Question: Why was Merry's hand burned when he stabbed the back of the witch king's leg?
Phaneron
29th Dec 2018
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Answer: Because of what the Witch King is made of, his blood (or whatever) burns the skin of a mortal. Maybe even being too close will cause burns.
28th Dec 2018
Cape Fear (1991)
Question: So how exactly did Max Cady slip past Kersec's security system and get into the house? Did he kill the maid outside and then just walk in disguised as her?
Answer: He snuck in during the day and hid, before Kersec's teddy bear security system was set up. Sam Bowden realises this when he wakes from a nightmare. Its how he was able to poison the dog which hadnt been let outside. Max Cady killed the maid in the pantry with the same piano wire he later attacks Kersec with.
Answer: Kersec suspected that Cady might attempt to break into the Bowden house if he thought it was empty. His plan was for Cady to break in and then be shot dead as an intruder. He likely lessened the security to allow Cady to break in. Cady killed and then impersonated the housekeeper to get in.
I like your answer but I'm a little confused by the "lessened the security" part. If I'm not mistaken, every possible point of entry into the house at least from the ground floor was connected to the bear via the fishing line, so Kersec would know if a point of entry was disturbed by the bear moving. Where would Kersec lessen the security from that standpoint, especially since his setup was supposed to be foolproof?
Kersec wanted Cady to be able to break in so that there would be a plausible reason to shoot him dead. The idea is to make it look like his death was a result of self defense. I'm only speculating that Kersec made it easier for Cady to break in into the house. Being as it was his security system, he would know how to make it possible for Cady to get in.
20th Dec 2018
The Mummy (1999)
Trivia: Because the white nightdress Evelyn wears during the ship attack got wet, it became transparent, and had to be digitally painted white in post production. Otherwise the film would have lost its PG-13 rating.
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Different eras. The movie "The Bounty" with Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins features an abundance of topless native island women but retained a PG rating. It would easily receive an R rating today.
17th Dec 2018
General questions
I saw a TV movie in the early 90s. The plot centered around a man abducting a young boy under the guise that he was a co-worker of the boy's father and that he was looking after the kid while the dad was tied up in a meeting. At one point in the movie, the kid is keeping his distance from the man in an attic and manages to break his nose with a canoe paddle. Later in the movie, someone else tries to claim the kid. The kidnapper says the kid got away and the other man says "What did he do, punch you in the nose?" The two get into a scuffle that ends with the kidnapper killing the other man by stabbing a screwdriver into his neck. At the end of the film when the boy is rescued, rather than face the consequences, the kidnapper commits suicide by jumping out of the window. Anyone have any idea what the title of this movie is?
Chosen answer: The kid taking refuge in the attic and the kidnapper jumping out of the window, is from a 1990 TV movie, Bump in the Night. Christopher Reeve takes a little boy to his N.Y. townhouse. The boy evades him long enough to call his mother, Meredith Baxter, for help.
18th Jul 2004
The Butterfly Effect (2004)
Plot hole: When Evan is in jail with the religious prisoner trying to get him to help him get his journals back he goes to the scene where he is drawing that homicidal picture in kindergarten, but he gets up and puts the spikes that holds documents through his hands, creating a stigmata-style scar. The religious guy in the cell with him is so amazed because of this he thinks Evan is a prophet and he decides to help him. If Evan had gone back in time and got those scars on his hands, he would have changed the original timeline and would have arrived in jail with those scars the whole time. Some people try to correct this using the "If I can create scars, then can I fix them?" statement Evan made to defend the mistake and suggest he can create instant scars but he was using the word "scars" to refer to the negative events; not literal scars on his body. The scar he got when he burned himself in the past didn’t magically appear on him the moment he returned from the past; it became part of a new, slightly altered timeline (just like the scars on his hands should have been) and it let him know he can change history.
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Suggested correction: This isn't necessarily a correction so much as a possible explanation. It's possible that the religious inmate (I think his name was Carlos) just simply didn't see the scars on Evan's hands when he first came to the prison in the timeline where he got the scars or Evan knew to hide them in the scar timeline (due to the fact that it was the sole purpose of him going back) and due to his fanaticism he didn't question him a second time.
Nope, after jamming those things in his hands Evan simply came into the prison with the scars already on his hands and would have never thought of showing the religious guy his powers using that particular moment in the past to convince him, or doing what he did a second time as he already had done it. It doesn't matter if the religious guy didn't see them before, they won't be the object of Evan convincing him. He would have had to try it some other way, each and ever time. That how this time travel works and its definitely a plot hole that it worked as it did, whilst it shouldn't have. Of course, it's a time travel movie and they never make sense.
13th Dec 2018
Common mistakes
Other mistake: The hero can usually knock out henchmen with one or two punches, but the main villain (as well as the hero themselves) can take much more punishment. This is practically akin to enemies in video games. In fact, heroes are so confident of their abilities that they can knock an opponent down and know that they are down for the count without even having to verify.
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Suggested correction: How is this a mistake? Of course the main villain, the boss, is hardest to knock out. If his henchmen were just as strong or stronger, why are they just henchmen? See it like a race, the champion is hardest to beat, that's why he is champion.
Just to give an example, at the beginning of the movie "Goldeneye," James Bond knocks out a henchman sitting on a toilet with one punch. But at the end of the movie, Bond and Trevelyan are beating the crap out of each other and neither is knocked unconscious. It's certainly reasonable for someone to be a more formidable fighter than their underlings, but it wouldn't make them magically impervious to blows to the head.
The mistake is that the hero of the movie very rarely checks to see if a disabled opponent got back up. They are supremely confident that they are out, even if the hero literally just rolled them on to the floor. Makes for good movie magic, but is totally unrealistic.
This mistake has four aspects. (1) The hero knocks someone unconscious for good with just one hit. (2) The hero does this to several enemies in succession, with the same results. (3) The hero shows no signs of fatigue. (4) The hero takes on the tougher villains and takes them down too. Doing all of these requires immense superhuman strength. In films about superhumans, this is not a mistake. But there are films that deliver this and are cheeky enough to give the appearance of there being a modicum of reality in it.
It's not necessarily a measure of strength, technique has got a lot to do with it. When one goes for the throat for example or the jaw a knockout is almost always certain, if you know what you are doing. You have to if you got no time to hit someone twice because the next opponent is not waiting.
You are right. But we don't see proper technique either. I really have issues with people getting unconscious for good from a punch between their eyes, especially when John Reese does it.
I agree with you that some movies take it too easy. But is it really common? The first knock out of Goldeneye example isn't all that unlikely, he may even have hit that guy twice, but a blow to the head, a surprise blow to the head can definitely knock someone out, happens in boxing all the time. Even between the eyes, as long as the head is knocked around.
10th Mar 2011
3rd Rock from the Sun (1996)
Revealing mistake: In the scene with www.planetsolomon.com, you can see that it is a pre-filmed video (not a live stream as he said), as it has a time slider and play/pause controls etc. (00:13:05 - 00:13:45)
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Suggested correction: During streaming, any video player can be used. Meaning "play" or "scroll" buttons are still visible, just not functional.
The color of non-functional buttons will be muted. You can see in the picture that the stop button is solid black, indicating that it is functional. The marker on the status bar is also partially advanced. In a live stream, the marker would remain at the beginning position unless someone paused the stream, in which case resuming play would cause the marker to advance in order to catch up to the delay. In this scene, Dr. Solomon is teaching his class and interacting with his students, meaning no-one paused the stream.
5th Sep 2018
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Corrected entry: Just after Cull Obsidian advances on Tony, Bruce, Doctor Strange and Wong to get the Time Stone, Tony activates his nanotech Iron Man suit, and the Iron Man suit forms around his body. Just before his helmet forms around his head, there is a wide shot where he takes off his glasses, but as his he is lowering them, the glasses appear to fade out of existence. He is never shown dropping the glasses or putting them down, they just appear to have been digitally removed from his hand. (00:21:00)
Correction: It is possible these glasses are made of nanotech as well and they dissolve into his suit.
4th May 2017
Sons of Anarchy (2008)
Corrected entry: When Gemma hands Nero Carla's ashes, the box appears to be empty. Nero proves this by flicking the box and acting like, is there anything in it? When a person is cremated, the ashes weigh at least 5 pounds. They carry it like there's nothing in it.
Correction: My point is the box appears to have nothing in it! I have my fathers ashes and they aren't light so I know what I'm talking about. The box obviously is empty.
Sorry, but you've only demonstrated that a box of human ashes in your own hands doesn't feel light. What feels heavy to you isn't necessarily true for others. You said yourself that a box of human ashes weighs around 5 lbs. Most adults of either gender would find that to be lightweight. I can lift a 5 lb. Box with my thumb, index and middle fingers, provided that the box is relatively small in its dimensions, and I'm an ectomorph. If you were trying to prove in a court of law that the box was empty and all you had to go on was the video clip and your own anecdotal evidence, you would not meet the burden of proof.
Correction: My point is human ashes aren't light and you can plainly tell the box is empty.
You can't see inside the box though, so you can't definitively say that it is empty. It would be one thing if the box was supposed to weigh 25 lbs or so, but 5 lbs isn't even heavy, especially to someone like Jimmy Smits who is 6'-3" and over 200 lbs.
30th Oct 2018
Beetlejuice (1988)
Question: Is there any reason besides plot convenience that the Deetzes didn't enter the attic during the three months that the Maitlands were away from the house to meet with Juno? I realise they don't have the key, but seeing as how they were renovating the entire house anyway, it seems like they would have had no problem just knocking the door down.
Answer: No reason was given, but they probably felt no immediate need to enter the attic. I've never been in my own house's attic. As you pointed out, it's really a matter of plot convenience.
Answer: After the dinner scene when Otho asked where they hid and Lydia said "the attic" Charles replied that the attic was locked. So it seems like she never told them she had the skeleton key.
I addressed this in the question. A key is not required to get into the attic because they could just break the door down.
Except they didn't break the door down. Delia kept banging on the door until it opened. If they had broken the door down, there would have been some damage.
Answer: This is purely for convenience. It's always bothered me. Like since the early 90s when I first had a VHS copy to rewind. That whole house has been gutted and rebuilt but no-one got in to the attic for 3 months? That's BS. For one thing not only would someone like Charles Deets want to see every square inch of his property, but a major company/contractor doing a remodel of that size would have at some time needed access to and been on every square foot of that house.
Quite often, people don't think about the attic along with the rest of the house. Many of them won't be going into the attic every day, not every month, maybe not more than once a year.
29th Oct 2018
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
Question: When the clones arrived at Geonosis, why didn't Palpatine just execute Order 66 there?
Answer: Palpatine had a clear, detailed plan mapped out. First he was to become Chancellor by sympathetic vote after the invasion of Naboo. Then he would instigate the Civil War with the Seperatists in order to install himself as a lifelong Emperor while using Order 66 to wipe out the Jedi. Finally he would completely dissolve the Senate, leaving no-one left to challenge him. He needs the Jedi to fight in his proxy war with the Seperatists to dwindle their numbers and give the illusion that the clones are fighting for the Republic, when in reality they are fighting for him. When Palpatine finally does execute Order 66, it is after the war has left both sides crippled, with the Jedi at the weakest they've been in ages.
Answer: He might not have had such a plan in place at that time. He also wanted Anakin to eventually become his new apprentice, so he wouldn't want to risk him being killed by ordering the Clone Army to execute all the Jedi.
Oh he did have a plan, but I agree the biggest reason was that Anakin was still a Jedi and he couldn't execute the order until he had turned Anakin to the dark side.
He had a long-term plan to wipe out the Jedi, yes, but at this point I don't think he had any plan to kill them all from a logistical standpoint, especially given that he had just barely received the Clone Army.
The Sith ordered the clone army to be made and they were made specifically with order 66 in them, and Palpatine knew it from his former master (who manipulated Jedi Sifo-Dyas to place the order). It was always the plan to kill the Jedi. He just had to wait.
21st Oct 2018
Venom (2018)
Plot hole: At the angle of descent and the speed it was traveling (still burning from reentry even), when the space shuttle crashed in the opening of the film, it would not have left much of anything behind. The kinetic explosion that would have resulted would have downed the forest around it for a good distance leaving a crater, and the clean up crews would have been lucky to find any piece of the ship itself still intact bigger than a football. Much less been able to find any discernible remains of the crew. Yet bodies were being taken out in still relatively good condition. And probably most unbelievable is that the glass containers holding the Symbiotes were not even broken.
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Suggested correction: Since this is in the Marvel universe the capsule could have at least partially been made of Vibranium or Adamantium.
Adamantium is exclusive to the X-Men films which for the time being are under Fox, and Vibranium is exclusive to films within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This film is part of neither. There were rumors and speculation prior to this film's release that it would be adjunct to the MCU, but there are things within the film that contradict it. Particularly Eddie Brock being dismissive of the symbiote being an alien life form. An alien invasion was one of the major plot points of the first Avengers film, so an alien being wouldn't be something people would be skeptical of going forward.
Like Phan said. But also, i'm referring to the glass of the container staying in tact. Those two super metals don't make glass.
I just thought that although there can't be a mention of Vibranium, it doesn't mean it's not there. What I mean is if Vibranium softens the bow of the impact the glass containers would stay intact. But I suppose if it's not allowed to exist for the films, then I guess it doesn't exist. The glass can be nanotechnology though.
I see what you're saying, but that wouldn't mater with an impact like that. Space Shuttles are even made of Titanium, and would still be smashed to millions of little pieces from a reentry impact like that. The momentum and resulting kinetic explosion would devastate everything around it and level the forest for a good distance, leaving a massive creator, possibly as big or bigger than a football field. We are talking a few megatons of force.
This movie is not set in the Marvel Universe. It has been confirmed by the film crew that Venom is a standalone movie so it doesn't take place in the MCU at all.
I didn't say MCU, I said Marvel Universe. Some Marvel Universe anyway.
There's only the MCU and since this movie doesn't take place in it, the ship is probably only made from the materials that most rocket ships are constructed from.
26th Jul 2015
Jurassic World (2015)
Question: If all of the base DNA for the dinosaurs in the park was obtained from dino-blood inside mosquitoes, where did they get the DNA for the Mosasaurus from? A flying blood-sucking insect would not come into contact with a sea dwelling dinosaur, and there are no amber-equivalents in the ocean to trap any sea based blood suckers.
Answer: And what about just digging for bones for the Mosasaurus? I think this was said somewhere-although I can't remember where so apologies if I'm wrong-but I think Dr. Wu mentioned something about it, so I'm sure they could've gotten DNA WITHOUT getting the blood from a mosquito. It sounds possible in my opinion.
Chosen answer: The scientific inaccuracy of the mosquitoes/DNA notwithstanding, at the end of the film the Mosasaurus surfaces at the edge of its pool in order to drag in the Indominus Rex. Assuming the Mosasaurus did the same thing to catch prey in its own time period, it's feasible a mosquito could have landed on its body and extracted some blood in that short amount of time, especially if the prey was putting up resistance.
And a mosquito would always be in that area and be keen on getting blood from that particular dinosaur? Plus, it didn't take much for the Indominus to be taken down since the Mosasaurus is kind of a big creature, so how hard would it be for other animals to be taken down as well? Added, the Mosasaurus was being fed a shark when we first meet it; it's not like it was hunting on its own in an enclosed area.
Mosquitoes are everywhere, so it's not a matter of convenience that one would be in the same area and being keen on going after that particular animal. Plus, I just pulled up the scene on YouTube and it takes close to 10 seconds for the Mosasaurus to drag the Indominous Rex to its doom, which is plenty of time for a mosquito to land on it and extract blood. And as I stated in the answer, the explanation of DNA being harvested from preserved mosquitoes is scientifically inaccurate anyway, so even a tenuous explanation of how a mosquito would get that animal's blood is no more tenuous than dinosaurs being brought back to life in the first place.
8th Oct 2018
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Corrected entry: Thanos' henchmen could not know that Vision was in Wakanda to get the stone from his forehead.
Correction: Seeing as how they were able to locate Vision and Wanda in Scotland earlier in the movie, the stones most likely give off some signature that certain individuals can track if they are skilled enough. Thanos, for example, knew at the beginning of the film that two of the stones were located on Earth.
In that case Thanos could know where was the stone of the soul but he didn't, why he didn't use that skill then?
Or they could have tracked the Quinjet they flew with the entire time.
14th Jun 2016
The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
Stupidity: When the Keymaker is closing the door to the room that leads to the Source, he stands in the doorway resulting in the multiple Agent Smiths gunning him down. He could have easily closed the door without standing in the doorway and consequently would have lived.
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Suggested correction: Who says the door was bullet proof and the Keymaker couldn't have been shot through the door?
The point of the stupidity is that he shouldn't have been in the doorway at all, even if the door wasn't bulletproof, there was no need for him to even stand behind the closed door. He could have pushed the door closed from the side.
It seems to be a heavy door, he simply couldn't close it with just his arm, thus he had to move his body forwards in order to close it. In that brief moment he got shot before the door closed. He could have for example kicked the door shut but he simply didn't think of that at that moment, also not knowing the Smiths were about to fire a volley of bullets at them.
24th Sep 2018
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)
Question: Would any company in their right mind build a theme park (or any business for that matter) on a private island with a volcano? I know populated areas like Hawaii just assume the risk, but wouldn't a company that has the money to purchase their own island do their due diligence and make sure they won't be prone to a major catastrophe like that?
Answer: As it was stated in the film, the volcano had been dormant for many many years. Presumably even since well before the events of the first Jurassic Park movie in the early 90's. It was only recently, between the events of this film and the prior Jurassic World that the volcano had its surprise re-awakening.
For sure, but dormant simply means that the volcano could one day erupt again, so wouldn't it be pretty foolish to gamble on building a multi-billion dollar theme park with the hope that the volcano will never again erupt?
One would think. But just look at our world's history. Like Pompeii, an entire civilization wiped out cause they lived at the base of a dormant volcano. And then even in more recent history. Mount Saint Helens, which I've actually been to and seen the exhibits and footage of it's destruction. Foolish, yeah. But that doesn't stop us from still doing it repeatedly.
I think it's been made pretty clear over the course of all the films that the people building these parks did not exactly think everything through properly. They took a gamble on the volcano, and they lost.
3rd Sep 2018
X-Men (2000)
Question: Victor/Sabretooth, Wolverine's brother (we later find out) - where does he go after this movie?
Answer: It is deliberately left ambiguous. He most likely survived.
Answer: I think the sabretooth in this movie is not Wolverine's brother at all. I also think this sabretooth died from being blasted by Cyclops and falling off the statue of liberty.
Well they don't seem to recognize each other.
Wolverine doesn't remember his past, and anything could have happened to Sabretooth between movies that made him forget as well. Plus, the X-Men movies aren't exactly great at keeping the continuity in the overall narrative consistent.
Its possible I guess, but there is no real evidence. The idea of having them be brothers only came up in the first Wolverine movie.
There's no concrete evidence, but nothing to really contradict it either. Similar to "X-Men: First Class" making Mystique Xavier's adopted sister, it was a questionable decision but nothing in the previous movies flat-out contradicted it. Sabretooth's obsession with Wolverine in this movie and taking his dog tags at the least suggests a shared history between them.
14th Aug 2018
Saw IV (2007)
Question: Just wondering, usually a sequel takes part after the previous movie (eg Saw II is a sequel to Saw I) and a prequel is before the previous movie (ie Star Wars episode 1 compared to Star Wars episode IV) but to me Saw IV is set at the same time of Saw III, is this called a samequel?
Chosen answer: I believe the term for two storylines taking place simultaneously is "paraquel."
Answer: A mid-quel?! an "equal"?.
"Equal" gets my vote. :-).
Answer: The way I understand it, Saw IV takes place after Saw III, not at the same time, so it would be a sequel. Detective Kerry and John Kramer die in Saw III and are dead in Saw IV. Although, when sequels do show flashbacks, that doesn't mean it's set in the same time as the previous film. A film that takes place during the same timeframe as a previous film in the series is called a midquel. A film that is centered around the same event as a previous film, but shown from a different perspective can also be called a "twin film."
14th Aug 2018
Logan (2017)
Trivia: Spoiler: Logan dies at the end, covered in blood and holding his daughter Laura's hand. Director James Mangold has acknowledged that this is a callback to a scene from "The Wolverine" in which Yukio, who can foresee how a person will die, said she saw a vision of Logan covered in blood and holding his heart in his hand. Laura being a metaphor for Logan's heart in this instance.
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Suggested correction: While this is true, it's important to remember that later in the lab (the parasite removal scene) Yukio specifically says "I saw you die in a room like this with your heart in your hand."
A minor discrepancy in Yukio's vision doesn't invalidate what the director of both films himself considers to be an important point in the narrative.
I didn't say that it invalidated anything. In fact, I started my comment by agreeing that it was true. I was just pointing out that her vision wasn't exactly the same.
17th May 2018
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Question: Why couldn't Bruce become Hulk?
Answer: Although many fans speculated it was because the Hulk fears Thanos after Thanos easily defeated him at the beginning of the film, the Russo brothers have since come out and said that it's because the Hulk feels that Banner only wants the Hulk around for helping him in fights, so his refusal to transform is a protest of sorts.
Answer: Because he doesn't like being used as a tool and he also is summoned in two places he's already destroyed: New York and Africa. Those are two places he's shown regret for the damage he's caused, which caused him to leave in the first place.
Answer: Cause Hulk is afraid of Thanos.
This is directly contradicted by the directors of the film, who have stated it's because he doesn't like that Banner only wants to use him for his strength.
While I understand that this is what the directors said, what we have in the finished product would never lead one to this conclusion. We first see Hulk fight Thanos and get completely over-matched. From then on, we only get glimpses of Hulk inside Banner, refusing to come out, and seemingly scared to do so. If they wished to convey inner strife between Banner and Hulk or anything else, that did a very poor job doing so.
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Answer: It's what is known as the Black Breath.
Phaneron ★
That's caused by his breath and I don't think he breathes from his leg.
lionhead
It could be wrong, but the reference page I read specified that despite its name, the Black Breath is not actual breath, but an aura that the Nazgul project.
Phaneron ★
How was Merry even able to stab the witch king's leg anyway? It's been said that no man can kill the witch king.
Merry doesn't kill the witch king, but he hurts him. His power has grown, giving him more of a presence in the real world, a presence that can be hurt.
lionhead
Going back to the books for more explanation: First: it wasn't a protection. It was a prophecy/prediction by Glorfindel a millennium earlier. Second: the weapon Merry had in the books was a barrow-blade recovered by Tom Bombadil while saving the Hobbits from the barrow wights and had been enchanted directly against the Witch King. Since the scene (and Tom) were not in the film, they went with a more specific interpretation. The Witch King was not killed by a man, but by a Hobbit and a woman.
LorgSkyegon