Question: When Lieutenant Chang walks into the room, he says that Wesley, Oliana, T'Shanik and Mordock that even though all four of them are top candidates for entry into Starfleet Academy, only one of them will go. Why not just let all four of them go to Starfleet?
raywest
13th Sep 2021
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)
12th Sep 2021
The Honeymooners (1955)
Question: When Ralph promises he'll fix Norton's pipes tomorrow morning, Norton says, "This is the last night I take a bath in Fred's Gasoline Station." Why wouldn't he have been taking his baths in his best friend Ralph's tub? He had already used their water to "Stretch the Soup." Why not to bathe?
Answer: It is because Fred's gasoline station was a real place that really existed in the town of Tuckahoe New York. This was where Norton, Art Carney, was living at the time. It was a plug for his friend.
Answer: Art Carney lived in Tuckahoe NY at this time and Fred's gasoline station really did exist. It was a plug for his friend at home.
Answer: Because going to the gas station for a bath is funnier. This is comedy, funnier trumps making sense.
It's still a mistake.
Answer: There's no answer. He was probably joking or exaggerating, and, unlike getting water for the soup, bathing in someone else's bathroom is an inconvenience, and it might make Norton self-conscious and it would annoy Ralph. Going to a gas station does sound like something Norton would do.
Norton self-conscious? No way.
11th Sep 2021
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)
11th Sep 2021
Disturbia (2007)
Question: Even if Turner planned to stage Kale's murder as a suicide, wouldn't the fact that someone who accused a neighbor of being a serial killer, only to turn up dead only hours later make Turner an immediate suspect? I would think that most serial killers wouldn't be dumb enough to risk having the person who accused them to turn up dead in only a few hours no matter if it was staged as a suicide.
Answer: Being a serial killer, Turner is most likely a transient. When he starts to feel threatened (close to being identified as a suspect) or has committed several murders in one area without getting caught, he will sense the need to move on - relocate with a new identity. At least initially, he can portray himself as a law-abiding "gentleman" to reduce/ eliminate suspicion or buy himself enough time to flee the area and avoid getting caught.
Answer: Turner might be considered a suspect based on Kale's accusation, but there would have to be solid evidence, for which there was none. More likely, it would probably be theorized that Kale's recent erratic behavior and emotional state is what led to his "suicide" and that he had become fixated on Turner and irrationally fantasized and falsely claimed that he was a serial killer.
10th Sep 2021
Copying Beethoven (2006)
Question: Why was Beethoven depicted as an obnoxious, rude and unlikable man in this movie? I read that in the real life he wasn't such a bad person.
Answer: It's a fictional version of Beethoven. Artistic license is used to enhance the drama by embellishing Beethoven's personality, likely to show his anger, frustration, and despondency over becoming deaf. Like many similar biographical movies, it is not meant to be an accurate portrait.
7th Sep 2021
Friends (1994)
The One With Barry & Mindy's Wedding - S2-E24
Question: Why are Monica and Richard invited to Barry's wedding? Monica wasn't even invited to Barry's first wedding to Rachel, they did not know each other.
Answer: I agree with the other answers. Another possibility is, Rachel was close friends with both Monica and Mindy in high school. Mindy was likely friends with Monica, and therefore invited her to the wedding along with Rachel, knowing they were roommates. Richard has known the Geller and Green families for years and may also know Mindy's parents and was invited separately. He could be Monica's +1, or she his, but even if both were invited separately, they are still attending as a couple. Monica wasn't invited to Rachel and Barry's wedding because the girls had lost touch after high school and Monica moved to NYC.
Answer: It's never explained, and the writers probably didn't gave it serious thought, just using their presence at the wedding as a plot device. But since, as you say, Monica was not invited to Rachel's wedding, the most logical explanation is that Richard is the invitee, and Monica is his +1. Richard and Barry are both doctors and so could know one another, or perhaps Richard is friends with Barry's, or Mindy's, parents. If the latter, this would not be unbelievable, as Mindy's parents would likely be in the same circle as the Gellers, with whom Richard is close.
8th Sep 2021
The Notebook (2004)
Question: Is this true that Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams strongly disliked each other when working on this movie?
Answer: It's true. According to director, Nick Cassavetes, the two actors did not get along at all and constantly bickered during filming. Things were so bad that during one scene, Gosling wanted Cassavetes to have another actress read McAdams lines off-screen. Gosling and McAdams later overcame their animosity and dated, though their relationship ended after two years.
6th Sep 2021
Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)
Question: What happens to Ruth's son Buddy?
5th Sep 2021
Twister (1996)
Question: Did Melissa not trust Bill? He told her to take the truck and head home, but she was adamant she wanted to tag along.
Answer: It's unknown what Melissa's motive was, but probably a combination of factors. She may have felt uncomfortable about Bill being with Jo, but also wanted to show her loyalty and commitment by staying, and proving she is as strong as Jo and can tough it out. Mostly it's a plot device to drive the story and sets up a conflict for Bill between his relationship with Melissa, who he does not truly love, and with Jo, who he still cares deeply for.
4th Sep 2021
A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Question: If the military code breaking was a delusion, why did Alicia converse with and have the door opened by an MP officer where she even said, "wow you must be really important." Why was the MP there then?
Answer: There was always a basis of reality for his delusion. As I recall it, early on, Nash was actually recruited by the Pentagon to study encrypted telecommunications of foreign enemies. Nash's association with the government appears to have been limited, but it became a springboard for his extreme fantasy of working for the U.S. Department of Defense and with the unreal Agent Parcher.
11th Feb 2018
Poltergeist (1982)
Question: Why was only the Freelings' house sucked into the vortex? Since it was discovered that the developer only moved the headstones but left the bodies, shouldn't other houses that were also built over the cemetery have also been dragged in?
Answer: It seems that the majority of the activity was focusing in on the Freeling house exclusively. It's not fully explained why they were the only house affected, but there are a number of possibilities. Possibly because it's where the highest concentration of spirits were at unrest. Possibly because it could be inferred that the Freelings moved in first given Steven was involved with the company that built the community, and thus they became the first targets. And possibly because they were trying to get to Carol-Anne since she was an easy target.
Also, it is mentioned in the movie that Carol Anne was actually born in the house. That likely caused everything to focus on her.
Answer: A poltergeist haunts a person rather than a place. Though building the neighborhood over their graves is what initially disturbed the ghosts, they are fixated on Carol Anne.
26th Aug 2021
The Flintstones (1960)
Question: Was this show cancelled or simply ended?
26th Aug 2021
Inside Man (2006)
Question: Dalton Russel hides behind a fake wall in the supplies room. This would make the room smaller and items on shelves wouldn't fit the same way anymore. How wouldn't any of the staff notice this change in room size?
Answer: The hiding space was narrow and the change was unnoticeable to staff. Also, this is a large office supplies room that few people access, spend little time in, or take much notice. Therefore, its unlikely the altered space would be immediately detected. Everything was carefully planned, so the fake wall and the arrangement of the boxes and other supplies would have been considered. I have to add that it's a bit of a plot hole considering the tall, heavy metal shelving on the three sides that are loaded with supplies would take considerable time and labor to move and rearrange to accommodate building the wall and in the relatively short amount of time the robbers are in the bank. Realistically, perhaps it could be done, but probably not that quickly by one or two people.
12th Aug 2021
Back to the Future Part III (1990)
Question: Doc seemed hell-bent on destroying the DeLorean. So why did he go to the future and get a hover conversion done on the train? Why didn't he just build the train, return to his own time and then destroy the train?
Answer: He didn't return to the Old West, both of them had a desire to go to the final frontier. Their favorite author is Jules Verne, who wrote "From Earth to the Moon."
Answer: Doc was happy living in the Old West but returned to the future to collect his dog, Einstein, and he didn't want Marty to worry about him. He probably also wanted to make sure that Marty had made it safely back to his own time, to properly say goodbye, and make sure the DeLorean was never used again. He never indicated he would destroy the train, only the DeLorean. The hover conversion on the train would have been done in the Old West, not in the future.
I doubt he was able to make the train hover in the old west, whilst he could easily go to the future with it and do it there, like he did with the DeLorean. He did say he has been to the future with it, so it's logical to assume that's where he upgraded it.
Doc never says he went further into the future with the train or did the hover conversion there. If he could build a time-traveling locomotive in the 1880s, then he could create a hovering one, as he had the knowledge. Marty asks if he's going back to the future, and Doc says no because he's already been there. That could be interpreted a number of ways. It's a sci-fi movie, and there is a lot of suspension of disbelief employed here.
While the movie isn't explicit about when or where the Time Train was built, other sources do indicate its hoverconversion was done in the future. While Doc could invent a machine that was capable of time travel (the mechanics of which aren't really discussed), he had to travel to the future to convert the DeLorean and couldn't even fix the DeLorean in the past.
What 'other sources' indicate Doc travelled to the future for the hover conversion? Any fan speculation is invalid. I also don't get the argument. While Doc was unable to fix the DeLorean when Marty was in the Old West, he could, and did, in later years, build the time-travel train in the past. He could not otherwise have gone anywhere into the future to do anything. Time-travelling without the hover ability would be extremely difficult as a locomotive would be noticeable and require taking off and landing on empty train tracks. Doc would have to hide the locomotive while converting it. He would also have to know before time-travelling that the railroad tracks he took off on still existed in the future, as he could possibly arrive smashing into what became an urban development. This should be considered as both a deliberate plot hole and a plot device using "suspension of disbelief" solely intended to give the series a spectacular finale.
The comics reveal that Doc Brown traveled to 2017 in a prototype time machine and purchased materials which he brought back with him to the 1890s to use on the Time Train.
6th Aug 2021
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Question: When Indy is in the final room to get the golden idol, how does he know exactly which plates to step on? None of them have moss like the first that he pushed down with the wooden torch. They have no distinguishing features. How can he tell which ones are the safe ones?
Answer: Note how Indy only steps on the darker area surrounding the centre of each plate, but triggered the trap by pushing down the centre area. That could mean that the plates consist of two parts and only the centre part is the trigger. Thus it would've been easy to figure out that "walking on the cracks" is the savest way. Additionally, Indy might be putting on a "genius at work" show for the clumsy assistant. If tomb raiding was revealed as being rather easy, everybody would do it.
Answer: I fully agree with the other answer, and just to expand a bit: we also don't question how Indy knew to "stay out of the light" on the previous trap, or how he knows the idol is on a platform triggered by a change in weight. Clearly, he's done his homework.
Answer: Indy is an archaeologist and would have extensively researched the culture, history, customs, technology, etc. digging up any clue to how and where to find the idol. There may have been other treasure caves found with similar booby traps in place that others tried and failed to overcome. Indy was making a (literal) leap of faith that he had the correct knowledge. There is some "suspension of disbelief" employed here, where the audience accepts that Indy had somehow gained the proper knowledge.
2nd Aug 2021
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
Question: Why would Dumbledore hire Lockhart to be a professor at Hogwarts? Dumbledore knows how incompetent Lockhart is and that the DADA is cursed.
Answer: This is better explained in the book. Dumbledore, and also the other Hogwarts' staff, always doubted the narcissistic Lockhart's credentials and abilities, but no-one else would accept the job, knowing it was cursed and no instructor lasted more than a year. At the time, Dumbledore was pressed to hire a new teacher before the school year started, and Lockhart was the only option and better than nothing.
Answer: On paper, Lockheart is far from incompetent. Look at all his books. It appears he has exceptional experience of the Dark Arts and creatures such as Hag's Banshee's etc. So as far as Dumbledore knows he's the best position of the job. With regards to the job being cursed, it's been cursed for 13 years with no teacher lasting more than a year. He still needs a teacher. And all the teachers get more and more qualified as time goes on. Consider the fact that he hires ex-auror, Moody.
In the novels, Lockheart has admitted to Harry and Ron that he's a fraud. His backstory goes that all of his "accomplishments" were told to him by other wizards that actually achieved them and after he learned the whole story, he used Obliviate on them to make them forget what they did and claimed them as his own. Even the spell that he claims would work on pixies failed.
In the movie he tells them too. Nobody knew that though, not even Dumbledore when he hired him. Although some do start getting suspicious, like Snape.
Dumbledore was aware of Lockhart being a fraud as two of the wizards that had their memories erased were friends of his and was able to correctly guess that Lockhart was responsible.
I wouldn't consider Dolores Umbridge, who succeeded (the fake) Mad Eye Moody, as an improvement. She was mediocre in addition to being corrupt. The real Mad Eye, never taught, so it's unknown how well he would have done. Barty Crouch, Jr. (the fake Moody) was a dark wizard, making him an effective instructor. Lupin was an excellent teacher, as was Snape, though he didn't last a full year.
31st Jul 2021
Game of Thrones (2011)
Kill the Boy - S5-E5
Question: Ramsay talks with his father about Walda. Ramsay asks, "How did you manage it? Getting her pregnant." and Bolton responds, "I imagine you're familiar with the procedure." Then Ramsay says "Of course, but how did you find it?" to which Bolton didn't answer. So what did he mean by "find it"?
19th Jul 2021
The Nanny (1993)
Question: This might be a stupid question, but why do all three of the children speak in typical American voices? Wouldn't their speech have a British influence because of their father, and also Niles?
Answer: Children's brains and language skills are still developing at that age and they adapt to the environment they live in. My former boss was born in England and moved to the US at about eight years old. She completely lost her British accent by her teens, even though her parents still spoke as typical English citizens. A Japanese co-worker and his wife, also Japanese, spoke English as their second language. Their two children learned both English and Japanese simultaneously while growing up and spoke each language with the appropriate accent.
Answer: Kids tend to take on the accident of where they live. I once had a British student who lost his accent after a couple of years in the US.
Not just where they live, but also after their peers (who live there, but you know what I mean).
Answer: Not necessarily. Their late mother being American would've probably made the most impact on their speech, considering most kids spend most of their early years more with their mothers than fathers.
Gracie is young enough that she doesn't remember her mother. The episode "I Don't Remember Mama" was about this.
26th Apr 2018
Friends (1994)
The One With Rachel's Crush - S4-E13
Question: Rachel meets Joshua at work. She goes back home after work and as she enters home announces: "I have the best job in the entire world" and keeps on repeating Joshua's name and enjoys it when suddenly Ross gets upset about it and says "hello?" which implies that "I am sitting right here, and you shouldn't be making me jealous." She answers "hi" apologetically. My question is: what right does Ross have to get upset? they're not in a relationship.
Answer: True, but they've not been broken up all that long and are still friends - it would be kind of Rachel to at least not flaunt her latest love interest in his face.
Answer: Plus, Ross acting like an entitled arsehole is a constant in the show, his behaviour regarding Rachel and her love life outside of him is wildly inappropriate on many occasions.
As a man who had complete security in his life until his wife announces lesbianism and ends in divorce, I think his paranoia regarding relationships and behaviour in the show are justified. It's all well and good to say he should be over it, but Rachel's actions inside and out of the relationship don't help him.
Answer: Rachel was being insensitive when gushing about Joshua, and it hurt Ross. Though they became friends again, Ross never stopped loving Rachel and felt she also caused their split and then played the victim. Rachel seemed more oblivious than apologetic when saying, "Hi," back to Ross, and was in denial about still loving him and her part in the breakup. She was equally jealous when Ross started dating Emily and never expected him to move on so quickly. She told Monica that she always believed they'd someday get back together.
20th Jul 2021
The Towering Inferno (1974)
Question: I read that there was a feud between Paul Newman and Steve McQueen. What was the reason behind their feud in the first place?
Answer: Mainly it was about egos (mostly McQueen's) and a professional rivalry, not only as top movie stars, but also as auto racers. McQueen considered himself a superior driver to Newman, even though they never competed against each other. When McQueen was considered to co-star with Newman in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," McQueen wanted top billing, then dropped out when he wouldn't receive it, even though Newman was considered the bigger star. In "The Towering Inferno," McQueen supposedly obsessed over how many lines he had compared to Newman.
Expanding on this: McQueen's demand for top billing continued on this film (as did William Holden's, but he was never a serious candidate), which is why the end result was "staggered": McQueen's name was to the left but lower, while Newman's was higher but to the right, so both had top billing depending how one read it (left-to-right, or top-to-bottom). Studies have shown that the name audiences tend to see first is the one on the left, regardless of staggering, so McQueen may have "won" here.
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Answer: At any competitive college, university, academy, etc, there are only so many applicants accepted each year to maintain a program's quality. There would be many other candidates elsewhere who are also applying to Starfleet Academy, in addition to those four. This is also a plot device to showcase Wesley's role on the show and how he deals with competition, rejection, and not always being the smartest person. It's also a reason to explain why someone his age would still be on the Enterprise rather than moving on to higher education. (I just saw this episode again, and Lt. Chang does say only one candidate is being chosen from that specific location, indicating there are other candidates elsewhere who are competing).
raywest ★