defense attorney tried to bring this up, especially since Lt. Guerta disclosed the relationship through the proper channels? Or is Matthews lying for an ulterior motive.

Bishop73

Answer: It could be a combination of both. Defense attorneys will do just about anything they legally can to get their clients acquitted, so it's not unreasonable that they might try to convince a jury that a romantic relationship between two officers in the same precinct could somehow cause problems for a case. Even if it's unlikely to work, the department would want to avoid it altogether. Additionally, Matthews and LaGuerta don't particularly like each other and are shown multiple times throughout the series to be scheming against each other, so it could just as well be a power play by Matthews to put LaGuerta in her place.

Phaneron

5th Sep 2021

Saw VI (2009)

Question: When John comes into Will's office, he explains that he wants to try an experimental procedure to help cure his cancer. It also has a very high success. But Mr. Easton denies him, claiming the cost would be substantial. He crumples up the paper and throws it away like he has run out of choices. Since John is a very wealthy man, why doesn't he just pay for it himself?

Answer: It's an experimental treatment and his insurance won't cover any of it, so it's possible that the out-of-pocket cost is too much for even him to afford. It's also possible his cancer progressed too far before he could begin the treatment.

Phaneron

4th Sep 2021

The Town (2010)

Question: At the end Krista gets pressure from the police, and she tells them something. Then the police show up at the robbery. How did Krista know where and when the last robbery was taking place?

Answer: Her brother Jem helped plan the robbery, so she probably learned about it through him. He might have even told her about it directly since she's in love with Doug, and Doug was intending to leave Boston after the heist.

Phaneron

Where did the money Claire found come from, since Doug did not have a bag of money when he drove the BPD car to kill Fergie? Did it come from a previous heist?

31st Aug 2021

Beetlejuice (1988)

Answer: No, Adam and Barbara are just using their ghost powers to levitate her.

Phaneron

Answer: Lydia is being possessed, like during the "Tally Me Banana" scene earlier in the movie.

LorgSkyegon

Lydia is not affected during the banana song scene.

lionhead

Let me clarify: like the others at the dinner party during the "Tally Me Banana" scene.

LorgSkyegon

26th Aug 2021

The Wolverine (2013)

Question: How can Logan cut through heavy steel door, rotor of the helicopter, train and big metal robot, but can't cut through Shingen's katana? Was it also adamantium?

Answer: Likely it was. At one point in the movie they mention that Yashida was stockpiling adamantium.

Phaneron

21st Jan 2009

Liar Liar (1997)

Question: After Fletcher gets his son to try to unwish the "No lying" wish, he tests to see if it works. He gets slapped in the face. When his son asks "Did it work?", Fletcher says, "Not as well as I had hoped." What did he mean by that?

Answer: As you said, he was testing to see if the wish was broken--by going up to an attractive woman and talking to her. While we don't hear what happens, he apparently said something a little too "forward" to her (probably more forward than he would have done otherwise, hence the "not as well as I had hoped"), and got slapped, so he knew that he was still under the wish's effects.

Chanteuse66

But I want to know what he said to the woman.

It's deliberately made unclear what he specifically said, because him getting slapped in the face is the gag that shows the audience that he's still under the spell. If we heard what he said, then we would know right away the new wish wouldn't have worked. It's ultimately up to the viewer's imagination to decide what he told the woman.

Phaneron

13th Nov 2018

The Crow (1994)

Question: It's supposed to be Devil's Night, so why are there child trick or treaters running around in costumes when Eric is wandering around outside?

Answer: "Devil's Night" is the night before Halloween, Oct. 30. Many communities across the U.S. hold "Beggar's Night," the night kids go trick-or-treating, on a day other than Halloween, often Oct. 30.

Just to add to your answer, if Halloween falls on a Sunday, it's not uncommon for trick or treating to occur the day before.

Phaneron

Answer: Given that there is going to be likely dozens of buildings burned down by the next day, kids probably want to get their trick or treating done a day early.

LorgSkyegon

Question: At the end of the second film, Felicity went to the future with Austin. When this film starts she's nowhere in sight for the whole movie. Whatever happened to her?

Answer: An original cut featured the opening scene with Heather Graham in it (I'm not sure what happens) - I'm assuming they dropped that idea when they could get hold of all the cameo stars. Hopefully it'll surface on the DVD.

Reportedly she left Austin because he couldn't get over Vanessa.

Phaneron

Answer: Remember that there were 2 Austins at the end of the second film, thus she likely ended up with one of them, while the other Austin went in a different direction.

Question: What's the deal with the awful looking costumes in this movie? Were the costumes from the previous two no longer available?

Phaneron

Answer: Jim Henson's Creature Shop didn't work on the third entry, so they went with someone else.

Rob245

Why would Jim Henson's Creature Shop have to specifically work on the film? There were already existing suits. Shouldn't the studio have owned the suits, or did Jim Henson's Creature Shop only provide them on a rental basis?

Phaneron

All Effects was the company that provided the suits for the 3rd film. They had similar technology as Jim Henson's Creature Shop but underbid Jim Henson's Creature Shop to get the job.

Bishop73

29th Jul 2021

Old (2021)

Chosen answer: Trent admitted to having sex with her, stating that he thought people had to have sex around 10 times for pregnancy to happen, to which Guy told him it only takes one time.

Phaneron

Answer: She and Trent had sex. It just wasn't shown but implied.

Bishop73

Chosen answer: It appears to be his initials "SH" in the style of the New York Yankees "NY" logo. He's also wearing pinstriped pajamas that look like the Yankees uniform.

Bishop73

I was expecting it to be some kind of Arabic symbol, but I can see the initials now, and it fits his character.

Phaneron

15th Jul 2021

Spider-Man (1994)

Answer: I don't think the intent is for her to be a cyborg. Since she suffered a facial disfiguration and had no access to medical treatment or reconstructive surgery, the mask on her face probably serves to hide her scars. Plus, since she's the episode's villain, it helps to make her look more menacing.

Phaneron

12th Jul 2021

Black Widow (2021)

Question: Spoilers! The woman who Yelena kills at the start isn't seen hugely, but bears a passing resemblance to Olga Kurylenko, who's in the opening credits but isn't actually seen until nearly the end of the film. Does anyone know if this was a deliberate choice to misdirect more casting-savvy viewers as to the part she actually plays, or am I misremembering, and the woman at the start doesn't look much like her at all?

Jon Sandys

Chosen answer: Are you talking about the woman who has the mind control antidote that ends up freeing Yelena from the Red Room's control? She's a rogue ex-Widow named Oksana played by martial artist and stunt coordinator Michelle Lee.

Bishop73

That's her. It's only a semi-resemblance, but was close enough that I basically assumed if that was Olga Kurylenko she'd had her role cut down, or was a cameo, or might appear in flashbacks. Either way I didn't spend the film thinking "when's Olga Kurylenko showing up?", and anyone asking that of themselves presumably might figure out who was playing Taskmaster before the big reveal. I might just be overthinking it of course. :-).

Jon Sandys

I actually thought it might have been Olga Kurylenko at first as well.

Phaneron

9th Jul 2021

Spider-Man 3 (2007)

Question: I'm sure I missed it but, why did Mary Jane turn down Peter's proposal?

Answer: Because he was letting his career as Spider-man become more important than her. They way he milked the crowd and kissed Gwen the same way she kissed him, from the first movie, when the city honoured him.

Answer: In Spider-Man 2, Harry Osborne discovered Peter Parker's secret identity. He was waiting for the right opportunity to use that information. When he saw how much in love Peter and Mary Jane were, that's when he threatened to expose him to the world, if she didn't break up with him.

Not that scene. It's the scene where Bruce Campbell has his cameo as the maitre'd and Mary Jane was angry at Peter.

She technically didn't turn down his proposal in that scene because he never got the chance to propose to her. She left the restaurant in anger before he could.

Phaneron

30th Apr 2005

Scary Movie (2000)

Question: Who is the guy who looks through Cindy's window at the beginning of the movie and says 'wrong set'?

Answer: That whole scene is a spoof of the show "Dawson's Creek". The guy is James Van Der Beek, who played Dawson Leery, the title character.

Grumpy Scot

Answer: It's also worth mentioning that the song that is playing during this part - "I Don't Want to Wait" by Paula Cole - was the theme song to Dawson's Creek.

Phaneron

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