Don't remember if this was a movie or TV show I saw, but I remember the husband is some kind of liberal lawyer scared of the fall of society. He has a hidden gun safe in his home office and his wife finds out about it, and forces him to choose between his family and his guns.
Greg Dwyer
19th Mar 2015
General questions
18th Mar 2015
Wreck-It Ralph (2012)
Question: At the end of the film, King Candy as a bug is seen being hypnotised by the "beacon" and he flies into the light... Does he die? You'd think that he would since he's not originally from Sugar Rush, but he recoded the game so that he existed as his alter ego, King Candy. Would he respawn or is it as Sonic says at the start, game over for Turbo?
Answer: He does die, because that's how the Cy-Bugs end their games - they all die. Turbo is a Cy-bug after being eaten. And it's not his game, so he would not respawn.
11th Mar 2015
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
Question: At the end of the Chamber of Secrets, Harry gives Lucius Malfoy the diary, showing him that he knows it was him. In the Half Blood Prince we see Dumbledore at his desk mulling over Tom Riddle's destroyed diary - is this an error, or have I missed something? Was it not given back to Malfoy at the end of Chamber of Secrets?
Chosen answer: After Harry hands it to Lucius, Lucius hands it to Dobby to carry. After Dobby is freed by the hidden sock and protects Harry from Lucius, Lucius leaves it behind.
25th Feb 2015
Wreck-It Ralph (2012)
Question: Since Ralph made the bonus level for all the characters who got their games shut down and if the characters die outside of their game they are dead forever, wouldn't the characters who got their game shut down be dead forever if they died in the bonus level?
Answer: Possibly. But it's also possible that in putting them in the bonus level, it became their game too.
25th Feb 2015
American Reunion (2012)
Question: Can someone please explain the photos in the yearbook? It seems like it was the gang in 1999, but they never posed for those photos in the first American Pie.
Chosen answer: They have been friends for a long time. They had plenty of time to take pictures. We only see them on screen for a few hours of their lives spread over a short while.
21st Feb 2015
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Question: How come Hadley was arrested for Tommy's murder but nobody cares about Fat Ass's murder? There were hundreds of witnesses.
Chosen answer: 1) This is almost twenty years down the road. Many of those witnesses are either gone from the prison, dead, or may have forgotten any details. 2) Hadley beat Fatass because he wouldn't stop talking, breaking the rules. Tommy was just standing there talking to the warden. It's cold blooded murder vs. Simple brutality. 3) Prisoners are often reluctant to testify against guards because of fear of retribution from other guards.
21st Feb 2015
M*A*S*H (1972)
Question: Why do the helicopters fly backwards? Is that just a filming mistake or did they do it for a reason?
Chosen answer: The helicopters aren't flying backwards, they are simply not moving through the camera view as fast as the camera is moving.
2nd Feb 2015
Full House (1987)
Question: The cast of full house use both staircases - downstairs one in the living room and one in the kitchen, but there is only one staircase upstairs, and it does not matter which staircase they use, because they always end up in the same place. How is that possible?
Answer: You only see one staircase upstairs because the living room stairs end at the hallway above the living room. The ones you see upstairs by the bedrooms are the ones from the kitchen.
2nd Feb 2015
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
Question: Throughout all the movies, there are a few times when people are shown using magic without a wand, so what is the point of taking away someone's wand (Hagrid) or casting the "Expelliarmus" spell?
Answer: Only the most skilled wizards (as well as some basic instinctive magic) can do magic without a wand. A wand is also necessary for a number of different spells. Notice how even Voldemort always uses both a wand and the incantation when casting the Killing Curse.
2nd Feb 2015
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
Question: Does "pattycake" also mean something sexual? We were obviously at first supposed to think Jessica and Acme had sex, but if they were, why would she say "pattycake" and why does Maroon say "You're not the first guy whose wife went pattycake on him"? Am I missing out on something?
Chosen answer: According to the director, Pattycake is the toon equivalent to sex.
2nd Feb 2015
While You Were Sleeping (1995)
Question: I've seen this movie a million times and I still can't figure out the whole "Peter having one testicle because another guy had a pencil in his back pocket because he was a lawyer while they were playing basketball" thing. I got that they were playing basketball but still, can someone please explain to me how Peter lost a testicle while playing a game? Thank you.
Answer: Peter was being boxed out by the other guy, so the other guy was putting his back against Peter's front. With a pencil sticking out of his back pocket, you can imagine how some damage might be done.
25th Jan 2015
Face/Off (1997)
25th Jan 2015
Saw (2004)
Question: When loading the bullet into the gun, why didn't they realise that the chambers of the revolver were empty of any spent cartridges? They could have easily concluded that the "corpse" wasn't dead and the film would have ended quite differently.
Chosen answer: First, odds are neither of them had much experience with guns. They wouldn't necessarily think about it. Second, who's to say that the person who put them there wouldn't have removed it anyway.
Answer: The other answer is solid. I will also add that neither one of them were in any state to deduce that the gun was empty. Dr Gordon is on the brink of insanity, and Adam is fearing for his life.
21st Jan 2015
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
Question: I just read the third book, and in it, Lupin said that the Dementors take a wizard's powers away while he/she is in Azkaban. Did Bellatrix and her fellow escapees have them restored by Voldemort or something?
Answer: It's more that being around them is a power drain. Once they leave the vicinity of the dementors, their powers begin coming back.
16th Jan 2015
The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
Question: I understand how Neo has powers and can use these powers with his mind within the Matrix, but how does he have the power to stop the sentinels with his mind in the real world after they leave the ship? They are under attack and Neo just waves an out-stretched hand and they fall to the ground. How is this possible when not in the Matrix?
Chosen answer: The Oracle tells Neo that his powers extend beyond the Matrix and into the real world. By returning to the Matrix and the real world instead of returning to the Source, Neo is now connected to both, through a sort of organic wireless signal.
23rd Dec 2014
General questions
In a movie I saw years ago, there was a dumb man who inherited the wealth of a recently deceased relative (possibly uncle) so he moves into the city to live in his mansion. Then he meets this girl who is a reporter and he likes her. He pretends to be someone he's not; using someone else's name. The girl looks up that name (or something) and somehow finds out where his hometown is and really wants him to take her there, so he does, and pretends that he belongs there. He even pretends that he grew up in some house, but it backfires because the the current residents (children answer the door) say that their daddy built the house a few years ago. Anyways, his lies get him into trouble and that's all I remember.
Chosen answer: Sounds vaguely like "Mr Deeds" starring Adam Sandler.
8th Dec 2014
Frozen (2013)
Question: Since the gloves do a good job at hiding Elsa's powers, why would she need to stay away from Anna?
Chosen answer: They don't restrict her powers, as made obvious by the snow and ice in her room when she's locked in it. They just hide the obvious effects on her hands to try and keep her from thinking about it.
Answer: "Conceal, don't feel, don't let it show." As her father said.
5th Dec 2014
Sister Act (1992)
Question: Why did Eddie think it was unusual for Tate to request that the money vouchers be left with him?
Answer: It's not necessarily that it was unusual, it's that he knew that they could be used to find Delores. He didn't want anyone seeing them.
Answer: Souther knew there was a leak within the branch working for Vince LaRocca, and even says as much to Deloris when she rings him to bail her out earlier in the movie. When Eddie Souther finds out that Det. Tate specifically requested that the receipts be left with him, and knowing that Tate would be sharp enough to figure out key information on Deloris' whereabouts, the penny dropped that Tate was crooked. In a backstory context, other potential witnesses had come undone by Tate's leaking as well. Souther no doubt realised as he was barging down the corridor that Tate had accessed other documents on the sly which led to the whereabouts of other protected witnesses.
3rd Dec 2014
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
28th Nov 2014
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Question: How did Jack save Sally and Santa Claus in Oogie Boogie's lair by transporting them from the lava pit to the Iron Maiden? Wouldn't they be killed by the Iron Maiden?
Answer: Except they're a reanimated corpse and a skeleton. They are either already dead (or undead), or, given how things seem to work, the normal natural laws don't apply to Halloweentown.
But how did Santa survive the Iron Maiden? Especially with how big he is, he certainly would have been killed.
You're trying to apply the rules of the real world to fictional magical beings.
Answer: He was hiding behind Sally.
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Chosen answer: It was an episode of House, MD from season 8 called "Perils of Paranoia".
Greg Dwyer