Grumpy Scot

Question: Why didn't Jack and Wang run to Jack's truck instead of the basement in the alley after the gang fight?

Answer: Because the battle between the Chang Sing and Wing Kong was between them and the truck.

Grumpy Scot

18th May 2016

The Martian (2015)

Question: How is Mark communicating with the crew members through his headset when he is in the MAV? Why didn't they do that to begin with, instead of doing the alphabet thing with earth?

Answer: The same storm that marooned Watney destroyed the Hab's communications dish. The Hab couldn't directly communicate with Earth. The MAV had a communications system built in that was fully functional. How could he do that to begin with when the MAV at Ares 4 was 3200km from the Hab at Ares 3?

Grumpy Scot

Question: During the lightsaber duel on Mustafar, why does Anakin even bother to try to make the jump that he afterwards regretted? Couldn't he had just simply used the force to push the lava towards Obi-Wan, killing him, and then make the jump to safety?

Answer: Maybe, but he is overconfident and impulsive. He has also let rage blind him. Anakin is probably the better fighter of the two, but Obi-Wan kept his cool and analyzed as he fought while Anakin fought angrily and ultimately foolishly which left an opening for Obi-Wan to maim him. It's said in almost every episode of Star Wars not to let fear and anger cloud your judgement. Here are the results.

Grumpy Scot

9th Mar 2016

General questions

Looking for a "time travel" movie in which the two main characters, a man and woman, communicate across time. He lives in "Aniston", while she lives in "Anne's Town." She can see the future through his eyes, but not vice versa. She is shocked/awed by seeing an airplane. Most likely a TV Movie and from the late 70s to early 80s. Thanks.

Answer: The Twilight Zone. The episode was called "A message from Charity".

Grumpy Scot

27th Feb 2016

The Martian (2015)

Question: Watney digs up the plutonium and places it in the rover. Why is the rover so cold later after the HAB blows up?

Answer: He used the RTG to warm the rover on his trip to get Pathfinder. Once he returned he buried it again, since it posed a radiation hazard.

Grumpy Scot

I rechecked the book. He did NOT rebury it. In fact, he tore out extra insulation inside the rover so the interior would not get too warm during his upcoming trip to the other landing site. The RTG was, in fact, an integral part of his equipment for the journey. However, by tearing out an appropriate amount of insulation, he pointed out that the heat from the RTG would leak out some during regular operation. But sitting unoccupied for a while, enough heat might have leaked out to make it chilly.

Smokyoak

Answer: Is that mentioned in the book? Don't remember it being mentioned, but I can recheck.

Smokyoak

27th Feb 2016

The Martian (2015)

Question: In the movie, the stripped down capsule that Mark is in tumbles uncontrollably through space. Admittedly it was a non-standard launch, but since this was the standard return vehicle, how was it intended to rendezvous/dock with the mothership? Wouldn't there be maneuvering thrusters?

Answer: He removed the thrusters to save weight for the launch.

Grumpy Scot

17th Feb 2016

The Martian (2015)

Question: When the HAB blows and he loses his crop of potatoes, how do the other potatoes already harvested survive? They are just sitting in trays in the HAB and surely should have been destroyed by the vacuum.

Answer: Given the thin atmosphere and cold, the potatoes would have been nearly instantly frozen and partially dehydrated. They would still be edible and nutritious.

Grumpy Scot

Indeed-in the book, he mentions storing the extra potatoes in bags outside, so they would freeze and not rot. This especially came into play when he was making the journey to the other landing site.

Smokyoak

14th Dec 2015

Carrie (1976)

Question: Carrie is seen crying after she realizes that Tommy is dead. I can only assume that she actually cared about him but she still believes he was good and didn't take part in the prank, right? And at the end does she actually care about Sue and forgive her?

Answer: Since blood was dumped on him too she must have realized that he wasn't a part of it, so yes, she cared for him. In the book when Carrie touches Sue, they link minds and Carrie sees that Sue felt bad about teasing her and was trying to do something nice to atone, and had nothing to do with Chris' nasty prank. So yes it's safe to say she grieved for Tommy and forgave Sue.

Grumpy Scot

Answer: In this version, Carrie never weeps for Tommy's death, and it's never indicated whether or not she was even aware that he died. And she never directly encounters Sue in this version, so we don't know her thoughts about her either. The film was likely trying to leave some things open-ended, so that audiences could interpret them as they wanted.

26th Nov 2015

General questions

Saw this movie about 15yrs ago. It's about a woman whose husband and two daughters were killed at a stoplight. She is looking for the killer and the cop that's helping her end up falling in love with her. I don't believe they ever find out who killed her family. May have been a Lifetime movie.

Breemommy30

Chosen answer: This sounds a lot like the plot of White Noise 2: the Light. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0496436/. Fillion's wife and son were rescued from dying at a railroad crossing/stoplight and then killed later. Fillion then saves Katee Sachoff while trying to find out what happened and they begin to fall in love.

Grumpy Scot

3rd Nov 2015

General questions

This is about a TV commercial and I can't figure out who the actor is. I feel like he's a comedian I've seen before, so he may not be in any films. It's a Brookside chocolates commercial. He's by a field, dressed in a blue shirt, next to a table with the chocolates. He's holding a phone reading online comments. Then someone brings a 100-pound bag and breaks the table.

Bishop73

Chosen answer: His name is Jon Dore. He has several stand up specials on TV.

Grumpy Scot

24th Oct 2015

General questions

I remember playing a PC game in the early 90s - 2D cartoony thing with a detective character who wore a top hat with spindly legs and floppy yellow hair, photographing things in a school. Can't remember the name - ring a bell for anyone?

Jon Sandys

Chosen answer: Midnight Rescue! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midnight_Rescue.

Grumpy Scot

Question: How exactly was Semos able to organize a rebellion against the humans, since he was just an ordinary ape who was trained for whatever assignment he would be needed for?

Answer: The dialogue recorded by one of the survivors of the Oberon tells that the apes, particularly Semos are much smarter than they had ever realized. He was not ordinary, he was the offspring of two chimps that had been genetically modified for increased intelligence. Semos had intelligence near or equal to humans.

Grumpy Scot

15th Oct 2015

Pacific Rim (2013)

Question: Is it ever established why the Kaiju attack cities? Why they perceive a challenge, a threat, a resource worth taking there specifically? If they are a decent biochemical match to Earth life, and are hungry, why don't they attack schools of fish, or fishing/whaling vessels, if nothing else, they should attack the cannery row? If they are after a non-living resource, like minerals, why don't they root through the seabed or attack mines?

dizzyd

Chosen answer: Because they are scouts for an invasion of Earth from another dimension. They are testing our response to their arrival and military capabilities and the best way to attract military attention is to attack population centers.

Grumpy Scot

28th Jul 2015

Man of Steel (2013)

Question: How could Superman kill Zod by breaking his neck? He's from Krypton like Superman so he should also be invulnerable.

Answer: Kryptonians aren't invulnerable. It just takes a lot to hurt one after he has been charged by our yellow sun. There are several beings who are strong enough to break a Kryptonian's bones. Doomsday, Darkseid, etc. Since both are roughly equal in strength on Earth, its no different than one human breaking another's neck.

Grumpy Scot

Question: Why does the president ask Ben to look for the page 47 of the book for him if he, as president, has access to the entire book?

Answer: He asks him to investigate what's on page 47, not to just read the page.

Grumpy Scot

28th Jul 2015

Moonraker (1979)

Question: At the end, Bond and Dr Goodhead see Jaws and Dolly on what's left of the space station. Bond asks Jaws to help them because they are stuck and can't set off, and Jaws obliges, but why did Bond not ask Jaws and Dolly to join them on the shuttle too? Jaws helped Bond escape, so they are basically on the same side, so why did he not try to save Jaws and his girlfriend?

Heather Benton

Chosen answer: Jaws knows there's no time. If Bond doesn't destroy the nerve gas satellites, millions will die.

Grumpy Scot

26th Jul 2015

General questions

Looking for a 90's movie about a evil clown, not the movie IT. I just remember it was the scariest thing I had ever seen on television when I was a kid, and It also had to do with the clown appearing in different places to scare people.

mbforever

Chosen answer: Might be Killer Klowns from Outer Space. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095444/combined.

Grumpy Scot

25th Mar 2015

General questions

There was a comedy film I saw sometime in the 90's. The movie was about a guy who gets a traffic ticket and loses his license. He is ordered by a judge to go to traffic school to get his license back. He meets other people that are also taking traffic class and they end up getting into crazy adventures. The end of the film has all of them graduating but as the lead guy drives down the road a few minutes later, he sees his friends getting traffic tickets.

Answer: Moving Violations (1985).

Grumpy Scot

16th Mar 2015

La Confidential (1997)

Question: Why did Exley appear so traumatised after killing the man in the elevator? He is, after all, a police officer in homicide, and he killed people before that. Also, did he kill him intentionally?

MikeH

Chosen answer: A 12g shotgun blast at that range would cause an incredibly bloody death, especially as there is a good chance it hit the man in the face. Exley has killed a person in the line of duty before this, but not in such a spectacular way. And while he may not have meant to kill him he chose to shoot over letting the man escape.

Grumpy Scot

21st Jan 2015

Airwolf (1984)

Chosen answer: Archangel and the Firm provided fuel and armaments. Dom and Hawke would have had to transport them to the lair to refuel and rearm.

Grumpy Scot

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