Question: When Marty wakes up in the new 1985, the clock changes from 10:27 to 10:28. Why would his siblings be eating breakfast and preparing to go to work this late in the morning?
Questions about specific movies, TV shows and more
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Question: This has been an endless point of debate among my friends and I; how sensible is the placing of the pulse rifle's ammo counter? It seems to me that it'd be very problematic since, if the operator were right handed, they'd have to turn the weapon on its side to read how many bullets they had left.
Answer: A digital ammo counter, like the ammo indicators on magazines, wouldn't be useful in the heat of battle. However, it would be very useful while not in battle. For example, with a real firearm, you would need to remove the magazine to check how many rounds remained in it. With a digital display, you could simply look. The larger issue, of course, is that with a display on the gun, your enemy would also know how many rounds you had left.
If you had the counter on the top of the weapon facing you, you could immediately see how many rounds you had left and the enemy could only see it if he were behind you.
Answer: Yes you're right, the ammo counter is badly placed, but then again a seasoned marine wouldn't need to rely on it in the first place as they'd know through experience when they are about to run out.
Answer: In all honesty you really wouldn't need an ammo counter. Either you shoot until the weapon runs dry and then you have to reload or you shoot until the threat is gone in which case you would do a "tactical reload" where you remove the partial mag and insert a fresh mag to ensure you have max ammo again for the next firefight.
That is, if you have another mag to do a tactical reload with. Real life is not like in videogames where you reload and only count bullets, you gotta have magazines.
Question: Can a helicopter do barrel rolls and loop-de-loops like Murdock is doing after the A-team leaves the hospital and are being chased to the US border by Tuco?
Answer: They can, but only if they have a set of modified rotor blades to be able to do it. The Apache for one is able to do it. The Huey in the movie however is unlikely in reality to be able to do it - there would be no need to fit the modified rotors to what is essentially a transporter.
Question: Is it possible the king and queen could recognize Rapunzel as their long lost daughter, despite her short brown hair, when they knew she was born with long golden hair? If so, then how?
Answer: It's entirely possible. Rapunzel has a similar face appearance to her mother's, and you could also count the family bond of simply knowing. She also has green eyes, which are uncommon, so the parents probably knew that she was unlikely an impostor.
Question: I don't fully understand the Game Show part in the beginning. What was the significance of that?
Chosen answer: It's a recreation of when the real Frank Abagnale, Jr. appeared on the TV game show, "To Tell The Truth," that ran on CBS from the mid-1950s to late-1960s. A celebrity panel would try to pick out the genuine contestant who had an unusual secret from among two other imposters, who gave bluff answers to questions.
Question: Is he actually sane at the end? I ask this because it looks like he makes them think he is insane so they will give him a lobotomy, and in that way he could forget about killing his kids indirectly.
Chosen answer: I think it's meant to be ambiguous, as nothing's explicitly stated either way. My take was the same as yours, namely that he'd rather die as a good man than live as a monster, to reference the line he says, but him still being actually insane also fits.
Question: Just a quick one: Why the hell didn't Rose just move over on her door to give Jack some room? And why didn't Jack take the piece of wood from the frozen guy with the whistle after he had died?
Answer: In an episode of Myth Busters, they checked to see if Jack could've actually fit on the board and survived. Their first result stated the the movie was correct; there was not enough buoyancy to keep them both afloat. After some thinking they decided to tie Rose's life jacket under the board to increase the amount of buoyancy, and sure enough the board did float, but it's not unreasonable that that wouldn't have occurred to Jack and Rose. When they consulted James Cameron about the results he simply stated, "I think you guys are missing the point here. The script says Jack died. He has to die. So maybe we screwed up and the board should have been a little tiny bit smaller, but the dude's goin' down."
Answer: Insider did an interesting article on this debate. The "door" Rose was floating on was actually a carved piece of wood paneling that hung above the first-class lounge. The evidence for this resides on display at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Nova Scotia where an original panel of the ship served as the inspiration for the design of the wood seen in the movie. This is important because those panels were only made from teak, pine, and oak. Physics Central calculated the possibility of survival for all three based on buoyancy. They estimated teak would have been too heavy and would have sunk under its own weight. Pine may have supported their weight, but was ruled out when the panel flipped when Jack tried to grab it. The oak paneling seen was only strong [and large] enough to contain Rose as the weight of both Rose and Jack would have outweighed its buoyancy.
Question: In the scene where Solara hijacks the car, why does the man who had Eli's sword in him stop her from starting the car, take out the blade, and get out from the car and kneel on the ground? Was he trying to say something to Solara or the leader?
Answer: Most likely, Redridge is giving Solara a chance to escape Carnegie's regime. At this point, he knows he's dying, but perhaps still wants the best for her. Remember, he had a crush on her the whole movie (blocking her while she was getting Eli's canteen filled, bargaining with Carnegie for her before chasing after them, even asking Eli nicely to give up the book after the gunfight in the house). I think it may also have been used as a self-redemption moment for one of the bad guys.
Question: Everybody seems to believe that the machines are not able or at least not willing to make use of the energy from the sunlight above the darkened sky. But I have some problems with that. Morpheus tells us about this when he is with Neo in the construct for the first time. But is Morpheus really 100% believable in that question? Isn't this just his version of the story? We can believe him that the humans darkened the sky (this is confirmed in Animatrix and visible on screen) and the machines created fields of humans as their source of power (he saw those fields himself). But maybe he's wrong? Could he really know for sure how much energy the machines need? Or that the machines don't use the energy from sunlight? Is there any point in the trilogy where the machines definitely do confirm this? For me it would make more sense for them to do so: using the humans would inevitably decimate the population with every generation. If we believe that the humans' "foods" are the liquidated dead this would hardly be enough for the whole lifespan of another human (and there's also energy drained from the machines). I don't say this wouldn't make sense for the machines, but sooner or later they will have to use another source of power if they want to live forever, so why not start with it now? They would have infinite energy and could control humanity at the same time. And as we see they are able to build any types of complex weaponry/flying guardians etc., it should be easy for them technically to get past the dust and use the energy somehow. Am I right with this or is there a better explanation?
Answer: Human bodies would not be 100% efficient and so energy generated would always be less than energy fed into the farm, so overall making energy losses for machines. The energy fed (dead bodies etc) is not usable by machines directly. Humans seems to be good for energy conversion as well as energy storage. So any excess energy from fusion can simply be stored away in the matrix. Hence the battery analogy (which needs to be charged to be useful).
Question: When the couple had flour on the floor between their room and the hallway at night, I seemed to be the only one that noticed that the footprints of the 'demon', who apparently walked on the flour, only had three toes. I couldn't find the scene when watching it again, so I'm asking you if you've seen the same.
Chosen answer: I noticed the three toed footprint as well. It was kind of like a chicken's foot.
Question: What caused Krypton to explode?
Answer: That's the updated comic book version. In the movie and the original origin story their red sun was going super nova and caused Krypton's orbit to shift.
Jor-El's conversation with the Science Council in the movie is all about the planet's core.
You must be thinking of a different movie. There wasn't any mention of the core and when Jor-El says the planet will explode, the reply is the planet is just shifting orbit. Later, Jor-El tells 18 year old Clark they will enter the realm of the red Krypton sun, the cause of their destruction. The answer about Krypton's sun is correct.
I went and looked up the script and it DOES say orbit. OK, you're right.
Chosen answer: An atomic chain-reaction in the planet's core. The explosion also irradiated the fragments of the planet, which is why kryptonite is deadly to Superman.
Question: It's been shown that if a Prior were to be captured or betray the Ori then they would burst into flame. When Daniel was turned into a Prior, why didn't he burst into flame the instant he betrayed Adria and the Ori?
Chosen answer: Either because Adria believed he was truly devoted to Origin when she made him a Prior or the same mechanism that made the transformation wear off prevented it.
Question: Why is John's Farscape-1 module able to navigate wormholes where some other, more sophisticated craft, notably Peacekeeper Prowlers, cannot without liquifying passengers?
Chosen answer: It's never explained. John mentions a theory that his less technologically developed craft simply interferes with the wormhole less than the "superior" Vipers, but they never make a concrete determination on that point. But we also have to take into account the fact that Moya traverses wormholes with no ill effect as well.
Question: Why weren't the Charmed Ones allowed to see Prue after her death yet were allowed to see grams as well as their mother?
Answer: On top of not being able to see while you're still grieving, Shannon Doherty cost too much for the Charmed budget to bring her back in that sense.
Chosen answer: They are allowed to see a dead relative, just not as soon as they die. It gives the sisters time to grieve. Grams and the mother have been dead many years, therefore they are not grieving for them as much.
Battlestar Galactica (2003 Miniseries) - Part 2 - S1-E2
Question: If Gaius Baltar created a way of detecting Cylons then why didn't he use it on either Galen Tyrol or Saul Tigh?
Chosen answer: Yes, he developed a way to test for Cylons. He even figured out Boomer was a Cylon, so we know it works. But in a later episode, he specifically tells Head 6 that he hasn't been doing the testing that he claims to have done because he actually prefers not to know, because it only breeds paranoia and fear. His opinion of Cylons is, after all, not typical.
Question: Where did the filming for this movie take place? I assume there are many different areas, but the place I'm most interested in is the lagoon, where we see the brothers fishing, and where Richard has his encounter with the shark. Also, is this a populated area? It looks like it could be a good tourist attraction.
Chosen answer: It's Ko Phi Phi Leh island off the coast of Thailand. It's a protected area, off the beaten path, and tourism is discouraged. There are resorts on nearby islands.
Question: After Rinzler "destroys" Clu, Flynn suddenly develops the urge to switch disks with Quorra. Why? As far as he is concerned, Clu is dead. He has no reason to think otherwise.
Chosen answer: He doesn't know Clu is dead. And a little prudence never hurts. Flynn knows Clu and clearly it was entirely possible that Clu was still alive. If they all got back to the portal, it made no difference. If Clu showed up to stop them, Flynn knew what he had to do and needed to make sure that Sam had his disc to get out.
Question: Is it ever explicitly explained in the novel why Kiriyama never speaks, or why he "volunteered" for the Battle Royale?
Chosen answer: He speaks in the book, actually, such as explaining that he flipped a coin to decide if he would participate in the game. He never felt emotion because of damage to his brain before he was born, which is why he's such a psychopath, but he didn't volunteer for the game. He was just part of the class that got selected, and had been forever. He actually had his own gang, who he kills at the beginning of the book.
Question: How did Grindlewald know that Dumbledore was buried with the wand?
Chosen answer: This is actually never explained in the movie. In the book, Voldemort located Grindelwald in Nurmengard prison so he could learn the whereabouts of the Elder Wand. Grindelwald lied to Voldemort about ever having possessed the Elder Wand, perhaps in a belated effort to protect Dumbledore, his former friend and foe. Voldemort read Grindelwald's mind using Legillimancy and learned that Dumbledore had captured the wand from Grindelwald after defeating him in their epic duel many years before. Voldemort murdered Grindelwald, then deduced that the Elder Wand must have been entombed with Dumbledore.
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Chosen answer: It's Saturday. A lot of office jobs, if you're going to them on the weekend, would start later and end earlier.
Phixius ★