Tailkinker

Question: We're told that Davey Jones, himself, cut out his own heart, unable to withstand "that which vexes a man's soul, a woman." Will Turner's father, Bootstrap, savagely removing the heart after he is already dead doesn't make any sense. It is repeatedly said that the Dutchman must have a captain, but what about the moments just prior to? And why did the crew come back to life? It is only told that Bootstrap would be free and that Will would sacrifice eternity as Captain. And how did he "honeymoon"? It hasn't been 10 years. He hasn't ferried any souls yet. Right on? Unnecessary. I agree with audience. Confusing. Please explain.

Toofastfourluv

Chosen answer: Will stabs Davy Jones' heart (with assistance), which, as far as can be determined, gives him the captaincy of the Dutchman at that moment. Exactly why Bootstrap has to cut out his heart isn't clear - presumably something about the ritual Jones used years before makes it a necessary part of the role of captain. The crew don't come back to life, because they're technically not dead - their lives are tied to the Dutchman. Their aquatic appearance is because of Jones defying his orders - with a new captain at the helm, one who will do the job properly, they revert back to their human appearance. As for Will getting his "honeymoon", couple of possible reasons. Technically the job hasn't started yet - could be that, as Will's still in the real world, he can get his day on shore before he goes off to ferry souls. Probably more likely is that Calypso wanted him to have his "honeymoon" - he did, after all, take on the captaincy under less than ideal circumstances. While Jones chose to take on the position, Will had no real choice in the matter. Calypso's something of a romantic, so it would be entirely in character for her to allow Will and Elizabeth to consummate their marriage before he has to leave for ten years.

Tailkinker

Answer: Will also mentions, whilst on the island with Elizabeth, that it's almost sunset. This suggests that his role as captain didn't begin until sunset that day. So he was able to honeymoon that day only.

12th Feb 2010

Up (2009)

Question: Pixar usually shows Pixar characters in the next Pixar film into the films (like the Nemo in Monster's Inc, The Mr. Incredible doll in Nemo). Is there anything from Toy Story 3 in Up?

Answer: Yep, there is. As Carl's house initially flies away, there's a shot from inside a child's bedroom where they watch the house flying away. In that shot, next to the bed on the very far left of the screen, there's a small pink-ish teddy bear, who's a major new character in the upcoming Toy Story 3.

Tailkinker

11th Feb 2010

Cars (2006)

Chosen answer: Nope, nothing official was ever said. There are very few truly original film storylines these days; a close examination of most films would allow one to swiftly note plot similarities to any one of a number of preceding movies. Both Cars and Doc Hollywood fit neatly in a very standard storyline of an outsider coming into an unfamiliar cultural group, which they learn to appreciate and benefit from, while their presence likewise benefits the group they encounter. While the two are unusually similar, no comment on the subject was ever made.

Tailkinker

4th Feb 2010

The Lion King (1994)

Question: A few character and song names are based on the Swahili language. Does Timon or Pumba mean anything in Swahili?

Answer: Pumbaa means "to be foolish, weak-minded or negligent". Timon has no apparent meaning in Swahili, but is historically a Greek name, meaning "respectful", a slightly ironic choice given his usual sarcastic attitude.

Tailkinker

4th Feb 2010

Hook (1991)

Question: 1) I remember reading online once that some person in a band (not any of the ones mentioned in the trivia for this movie) lost a bet and appeared as one of Hook's pirates in this movie. Is this true and if yes who was it? 2) I also once read online that it is a tradition for Peter Pan movies to have the same actor to play Hook and somebody else in the movie. I don't remember Dustin Hoffman as anybody else in this movie. Was he somebody else in the movie?

Answer: (1) David Crosby and Jimmy Buffett both appear as part of Hook's crew - whether either of them is there as a result of losing a bet is unknown. (2) Traditionally, in stage productions of Peter Pan, the actor who plays Hook will also take on the minor role of Mr Darling, Wendy's father. As, in the story presented in the film, Wendy is now elderly, her father is likely long dead, and thus no opportunity exists to maintain the tradition. However, you can hear Dustin Hoffman as the voice of the pilot on the plane ride to London, giving a nod to the tradition.

Tailkinker

Answer: Actress Glenn Close is a pirate too. The first pirate that Hook goes to on deck and puts in the Boo Box. Https://youtu.be/TCx-M8dcDhk.

Answer: It's Phil Collins - he's the police officer.

3rd Feb 2010

Avatar (2009)

Question: When they get the injured Grace to the Tree of Souls, she's naked, just covered in vines. How did they get those plants to cover her and hold onto her like that? And why use plants, and not common human underwear? And come to think of it, why does she need to be naked in the first place? Sure, the roots need to access her body, but wouldn't it do to just access her head?

Mithcoriel

Chosen answer: It's a semi-religious ritual being performed by a deeply spiritual alien race. As a result, the answer to any question along the lines of "Why does it have to be like this?" can only be "Because it just does".

Tailkinker

Question: If Sasha really is blind and she is Alex Trusk but she IS a computer hacker.What good is a computer hacker that blind wouldn't she not be able to see the screen or anything of the sort?

link8265

Chosen answer: Blind people use computers all the time. There are Braille monitors that interpret the visual images on the screen into Braille. They can also use speech synthesisers to convert the images into audible information.

Tailkinker

1st Feb 2010

Avatar (2009)

Question: Why are humans unable to breathe the air on Pandora? A lack of oxygen seems plausible, but then the fires which erupt during the Hometree bombing wouldn't be sustained.

Answer: Couple of possible reasons. (1) There is oxygen, hence the fires, but it's got something toxic mixed in with it. (2) It's not oxygen, but another gas capable of allowing combustion to occur. Either way, humans couldn't breathe it.

Tailkinker

Question: When Ron, Hermione and Harry are in the Three Broomsticks, and Ron mentions to Hermione about how she has a bit of foam from her butterbeer above her lip, why does she seem so upset and embarrassed?

gcfreak5945

Chosen answer: Because she doesn't want to look silly in front of Ron, who she's in love with. Teenage romance, it's a minefield...

Tailkinker

Answer: Because at the start of the film, she gets all flustered when she has a bit of toothpaste on her mouth, and Ron leans over to wipe it from her face. She obviously thinks about this moment a lot because when she smells the love potion during Slughorn's class, she mentions spearmint toothpaste. In the Three Broomsticks she's upset because she has foam on her mouth and instead of maybe wiping it away like he had done at the Burrow, he just gestures to her that she has something on her mouth.

Answer: Hermione is a perfectionist and dislikes having anyone, particularly Ron, pointing out that she erred, slipped up, or did something embarrassing.

raywest

2nd Feb 2010

Forrest Gump (1994)

Question: Was anything actually wrong with Forrest mentally? Is is possible that he was "normal" but had just been sheltered, hadn't socialized with any kids at a normal age, etc.? In addition to the IQ test from the school, Forrest's mother apparently hid things from him or lied. She did not tell him what "vacation" really means.

Answer: Gump is stated, in the book at least (can't honestly remember about the film) to have an IQ of around 75. While IQ ranges are somewhat subjective, this would usually be considered to indicate a mild or borderline mental deficiency. It also certainly wouldn't have helped that he's been relatively sheltered.

Tailkinker

Answer: 8 minutes into the movie, the principle shows his mother a chart of IQ's and points to Gump's IQ being 75.

I know, but I was considering how his mother has sheltered him. His low score could be partially due to her not always giving him accurate information. For example, she told him that "vacation" means "you go somewhere, and you don't ever come back." Maybe his test results were low because of her sheltering; at least partially.

1st Feb 2010

Lost (2004)

Show generally

Question: Something I read on Wikipedia made me wonder: were all six seasons planned out together in advance, or did each season develop naturally as it progressed?

Cubs Fan

Chosen answer: While there has been a certain amount of development as the series has gone along, the creators have repeatedly stated that the basic mythology and major plot points for the show's intended run were put in place from the beginning.

Tailkinker

1st Feb 2010

Inside Man (2006)

Question: This movie left me with more questions than answers. Even after watching it more than once. 1.) Was the fake wall built during the robbery or before? If it was built before, how was this done without the bank employees knowing about it? 2.) What was the purpose of the hole they dug in the floor? I thought this was where they stored the diamonds, but Clive would have had to tear up the floor and dig them up again later, which doesn't make sense. Why couldn't Clive have just brought the diamonds with him behind the wall during the escape? 3.) Wouldn't it have made sense to give each person who came out of the bank a lie detector test to try and weed out the ones who may have been involved? I realize that those tests are voluntary, so that in itself may have helped the police.

Answer: (1) The fake wall was constructed during the robbery - that's why they dragged things out, to give them time to finish the job. (2) The hole in the floor is so that Russell has somewhere to go to the toilet, serving the dual purpose that (a) he doesn't have to sit among piles of his own excrement for a week and (b) no unpleasant smell will build up in the storeroom, which could lead to his discovery. (3) Polygraph tests are notoriously unreliable and can be defeated by a suitably disciplined individual. As a result, the NYPD do not use them as a matter of policy. Even if, in this fictional storyline, they did, the unreliability of the tests and their tendency to give false positives is sufficiently well-known that it's likely that many of the witnesses might refuse to avoid the possibility of being incorrectly incriminated by a bad reading. So it wouldn't be likely to help them much anyway and could actively harm their case if it indicated somebody innocent.

Tailkinker

2nd Feb 2010

Avatar (2009)

Question: When Neytiri's father dies, he gives her his bow. Does that make Neytiri the chief? Or is Tsu'tey the chief now? And who's the chief after Tsu'tey dies? I read somewhere that Jake has got the face markings of a chief in one of the final scenes, suggesting he's the new leader. Though that seems a bit weird, given his lack of experience.

Mithcoriel

Chosen answer: After the death of Eytucan, Tsu'tey becomes the chief - he was established as chief-in-waiting earlier in the film. After Tsu'tey is killed, the implication is that Jake becomes the new leader - while, yes, he lacks experience, he nevertheless has the respect of the clan for his taming of the Toruk and his role in subsequent events. Also, bear in mind that the Pandoran wildlife entered the battle en masse, something that Neytiri interpreted as Eywa, the Na'vi deity, answering Jake's pre-battle prayer. Between his status as Toruk rider, his actions in the battle and his apparent endorsement by Eywa, that would be more than enough for the highly spiritual Na'vi clan to make Jake their new leader.

Tailkinker

Question: How old is Anakin in this movie, at least when he and Padme get married at the end (depending on how much time passes throughout the movie)? I've read both eighteen and twenty.

Answer: Anakin was born in 42BBY and the events of the film take place in 22BBY, making Anakin nineteen or twenty when he marries, depending on precisely when it occurred in the year.

Tailkinker

Question: I'm really confused, and need help with this. I saw the second BTTF, so I saw the scene when Doc explains the two timelines and changing the future, but I'm still confused. If what Doc said was true, when Marty got hit by the car, he would have changed the future by preventing his parents from marrying. Therefore, there are now several timelines in the movie all going off at the same time. According to the movie, the first one is a timeline where Marty goes into the time machine back to 1955, and he has a loser for a father. There is also a timeline just like the first one, but George punched Biff, making him cool in the future. Another, alternate timeline is also present where Marty's parents haven't married, Marty doesn't exist, and none of the events from the first two timelines happen in this timeline. However, if this were true, all three timelines would have to be there, as Marty jumps from timeline to timeline in the movie and then in the end, watched himself do it again. First he would be in the regular timeline, then as he prevents his parents from meeting, he is in the other timeline. As he puts his parents back together and goes to 1985, he is now in the "cool father timeline". That is how I see the movie. Can somebody help shed some light on the subject for me?

Answer: To be honest, it sounds like you've got a reasonably good handle on the situation. Initially Marty's in a 1955 where his parents will marry after George is hit by the car, but his father will be the loser we see in Marty's original 1985. The moment that Marty gets hit by the car, the future is changed and he's now in a timeline where his parents will never get married and thus he will not be born. The timeline begins to slowly alter (time is shown to have a resistance to change in the series), giving Marty enough time to reengineer his parents' meeting before he's erased from existence as the new timeline exerts itself. The way he handles it creates a third timeline where his parents do get married and go on to be cool and thus when he returns to 1985 at the end of the first film, that's the timeline he's in. The other Marty that he sees there is one who grew up in that third timeline, with the cool parents, and thus may be a bit different, but who still met Doc at some point, rendezvoused with him at the mall and ultimately went back in time after encountering the terrorists, where he'll encounter the young loser version of his father and will have to turn him into the cool, confident man that he grew up with. In the second film, old Biff goes back in time and gives his younger self the sports almanac, which changes the timeline again, now creating a fourth timeline where George and Lorraine still marry and are cool, but George will subsequently be murdered by this timeline's rich and powerful version of Biff, leading to the 1985 we see in the middle section of the second film. When Marty and Doc go back to 1955 from there, they arrive in the same timeline, the one where Biff will go on to be rich and powerful. As a result of their actions there, stealing the almanac from young Biff and destroying it, they technically create a fifth timeline, one where events in 1955 played out slightly differently but which is otherwise effectively identical to the third timeline, where Marty's parents are cool and successful in the present day. It is quite a complicated situation, with several different timelines involved, and I have no idea how well I explained it, but hopefully that helped a little bit, at least.

Tailkinker

22nd Jan 2010

Troy (2004)

Question: Why is it that when the Trojans invade the shores at daybreak to initiate the second battle, it is quite obvious that Brad Pitt was playing the role of Patroclus only until his throat was cut? First, you can see Pitt's face in Achilles' helmet in the close-up shots when he is about to start fighting with Hector. Second, you can see the significant change in Patroclus' physique before and after Hector cut his throat.

Ivan-sama

Chosen answer: Watching the scene carefully, I would say that Garrett Hedlund plays the character throughout. Hedlund does bear a notable resemblence to Pitt - he was undoubtedly cast as Patroclus for that reason, both because their characters are cousins and because of the requirement to successfully pull off the masquerade as Achilles during the scene - and thus could readily be mistaken for him, given that his face is rarely seen clearly throughout the scene. However, it's not unreasonable that they might have used Pitt in a couple of key shots, in order to preserve the illusion that this really is Achilles fighting, to bring the audience along in making the same mistake that the Greek army have. As for the physique, it can be seen in their introductory sword-fighting scene that Hedlund and Pitt have roughly similar builds - any perceived change in physique is most likely an illusion caused by the shift between standing in a fighting stance and lying limply on the ground.

Tailkinker

20th Jan 2010

Troy (2004)

Question: Where did Agamemnon get the horses for his chariot? Did he bring them with the ship? Because I can't imagine having a horse on a ship.

Ivan-sama

Chosen answer: Difficult as it might be to imagine, they did indeed transport the horses by ship. Historical evidence indicates that ships of the period could have specific modifications made to their decks in order to carry horses safely. As such, while Agamemnon would not have had them on board his personal ship that we see in the film, it's reasonable to assume that he had a modified "horse carrier" among his fleet.

Tailkinker

Answer: According to me, it's possible that they stole the horses from Trojans after the first battle on the beach, where only Hector left alive and took his own horse, whereas the other horses were held by Achilles' men.

20th Jan 2010

Iron Man (2008)

Question: The terrorist group is called the ten rings. Does that refer to The Mandarin whose power in the cartoon came from his ten rings?

Ivan-sama

Chosen answer: It's intended as a subtle nod to the character, yes. It's been suggested that the Mandarin might be the villain in a future third film, so using the name "The Ten Rings" was a bit of foreshadowing that there might be a greater power behind the terrorist group.

Tailkinker

Question: Why did Obi-wan say to Luke "You will go to the Dagobah system" as opposed to "You must go"? Was he simply giving him an order? Seems strange considering Luke was very close to freezing to death when he said it.

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: Obi-wan's one with the Force at this point, so, given that the Force has been shown to grant precognitive visions, he may simply have seen that Luke survives and does go to Dagobah and is telling Luke that he will go there as a statement of fact. Or it could just be a bit poorly worded.

Tailkinker

13th Jan 2010

Avatar (2009)

Question: Is it really likely that a main governing body on Earth wouldn't have a say in whether or not humans eradicate a whole species, not just on Earth, but on another planet, and a humanoid species at that? It just seems odd that a mining company owner has the final say on whether a scientifically significant race lives or dies.

Answer: Earth is six years away. The company can do whatever the hell they like, partly because there's nobody there to stop them, but mostly because ultimately what people really care about is results. If they keep up a steady flow of unobtanium, whatever methods they took to get it will be largely ignored. And with nobody around to say otherwise, painting the Na'vi as the aggressors in the situation would be relatively easy, allowing them to claim that they were merely defending themselves and that the Na'vi brought it on themselves by their hostile actions.

Tailkinker

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