Question: Why is The Wizard of Oz referenced so much in the show?
Captain Defenestrator
15th Jan 2019
Stargate SG-1 (1997)
29th Oct 2018
The Phantom of the Opera (2004)
Question: Why did Christine sing the first verse of the Phantom of the Opera on her way to her father's grave?
13th Dec 2012
Back to the Future Part III (1990)
Question: For Doc to be so worried about corrupting the timeline in this movie (especially when it comes to falling in love with Clara) he surely doesn't seem to think twice about destroying the locomotive that will no doubt have a huge effect on the timeline. I doubt there were many trains on that railroad, with that mode of transportation now gone, Hill Valley itself could be wiped out.
Answer: Doc must have reasoned that the loss of the locomotive would have a minor impact on Hill Valley, if at all. The railroad company would likely have replaced the destroyed locomotive. Obviously Doc was correct as there seems to have been no impact on Hill Valley's economy whatsoever and the train lines continue to run into the 1980's.
Answer: Corrupting time was a worry for Doc, however, he also recognized that it was at least partially unavoidable. Otherwise, Doc would never even be able to go buy food, because how would he know that the meal he ordered wasn't one that someone else was meant to choke on? Occupational hazard of time travel.
Chosen answer: In the timeline that the original Marty and Doc came from, Hill Valley exists so that town obviously survived that incident. An accident already occurred on that day in their history. They just didn't know it was them that caused it.
That is not how time travel works in these movies. In fact, the entire series revolves around the timeline being changed whenever they travel into the past. There are no stable time loops. The train was not destroyed in the original time line.
It's tough to say whether or not the train wasn't destroyed in the original timeline. Maybe by some lucky chance the train would suffer an accident similar to that anyways maybe just a bit earlier. There's really no indication either way. It's also possible they build another train or had others in service. I doubt they didn't have some backup plan in case the train was out of commission for a long period of time or destroyed.
17th Dec 2017
Stargate SG-1 (1997)
17th Dec 2017
MythBusters (2003)
James Bond Special: Part 1 - S6-E1
Question: The three magnets Adam brought are same diameter, three times as thick as the other ten magnets. Are they also stronger than the other ten magnets?
Answer: They were all rare earth magnets, but yes, the bigger ones were stronger. With that addition, strong enough to deflect steel bullets.
Answer: Without going back to rewatch the episode to be certain, I believe the second batch were Rare Earth magnets, so yes.
11th Jan 2018
Monk (2002)
Mr. Monk and the Garbage Strike - S5-E2
Question: Why would it have been political suicide if it was discovered that Mayor Nicholson was secretly meeting with Cusack to end the garbage strike? If anything, if the people found out that they were meeting to find a way to end the garbage strike, wouldn't that have made everybody happy considering how much garbage was piling up all over the city?
Answer: The two men are trying to work out a secret deal between them without involving the union, which means the workers' interests aren't being represented and defeats the whole purpose of a union. The mayor would lose labor's support and Cusack's union troubles would just be starting.
4th May 2018
Casino Royale (1967)
Question: At the beginning, M and agents representing the USA, Soviet Union and France try to convince James Bond to come out of retirement. Bond steadfastly refuses; whereupon, M lights his cigar as a signal for British troops in the distance to destroy Bond's estate with mortar fire (M is accidentally killed in the mortar attack). But what was the purpose of destroying Bond's estate? Wouldn't that action only drive Bond further away from rejoining the spy corps? Why would the British government go to such lengths to punish Bond? And then why did Bond return to the secret service, anyway, after such treachery?
Answer: Given that this is a comedy, the thinking was probably "Well, we'll just blow up your retirement so you've got no choice but to come out of it."
6th Jun 2018
The West Wing (1999)
NSF Thurmont - S6-E1
Question: How is it possible that the president contacted Farad to invite him to the summit at Camp David, if Farad was cut off from the outside world at his camp?
Answer: Even when leaders are "cut off from the outside world," there's typically some way to get hold of them. A secure line unknown to the general public, a couriered message, somebody just got in a car and drove there; there would still be ways.
6th Jun 2018
The West Wing (1999)
Question: When C.J. gives the press conference announcing that after lunch the committees would meet to discuss the proposed topics, why do all the members leave in totally different clothes than just before? If it's supposed to be the same day, why would they change their clothes? The president also quickly changed his clothes to meet with the Palestinian president and the Israeli PM. Does anyone know why the costume change in that scene is still the same day? Or could it be a scene error?
Answer: There are a couple of press conferences in this episode, so I'm not sure which you're referring to. The final press conference is at Camp David, which is in the woods, so some of the reporters may have changed from wearing suits at the White House to more fitting clothes for outdoors at the summit. It wouldn't also necessarily be the same group of reporters. Some of the faces would stay the same, but reporters get switched out as they go post their stories and others come to replace them, so they rotate.
6th Jun 2018
The West Wing (1999)
Question: The fifth season begins at the end of the first year of the second legislature, and the sixth begins at the end of the third year of the legislature. Has it really been two years in season five? Another thing that doesn't add up to this time jump is Doug's career in Congress. In episode 5x09 (end of the first year of term of the second legislature) Doug wants the support of the White House to run for Congress (following the chronology of the series, the next year would be the Congressional elections, and therefore that's where Doug is going to run because it's the most logical thing to do and it doesn't say anything to make us think otherwise) in the mid-term elections that are held the following year, but in season 6 and 7 we see Doug running for Congress along with the presidential elections. A script failure due to wanting to make a time jump from season five to season six? If someone would explain it to me, I would be very grateful.
Answer: Just because Doug wanted to run next year doesn't mean the election was the same year. It's not unheard of for a politician to spend months campaigning before an election.
10th Jun 2018
Animal House (1978)
Question: Near the end, when Dean Wormer and Mayor DePasto are in the grandstand, officially launching the parade, there is an elderly gentleman in the background (also in the grandstand, about 2 levels up, on the left side of the screen) who is making odd, excited gestures and comical facial expressions. His appearance and odd mannerisms are so striking that he draws my attention away from the dean and the mayor every time that I've seen this film, and that's a lot of times. Surely, director John Landis must have been aware of the gentleman and his antics in the background through multiple takes, so it would seem Landis intended the peculiar distraction. Who was that gentleman, and was there any significance to his appearing in the scene?
Answer: Sometimes these things get left in because it's simply the best take. (The child covering his ears before the gunshot in "North by Northwest," for example.) It could also be that John Landis cast the extra because he wanted someone with goofy expressions in the crowd. He simply could have told the extras "Ok, be excited that you're at a parade," and that's how this extra did it.
6th Aug 2018
Breaking Bad (2008)
Question: When Saul buys Jesse's house from his parents, he said that he showed their lawyer, Mr. Gardner, "all the pertinent financials", meaning $875,000 in cash available to buy the house. Jesse only had $450,000 and that money was not in any account. How did Saul show Mr. Gardner that he had $875,000 in cash?
Answer: Saul is a criminal himself. It's not past his capabilities to forge some documents to show the 857k is available.
Forged documents by Saul is most likely the correct answer.
Answer: In all likelihood, he sold some more meth.
24th Oct 2018
Casablanca (1942)
Question: Why does everyone stop and stare at the plane?
Answer: It's a bit complicated and subject to interpretation. They all look as soon as they hear the engines starting. For each one it signifies something different. Ilsa knows she must part with Rick, the man she loves, and stay with her husband, Victor, to support him and help with his work. For Rick, he knows he is losing Ilsa, by his own choice because he has chosen to stay behind to aid the war resistance and may not survive. Victor knows his wife Ilsa really loves Rick and he will be out of their lives, but she is staying with him out of duty.
Answer: Because the plane taking off meant that the people on board were on their way to Lisbon, and from there, America. Everyone is envious.
25th Jun 2018
The Avengers (2012)
Question: In the helicarrier, Loki tricks Thor into the plastic cell; Loki then ejects the pod. If Thor is pretty much a god, meaning immortal, how could the fall kill him?
Answer: So it should first be stated that in the film, Thor's strength and power are considerable reduced compared to the comics (along with others like the Hulk and Loki). Presumably so there can be some suspense. In the comics Thor survived a blast from a nuke designed to destroy an entire planet and he fought a guy on the Sun. In the movies, neither Thor or Loki should be considered immortal, or even invulnerable (Loki even tells Thor "The humans think us immortal"). Asgardians were shown to die in battle, giving the viewer the thought that Thor could also die. However, even in the film, it's unlikely that the fall would have killed him but that he would have been crushed by the concrete and steel of the cage crashing down on him when it landed. Of course, Thor didn't really want to find out if that would happen. And Loki basically implied he didn't really know what would happen to Thor after the fall.
Yep, in the movies the asgardians are simply a very powerful alien species, like Kryptonians. They are tough and hardly age but they are not immortal.
Answer: In the comics, Asgard is a different dimension. Asgardians are immortal on Earth, however, they CAN be killed on Asgard. Since the Cinematic continuity is different from the comics, this probably hasn't been put to the test yet, and one can see why Thor wouldn't want to be the first to do so.
26th May 2018
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
Question: When Kirk and McCoy try to rescue Chekov at Mercy Hospital, Kirk removes the 20th Century medical team into an adjacent room and uses his phaser to instantly fuse the metal door lock. The medical team cannot directly see Kirk do this, as they are visibly several feet away on the other side of the door. It's also safe to say that the medical team has never seen a phaser and can't comprehend its function or capabilities. As Kirk turns away from the door to rejoin McCoy, the trapped medical team only then rushes up to the door, and the trauma surgeon exclaims, "He melted the lock!" However, it seems that you'd have to laboriously dismantle the doorknob to determine that the lock's internal components were fused. So, how did a 20th Century surgeon deduce at a glance that Kirk had somehow melted the lock?
Answer: The lock, and the area around it, would have become hot as a result of melting the lock. The hospital staff would then jump to the conclusion that the lock was melted. The real reason they mention it, however, is so the audience knows what he did to the lock.
But you would think, if the doorknob was still searing hot two seconds after being fused, that the first thing out of the surgeon's mouth would be a scream of pain, rather than "He melted the lock!"
Answer: The doctors were watching through the window the entire time. There was a visible red laser beam from the phaser, culminating with a puff of smoke or vapor emanating from the knob. It wouldn't be a huge leap for anyone to surmise that the knob had likely been melted.
Try watching the scene. No doctors are looking through the window when Kirk phasers the door lock.
Answer: Or perhaps the part of lock on the doctors' side is visibility melted.
Answer: The knob would have been super-heated by the phaser blast. Enough that it could be felt without touching, and he simply could have come to the conclusion that a metal object that hot would likely have its internal components melted without a systematic analysis of the doorknob. He's also a surgeon and needs his hands. He wouldn't last long at the job if he was someone who went around putting his hand on glowing-hot doorknobs.
He could've also been guessing as it appears he tries opening the door. Why they don't break the glass is beyond me, but that's a character mistake, and not up for debate here.
23rd Apr 2018
Snatch (2000)
Question: Why does Boris not just chop Frankie's entire arm off the case instead of wrapping it in newspaper and taking the bloody stump with him?
Answer: It saves time, and it's a little twisted. Would you chase after a guy who you just saw cut off a dead guy's hand to get a briefcase, then just decided to take the hand with him?
16th May 2017
The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
Question: I had to watch Reloaded a few times to understand the plot. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the whole plot of Reloaded is that Zion is under threat and to find the key to that threat is to get the keymaker? My question is, what's the plot of Revolutions exactly?
Answer: The war between the Machines and Zion has been stepped up due to Neo's refusal to take the Architect's offer that all previous Ones have accepted. Neo and Trinity take Niobi's ship to 01, the Machine City, to try to negotiate peace. Because Agent Smith is taking over the Matrix, the machines are willing to deal if Neo can destroy him.
28th Apr 2017
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
6th Apr 2017
Phone Booth (2002)
Question: Are we to assume that it was the mysterious caller who double-crossed the pizza delivery man and slit his throat?
Chosen answer: Yes. He'd paid for the pizza, so the pizza man would either have seen his face or accepted his credit card. Either way, he's a loose end that has to go.
5th Apr 2017
The Godfather: Part III (1990)
Question: What is the plot of this movie exactly? Sorry, but once they discussed Immobliare, I was confused as to what the movie was about.
Answer: Michael is trying to divest the family of all ties to organized crime. Internazionale Immobiliare is an international real estate concern and owning it would legitimize the family. Michael is attempting to buy out the Vatican's 25% of the shares in it to gain controlling interest, but the other families either want in on the deal or want to steal it out from under him, forcing him back into his old criminal ways.
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Answer: Because they're frequently "Not in Kansas anymore."
Captain Defenestrator