Question: When Edward, Rosalie and Carlisle are running in the forest to spread Bella's scent, when James decides to change course, how does Edward know? He says he can read the mind only at a certain distance, and Alice is in Phoenix. How then was Edward able to know the tracker's change of mind? It seemed as if he had been able to read his mind.
Garlonuss
29th May 2009
Twilight (2008)
11th May 2009
Gattaca (1997)
Question: What did Eugene say or do to support his claim in the movie Gattaca?
10th May 2009
Star Trek (2009)
Question: What was Nero doing for the 25 years between his attack on the Kelvin and the one on Vulcan? Additionally, how did he know when and where Spock was to appear? Did he sit his ship in front of the black hole for 25 years? And why was his ship armed to the teeth? It's supposed to be a mining vessel.
Answer: There was a scene cut from the movie that shows Nero being held in Rura Penthe, the klingon prison planet that was attacked in the transmission that Uhura intercepted and translated. The attack was the Narada crew coming to free their commander. And if you were to read the Countdown comic book that is used to give back story to Nero and his relationship with Spock, you'd see that the Narada originally looked nothing like what we see in this film. It was more utilitarian. But after the destruction of Romulus, Nero and crew come across a Romulan space station that is taking in refugees from the doomed planet. They had been working on some technology reverse engineered from Borg technology. Nero offered his ship as a test candidate as they were looking to start field testing it on a ship at that time. And as far as waiting for Spock, it could have been a simple thing to calculate the time and place of Spock's arrival using temporal mechanics based on the size and intensity of the singularity that sent them there, and an educated guess of when Spock entered the anomaly based on the telemetry they had at the moment they entered in themselves. They've had 25 years to wait and calculate what they needed to know.
7th May 2009
The Terminator (1984)
Question: Exactly why did The Terminator raid the police station and kill all those cops? Wouldn't it have been more prudent to wait until Sarah was released, make sure she was unprotected and then kill her?
Chosen answer: From his point of view, she was already unprotected. At least, unprotected enough for him to make an attempt on her life. The police can't stop him and concerns for his own safety do not enter his calculations. But he was programmed with one goal in mind: Kill Sarah Connor. When he sees an opportunity to do so, he takes it. He knew where she was. To wait would be to risk losing that information.
26th Mar 2009
Watchmen (2009)
Question: I don't quite understand why Dr. Manhattan had to kill Rorschach. That is, I don't quite get why that was the only solution. Rorschach was a valuable member of the Watchmen, and in the type of world they were in (chaos, corruption, murder, etc) one would think that they would want to keep as many of themselves banded together as possible. Couldn't some sort of negotiation or compromise have been reached/agreed to by Rorschach instead of him being killed?
Answer: He has spent years as a costumed vigilante despite the fact that it was illegal. He has a very strict idea of what is right ("never compromise") and has proven himself incapable of doing otherwise. So no, there was no real chance of negotiating with him - Rorschach himself made it clear he'd have to die if they wanted his silence.
Death was not the only choice. Doc M could easily have teleported/banished Rorschach to Mars/anywhere secluded in an oxygen bubble. He could have spared his life and just made him mute or manipulate his brain chemistry/atoms to remove the memory of what happened. The point is Doc M is all powerful and could manipulate matter at his whim; death was just a plot device creating a chance of an emotive martyrdom/sacrificial ending.
Ethically speaking, exiling him to Mars or erasing his memory of the event can be considered just as cruel as killing him, because then his agency is being taken away from him. Rorshach's malcontent with the situation poses a problem for the other heroes, and since Dr. Manhattan isn't willing to let him tell the truth of what happened, he obliges Rorschach's demand that he kill him instead.
25th Mar 2009
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Question: What exactly is Edward? Is he some sort of android?
Chosen answer: Just like Mary Shelly's "Frankenstein" we are not actually told how Edward is created. (Most have interpreted it to mean he was made of discarded body parts, though she never actually states that the body parts he stole were used in the monster, just in his "experiments".) In the end, we are left to believe that the inventor created a human-like person from some sort of scratch. Edward has blood, emotions, creativity, and the ability to heal his many wounds. Beyond that, we are told nothing.
21st Mar 2009
Watchmen (2009)
Question: Perhaps I'm missing something here but given what we see in the opening montage it's public knowledge from the get go that Sally Jupiter is the Silk Specter (given she's seen holding a certificate from the police with both names on it and the bomber plane we see has her actual surname painted under her portrait on its fuselage rather than her crime fighter moniker). While I'm aware this is a carry over from the graphic novel, the logic of this still makes no sense. She's supposed to be a masked superhero like the other Minutemen, reliant on her mystery and sexual appeal to subdue villains, why put herself at the unnecessary risk of being even more vulnerable to retribution by letting everyone know both of her identities?
Answer: The concept of "dual identities" is a convenient story device for comic books. However given the ways in which the "masked vigilante" phenomenon evolved in the Watchmen universe, it is often little more than a policeman on steroids with a mask. Given that mentality, it makes sense. Policemen do not work in anonymity. And while they may worry about repercussions on their families from time to time, in general most of their personal lives stay safely away from their professional lives, aside from the time they have to devote to being a keeper of the peace.
21st Mar 2009
Independence Day (1996)
Question: Surely a mothership as huge as the one depicted in the movie would have some sort of gravitational effect on Earth?
Chosen answer: While that is a possibility, the fact that they don't mention it should not necessarily be interpreted to mean that there wasn't one. They had bigger things to talk about at the time. Of course the power of the effect would also depend on the distance from the earth as gravity is defined as proportional to the product of the masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the centers of their masses.
Answer: That ship is much smaller than the moon.
21st Mar 2009
Ghostbusters 2 (1989)
Question: At the end, how did they vanquish Vigo? As far as I could tell all they did was blast him with their Proton Packs and Slime gun.
Chosen answer: Yup, that's pretty much it. They were unable to defeat him with the proton packs alone because his power was being boosted by the mass of negative energy from the slime that had been building up beneath the city. By spraying him with their positively charged slime (as Ray mentions later) they are able to negate that effect. The proton packs then force him back through the dimensional gate that had opened within the painting.
19th Mar 2009
Ghostbusters (1984)
Question: What exactly happens to Gozer after they've crossed the streams?
17th Mar 2009
Mr. and Mrs. Smith (2005)
12th Mar 2009
Robocop (1987)
Question: When Bob Morton is giving his speech just before Robocop is introduced, he touts one of Robocop's advantages as "A lifetime of law enforcement experience." But Murphy's memory was wiped before he was completed. Wouldn't this effectively remove all of his law enforcement experience?
Chosen answer: This can depend on two things: the nature of the memory wipe and what is meant by the term "experience". It is possible that they were able to wipe only those memories pertaining to personal identification and specific case memories. In which case the basic understanding of law and law enforcement could have been left intact. And the "experience" referred to could be referring to instinct. His mind has been working the streets for a long time. That can cause the brain to wire itself more specifically to think in certain ways that help that kind of activity. Even if the memory wipe were complete, it is possible that those rewirings in his brain were left intact, thus giving him a brain already designed for law enforcement. I admit, though, that the statement can appear, on the surface, to be at odds with the methods used to create him.
12th Mar 2009
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Question: I never understood why Peter wanted to avoid a relationship with Mary Jane in order to keep her safe from his enemies. Doc Octopus and the Green Goblin already found out about her and captured her before she was his girlfriend, so why avoid being with her if his enemies were finding out about her anyway?
Answer: The Goblin grabbed her only after he figured out that Spider-Man was Peter Parker. Doc Oc grabbed her because she was with Peter and he needed to send Peter to get Spider-Man, since he knew that Peter had some kind of working relationship with Spider-Man. In other words, her relationship with Peter puts her in danger because Peter already has a direct connection to Spider-Man through his pictures. If he were able to distance himself from her as both Peter Parker and Spider-Man, it would reduce the chances of her being specifically targeted, especially if the villain figures out that Spider-Man is Peter Parker to begin with, which seems to happen at an alarming rate. When Eddie figures it out in the third movie, he grabs her again because he knows Peter cares about her. And Harry used her as a pawn to get his revenge on Peter. Clearly, her relationship with Peter puts her in danger.
18th Sep 2008
General questions
I saw a movie at school in the 1980's in which the main character is a bank robber. There is a cop or fed on his trail for years. This man finally turns his life around and settles down in a small town. But, the cop shows up on the same day a child gets trapped in an airtight bank vault, that will be unopenable for days. If he saves her the cop will know who he is, but he cracks it open and saves the girl anyway. What is the name of this movie?
Chosen answer: That sounds like "No Deposit, No Return" with Don Knotts and Darren McGavin. McGavin plays a former safe cracker who has been off the grid for a few years. He and Knotts get caught up in a fake kidnapping (actually devised by the "kidnapped" girl). The kids end up trapped in their Grandfather's safe and McGavin has to get them out in front of the policeman that has been on his tail for years. I personally love the movie.
12th Jul 2008
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)
Question: Early in the film, it appears as though Mr. Wink's metal hand can completely detach itself (note how it has to crawl back to him in the museum), yet he is killed in the Troll Market when his hand (and the chain attached) become stuck in the giant trash-compactor machine. Why did he not just detach his hand at this point, as he did earlier?
Answer: The hand never fully detaches. It still has the chain connected to it when it was crawling back at the beginning. It simply crawled back until the chain finally drew itself in long enough to pull it in faster than it was crawling.
Yep that's a good answer. In the scene at the museum at the beginning of Hellboy 2, Mr Wink punched the two security guards through the door, but his hand was still attached to the chain, it never completely disconnected from the chain or his body. Then the hand turned itself around and started crawling back to wink, at which point the chain zipped the hand back up to Winx' wrist.
24th Apr 2008
Toy Story (1995)
Question: Near the beginning of the film, why is Woody so shocked to learn of Andy's birthday party? Shouldn't he have a general idea, if not know outright, when Andy was born?
Chosen answer: If you'll notice, when he tells the other toys, he says that the party has been "moved to today". The other toys then mention that it isn't Andy's birthday yet and Woody says that they were probably trying to have the party before they moved to another house. Woody knows when the birthday is, but the party is not being held on Andy's birthday.
9th Mar 2008
General questions
I've noticed that occasionally, some of the no. 1 films at the box office are also some of the worst reviewed by critics. Why is this?
Chosen answer: The films are reviewed by critics, but attended by the regular movie-going public. Critics see every movie, so they have a tendency to get (a) jaded or (b) overly critical. They tire of plot devices and story lines that they have seen all too many times and often wish for more intelligent writing and witty dialogue. However the movie-going public is, admittedly, less demanding. They easily flock to movies that simply appeal to the masses.
25th Jan 2008
General questions
I am trying to identify the title a certain movie I saw as a child in the early 80s that has been etched in my mind for its disturbing content. I only remember bits and pieces, but I seem to remember a hero similar to "He Man" (in dress) who has a ring (it may have had an eye on it) that allows him see events transpiring in different places. I remember a fiery temple of some sort where the villains were sacrificing kids (and maybe adults also). The hero is called to save the innocent victims. Does anyone have an idea as to what this movie is?
Answer: That sounds like The Beastmaster staring Marc Singer. The ring, however, wasn't for his personal use. His enemy was actually using it to spy on him and his companions. When they found the eye in the ring, they poked it out with a burning stick. He did look a lot like He-Man, though.
10th Nov 2007
House, M.D. (2004)
8th Oct 2007
General questions
I watched a movie on TV sometime in the mid 80's. The scene that I remember was a young girl in a foyer of what looks like a mansion. The power was out, or the lights were off. There was a large mirror on the wall. The girl looked into it and a large black dragon started coming out of the mirror. For some reason I always thought it was some version of Alice in Wonderland, but I am really not sure. It may have been a Disney movie. Can anyone help?
Answer: It sounds like the start of the second half of a made for TV version of Alice in Wonderland. They did both Alice in wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass. The looking glass section starts with her running into the Jabberwocky. More info here.
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Answer: Exactly. He read James' mind. James is considerably closer than Alice, so it would make no sense to keep tabs on him through Alice. Surely Edward would explicitly stay close enough to James to know how effective their efforts are being.
Garlonuss ★