roboc

24th Sep 2013

Men in Black 3 (2012)

Question: It is told that J remembers the events of the regular time line because he was involved in the past. Being there as a young boy that is when his father was killed. So why does O not remember the original time line? She was there too, as K's lover.

Quantom X

Chosen answer: O was not at Cape Kennedy for the launch, that was the focal point of the change in the timeline, so only people there would remember the original course of events.

roboc

Question: What happened to Radagast? One minute he's running away from the Orcs, but then the Orc is standing on a stone and then Radagast disappears for the rest of the movie.

Casual Person

Chosen answer: We are never told, but given his confidence in his rabbits and the fact that he is a wizard of equal power to Gandalf (even if he has gone a bit odd), we can presume he escapes. Radagast doesn't appear in the book, his presence was pretty much invented for the movie, however he does appear very briefly in the first book of the Lord of the Rings (though not in the movie), so as far as the overall story goes, he must survive.

roboc

30th Dec 2012

Doctor Who (2005)

Chosen answer: It is explained in the last episode of the series that the crack in Amy's wall is like a hole in time that's following her around, sucking in people and erasing their entire existence. When this happens, as it does with Rory mid season, Amy and everyone else who knew the person forgets all about them and their mind just sort of fills in the blanks in their past that that person would have filled. This is what happened to Amy's parents, they were erased from time before the Doctor met her, that's why he takes such an interest in her - she's the girl who doesn't make sense living all alone in such a big house. The events of the final episode set things right and restore her parents to existence along with everyone else the crack swallowed.

roboc

Does that mean the four clerics who were erased are also restored?

Question: Why is Gollum surprised when Frodo reveals to him that he intends to destroy the Ring? Didn't he know that since he was leading Frodo and Sam to Mordor that that was their goal?

Mueller

Chosen answer: Actually no, he didn't. He had no idea what they were planning to do in Mordor, and he didn't really care. Gollum is obsessed with one thing and one thing only, getting the ring back. He agrees to lead Frodo, partly because he's scared of the ring and is compelled to obey its current owner, but mostly because he's waiting for a chance to get it back. Maybe a sane person would have questioned Frodo's motives and realised his intention, but Gollum is hardly sane, is he?

roboc

Chosen answer: She did try to kill him several times after he first arrived in Sunnydale, and nearly succeeded, putting him into a wheelchair on one occasion when he attacked Angel. Later on, they make a deal to team up against the evil Angel, after that Spike leaves town. When he comes back, he has the chip in his head, which essentially makes him harmless to humans and so Buffy decides to spare him. As things progress, he starts to be a help, if still an annoying one, making killing him not an issue. He only gets the chip removed (at Buffy's order) after his soul has been restored and by then Buffy has decided, against Giles' advice, to let him live even so, as she feels he can redeem himself. Of course, she's also sleeping with him for most of the last 2 seasons, so there could be a reason there too.

roboc

Question: What exactly was happening when Harry casted red sparks with his wand in the maze? All things just seemed to get more aggressive. Did Dumbledore say to Harry that he can use red sparks if he want to give up?

Loesjuh1985

Answer: Harry was not giving up. Harry saw that Fleur needed help, and cast red sparks to bring attention to her.

Chosen answer: In the book, the finalists were told to shoot off sparks out of their wands if they got lost or got into trouble in the maze - sort of a distress flare. As to why things get nasty at that moment, most likely it's because Mad Eye has rigged the maze to make sure that Harry wins and touches the cup first, which wouldn't happen if Harry had to give up.

roboc

Chosen answer: They didn't know. Hermione's call distracted the werewolf when they first saw him, true enough, but that was before they had time jumped, so the Harry and Hermione that were scared of the werewolf were unaware that their future selves were around to save them.

roboc

26th Nov 2012

Skyfall (2012)

Question: During the 'interrogation' scene, where Bond plays the word association game, the interviewer says the word "Skyfall," which elicits a fairly negative response from Bond. At this point, the audience still doesn't know exactly what Skyfall is. My question is, now that we know, why did they use this word on Bond? Exactly what kind of reaction were they looking to get?

Answer: The name Skyfall is the name of his parents estate in Scotland. Obviously this would be in his file. Given that the doctor is trying to determine Bond's psychological state, its very likely that he would try to ask about his childhood and the death of his parents. He was trying to see what Bond would do when asked about that part of his life. Bonds reaction to the word is probably the reason why the doctor puts 'unresolved childhood trauma' in his report.

roboc

25th Jul 2012

Fast Five (2011)

Question: When Hobbs realises that Dom and Brian left him with an empty vault, Hobbs has a flashback of Leo and Santos loading the real vault onto a truck. My question: was that really a flashback (did he really see it take place and forget?) or was it like Dom's image of Letty's death when he and Mia are at the crash site in Fast Four and not 100% accurate, since he didn't know what Letty's killer looked like yet?

Answer: Hobbs doesn't see that scene, though he probably does guess part of what happened - ie. that they swapped the vaults. The scene is played as a reveal for us, the audience, to show us how the vault that is supposed to be full of money is now suddenly empty.

roboc

25th Jul 2012

The Dark Knight (2008)

Question: During the fundraiser, Bruce Wayne points at Dent and says, "He is the face of Gotham's future." However after the blast, Dent becomes Two Face. Did Nolan suggest that after the events of the movie, Gotham is going to be like Two Face, i.e. good and evil together?

vicvil

Chosen answer: That's the sort of question that will no doubt form the basis of a thousand college essays. Yes, the line could be a remark on a split Gotham, with good and evil in equal measure, its also a foreshadowing of Dent's fate to become TwoFACE in the FUTURE.

roboc

22nd Oct 2012

Batman Returns (1992)

Question: Although Shreck's death makes the situation moot, why would Batman risk revealing his identity to Selina right in front of Shreck if his intention is for Shreck to go into police custody? Surely Shreck would have revealed Batman's identity had he survived.

Phaneron

Chosen answer: It has always been in Batman's character to do everything it takes to save lives, any lives, no matter what. In Batman forever, during the circus scene, he immediately jumps to his feet and reveals who he is to Harvey Dent when Dent threatens everyone at the circus with a bomb (even though the noise of the crowd means nobody hears him, his intention was clear). At this point in the movie, Bruce cannot think of any other way to get through to Selina and show her that there is another choice besides revenge and murder. He's trying to save her from herself and save Shreck from her, giving up his identity and his secret is something he simply decides is worth it. That's who Batman is!

roboc

10th May 2009

Star Trek (2009)

Question: Why would Nero insist on drilling to the core of Vulcan and Earth to deposit the red matter, when it could just as easily envelop the planet by creating a black hole on the surface?

Answer: Since we don't know much about the red matter in question, its tough to say, but it stands to reason that they wouldn't have done it without a reason. It is conceivable that a small amount of it would only be able to create a black hole and destroy a planet if exposed to enough heat and pressure, say at a planet's core. They make reference to "igniting" the red matter, which is what causes the final black hole, and that only happened by igniting all the remaining matter.

roboc

21st Mar 2008

Shrek (2001)

Question: I'm still confused about something. Why was Fiona turned into an ogre in the first place? All she says is that a witch cast a spell on her, but they never mention it again.

Brad

Chosen answer: The Fairy Godmother curses her so that her son, Charming, can free her and become king. This is made clear in the second movie.

roboc

Answer: Actually Fiona says that when she was a little girl a witch cast a spell on her.

26th Feb 2008

24 (2001)

Day 4: 6:00 P.M.-7:00 P.M. - S4-E12

Question: In this episode, Jack is at the offoces of McClennon/Forrester and realizes they are going to set off an EMP to destroy all the computer hardware. Jack tries to stop it and realizes he cannot. Just as the EMP goes off, Jack crouches behind a door for protection and screams as the EMP goes off. However later, Audrey is told the EMP would not harm Jack or Paul. It would only affect all electronic devices. So why would Jack need to find protection behind a door and why would he need to scream when the device went off?

SAZOO1975

Chosen answer: The device is an EMP that is in development and, as such, may not be stable. While its true that an EMP in itself is harmless to people, there may be electrical discharges or shorts from the device itself that could harm a person, hence Jack takes cover. As for his scream, its not a scream of pain, but a scream of frustration at not being able to stop the EMP going off.

roboc

Question: Is it known why the TF followed the orders of Palpatine (when he looks like the emperor)? I believe that they set-up the blockade and invasion to try to get Amadala to sign the treaty to joint he TF. But still why would they do it just on his orders?

Craig Bryant

Chosen answer: Palpatine (or Darth Sideous as the TF call him) is a master of using people to further his plans. The leaders of the TF are greedy and unscrupulous. Palpatine needs to destabalise the workings of the Senate enough to maneuver his way into being elected as Chancellor, so he presents the TF with a chance to make a lot of money by exploiting Naboo, knowing that the resulting conflict will generate sympathy for him in the senate, as a Naboo.

roboc

12th Nov 2006

Borat (2006)

Question: There is a scene where Borat is queueing up to see Pamela Anderson, he gets to her, asks her to marry him and when she refuses he puts a large sack over her head to try and abduct her. Now I know Borat is a spoof character, and everyone he meets believes he is real, however that scene was quite dramatic and security would have been tight around her. That action could have got Sacha Baron Cohen in some serious trouble, or even worse, shot by one of her security guards. Was Pamela in the know on this scene, or was it genuinely as we see it?

pierpp

Chosen answer: Pamela has been asked about this and has stated in interviews that she and Sacha had talked at length about what they were going to do. It was all planned out and rehearsed, unlike the majority of the rest of the movie.

roboc

29th Aug 2006

Rome (2005)

The Stolen Eagle - S1-E1

Question: I don't understand why Pullo is so angry with Vorenus and thinks he needs to apologise. Having fought in Caesar's army for as long as Pullo has he would be very well aware of the repercussions for what he did, why would he blame Vorenus for abiding the law and doing what is required of him as a centurion?

Answer: Its Pullo's nature to resent people of higher standing than him. His jealousy of Vorenus in later episodes, which in part leads to their falling out, is proof of that. From Pullo's point of view, Vorenus just got better breaks to get where he is in the army and so, isn't really his superior. That, plus his natural arrogance is explantion enough for his behaviour in spite of the fact that he broke the rules and was being fairly punished.

roboc

Question: How is it that Superman was able to survive in the emergency room when his heart was not beating? The doctors and nurses could do nothing for him, yet he lived. Also, how is it that a couple of scenes later, he woke up from what I deduce was a coma?

Answer: Since he doesn't look like one, people often forget that Superman is an alien. His physiology is completely different from ours and therefore there is no saying what his body can and cannot do. The simplest explanation is that his body shut down in order to repair itself and then woke up when he was better, after the final shard of kryptonite was removed.

roboc

16th May 2006

Fantastic Four (2005)

Question: Did Reed and the others ever find out why The Thing was stuck in his form, while everyone else could turn their powers/changes on and off?

Answer: Thing was outside the station when the storm hit, therefore he got a much higher dose of the radiation than the others who were shielded inside. As a result, he doesn't have the ability to control his powers like the others do.

roboc

20th Mar 2006

Life (1999)

Question: Why does Biscuit try to run right before he's let out? Why does he say he can't go home to his mama?

Answer: Because he is gay. In the time this movie is set, being homosexual was not only an extreme moral and religious taboo, but it was illegal in most parts of the US. Biscuit is too ashamed of letting his mother find out about his relationship with Jangle Leg, so he runs, knowing the guards will shoot him dead.

roboc

Answer: It wasn't in the script for him the die - the actor who played Biscuit went into a interview and said that he improv that scene the letter he opened up was initially was an call log not an release paper and he stated if his character was going to die he wanted him to die by crossing the gun line.

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