Question: Would it really be possible to make water using the method Mark Watney uses in the movie?
raywest
8th Jan 2021
The Martian (2015)
8th Jan 2021
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)
Question: Where did Kevin get swimming trunks? I assumed they were his dad's, but the backpack only seems to carry personal items like wallet and other travel stuff. Do nice hotels provide swim trunks in the rooms? They are too big, meaning he didn't buy them.
5th Jan 2021
Broken English (2007)
Question: When Nora drinks with Nick Gable at the bar, she says "You know what Hugh Hefner says about ____? That 3 are too many and one is not enough." What's the word she said in the blank? What is she talking about? The subtitle was left out there. And from what I searched, this "Hugh Hefner" is a real person. The Wikipedia says he is an American magazine publisher. Is there a remark that became known to the public he has ever said? (00:14:10)
Answer: She appears to actually be paraphrasing author James Thurber: "One martini is all right. Two are too many, and three are not enough." Hugh Hefner was the publisher of Playboy Magazine, but he doesn't seem to be the one who made this quote.
Chosen answer: The word she says is "breasts." I've never found it attributed to Hugh Hefner though. The quote seems to have originated from the film "The Parallax View" where Gail says "They say a martini is like a woman's breast: one ain't enough and three is too many." It's been re-quoted in several different places and has nothing to do with James Thurber. She's just saying it as a joke and I think they used Hefner's name since it sounds like something he might say since he founded Playboy, but also so Nick could say "he's one to talk, he has 19 girlfriends."
There are Internet sources showing that the original quote being paraphrased is by James Thurber: "One martini is all right. Two are too many, and three are not enough."
Yes, but that's not the joke and has nothing to do with the scene. They're two different quotes and the latter one has nothing to do with Thurber's quote. His quote is not being paraphrased at all.
Yes, but the way your response is worded makes it sound as if the quote never had anything to do all with James Thurber. Brian Katcher was citing it in his response to give context to the joke's origin and how it is being paraphrased, not the joke itself.
Yes, the quote in the movie, despite not being credited to Hefner, IS NOT Thurber's quote. Brian just brought up a random quote that had nothing to do with the scene or the question.
5th Jan 2021
The Sandlot (1993)
5th Jan 2021
Family Matters (1989)
It Didn't Happen One Night - S5-E2
Question: How did Steve and Laura get a hotel room? Neither of them are eighteen years old yet. Most hotels require the room to be paid for by someone who is eighteen, if not twenty-one.
Answer: Most reputable hotels/motels would not rent a room to minors. This was a lower-end motel, which may have had lax standards and requirements, engaged in unsavory business practices, and was otherwise unconcerned about who their customers were or what they did as long as they paid their bill, probably in advance.
5th Jan 2021
Ever After (1998)
Question: There may not be a definite answer to this. If the Baroness and her daughters are noble, why did she marry Danielle's father - a wealthier common person, but still not a noble? Does she not have a Baroness title, and any land and assets from her daughters' father? Why not seek a marriage to another noble?
Answer: You're correct that there is no definite answer. Many nobles have lofty titles without necessarily possessing wealth. The Baroness may have been married to a wealthy nobleman, but as she did not have any sons, her first husband's property and/or title would have been inherited by his closest male relative (females did not inherit) possibly leaving her with little or nothing. Her first husband may have been living beyond his means, leaving little to be inherited (a common occurrence among the earlier nobility). The Baroness' lavish lifestyle eventually bankrupted Danielle's father. Marrying another wealthy nobleman would be a difficult prospect as the Baroness was older and possibly no longer capable of bearing children, in addition to having no money, making her an undesirable match to many. She married the wealthiest person (Danielle's father) she could.
5th Jan 2021
The Twilight Zone (1959)
Question: Mankind is trying to figure out what the book says. Why didn't they just ask the aliens "directly" as to what the book says?
17th Nov 2005
Titanic (1997)
Question: How did rats manage to get on board?
Chosen answer: During the several years it took to construct the ship probably, or in any of the supplies/food brought on board, or in the furniture brought on board. A single pregnant female rat can be responsible for thousands of rats in a very short space of time (the offspring are not too choosy about who they breed with).
A pregnant female rat could have made a home in a underneath a third class couch and had the other rats then all the females would have baby rats quickly.
14th Jul 2018
Mamma Mia! (2008)
17th Jan 2020
War of the Worlds (2005)
Question: So I know this was asked but I'm going to go a little deeper, How were the aliens killed by microbes/bacteria? They are so much more advanced then we are that they didn't think to protect themselves from this possible threat? They were ready for battle with the lasers how did they not think about what is in our environment?
Answer: I think the issue of they're more advanced than us therefore how would they not know about Earth's diseases is a bad assumption. Having knowledge of space travel and weaponry doesn't mean having knowledge of microbiology, even if we think it must because of our own advancements. We know when Europeans came to the Americas, the diseases they brought over were devastating to the indigenous people who had no immunity. There's a theory that the Americas never had such plagues or diseases because they didn't live in overcrowded cities like the Europeans. Had the indigenous people carried unique diseases that they were immune to, their diseases could have easily wiped out of the Europeans, despite being "more advanced." Mars may simply never had experience with plagues or diseases that required the concept of immunization or they may have thought they were protected.
Answer: They had never been to Earth and test out of the biological nature of the planet and its life. They just assumed to be protected in their machines from any hostility against them and never thought to protect themselves from the bacteria. They thought that if they would just destroy the life they wouldn't be affected by it.
So you said they had never been to Earth, but how did the machines they are using get here? If they are so intelligent and have these fancy machines how did they not think to look more closely at the life on this planet first when they brought the machines?
They didn't bring them, they sent them. A long, long time ago too. Who knows why they didn't think of it? That's just the story. They want the planet and kill everything on it to gain it. Why study an inferior species?
2nd Nov 2020
Fifty Shades Darker (2017)
Question: When Ana's car is vandalized, shouldn't there be cameras in the parking garage to show who did it and how they got in to the garage?
Answer: Considering that this is a private residential garage and not a public pay-to-park one, it would be reasonable to assume that there should be multiple security cameras throughout. Christian Grey is a particularly high-profile person who is always heavily guarded. There should be cameras aimed at where his vehicles are parked.
Answer: I ran a parking garage located at city hall and there was only one camera present, which was pointed at the booth/exit gate. There were never cameras in the garage to see accidents or vandalism. Plus, the recordings were never saved for more than 24 hours unless someone requested the recording be pulled before there were deleted.
29th Dec 2020
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966)
Question: There is something I don't understand about Linus in this special. He is flattered when Sally flirts with him by saying he says the cutest things, and that he's so intelligent. Linus usually rejects Sally's feelings whenever she flirts him. Why should this be any different?
Answer: From what I've seen, usually Sally is often annoying Linus with her flirting when he has nothing in common with her, or he's just trying to do something to help her and she tries to make it into more. Here, Sally's comments make Linus think she believes in the Great Pumpkin too, or is at least interested in hearing more about it. It's more that he's excited she likes the same thing as he does. Later in the pumpkin patch, he's happy she's there because he wants to share the experience with someone, not because he has any feeling towards Sally.
23rd Dec 2020
Ever After (1998)
Question: When the Evil Stepmother wakes up Danielle (who is hungover, from being with Henry and the gypsies the night before), and asks Jacqueline to boil water, why? And what was done with it? Nothing was ever explained about the boiling water. I don't believe Evil Stepmother had Jacqueline boil water to make their breakfast with. She wouldn't have relented that easily. The very next scene has Danielle getting water from the well, looking fine.
Answer: Near the beginning of the movie after Danielle comes back from whipping apples at Henry, the stepmother and sisters are having breakfast. At the beginning of the scene Marguerite says, "I wanted one four minute egg, not four one minute eggs and where in GOD'S NAME IS OUR BREAD!" Therefore the boiling water was probably to make hard boiled eggs for their breakfast.
Answer: I think the boiling water part was to actually boil water for the breakfast.
Answer: Disagree. The Stepmother says it, in too resolutely a manner as if she has a specific purpose for the boiling water. As if it will be used as a punishment on Danielle, somehow. Btw, it can't be related to the whipping, either, as that doesn't happen till a few scenes later. Script error?
Probably not a script error but something explaining this may have been edited out post-filming. It's typical in movies that filmed scenes are later deleted entirely or partially edited during post-production for a variety of reasons-to cut down the film's running time, speed up the action, etc. As a result, it often leaves small plot inconsistencies.
23rd Dec 2020
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)
Question: What is surrounding the famous Jell-O mold? Is it shredded carrots?
23rd Dec 2020
Star Wars (1977)
Question: Did the feud between Anthony Daniels and Kenny Baker begin during the filming of this movie?
Answer: Kenny Baker stated that there was never an actual feud between them, though they were never good friends. Baker said Daniels never seemed to get along well with anyone on the Star Wars set. Daniels has since said that he didn't want to respond to Baker's comments.
23rd Dec 2020
Dante's Peak (1997)
Question: Why is the rescue pilot helicopter such a selfish person? He complains about working over lunch, refuses to embark on a search-and-rescue mission without hiking his rates, and even extorts desperate townspeople trying to evacuate on his helicopter for all their money. Why was he such a greedy and insensitive egotist?
Answer: Because the character is written to be the stereotypical antagonist whose sole purpose is to create the obligatory plot conflict. This was such a silly, unrealistic, and all-around bad movie, that the two-dimensional villain guy fits right in. I live in Washington and remember when Mt. St. Helen's erupted. Dante's Peak, which was based on it, was nothing like the real-life event.
23rd Dec 2020
A Christmas Carol (2009)
Question: Why was the scene of Ebenezer and the Ghost of Christmas Past seeing Belle and her husband deleted from the movie?
Answer: This scene is cut from most adaptations (the 1935 and 1984 movies being two of the only ones that include it). It is most likely cut because it doesn't directly involve Scrooge, and only serves to show what happened to Belle after she broke up with Scrooge. Since it doesn't directly involved Scrooge, it was probably deemed worthy of cutting to bring down the runtime.
Answer: Probably to make the movie's overall length shorter and not every movie version is going to be the same. It is common for films adapted from books to cut scenes and characters or otherwise streamline the plot. Disney family films particularly have shorter, simpler, and age-appropriate story lines, designed for kids who tend to have briefer attention spans. A shorter run time also means the movie can be shown more times per day in theaters during the busy holiday season, increasing profits.
23rd Dec 2020
Die Hard (1988)
Question: If the guy at the reception desk knew that the only ones left in the building were on the 30th floor, why did he tell John to use the screen?
Answer: Most large companies, particularly hi-tech or multinational ones, require visitors to check-in, especially afterhours. By having John search for Holly's name, it can be verified that he actually knows someone who works there, that there is an actual employee with that name, and otherwise assess whether John is a legitimate visitor. This scene's real purpose, however, is for plot exposition. John learns from the monitor that Holly now goes by her maiden name (Gennero) rather than her married surname. We see John's annoyed reaction to learning this, which sets up a later confrontation between him and Holly over their troubled marriage.
Answer: Any answer is speculation; but a simple explanation is he may have forgotten the only people left were there for the Xmas party until John mentioned the 30th floor. The guard also seems fairly proud of their new high-tech touchscreen system so he might have just had John use it to show off how nice the building is.
Answer: Most likely he just wanted to showcase a nifty (by 80s standards) piece of technology to a visitor.
Answer: The party was on the 30th floor and John was asking for a specific employee, his wife. He had no idea where she was exactly.
18th Dec 2020
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (1996)
Question: Is Miles even alive? He was cut from the show with no explanation, after he found out Salem wasn't a real cat. Then, in season 7, it was reported that somebody with his surname was shot.
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Answer: According to Internet sources, yes, it's possible to do this. Here's one link with more information: https://www.vox.com/2015/10/7/9465463/the-martian-science-explained.
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