raywest

21st Jan 2018

Taken 2 (2012)

Question: Why did Bryan risk his and Kim's life by forcing Kim to drive through the shooting soldiers into the courtyard of the U.S. Embassy in Istanbul? They just could've stopped in front of the guarding American soldiers and gotten help. The Albanian mafias who were pursuing after Bryan and Kim were even not behind them because they got already killed by the train. Why?

Bunch Son

Answer: I'd say there is no reason other than because it's a movie. Logic and reality are often supplanted in favor of more dramatic and exciting action scenes.

raywest

Question: How did Lupin know that they were staying at Grimmauld place? Arthur said do not reply as they're being watched so how did Remus find out? Did he just guess?

THE GAMER NEXT DOOR

Answer: It was an educated guess. Grimmauld Place not only belonged to Harry, having inherited it from Sirius Black, but it was the former headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix. Only a few Order members knew its secret location and how to enter. It was one of the safest and most secure places Harry could be at, and Lupin would likely check to see if he and the others were hiding there.

raywest

21st Jan 2018

Home Alone (1990)

Question: Why did it take so long for the police to arrive at the Murphy's House since Kevin called 911? Since he called them we went through the Spider Scene, Kevin cutting the rope, Marley rescuing Kevin and then after he returned Kevin home the cops finally arrived. Why did it take them so long to arrive?

Answer: A lot of things come into play during a police call and it's not all cut and dry. Proximity of units to the call, other calls happening at the same time, severity of other calls, location of backup units, etc. Realistically, anything under 10 minutes is considered a fast response time. I've personally waited in upwards of 40 minutes for police response at my job.

Answer: A lot of things happened after Kevin called the police but all of these things took place pretty quickly. And the movie is set in a suburban area so it took the police more time to get there that it would've taken, say, downtown.

Lol, suburban police respond in minutes. Big city police, even downtown precincts, can take 30 minutes or more.

This depends on where you live, and what the police department is like - i.e, being understaffed. I've heard of my local police taking three hours to respond. I live in a suburban area.

Answer: This is just one of many inconsistent and/or unrealistic details in this movie. Police would normally respond to an emergency call much sooner. If the movie were more realistic however, the plot could not play out in the funny way that it does.

raywest

What's unrealistic about it? There's a caller claiming to be in the house which is a possible hostage situation. In that case, you would want as many officers as you could get on scene, emergency call or not.

Answer: There had been a hoax call that evening already so perhaps this is actually much more accurate than initially thought.

Answer: Suburban cops usually do not respond quickly.

TommyS.

Question: Why was the camel left with the 2 murdered men?

Answer: It is stated very plainly that the Arabs left the camel behind because it was lame. This was a dramatic device to demonstrate the Arabs' ruthlessness: They murdered two human beings in cold blood, but allowed a lame camel to live. Note that the camel scene appears in the 1965 film, but not at all in the 2004 film.

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: It's unknown why they left the camel there.

raywest

21st Jan 2018

Patton (1970)

Question: During the slapping, what did George mean when he said send him up to the front?

Answer: "The front" means the front line, i.e., where the enemy is being engaged. He's saying that since the soldier isn't physically injured, he should be fighting, not (as Patton sees it) being a coward and shirking his duty.

Answer: He meant that he intended to send the soldier back to his unit where the main fighting with the enemy is taking place. This is referred to as "the front."

raywest

Answer: No, it is not known what he was selling, only that it was likely some kind of an illegal or unsavory business transaction. His business was to steal things then illegally sell them.

raywest

Answer: It was never a serious relationship. Ginny had always had a crush on Harry and only started dating Dean when she thought Harry would never be interested in her. Dean and Ginny got on well at first, but Ginny was always defensive if any other student, including Dean, was in any way critical of Harry. Dean, to keep the relationship going, worked hard to always appease Ginny and stay on her good side. Unfortunately, this tactic annoyed Ginny, and later led to her breaking up with Dean.

raywest

18th Jan 2018

Nerve (2016)

Question: When Sydney had to walk across the ladder she had to take out her phone to video tape it from her point of view. Why wouldn't she just give the phone to someone in the window to video tape it for her?

Answer: Having to video tape it herself while traversing the ladder makes the task more difficult to perform, thus heightening the risk and suspense.

raywest

15th Jan 2018

General questions

When sitcom TV shows have restaurant scenes, are these typically filmed in a real restaurant or is a set created?

Answer: Due to the logistics involved in filming, in most cases, a set would be created. In some cases, a real restaurant might be used, but it would involve compensating a business for lost revenue during the filming, obtaining special city permits, hiring police to monitor crowd control, etc. It is simpler and more economic to build a confined set.

raywest

The above is certainly true but a rare third option is filming in an old, closed business. The place is refurbished by the crew, it looks realistic and it is simple to move the action in and out of the venue. An example is the bar at the beginning of The Wolverine, set in the USA but filmed in an old, closed pub in rural Australia.

Answer: Star Station India was a Federation facility located in a sector adjacent to Gamma 7 sector.

raywest

15th Jan 2018

Star Trek (1966)

Answer: There's no explanation. It could be that there are a variety of uniforms that personnel can wear, or regulations have changed. Most likely, it was a production choice to make subtle changes to the costumes.

raywest

Answer: If you're referring to Dress, Combat, etc, then the answer is obvious. If you're referring to green vs gold, then the answer is, "He didn't" - it was always green. The lighting and colour processing method of film back then made the green appear yellow on screen. Although there WERE a couple of green uniforms that were made of different material, one being more reflective than the other, so one always consistently looked yellow on screen, and the other occasionally looked its true green colour. But not often, the lighting AND post-processing had to be perfect to show the green.

11th Jan 2018

Mad About You (1992)

Answer: Just think about your own life, I am sure you do not act the same with your siblings or close friends as you do with a stranger (because that is what the Buchmans essentially are to Ursula). In Mad About You, she is an extremely bad waitress and in Friends she is a jerk - those are not mutually exclusive character traits. This can also be seen in the Friends episode when Jamie and Fran are in Central Perk and run into Phoebe who answers their questions in an aloof manner and they assume it's Ursula. Is Phoebe always aloof? No. But she was to strangers asking her weird questions. Also, Ursula has been aloof with Phoebe as well (like in the one where they all turn 30 or the one where the grandmother passes away, etc).

Answer: The writers have the freedom develop the character to suit the different shows' plots. They wanted to create a certain dynamic between Phoebe and Ursula that was rather contentious and strained because it made for more tension and conflict and showcased the differences that kept the sisters estranged.

raywest

11th Jan 2018

Parenthood (1989)

Question: Since Helen is one of the 4 adult Buckman children, and had been previously married to Julie and Garry's dad, why is Julie's last name also Buckman? I could see Helen going back to her maiden name, that's not uncommon but it would be unusual to have a teenager (in the late 80's) who had her mother's name rather than her father's. Or was this a plot hole that was created so that they could create the conflict of the photographs scene?

Answer: If a child becomes estranged from their father after their parents have divorced, it's not all that uncommon for the child to take their mother's maiden surname instead of their father's.

raywest

11th Jan 2018

Twilight (2008)

Question: How come in Twilight James' venom makes Bella scream and writhe in pain but in the last films she doesn't react to Edwards venom at all. I know they said in Breaking Dawn Part 2 it was because she has the shield ability, but wouldn't is also work the same with James' bite in the first film?

Shayleighxo

Answer: This is better explained in the books. Unlike the rest of the Cullens, Bella's transformation was planned in advance, so she was expecting the pain. When James bit her, she had no idea that the venom would burn like it did and that was her natural reaction. Also in the books, the morphine that Carlisle gave Bella during the transformation more or less made her unable to scream or even move. As the morphine wore off, she knew she would be able to move, but managed to stay completely still even though she was in intense pain. The reason she managed not to make a sound was out of love for Edward, because she was worried her screams would torment him and make him regret ever changing her.

Answer: A couple of reasons. When Edward first started biting Bella to inject his venom, she was all but clinically dead. Later, while she's transforming into a vampire, Carlisle tells Edward that she's not in any pain because he is treating her with morphine.

raywest

Question: When the Enterprise recovers Chekov and Captain Terrell, they just accept Chekov's and Terrell's false explanation, even though McCoy is standing right there with a medical tricorder. Why didn't McCoy's medical tricorder pick up the Ceti eels lodged in the brains of Chekov and Captain Terrell?

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: It's unknown. The tricorder may not have been programmed at the moment to detect any parasites.

raywest

Answer: The eels bond with the host brain and are virtually undetectable until the host dies or they are found for some reason.

Question: How does Harry grab/or manipulate anything when using the invisibility cloak in the presence of people without exposing himself from behind the cloak? It's only so big but you never see anything.

Answer: Harry can cast spells with the tip of the wand protruding through the cape's opening. There is also one shot in "Deathly Hallows" where he can be seen casting a spell by slipping his hand out from under the cape.

raywest

Answer: He can use his wand from behind the cloak.

lionhead

9th Jan 2018

Moulin Rouge (2001)

Question: How long was it from when Christian and Satine first met to when she finally dies at the end? In other words, how long was their whole love affair ordeal going on/how long did they know each other?

Answer: Approximately one year lapses from the time Christian arrives in Paris to when Satine dies. An additional year has passed after her death to when Christian is writing his memoir.

raywest

Question: About half way through the movie, before Ray and co meet Robbins, why is everyone running up the hill towards the explosions? Surely they would be running away?

Answer: They see the army is about to attack they aliens. Thinking the army will prevail, they want to see the battle.

Answer: There is more than one alien machine and explosions are going off that are not seen on screen. The people are panicked and running in all directions.

raywest

7th Jan 2018

Twilight (2008)

Question: After Edward saves Bella from a car crash, she sees him, Carlisle, and Rosalie talking in the hospital. What were they saying? I heard some of the words but not all.

aliadms

Chosen answer: Basically, Rosalie is complaining that Edward having saved Bella by stopping the truck with his hand has risked him exposing their family as vampires. Edward responds saying what else could he have done and should he have just stood by and let Bella die. Rosalie thinks he should have if it protected the family. Carlisle then says they need to move the conversation to his office when he notices Bella watching them.

raywest

6th Jan 2018

The Exorcist (1973)

Question: What was the significance of the father being an absentee dad? Did that make Reagan more vulnerable to being possessed?

Answer: The demon wants everyone to lose hope for the girl and give up on her. Her father, having already flown the coop, just makes this goal that much easier.

TonyPH

Answer: It's possible it made her more vulnerable, but the mother, being a big movie star with an adolescent child would probably be divorced at this stage. It was more likely a literary choice by the author. Fewer characters make for a less complicated plot and eliminates the need to add an additional character who may not serve the story in a meaningful way.

raywest

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