Question: Does Uncle Ben exist in this universe? I ask cause he's not mentioned by name but I thought I recognized him being referenced.
BaconIsMyBFF
7th Feb 2019
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Answer: The trailer for Spider-Man: Far From Home shows Peter using an old suitcase with the initials "BFP", most likely standing for Benjamin Franklin Parker. While not directly referenced in this film, the sequel may well clarify the situation.
7th Feb 2019
End of Days (1999)
Question: Why exactly did the Devil keep Jericho alive? Why didn't he just have his followers kill him while they were tying him up?
Answer: It is never explained and is considered by many to be a major flaw in the film. Presumably Satan wanted to torture Jericho, he definitely seemed to enjoy tormenting him throughout the film.
Answer: Satan specifically says he wants him to see what's going to happen. He even elaborates later on in the film that he still hoped Jericho would join him. God loves man. Satan loves corrupting men to show God the folly in creating us. He wanted Jericho to see him unleash Hell.
Answer: It's not explained why he didn't kill him then. Any answer is speculative, but the obvious one is that Jericho is the main protagonist in the story and the plot needs to be allowed to play out in a contrived way to provide a satisfying conclusion. Abruptly killing off the character would end the story.
26th Apr 2016
Aliens vs Predator: Requiem (2007)
Question: Was the Predator in this film dishonorable at some stage in its life? Its pincer (not sure the actual name) things on its face, one is half gone and he has scars. Is this because he's experienced (hence why he's there) or does he do it because he needs to earn honor back for something (again, hence why he's sent on a suicide mission)?
Chosen answer: Although not proven, the injuries and the wide array of trophies and equipment may imply a long life of hunting. Further as it is receiving official distress signals from what may have been the home world, it is possible it plays the role of 'clean up crew' to mitigate exposure of Predator activity and lost equipment to prey species.
According to the directors, the injuries were a direct homage to Broken Tusk, the primary Predator character in the original Alien vs. Predator comic book.
6th Feb 2019
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Question: Aunt May subtly reveals, or at least implies, she knows Peter is Spider-Man when she's moving. Does she know in the comics? Because I remember in the comics she does not seem to like Spider-Man at all?
Answer: In the main Marvel continuity Aunt May does eventually find out that Peter is Spider-Man. Her memory is wiped of this knowledge later on.
Answer: In Amazing Spider-Man Vol 2. Number 35 Aunt May permanently finds out about Peter's secret identity and knows from then on.
That gets changed later on. Not sure which issue but it's after Civil War, she has her mind wiped after Peter gives her radioactive blood to save her life. I'm not entirely sure if that too is eventually changed but from what I remember Aunt May hasn't known his identity since Civil War.
Yeah it does switch around a lot. Dr. Strange made it so nobody will find out unless he wants them to. I suppose Aunt May doesn't know anymore then.
Keeping up with comic book continuity is an absolute nightmare.
I couldn't agree more. I've always wished for some kind of easy, interactive overview of what I was reading. I've actually given up on comics because of the hellish chronology. Well, except Judge Dredd which is pretty straight forward.
6th Feb 2019
Inception (2010)
Question: Just because Cobb knows how Mal's totem works, how does this mean her totem no longer works for her? Is it because Mal doesn't trust Cobb not to manipulate the spinning of her totem when they're in the same dream together? Or is it because somebody could manipulate somebody else's totem in a dream by accident just because they know how it works?
Answer: Cobb placed a thought in her head that her world isn't real. He intended for this thought to be applied to the limbo world they created, but instead it was applied to the real world. She simply cannot get the idea out of her head that she is still dreaming when in reality, she is awake. Nothing Cobb can say or do can convince her she is wrong, because the one safeguard they have (totems) has been broken because Cobb knows how it works. She simply thinks Cobb is the one with the problem, can't or refuses to wake up, and thinks Cobb is manipulating her totem to make her think she is awake when she is not. We never actually find out if she was wrong or right either :).
Answer: In order for a totem to work a person has to be 100% sure it wasn't manipulated by anyone else. If someone else knew what made the totem special you could never be completely sure someone else wasn't manipulating it. The spinning top itself is a bad choice for a totem anyway, since anyone who sees it being used should instantly tell what makes it special. Think about it like this: if you had to keep valuable information locked away in a safe and had to be sure that nobody could ever sneak into the safe, even someone you know and love, you would want a secure combination for that safe that nobody else could guess. If your combination was your birthday, how could you ever be 100% sure that nobody would ever guess the combination? Could you ever be 100% certain that nobody has looked in the safe?
25th Jan 2019
Inception (2010)
Question: Why didn't Mal use the totem to prove to herself she was back in reality instead of killing herself? Or why didn't Cobb spin the Totem in front of her to prove they were back in reality?
Answer: When Cobb used inception on Mal, the idea that her world isn't real and she needed to kill herself took over her mind. Mal made an error in telling Cobb how her totem worked before they ever went into limbo. Cobb was able to use her totem specifically to implant the idea in her head. Since he knows how her totem works, it can't work as a totem anymore. Spinning the top in front of her and having it fall over would not prove that she wasn't dreaming anymore. Ironically, Cobb makes the exact same mistake as he continues to use the totem even after he tells Ariadne how it works. As an important note, the spinning top itself is a poor choice for a totem, since the thing that makes it special (it never stops spinning in the dream world) can be easily observed by anyone else. The entire point is to have you, and only you, know what makes the totem special. Arthur's loaded die is a better choice because only he notices how the weight is uneven in his hand. Ariadne's totem is not described but it seems to have similar properties to Arthur's in that she has altered its balance in a specific way.
21st Jan 2019
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
Question: Ana gets in the bus to get Michael. He shows a chainsaw to her. Ana tells him that might be the most romantic thing anyone's ever shown her, then Michael says, "I'm trying here." Sorry for a silly question, but what does he mean by that? Try what? (01:20:45)
Answer: He's returning her sarcastic comment about being romantic with a sarcastic apology. "I'm trying here", as in he's trying to be romantic and he's sorry it's not coming out the way he intended. He doesn't actually mean it, the two are simply trying to break the tension with humor. Their rapport is somewhat flirtatious throughout the film, they have an attraction that might have developed more naturally were the world not ending in a zombie apocalypse.
I actually took it that Michael was saying he's just trying to do his best in general.
16th Jan 2019
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Question: Arnold said that when the T-1000 took the form of someone he would likely terminate the person being copied. Why didn't the T-1000 kill Sarah? He had been in physical contact and could mimic her voice. There was no reason to get her to call John at the end, he could have killed her immediately.
Answer: In addition, another deleted scene shows that the T-1000 was damaged by being frozen and thawed and was having difficulty maintaining form. He wanted to be sure he wouldn't mess it up.
What's especially odd about the scene is that both examples we gave to help answer this question were actually deleted from the original release. When I first saw this movie in the theater when it was released I had the exact same question, it wasn't until I saw the Special Edition with the deleted scenes reinserted that it made sense.
Answer: It comes down to the difficulty in impersonating someone John actually knows. The T-1000 had failed impersonating someone close to John when he got the name of the dog incorrect. A deleted scene (re-incorporated into the film in the Director's Cut) shows him checking the dog's tag afterwards, so he is aware exactly how he was outsmarted. Keeping Sarah alive is a way to avoid this sort of mistake. She is more useful to him at this point alive. He is not expecting her to endure his torture and he certainly isn't expecting her to be able to fight him afterwards.
15th Jan 2019
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
Question: This always kind of bugged me. Why would David think that Kirk murdered everyone left behind on Regula One? Even though they did not have a father/son relationship, surely the heroic exploits of James T. Kirk are well known? At one point, David even refers to him as an "overgrown Boy Scout." I've seen this movie a hundred times, but could there be something I'm missing?
Answer: Because David is working under the assumption that Kirk ordered Reliant to take Genesis by force. Khan had Chekov send a message that Kirk was ordering Regula 1 to turn over the Genesis project. When Carol Marcus attempted to contact Kirk to confirm the order, he had the communications at Regula 1 jammed so the message couldn't go through. This lead David to believe that Kirk was attempting to steal Genesis. The fact that the group that stayed behind never made it to the cave suggested that they were killed. Since David has no reason to believe otherwise, he assumes Kirk is responsible. He has no idea who Khan is and that he is a mortal enemy of his father. Khan's goal was simply to acquire Genesis and bring his enemy to him, having David distrust Kirk was not part of his plan. It just happened that way.
27th Dec 2018
The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D (2005)
Question: Does Sharkboy seem to have a problem with Max? I dunno if that's just a vibe I got from him or not.
Answer: According to Taylor Lautner, the actor who played Sharkboy, he approached the role as if Sharkboy was jealous of Max because Sharkboy has a crush on Lavagirl and she pays Max lots of attention.
9th Jan 2019
Stand By Me (1986)
9th Jan 2019
The Terminator (1984)
Question: If the Terminator had succeeded in killing Sarah and effectively wiping out John Conner, then that would mean the machines would win and even kill off mankind. So after Skynet's mission was complete and all humans are dead, what would the machines do now that with no more humans left to kill?
Answer: It's really impossible to answer definitively, considering the film-makers have never addressed this. The films never specify any purpose Skynet has outside of wanting to wipe out humanity. Skynet simply wants to "live", to exist as a sentient consciousness but views all of humanity as a threat to its existence. Since artificial intelligence is thus far only a fictional concept, we can't even really speculate based on information outside of the Terminator series. We can perhaps imagine a scenario wherein Skynet is successful and lives in peace as the only intelligence on Earth. The machines themselves do not have individuality and only exist for the purposes of killing humans so there doesn't seem to be a logical reason why they would exists if Skynet wins. However, there doesn't seem to be any reasonable way Skynet could ever be sure they have killed every single human on the planet so I can also imagine a scenario where the machines endlessly patrol the planet, making sure humanity never rises again. Also, and this is food for thought, the time travel scenario present in these films is a grandfather paradox. Skynet leads to it's own creation by sending back a Terminator to kill Sarah Connor. Similarly John Connor is conceived because a Terminator was sent back in time, which is the paradox. Skynet winning would create another paradox wherein Skynet could not exist because John Connor was never born so they had no enemy to fight, etc. This sort of stuff can make your head explode.
Just to be clear, the first movie doesn't say that Skynet created itself by sending a terminator back, that's the second movie. Also John Connor never being born doesn't remove their enemy, humanity is their enemy, it would stop the resistance and prevent the humans from winning, presumably. It does create a paradox though, like all time travel movies do.
The first movie deleted specific scenes which referenced the defeated Terminator being used to create Skynet. This of course was fully formed in the sequel. Technically since they are deleted scenes they may not belong in a discussion about the first movie but I was speaking generally with regards to the series as a whole. It's really only relevant to my point about the paradox which doesn't really have anything to do with the original question. Also, John Connor is specifically Skynet's enemy. Without him humanity would have been easily defeated. Technically, yes they want to wipe out all humanity but without John Connor they would have succeeded and there would be no need to send a terminator back in time, which of course is the entire point of the series. Both the humans and Skynet believe this to be true.
John Connor is the key to the paradox, true. Since John was created by Skynet's own attempt to stop him it's impossible for them to win the war. All movies tell us (except the horrible, terrible last one called Genisys) that skynet can not win the war by time travel. I had a whole essay written down but I decided not to post it, since talking about paradoxes is a paradox and they are highly interactive. Catch my drift?
Thinking about paradoxes in movies like these can drive you insane.
Yeah, but it's so much fun.
Agreed. I actually really love the paradox in the first Terminator. The idea that John gave Kyle a picture of his mother and Kyle fell in love with her because of that picture, and he always wondered what she was thinking about when the picture was taken, and it turns out she was thinking about how much she loved Kyle. Brilliant.
Yeah, you know now I think about it, the first movie doesn't have a grandfather paradox at all, it's the exact opposite. They actually created a loop, the time travel made the resistance exist and skynet always will try to use time travel to destroy the resistance. The paradox, is the sequel, where they make us believe the time travel also made skynet, which is impossible and an actual grandfather paradox because skynet invented time travel (since in the second movie the time travelling terminator from the first movie became the "grandfather" of skynet basically). Maybe we should move this to the Forum though.
9th Jan 2019
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Question: Considering how powerful and dangerous the Ark is, why would Indy hand it over to the United States government, instead of putting it back where it was found and to ensure it's never located, lie to them and say him or the Nazis never found it?
Answer: Indy and Marcus Brody believed that the Ark needed to be studied. They certainly didn't want to put it back where it was found. They believed that the U.S. government would find the best archaeologists, researchers, and scientists in the world to study the Ark. They are both upset that instead, the government has decided to simply lock the Ark away. This is why Indy says, "Fools. They don't know what they've got there," as he is leaving the building.
Answer: To add to the previous answer, there is no way that the ark could have been secretly returned to where it was found and then conveniently forgotten. Too many people already knew of its existence and location. It would only be a matter of time before someone more sinister would retrieve it.
25th Oct 2018
The Equalizer 2 (2018)
Question: What happened to Dave York's wife and daughters after his death? Do they ever find out about his evil motives?
Answer: It is never mentioned, but it stands to reason that eventually they did find out. York's crimes most certainly would have been made public, he is solely responsible for several murders including the murder of a police officer at the beach. There would be very little reason for the government to cover up his crimes since he was acting as a rogue agent.
27th Dec 2018
The Karate Kid (1984)
Question: Why are Ali's friends with Johnny, Dutch, and Tommy at Golf and stuff? Surely they'd stay away from them out of respect for Ali?
Answer: Ali and Daniel are really the only ones that seem to have a problem with Johnny and his friends. Other than that, Johnny is well liked and popular. Even Ali's parents are fond of Johnny. Also, to be fair Johnny does seem to be genuine when he invites Ali to come along with the group and even invites Daniel along as well, though he does make a rude comment about Daniel while doing so. The Cobras have stopped harassing Daniel and only Daniel and Ali know the real reason why. Johnny and his group are still friendly with Ali's friends so they see no reason not to hang out with him. Ali's friends also unfairly dislike Daniel from the beginning because he lives in Reseda, so they are not the best judges of character to begin with.
Answer: They are in the same friend group and Johnny and Ali's break up doesn't really affect any of them. In the Cobra Kai series, Johnny said that they got into a fight before his senior year and figured things would blow over. So it sounds like them fighting was a regular thing and their friends were probably used to it.
27th Dec 2018
The Bourne Identity (2002)
Question: What is the connection between Wombosi and Kane, i.e. how does Wombosi know/recognise Kane's corpse and make the connection to Bourne? Are we assuming that they had prior contact before Bourne tries to kill him on the boat?
Answer: Bourne (as Kane) actually did meet with Wombosi prior to the night on the yacht. Conklin mentions this when he comes face to face with Bourne in Nicky's office in Paris.
Answer: If they had no prior contact, how would Wombosi have known the name Kane and to go check the morgue?
Answer: In fact on the yacht Wombosi had fired 3 bullets at Bourne. He checks that the corpse has no impacts. That is how he understands that the corpse is not the one of the killer of the boat.
Answer: Wombosi is aware that the CIA is responsible for the attempt on his life. He is also aware that the CIA attempted to kill him because of his threats to go public with information about their activities in Africa. Conklin is unaware, however that Wombosi got a good look at Bourne's face. When Wombosi sees the body in the morgue is obviously not the man he saw on the boat, he correctly suspects the CIA is trying to fool him and will likely make another attempt on his life. Wombosi and Bourne had no prior contact before that night on the boat.
28th Dec 2018
Alien (1979)
Question: After Ripley has set the ship to self destruct, she grabs Jones and hurries towards the shuttle. She then runs into the alien in the corridor, drops Jones and runs away and then tries to stop the self destruct system. Now she'd set the ship to self destruct, needed to get the hell out of there, the alien was in her way, why didn't she just blast it with her flamethrower? Ripley is not like Lambert, she's feisty and brave and I think Ripley would have done just that.
Answer: Ripley is, for the majority of this film, not "feisty and brave." She is written to be an intelligent, capable, but otherwise average person. She is for all intents and purposes an "everyman" character. She does not become the tenacious, bold heroine that defines her in popular culture until her last battle with the alien, and these character traits are solidified in the sequel. For most of the film, she is very much terrified of the alien and the prospect of fighting it head on is the furthest from her mind. At that moment in the corridor, her fight or flight response kicks in and she flees. All of this serves to make her fight against the alien in the shuttle more poignant, as she is forced to literally face her fears and defend herself. Note that while she is trying to get the alien to come out of its hiding place on the shuttle, she is soaked in nervous sweat and is singing a song to calm herself down. Would the Ripley of later films have blasted the alien to kingdom come? Of course. The Ripley in this film has yet to become the no-nonsense, composed heroine we remember at that point.
28th Dec 2018
Alien (1979)
Question: Why did the last three remaining crew members split up? Surely it would have made better sense to stay together as up until that time the alien had only attacked people when they were alone.
Answer: They felt like they didn't have enough time. Parker and Lambert stayed together to get coolant while Ripley was to prepare the shuttle and set the auto-destruct. They wanted to escape as soon as possible. Staying together would have, in their minds, lengthened the time they were on the ship with the alien.
Answer: Fair point but I don't think that the Alien would have attacked three people because when it moved in to kill Lambert it didn't know that Parker was behind it.
You're basing that on what you know about the alien from watching the films. The characters at this point have no real idea how the alien would behave. For all they know, it could start reproducing asexually and there could be six more of them on the ship.
Don't understand what you mean, sorry.
You are saying that you believe the alien wouldn't attack three people together. That's because you've probably seen the films and have a pretty good understanding of the creature's biology and behavior. The characters in the film have no idea how it behaves or how it will behave the longer it stays alive. The biology of the alien is so different from anything they've seen and they want to get away from it as soon as they possibly can.
28th Dec 2018
Commando (1985)
Question: The villain's whole plan was to force John Matrix to kill some foreign president by holding his daughter hostage. So why at the beginning were they killing members of his unit? That seemed rather pointless to me.
Answer: They didn't know where Matrix lived. They were killing Matrix's old unit because they knew if they did General Kirby would make physical contact with Matrix to warn him. They simply followed Kirby to Matrix's home.
27th Dec 2018
Whiplash (2014)
Question: A few questions: 1) Why did Fletcher recruit Neiman if he knew he ousted him? 2) Did Fletcher purposefully set up Neiman to fail by switching up the song list? If so, wouldn't that look bad on Fletcher? 3) Why did Neiman go crazy and start/keep playing out of sync with everyone else?
Answer: Fletcher recruited Neiman with the intention of ruining his career. He informed Neiman they would be playing songs he was familiar with, but secretly had other songs planned. Fletcher knew there would be influential people in the audience, whose opinion of Neiman would be made or destroyed based on his performance. Neiman attempted to play along with the unfamiliar songs, but couldn't. He decided to prove his talent by playing Caravan. This impressed Fletcher who was angry at first but came to respect Neiman and help him out.
Answer: 1) Fletcher recruited Neiman to attempt to humiliate him publicly. 2) Yes, he purposefully set Neiman up. He reveals to him before the performance that he is aware Neiman testified against him. He doesn't care whether or not the performance will make him look bad, he is out for revenge. 3) Neiman turns the tables on Fletcher by playing "Caravan" instead of the song the rest of the band is playing. "Caravan" is the song Neiman failed to play properly after his car accident. Fletcher, finally showing a modicum of true respect for Neiman, then smiles at him acknowledging his talent and his tenacity.
Answer: Fletcher set up Neiman, but not to fail. Fletcher often spoke of how greatness can only come when one is pushed to their limits (e.g. the Miles Davis story, where David performed an incredible solo months after being booed off stage). By setting up Neiman, Fletcher was testing his limits. In a very similar fashion to the Miles Davis story, Neiman took an incredible un-announced drum solo to make up for his failure and push through the final barrier keeping him from greatness. Fletcher knew that setting Neiman up would make him look bad, but he also knew that if there was a new Miles Davis story to come out of this, it would all be worth it.
Answer: According to the writer of the film, yes Uncle Ben existed in this universe. When Peter mentions that Aunt May has "been through a lot lately" that was supposed to be a subtle hint at Ben Parker's recent death.
BaconIsMyBFF