Question: Why does Satan go through the trouble of hiring protective detail at the beginning of the film? Bullets have no effect on him, and even if he was hit, he could just make the claim that the shooter missed. And it's not like he's overly worried about people discovering his true identity, since he blackmails and corrupts people throughout the movie.
Bishop73
29th Oct 2018
End of Days (1999)
29th Oct 2018
Criminal Minds (2005)
Question: I never saw the whole episode, only near the end of it twice. The episode was about a boy about 10 or 11 who took a girl his age Into the Woods so he could kill her using a baseball bat. What was the name of this episode and what was the reason for him wanting to kill her?
Answer: "The Boogeyman", s02e06. Spoiler alert: The kid is Jeffrey Charles and at that point he had already killed 3 other kids. Jefferey basically hated and resented other kids after his mother abandoned him and his father spent a lot of time with other children because of her job. Jeffery would lure kids Into the Woods and then beat them to death with his bat just because of hate, no particular "reason." The scene you're describing, Jefferey agrees to walk Tracy home when her "buddy" leaves her (at this point the FBI announced there's a serial killer on the loose and kids should walk with a buddy). Jeffrey gets mad at Tracy for walking too slow and for complaining, and he takes a swing at her, causing her to flee Into the Woods and have Jeffery chase her.
29th Oct 2018
Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)
Question: When the crowd are giving Robin Hood the "chop", what's the tune they're chanting?
Answer: The tune is FSU's "Massacre War Chant." There's a history of how it all came about (which the Atlanta Braves adopted), but that's the music that usually accompanies the "Tomahawk Chop." It's also known as just "War Chant", but I think "War Chant" is a slightly altered version.
Answer: They're imitating a Native American chant in the style of the Atlanta Braves, from whom they also take the chop.
26th Oct 2018
Jurassic World (2015)
Question: Between this and Fallen Kingdom, why did the filmmakers suddenly decide to have Blue be a caring character? The Raptors have always been known as blood-thirsty carnivores that'll tear you apart-even when they're not hungry, and yet Blue is almost the opposite. Why her of all Raptors/dinosaurs and why was that decision made? And movie-wise, why were the scientists suddenly keen on doing that for her as well? What's there to gain from it?
Answer: Blue and the other raptors in Jurassic World were trained to respond to human commands, particularly to Owen. The reason the raptors "turn" on Owen is because the I-Rex has raptor DNA in it and became the alpha of the raptors. But then the raptors turn their loyalty back to Owen at the end of the Jurassic World. In Fallen Kingdom, the scientists try to use the fact that Blue follows command to breed a new dinosaur capable of being used as a weapon (by using Blue's DNA/blood).
Answer: Owen raised Blue since birth, and she imprinted on him as her "mother." Blue retained her bond to him though she instinctively responded to the Indominus rex as the new alpha. In Fallen Kingdom, there were videos showing the young Blue's strong attachment and obedience to Owen. That does not mean Blue was tame and wouldn't hurt humans and Owen always maintained the raptors were not safe. Of course, this is a move, and the raptors are written to behave in a way that serves the plot, regardless of logic.
26th Oct 2018
Arrival (2016)
Question: Why is it that the aliens, who obviously possess technology and intellect far beyond humans, didn't think to use their pictographs to communicate right out the gate? We had to wait for Amy Adams and her dry erase board?
Answer: The Heptapods' "present" encompassed about 6000 years of our human past, present and future. So, they perceived 3000 years of our past and 3000 years of our future simultaneously. It's a confounding idea to humans, but the Heptapods already knew, 3000 years in advance, that Louise was the critical contact for the evolution of communication between our species. For the Heptapods, there was no coincidence or impatience or blind luck; they already knew exactly when and how to start communicating with her.
Answer: The aliens don't see time in a linear fashion but all of time at once, meaning they can see the future, which is why their writing is like it is. They therefore knew Louise (played by Adams) would be the one to figure out their language and had to wait for her, or simply chose to wait for her.
8th Aug 2004
Stargate SG-1 (1997)
Question: In some episodes you'll see a shot of the outside of Cheyenne Mountain Complex and there will be a truck to the right. Why does it say 'SGT MACK'? Or, who is this guy?
Answer: It's not unusual in the military to paint the name of the NCO assigned to and responsible for that particular vehicle on that vehicle. Sgt Mack is no-one in the series I've ever seen.
Answer: I saw it one time, but there was no character with the name Mack for that episode. But MacGyver's nickname in the show was Mack. Richard Dean Anderson (who plays Jack O'Neill) starred as MacGyver. In addition, several other SG-1 cast members appeared in the show MacGyver.
24th Oct 2018
Forrest Gump (1994)
24th Oct 2018
Behind Enemy Lines (2001)
Question: The SAM missiles continuously chases the fighter jet for a few minutes. In reality, don't SAM missiles only contain enough fuel to fly for about 5 to 10 seconds?
Answer: Surface-to-air missiles come in 3 ranges (long range, medium, and short). Long range missile have a range of 100-150 km (there are some very long ranged missiles that can go up to 400 km). Short range missiles go about 3 km. SAM's are faster than Air-to-Air missiles and can travel around Mach 3 and up to Mach 8, with some that can go faster (so about 1 - 2.7 km/s) I don't know what kind of SAM was used, but long range SAM's are fired from a fixed or semi-movable position and medium ranged SAM's can be fired from vehicle mounted systems.
A behind enemy lines goof from IMDb, says that no missile is capable of chasing the F/A-18 as it is portrayed in the movie. A missiles rocket motor only holds enough fuel for one pass at a target. I don't know if you agree with it or not.
I would disagree with the statement that it wouldn't have enough fuel. However, even after a missile runs out of fuel it can still glide to its target at supersonic speeds for a time. I do think the portrayal of the chase scene is overly dramatic in Hollywood fashion though, particularly for the first SAM fired.
According to the trivia of the film the missile used was a 9m37m missile.
In that case the scene is completely Hollywood and unrealistic. The 9m37m is a short range missile, even though it's vehicle mounted, and has a max range of 5 km and doesn't even reach Mach 2. When the 2nd missile is fired we hear one of the pilots say "3 miles and closing", meaning the SAM shouldn't have been able to catch up to them or chase them down. The film makers probably wanted something cool looking without considering (or caring) what they had or may not have access to a midrange SAM system and pretended it was one.
But don't long range missiles lack the ability to turn fast enough to follow and chase a jet due to the weight of the amount of fuel they carry?
21st Jan 2018
Stargate SG-1 (1997)
Question: Why couldn't Calder and his people do the shoveling themselves? Were they lazy?
Answer: Technically Calder's people were doing the digging themselves. The planet basically had a caste system and the working class citizens had to do the digging as slaves while the upper class citizen got to live on the surface. All the workers underground were citizens of the planet except for SG-1. However, Calder was also trying to preserve this caste system because he wanted to stay in power and the upper class enjoyed their lifestyle. I don't see it so much as being lazy but more like, why do something yourself when you can get someone else to do it.
Then what would you call being lazy?
Laying around, not doing anything when you could be, or are suppose to be, doing something. In this episode, the upper class people still had jobs, they just didn't do the dangerous, dirty, and labor intensive jobs.
18th Oct 2017
Stargate SG-1 (1997)
New Ground - S3-E19
Question: Why does the guy who was interrogating SG 1 think they know how the dead man they found was killed? Why does he think they're lying? Why doesn't SG 1 tell their interrogator that they weren't there when the man was killed?
Answer: He knows that SG-1 didn't kill the man because they were in custody when he died. He suspected that there was a fourth member (Teal'c) and was trying to get them to admit it.
Answer: The planet had two groups of people that were basically at war with each other. The guy interrogating SG-1 was part of the Bedrosian military and thought SG-1 was working with, or part of, the Optricans (their enemy). He simply doesn't trust his enemy and thinks they're responsible, and he certainly isn't going to listen to reason. Plus, he's trying to preserve his religious beliefs and doesn't want to think his people came through the Stargate.
11th Oct 2018
Matlock (1986)
11th Oct 2018
Criminal Minds (2005)
Question: What episode was J J beaten and lost her baby?
18th Sep 2013
Moulin Rouge (2001)
Question: Was Moulin Rouge the only musical to purely use pre-existing songs, or have there been others?
Answer: Come What May was an original film composition, albeit for Romeo + Juliet, but it ended up not being used until Moulin Rouge! So, depending on how you want to look at that technicality, there could be an argument made that Moulin Rouge! did not use only "pre-existing songs." However, there have been other such musicals; Mamma Mia! being an example. Interesting to note that they both have exclamation marks as part of their titles.
Answer: Knights Tale being another.
Answer: Musicals that use pre-existing songs, or unreleased songs (i.e. songs written before the musical was written), are often called "jukebox musicals" and there's a long list of them going back to the 40's. Jukebox musicals also included musicals centering around an artist or band's album (sometimes these are referred to as "rock operas" and included "Tommy" by The Who and "The Wall" by Pink Floyd.
Answer: Also Rock of Ages is another example.
Answer: A musical that used preexisting songs is called a jukebox musical.
30th Sep 2018
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)
Question: Who is Maisey a clone of? I know her 'mother' died in a car crash but when she asked if her mother visited the park a long time ago, Lockwood answered with "a long time ago" and the camera pans out to a model of the original park.
Answer: Masie is a clone of Benjamin Lockwood's daughter. Benjamin's daughter did die in a car accident and when that happened, he wanted to clone her. But John Hammond was against the idea of cloning humans (which is why the partnership broke up). Once John Hammond died, Benjamin went ahead and cloned his daughter. Only, because of the amount of time that passed and his age, Benjamin tells people Masie is his granddaughter and the cover story is Masie's mother died in a car accident, which is why he's raising her. However, I do not know if Benjamin's actual daughter was also named Masie or if that's a new name. I got the impression that Benjamin's actual daughter died at a young age, and since he wanted to clone her right away, he kept the fact that his young daughter died a secret. So as far as most people knew, Benjamin's daughter grew up and had a child and then Benjamin tells people his (adult) daughter died in a car accident.
I think what they mean is if she was a character from the original movies somehow.
His daughter was not an earlier character in the other films. Lockwood is just reflecting on his late daughter, who he loved and misses. Like John Hammond's grandchildren, Lockwood's daughter likely visited the park at some point. His glancing at the original Jurassic Park model seems to be a reference to the cloning procedure that produced Maisie.
In the original movies, no, she's not a character (at least what I can recall). Benjamin Lockwood doesn't even appear in any of the original Jurassic Park trilogy films (I'm not familiar with the books enough to know if any Lockwoods appear in those stories though). In "Fallen Kingdom" it's implied Lockwood's daughter visited the island where Jurassic Park was built, meaning she would have done so prior to the events of the first "Jurassic Park" film.
29th Sep 2018
Freedom Fighters: The Ray (2017)
Question: If Overgirl is Supergirl from Earth X, and Supergirl gets her powers the same way that Superman does, from sunlight, then how is The Ray, whose powers are based on using yellow light, able to hurt her with his powers? Wouldn't his blasts help her?
Answer: My understanding is the Ray uses pure light for his powers while Superman and Supergirl get their power from the solar energy of a yellow sun, not yellow light.
I see. But if it was from pure light, wouldn't his powers have a white glow and not a yellow glow?
Most likely just a styling choice. I just know the basics details of his powers and not sure why it comes out yellow (or if it's even stated.) Perhaps for the the same reason the sun appears yellow, short wavelength light becomes scattered.
29th Sep 2018
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
Question: In the US, can you really be taken to a police station for (presumably) making a phony phone call? To me it seems like a waste of resources since it is probably a common occurrence. Also Jeannie would have stuck to her story that it was true...as break-ins do happen all the time.
Answer: In the United States, phoning in a false report to police can be treated as either a misdemeanor or felony offense (depending on jurisdiction). A false report is considered obstructing law enforcement, which is pretty serious. A misdemeanor offense can result in jail time of a year or less, while a felony offense can result in more than a year's jail time and heavy fines. The important factor that makes it a crime is knowingly trying to mislead the police, not accidentally reporting false information. In "Ferris Beuller's Day Off," Jean was not trying to mislead the police; but, lacking evidence, the police assumed she was knowingly phoning in a false report, so they arrested her (probably on a misdemeanor).
Answer: Illinois law makes making a false report on 911 a form of disorderly conduct.
Answer: I think the main thing was Jeanie wasn't in school and was probably taken in for truancy as well as the supposedly phony call. But it's unlikely that they would have taken her to the police station if she was picked up at home.
23rd Sep 2018
Cast Away (2000)
Question: What is that green thing that Chuck tries to break open by throwing it against a rock wall, and then by hitting it with a rock? Is it really that difficult to break open?
Answer: They were coconuts. Coconuts come in a green shell which is their husk and they are hard to open up, especially when they get older. Most people use a machete or pick ax to get the husk off.
Is the shell as difficult to break open as shown in the movie?
The film does seem to accurately depict how hard it would be for someone who has never opened one before to get into a green coconut. I've never tried throwing one against a rock wall before though.
I was asking if the shell is as difficult to break open by hitting it with a rock as shown in the movie.
For someone who has never tried opening a green coconut, yes it would be.
The inner shell itself is not that difficult to open. Using a pointed rock, you can break through the round-shaped holes at the end to pour out of the liquid. By hitting the coconut's seam running lengthwise down the shell hard against a rock, it will completely split the shell in two around the circumference.
I'm talking about opening the outer shell, not the inner shell.
Answer: It sure is. You have to be gentle when you break it so all the water doesn't just go everywhere, like it would if you pounded it with say, a large rock.
25th Sep 2018
General questions
I just remembered a movie I saw a few years ago. I want to say it came out in the mid 00's but it might have been later or even earlier. I think it was about some kids living in an underground civilization in a city that was built to help them survive long enough for the nuclear waste lands that were now the Earth's surface to become inhabitable again. But for some reason they had stayed underground for thousands of years longer than they were supposed to and the city was starting to malfunction and becoming a danger. I seem to also remember giant mutant moles causing them problems also. And in the end of the film they get to the surface and are surprised to find that it's covered in green plant life and perfectly suitable for life now. What movie was this?
Chosen answer: "City of Ember", a 2008 film based on the 2003 book. Considered a box office flop.
23rd Sep 2018
King of the Hill (1997)
Question: Can someone explain to me what a red shirt means? I know in one episode when someone broke Bill's high school touchdown record that Hank mentioned that Bill was red shirted because Bill went into the army before he graduated thus compelled Bill to go back to high school and try and break the record again.
Answer: The main point of being red-shirted is that a student athlete only has 4-years of eligibility to play. By red-shirting as a freshman, a student is allowed to practice, to get better, bigger, etc and then still be able to play for 4 years (seasons).
21st Sep 2018
Peep Show (2003)
Question: At beginning of Peep Show, Mark and Jez approach one another. They look into a TV in shop. They are the wrong way around in the TV image. Is this a continuity error or a subtle joke I've missed?
Answer: There's no mistake or joke. The camera simply doesn't create a mirror image (otherwise the writing on the truck would be reversed). When we see Mark, he has a newspaper under his right arm (the viewer's left) and then Jeremy is to his left (the opposite side of the newspaper). In the TV, the newspaper is still under Mark's right arm (the viewer's left). If they were looking in a mirror or reflection, then Mark would be on the other side.
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Chosen answer: Satan had to protect the host's body from harm by the Catholic priests who might try to stop him with holy "weapons." At the end, when Jericho impales himself on Michael's sword, Satan is cast out of Jericho's body because of the holy power of the sword.
Bishop73