Question: At the start of the movie, Igor tells the story of what happened to Malaria's weather. If that's so, how come the people hadn't noticed that the king's supposed beacon started producing storm clouds at the first place?
Erik M.
16th Dec 2016
Igor (2008)
1st Feb 2020
Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
Question: What character is MJ wearing on her shirt at the very end of the film, visible just before she and Spidey swing away from 41st Street and Grand Central Station in NYC?
Answer: Joan of Arc.
Thank you so much for that prompt and great response - it's appreciated!
6th Oct 2019
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Question: Why couldn't ET use his magic finger on himself when he was ill?
Answer: The ability is meant to be empathic - he can use his energy to heal other life-forms but must himself heal normally, given sufficient time and hope. Elliot's caring for E.T. helps facilitate his recovery.
Answer: He may have been too weak to do it himself.
25th Jul 2009
The Thing (1982)
Question: Someone proposes an initial blood serum test (before Macready's heat sensitivity test), but the crew find the blood sabotaged before they can get to it. How could "The Thing" have gotten to the blood so fast, and more importantly, Garry and the Doc are the only ones said to have access to the blood. BOTH are proved by the Mac's test to be "Thing-free" - the Doc's blood is tested even though he is dead; Garry is the last man tested. How can this be?
Answer: Keys were dropped by Windows during Benning's transformation. You hear them drop to the floor. They could have been retrieved by anyone.
Chosen answer: The Thing is a shape shifter. It doesn't just take the form of what it assimilates, it can change its shape (eg. dog and head spider). It could easily form a thin tentacle to open a door from the inside. It's also shown to have the sheer strength to bust out.
Answer: Gary and the Doc may have been overconfident in their being able to keep the key safe; someone or something may have taken it, done the deed while everyone was distracted, and placed it back with none being the wiser.
8th Aug 2005
The Thing (1982)
Question: Was the huge monster McReady encounters, and subsequently blows up, the actual "default" form of the Thing? After all, the correspondent DVD chapter is titled "The Real Thing". Yes, they do say that the Thing could've imitated millions of different lifeforms, but it must've had a form to begin with.
Answer: At the end, the large creature presented itself as an amalgam of beings it had absorbed-part Blair, part dog, and various other beings with tentacles, insect-like legs, and a worm-like body. I don't believe that we really ever see what its true form is, if it has one.
Answer: In the book, it was vaguely humanoid with blue rubbery skin, a head of writhing tentacles, and 3 glowing red eyes. There is a picture of it in Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials by Wayne Barlowe.
17th Jan 2020
Jaws (1975)
Question: Who was the girl said, "Sh-Shark! Shark in the estuary!" in Jaws? Does anyone know the character and/or actress' name?
Answer: The name of the actress is Carla Hogendyk.
Thanks, Super Grover! Now I know the character was known as Artist Hippie Girl thanks to you! Cheers and awesome job spotting her!
You're quite welcome. Happy to have helped! Rikki.
15th Nov 2005
The Exorcist (1973)
Question: What was in the attic if there weren't any rats making the noises?
Answer: It was the demon moving objects around. This is seen later as well when object in Regan's bedroom are manipulated.
Why doesn't the mother freak out when Regan is showing how to use the ouija board and the planchette moves into Regans hands by itself? It magically slides across the board into Regans hands by itself, and the mother isn't particularly startled by it? Doesn't make sense to me.
The movement of the planchette was so fast during Regan's insistence that it can be operated by one person that her mother thought Regan "must" have somehow done it.
Answer: She thought that there MUST be a thin filament or something that Regan was manipulating...why ELSE would the game act that way?!
29th Oct 2015
Crimson Peak (2015)
Question: What's the deal with the puppy, and did it die in the end?
Answer: It was killed by Lucille in one of the final scenes.
Answer: Just before the doctor was stabbed by Thomas Sharpe, his sister kills the dog she despises just off to the side and behind them-you can hear its final whimper.
17th Jul 2018
The Relic (1997)
Question: How big is the Kothoga? In some scenes, the Kothoga is about the size of a tiger but in other scenes, it's almost the size of a horse. During the Kothoga's attack during the Supernatural exhibit, it is seen chasing a SWAT officer and it's very huge but in another scene, when it crashes through a skylight and lands in front of some computers, it's not very large.
Answer: While the size is never explicitly stated, the creature does seem to be somewhat larger than a tiger and approaching the size of a horse when the scene needs it to be. Perhaps its size changes as it eats and needs sustenance?
28th Aug 2018
Deadpool 2 (2018)
Question: In the first timeline ending, Russell (Firefist) is not convinced or changed by Deadpool's pleading; in fact, he casts Deadpool aside. Cable then lunges for the semi-auto handgun and takes his last shot, which is intercepted by Deadpool in his left chest (a fatal wound). Seemingly, the only thing that really changed Russell's mind was Deadpool's actual death scene, as Deadpool rambled on with his farewells and gradually faded away. But, in the alternate ending, Cable goes back in time a few minutes and uses an arcade token to stop the bullet that killed Deadpool; thus, Deadpool doesn't die from the gunshot and Russell doesn't react to Deadpool's farewells (that never happened). So, what event changed Russell's mind the second time, if not Deadpool's actual death?
Answer: His change of heart came from Deadpool's sacrifice. In the second timeline, Cable saves Deadpool, but Deadpool had no way of knowing. Firefist still has a change of heart because Deadpool was willing to sacrifice himself, even though he was ultimately saved by someone else.
Now, I can accept that in theory, except that Russell repeatedly saw Deadpool putting his ass on the line to rescue Russell. I mean, Russell knew from the very beginning that Deadpool could have killed him (but chose not to) and took some severe ass-beatings on Russell's behalf. Russell was really, really hard-boiled, and I'm not seeing that Deadpool almost getting killed as enough impetus to change Russell's heart. It seems (to me, anyway) it was Deadpool's actual death that changed Russell, such that a mere deflected bullet would not have the same effect.
Deadpool saving Russell in the film is what made Russell think that they were friends. When Deadpool tells Russell that they aren't friends, he remains hostile toward Deadpool, not believing him when he later admits to caring for Russell. At this point Russell is too far gone and will kill. However, it's only when Deadpool takes a bullet for Russell, fully intending to die in both timelines, that Russell sees that Deadpool really does care about him, and would have died to save him.
Answer: In science fiction there are two different ideas regarding time travel. In one, the timeline is fixed, so a person who goes back in time does what already happened in their own past, like in The Time Traveler's Wife - however, this is where the grandfather paradox comes in. The other theory as express in the Back to the Future series is the past can be changed and in so doing change the future for the person who changed it. Deadpool 2 follows the second concept, so Firefist doesn't need any motivation to go back the second time and in fact doesn't go back a second time since the timeline is already corrected and that doesn't present a contradiction.
It presents the contradiction that Deadpool's actual death broke Firefist's cold heart the first time; but the second time Deadpool doesn't die, so Firefist should have no change of heart.
"Except that Russell repeatedly saw Deadpool putting his ass on the line to rescue Russell." Yes, but there's a huge difference between risking your life to save someone and directly sacrificing yourself. Doing something that could get you killed and doing something that will definitely get you killed are entirely different. You may not agree with the change of heart, but that's how it's presented.
Answer: The Firefist the second time around is the one from the first who jumped back in time retaining those memories, and therefore remembers the events from the first time, just like he remembers to place the token to stop the bullet and remembers that he used the device a second time. He doesn't need to experience the death twice to have the change of heart remain.
11th Jan 2019
Isle of Dogs (2018)
11th Jan 2019
Isle of Dogs (2018)
7th Sep 2017
Gravity (2013)
Question: Are Bullock's reactions to all the situations she encounters logical, considering she is a trained astronaut? For instance: she repeatedly noticed that she is running out of oxygen, but she still keeps talking, screaming and hyperventilating. The first thing you have to do is to get your breath under control, but she keep talking and screaming all the way... Would a person like Bullock get through all the NASA psychological tests?
Answer: Dr. Stone isn't an experienced astronaut. She is on her 1st mission, a mission that is continually disastrous and claims the lives of two people. Her panic, even considering her training, is more than justified.
"Her panic even considering her training is more than justified" I wouldn't be so sure about that. Jack Swegiert, and Fred Haise were not experienced astronauts either during the Apollo 13 accident, but they managed to remain calm, and not panic given the psychological tests they went through.
That's true but nobody died during Apollo 13, communication with Houston was not severed, the astronauts were not alone, etc. It's a different situation. Given the circumstances of her specific mission, primarily the fact two men died on the mission and she was left alone with no help, her panic does not seem to me to be unrealistic.
Answer: While she is a specialist who was cleared to be on the mission, she noted that she received only 6 months of prior minimal training and was mediocre-she noted crashing the simulations, getting sick during training, etc. not to mention having past trauma involving her daughter. Their allowing her to proceed was more about opening space to civilians and possibly for public relations purposes than about her being an astronaut.
7th Nov 2005
Flightplan (2005)
Question: Can someone please explain to me who those men were that Jodie Foster saw out of her daughter's window in the beginning of the movie if they were not the individuals on the flight?
Answer: It was the men seen early in the film who murdered Foster's husband. When her daughter disappeared on the plane, Foster suspected the Muslim passengers were the kidnappers, believing they looked similar to the men she saw when her husband died. However, they were never involved in the plot. Because Foster was under extreme duress and somewhat irrational, she jumped to a politically incorrect assumption based on their ethnicity.
4th Jan 2007
Flightplan (2005)
Question: I get how no one saw the child get on the plane. But how did no one see the kidnappers take her and put her under the plane, not even crew members?
Answer: Carson told Kyle that he put Julie inside a drink cart and used that to transport her to the lower area. Since one of the crew members was an accomplice, it's likely she helped move the cart.
How would they have put Julia inside a drink cart? Children Julia's age can weigh 40 to 60 pounds. That's more than drink carts are built to take. How would they have moved the cart without Julia's weight causing it to break?
"Suspension of disbelief" rears its head again-the audience isn't meant to analyze or be aware of the drink cart's limits, or how anyone could put a child into one while on a plane full of passengers. A limp body is not easily carried or maneuvered, but the viewer is just supposed to accept that they managed it for plot sake.
7th Sep 2017
Flightplan (2005)
Question: How did the hijackers know who Kyle was in the first place? Kyle doesn't appear to have known them prior to meeting them on the plane so how did they know Kyle was an engineer and that David was her husband and that Julia was her daughter prior to killing her husband?
Answer: Carson was not the sole person who engineered the plot. There were others involved, and Carson would have been given the necessary information about Kyle in order to carry out his part of the plan.
Who would have given Carson the necessary information about Kyle? The only people involved in the plot besides Carson were Stephanie and the morgue director. Kyle doesn't appear to have known either Carson or Stephanie, and the only time she met the morgue director was at the beginning of the movie. So, where would Stephanie and the morgue director have gotten the information about Kyle?
Is it possible the hijackers tricked a coworker of Kyle's into giving them the information about Kyle and her family?
I thought he got the information about Kyle by hacking into files containing information about avionics engineers and their families.
Answer: There may be many unidentified others involved in the larger conspiracy - some individual or individuals killed Kyle's husband, possibly the coroner and/or police involved in the investigation into his death, airport security (why no cameras were referenced), and someone with access to the passenger manifest. There may be an insider who knew about Kyle's role as an engineer and pulled up info regarding her family, all to further the plot of framing her and unbalancing her. It's a massive plot hole.
5th Dec 2017
Flightplan (2005)
7th Sep 2017
Flightplan (2005)
Question: Why did Kyle Pratt kill Carson, instead of sparing his life, running to either the cargo door or passenger door, showing the people her daughter, telling them he was the hijacker? He appears to have injured his leg after he fell down in the restroom, He was further away from both of the doors than Kyle, And she probably would gotten to one of them before him, because he wouldn't have been able to move fast enough to get to either of the doors before her. And then he would have gotten arrested, because then the people would have realised that he had deceived them. And his charismatic and manipulative skills would no longer have helped him.
Answer: Because even if she had managed to convince people he was the hijacker, and get him arrested, there would have been risks that he would escape from jail, and try to get revenge on her for ruining his plan.
Answer: There's something satisfying with seeing a villain undone by his own devices, so after Kyle finds out that Carson was behind everything and willing to kill her and her daughter, Kyle is eliminating his threat while getting revenge, thus providing an explosive end to him that might satisfy the moviegoers desire for his utter defeat.
24th Feb 2014
RoboCop (2014)
Question: How can Murphy still be alive if he doesn't have a heart?
Chosen answer: He most likely has an artificial heart or some type of system that circulates his blood, this system doesn't necessarily have to take the shape of a typical human heart. However if his biological heart is still functional, it may be behind the lungs.
Answer: Watch again the scene (s), especially close to the end when his armor is reverted to silver and just between his lungs; his heart is just behind his lungs and beating, though if you blink you might miss it.
18th Jun 2014
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
Question: Why were the British singing the Russian national anthem during the Christmas party scene?
Answer: As this story was set during the Cold War era, this was a deliberate mockery of the Soviet Union and its policies against holiday celebration and religious freedom. The entire story revolves around the prospect of a Russian Mole among the British Secret Service and Intelligence Community-at that moment, complete with a mocking Stalin Santa Claus, they were letting off steam against their reviled rivals.
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Answer: The King's Beacon keeps everyone feeling gloomy and depressed...so not only is it oppressive, but once started-theoretically, anyway-it will STAY that way until someone shuts it down. Igor's friends do just that while he saves Eva, the kindly "monster."
Erik M.