Questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: I haven't read the books, but at times, Charlie Swan's behavior seems to indicate that he knows something about the Cullens. Other than thinking they are a bit odd, does he know that they are vampires or that the Quileutes are wolves?

raywest

Chosen answer: According to the 4 books, Charlie does NOT know the Cullens are vampires. Spoiler alert! In the 4th book breaking dawn, Jacob tells Charlie he is a werewolf. Charlie is not made aware of the Cullens as vampires in any of the 4 books.

Tricia Webster

Answer: Charlie does know that the Quileutes have a prejudice against the Cullen's and that they stopped using the hospital that Carlisle works in. When Bella tells her father that the Cullen kids aren't very accepted at school he is defensive and gives a long speech about what a good family they are.

Question: Who are the two men that the Emperor talks to on the Death Star, after he tells Vader to send the fleet near the far side of Endor, and Vader leaves? I know that who they are is not said in the movie.

Answer: According to the Star Wars Databank, the pair are Sim Aloo and Janus Greejatus, two members of the Imperial Ruling Council, a large group numbering several hundred who act as advisors to Emperor Palpatine and are also sent on missions across the galaxy as his personal representatives. Both are Force-sensitive with some training in the Dark Side directly from Palpatine himself and, as their presence during the Emperor's discussion with Vader shows, are among his more trusted acolytes.

Tailkinker

Question: In the song sequence "Marian the Librarian", anyone know what she says? This couple is on the wall, reaching out for each other, and then Marian yells something that sounds like "Toby!" or something. Can anyone verify what she says?

Answer: In the dance sequence (currently up on YouTube), it wasn't Marion calling out, it's Zaneeta Shin calling out to her boyfriend Tommy who is about to fall. She calls out his name, "TOMMY!!" It's a "looped" vocal and was added after the film, hence no lips are moving when she calls out his name.

CCARNI

Question: Do either of The Joker's "You wanna know how I got these scars" stories have a hint of truth to them? Also, why does he recount the stories to people?

MovieBuff09

Chosen answer: There's no way to tell - the Joker gets no backstory at all in the film, other than the two stories that he tells, which contradict each other anyway. In all likelihood, they're both lies, made up on the spot. As to why he tells them, it distracts people, puts them on edge, plus, most importantly, it amuses him to do so.

Tailkinker

Question: During the Statue of Liberty scene, Magneto is clearly seen to be manipulating the copper inside the statue to bind and tie up the X-Men. How can this be? I thought magnetism wouldn't work on a non ferromagnetic metal.

MovieBuff09

Chosen answer: True, but Magneto's power is not EXACTLY the same as magnetism. He can manipulate ANY metal, ferrous and non-ferrous alike. It's just handy to refer to it as "magnetism".

Twotall

Answer: Well if he can control ANY metal...why did he have to wait for the guard to be injected with iron? Couldn't he take iron out of food or water? Or even his own body?

The way he took iron out of the Guard, that seemed very painful and it looks like the guard did not survive. So, taking it out of his own body would not have been the smartest of decisions. He needed to wait for the guard to be injected so he could have enough iron to take out to then turn into a weapon, and transportation.

jshy7979

Chosen answer: He and Xavier has been keeping track of mutants for years, in part by using Cerebro (as seen in X2: X-Men United). And as Logan is a very powerful mutant, as well as part of a government-funded project (which leaves a paper trail), they would definitely know of him and would have collected as much data as possible about him. When Magneto then detected his adamantium skeleton, it was easy to deduce Logan's identity.

Twotall

Chosen answer: It is residual radiation from atomic weapons used in an attempt to fight off the Psychlos.

Question: Why would Ivo Shandor and his followers possibly want to summon Gozer? For what reason?

MovieBuff09

Chosen answer: Because Shandor believed that human society was too sick to survive (to quote Egon). Gozer was supposed to destroy human civilization in the hope (apparently) that something better would rise to replace it.

Grumpy Scot

Chosen answer: Adam is hundreds of years old, and has been kept alive only through his regenerative powers. When that is taken away from him, the years catch up on him, and his body ages so rapidly that he is instantly mummified and crumbles to dust.

Twotall

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.

Garlonuss

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.

Phaneron

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.

Garlonuss

Chosen answer: Stu is a pretty unpleasant character - he's arrogant, rude, untrustworthy, he's considering cheating on his wife, treats his assistant like crap and so forth. The sniper's intent is to force him to change his ways, to confess his sins to those around him and hopefully, by doing so, put himself on a path towards some sort of personal redemption.

Tailkinker

Question: Is there any explanation regarding Adrian Veidts' fighting skill? All Watchmen are obviously very well trained in unarmed combat, but Adrian easily takes out both Night Owl and Rorschach attacking together, and he manage to grab a bullet fired from close range. I'm curious if it's explained in novel or somewhere in the movie that I might have missed.

Answer: Veidt has, through unspecified training, become able to use considerably more of his available mental capacity at any given moment than the average human. This allows him heightened intelligence, speed, reflexes and coordination, allowing him to easily out-think his opponents and accomplish physical feats at the absolute peak of human possibility. More than enough to give him an edge over the well-trained Nite Owl and Rorschach.

Tailkinker

Question: Why did/does Skynet launch a nuclear attack against humanity? What were its reasons? I'm just a bit confused because in both movies they give conflicted answers.

MovieBuff09

Chosen answer: It was a defensive move, basically. As Skynet developed and increased in complexity, it ultimately achieved sentience and became self-aware. The humans tried to pull the plug, effectively trying to kill the new intelligence and Skynet fought back, utilising the nuclear arsenal to attempt to eradicate those who would shut it down.

Tailkinker

Chosen answer: Because it would be a really dull film. Anyway, they'd know that it's always out there, trying to find them, never sleeping, always searching, relentless. No matter how long it took, it would ultimately locate them. Best to face it now in a proactive fashion than lie low and risk being caught by surprise when it finally catches up with them.

Tailkinker

Answer: That's what they were going to do, when Sarah decided to kill the scientist who was working on the robotic arm from the first Terminator.

Answer: Consider a quote from the original Terminator about how terminators work: "It doesn't feel remorse, or pity, or fear, and it absolutely will not stop, until you are dead." Given that, running would be a temporary measure at best.

Show generally

Question: Why do the writers and producers of 'Heroes' feel the need to kill such great characters? For example, The German. His power was pretty cool and could have been a major new villain in the third season, but they killed him off. Another would be Elle. Why her? She was such a great character.

MovieBuff09

Chosen answer: The writers kill off characters as and when it serves the purposes of the overall story for them to die. All characters have some potential to them - just as with real life, not all of them will get to live up to that potential. It sucks when a favourite character is killed off, but that's the nature of a TV show - characters, particularly recurring characters like Elle or minor villains like the German, are going to die on a regular basis.

Tailkinker

Chosen answer: It's not been made 100% clear. It was originally assumed that he actually consumed part of the brain, but this has turned out not to be the case. Sylar has been shown all along to have an instinctive knowledge of how things work and how to fix them - this is his actual original power and the ability that made him an exceptional watchmaker and repairer. It appears that he uses a similar process when acquiring new powers - he exposes the brain of the target, allowing him to examine it and determine how their power functions. He can then apply that knowledge to his own brain, allowing him to replicate the ability in question.

Tailkinker

Chosen answer: As of season three it has not been explained. The characters gained powers after the solar eclipse of the first episode and temporarily lost them during "The Eclipse". It could be some form of cosmological radiation, Hiro and Ando make Superman analogies (who only has special powers because of Earth's yellow sun), Suresh believes it may be coincidental, or it might possibly be related to the catalyst, or it could be influenced by an as yet unseen character.

Sanguis

Question: Instead of using Rogue to power the machine, why not just build in some sort of automated system? Surely a lot less time consuming.

MovieBuff09

Chosen answer: Maybe they tried it and they couldn't. Maybe there's something about the specific energies of Magneto's powers that makes the system work. Maybe it would have made for a far less dramatic film if they had. Script-writers make the choices that they make with the aim of crafting as good a film as possible. Dramatically, it's far more interesting to have Rogue used as an unwilling power source than them building some power reactor thing. You may disagree, but it's the choice that they made.

Tailkinker

Question: Near the end, when the Doctor shows Grace and Chang an image of Gallifrey, what's the glowing white underneath the planet?

MovieBuff09

Chosen answer: Likely The Eye of Harmony, the black hole captured and contained by Rassilon and Omega that powers all TARDISes.

Captain Defenestrator

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