Question: When Professor Snape confronts Draco for avoiding him, he is able to tell that Draco is using Occlumency to block his attempts to look into his mind. Therefore, wouldn't Voldemort know if Snape has ever used Occlumency to block him out, and be suspicious of him?
Captain Defenestrator
22nd Jun 2014
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
20th Jun 2014
The Big Bang Theory (2007)
The Herb Garden Germination - S4-E20
Question: In the beginning, Sheldon and Amy are attending a reading (or lecture) of Brian Greene. It seems Sheldon is truly mocking, although at the end he says he's kidding. Do theoretical physicists consider Greene to be a hack, or is he respected in the field of physics? Are Sheldon and Amy truly laughing at him?
Chosen answer: He's respected. Sheldon just thinks he knows more than anyone else and mocks anyone whose theories don't agree with his completely. Amy is probably just going along because it makes Sheldon happy.
18th Jun 2014
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Question: Did Professor Snape have an ulterior motive for participating in the Dueling Club, or was it just simple personal interest?
Answer: Snape is mostly sure that Lockhart is a fraud and is looking for any chance to expose him.
14th Jun 2014
Casino Royale (2006)
Question: Why is the defibrillator scene in Casino Royale cut from the TV versions?
Answer: For time. For American TV, a film needs to have a run-time in increments of 45 minutes (An hour with 4 commercial breaks.) Casino Royale runs 144 minutes, so 9 minutes have to be trimmed somewhere, and this scene IS a bit drawn-out. We know Bond's going to survive because the game isn't over.
8th Jun 2014
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
Question: This question is for the book as well as the movie scene. I don't understand why Severus agrees to make the Unbreakable Vow. Narcissa and Bella did visit his house behind Voldemort's back and discuss a matter that Voldemort told Narcissa not to speak about. So if he had declined, they wouldn't be able to complain. In fact, he could have gone to Voldemort and reported what they did.
Answer: Like any secret society, the Death Eaters have their own internal politics and power games. By agreeing to the Vow, Snape is "proving" his loyalty to the cause, while gaining something on Narcissa and Bellatrix. (He also knows he's safe because he already knows Dumbledore is dying and the two of them have already set up their ruse to make it look like Snape killed him).
5th Jun 2014
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
Question: Draco tells Harry and Ron, when they are disguised as Crabbe and Goyle, that his father wouldn't tell him who opened the Chamber of Secrets. Why wouldn't his father want him to know?
Answer: He knows Draco wouldn't be able to resist boasting about it and would mock Harry and Ron about it. His involvement might then find its way back to Dumbledore or someone in the Ministry who'd take it seriously, would discover that Voldemort is on the verge of coming back, and that the Death Eaters are gathering to him again before they're ready.
26th May 2014
The Hunt for Red October (1990)
Question: Why does the Red October take the difficult way through the canyons? Is it faster/shorter? If so, how can the Dallas be at the end of the canyons and wait for Red October? The Dallas might be faster, but would it not have to take a considerable detour in order to avoid detection by the Red October?
Answer: It's red route 1: Almost all Soviet subs were detected by the SOSUS net between Greenland, Iceland and Norway. To break that contact they'd run through the canyon, too dangerous for US subs to follow. The catch is that after years of watching, US subs learned the exit to that route, and would run to the end and wait, hoping to pickup the contact again.
Answer: Red October is taking the deeper route ostensibly to deter pursuit, but in reality, it's so that once the plan goes through and they "scuttle the ship" it will be in waters too deep to make a search for the wreckage (that won't be there) practical.
21st May 2014
A View to a Kill (1985)
Question: This is a two part question. When Zorin is flying over the mine in his zeppelin, he sees Mayday coming out of the mine with the bomb, and looks really shocked when it blows up, killing her in the process. But a few scenes before, he was quite happy to just leave her to drown in the flooding mine, so did he really love her and was just shocked that she had killed herself or was it shock because she removed the bomb from the mine and ruined his plan? I'm asking since Mayday tells Bond that Zorin told her he loved her (when they're both trying to escape from drowning in the flooding mine), so was Zorin lying to her or did he actually love her?
Chosen answer: Zorin is a psychopath. He may have meant it when he told May Day he loved her, or he may have just been telling her what she wanted to hear. Either way, when he thinks she'll drown in the mine as well, he doesn't consider it worth scrapping the plan just to save her. Once she escapes and has the bomb, he looks shocked partially because she wasn't killed but mostly because she's chosen to sacrifice herself to thwart his plans, something that a self-interested psychotic personality can't comprehend.
7th May 2014
The Walking Dead (2010)
Question: Why was the fence down in the flashbacks with Hershel at the prison?
Answer: The walkers could have knocked them down more than once. There may have been another wave that knocked down the fence earlier and they're going to put it up again soon.
6th May 2014
The Living Daylights (1987)
Question: When Pushkin wakes up after Bond pretends to kill him at the press conference, he apologises to his wife/girlfriend for putting her through the trauma. But since she was in the bathroom when Bond was there interrogating Pushkin (about Koskov etc.), wouldn't she have heard Bond and Pushkin discussing the staged assassination (after Pushkin says "Then I must die")?
Chosen answer: She could have been let go off screen once it was clear that Bond wasn't going to kill Pushkin, so they could formulate the plan in secret.
7th May 2014
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Question: Is it common public knowledge, in the wizarding world, that Professor Snape used to be a Death Eater? It seems that a lot of parents might complain about him being allowed to teach at Hogwarts.
Answer: It is, but many Death Eaters used the "I was being controlled" defense and ended up getting away with their crimes.
17th Apr 2014
South Park (1997)
Question: Why didn't Stan just tell Randy and Sharon that Grandpa was trying to coerce him into helping him end his life?
Chosen answer: They wouldn't have believed him. Or brushed it off, because Grandpa was probably trying to get them to kill him too.
22nd Mar 2014
General questions
I'm looking for the title of a not so old movie, that starts with a couple going to rob a road restaurant, sitting inside that restaurant and discussing to do it or not.
Chosen answer: That's how "Pulp Fiction" begins. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110912/?ref_=nv_sr_1.
2nd Mar 2014
Goldfinger (1964)
Question: I swear that I remember Bond, on his way to Baltimore made love to the co-pilot, and when M says "he's well on top", that was because he was on top of the co-pilot making out...am I hallucinating?
Answer: Pussy Galore was the pilot and he doesn't make out with her at that point. You may be thinking of Moonraker, where M asks Moneypenny if Bond is back from Africa, she replies "He's on the last leg of his journey," and it cuts to Bond romancing a woman in a plane.
2nd Mar 2014
The Dukes of Hazzard (1979)
Question: Why was Boss Hogg trying to get his hands on the Duke farm?
Answer: Various reasons, but mainly to drive the Dukes out of Hazzard County because the family have been foiling his schemes since his and Uncle Jesse's bootlegging days.
2nd Mar 2014
Doctor Who (2005)
Question: When The Doctor shows young Kazran his future, older Kazran touches his younger self. He did this without an explosion, however, in 'Doctor Who' it has been said that 'if you touch your younger self, it will create an explosion'. How did the older Kazran, in this episode, touch himself without an explosion?
Chosen answer: It creates a paradox, which isn't always an explosion, but can be. And it doesn't do it in this case for the same reason that the controls no longer operate for Kazran: The Doctor's intervention in his life has caused him to not be the same man he was before.
17th Feb 2014
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Question: How is it that Andy is able to frame the warden for money laundering without incriminating himself in the process?
Chosen answer: Andy created the books so that everything was in the name of the Randall Stevens alias he created. The real books pointed to Warden Norton AND Randall Stevens, but didn't have Andy's name on them. As far as the law knows, Norton's accomplice was a guy named Randall Stevens who skipped town with the money before ratting him out.
If the laundered funds case was thoroughly investigated on an immediate basis (within a couple of days after the Bugle's writer got the material), the alias of Randall Stevens would have come out almost immediately, and of course his description would match that of someone who just escaped from prison, and even Barney Fife could have put two and two together.
Valid. However, by the time that would happen, Andy would be over the border and the warden would still get taken down, so his bigger goals would still be accomplished. They'll update Andy Dufresne's wanted poster to read "Alias Randall Stevens," but that's the biggest consequence for Andy.
11th Jan 2014
Blackadder (1986)
Question: Who played the balladeer and why was Blackadder trying to kill him?
Answer: Tony Aitken played the Balladeer. Blackadder wants to kill him because he annoys him and usually sings songs about what a fool he is.
29th Dec 2013
General questions
What was the Christmas short film in the late 80s or early 90s about a lonely bachelor, a doll maker and a young woman? The man sees a lovely doll in a shop window and buys it. Via some 'magic' involving his doll (moving his car keys closer to him or leaving a note with an address on it), he drives to the address and the young woman who lives there looks like his doll. Coincidentally she has a male doll who looks like the man. The entire thing was arranged by the doll maker, and presumably they ended up happy ever after as a result.
Chosen answer: It was an episode of the TV show "Amazing Stories" entitled "The Doll," starring John Lithgow. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0511120/).
16th Dec 2013
General questions
I'm looking for a movie about a disease outbreak in a city and the husband goes to look for the wife but is not allowed in the city, so then he decided to take shelter in a house after a neighbor's gardener tells him it's safe. The wife eventually shows up and because she seems to be infected she goes outside and they talk, then the Feds show up. They get tested for the disease and it turns out he has it and she doesn't, so they kill him. I have searched Google and can not find it.
Chosen answer: Sounds quite similar to the film "Right At Your Door." (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0458367/).
Join the mailing list
Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.
Answer: Two possibilities: One: Voldemort didn't question Snape's loyalty and never bothered to look into his mind to see if he was using Occlumency. Two: Since Snape is operating as the Death Eaters' double-agent in the Order of the Phoenix, it would be practical for him to be using Occlumency at all times (which would have the hidden advantage of not being able to let Voldemort see that he is, in fact, a triple-agent loyal to Dumbledore).
Captain Defenestrator