Question: How is it possible for everybody from other countries to know about the wager that Phileas made when the only ones who knew about were the members of the Academy of Science?
Question: If I understand correctly, Lily Potter's "love" protection no longer keeps Harry safe after the graveyard ritual, due to Voldemort getting some of Harry's blood. Why, then, doesn't Voldemort attack Harry at the Dursleys' house in the summer?
Answer: Voldemort's spell undid the Sacrificial Protection that Lily bestowed on Harry, but the Bond of Blood is a separate protection bestowed if the person sacrificing their lives is a relative. THAT spell is still renewed as long as Harry keeps returning to the Dursleys until age seventeen. Voldemort has removed one protection, but a second is still in place.
Question: The only way that the valley could be flooded by rampaging water is that a dam was broken up river. Otherwise the water rises very slowly. Does the movie explain this? If so I missed it. In which way was that river flooded?
Answer: Probably they have dismantled the coffer dam that was used while constructing the main dam. Hence, the flooding.
Good and reasonable last resort explanation - have the Coens ever addressed it?
Question: I'm confused. Palpatine wanted to use Queen Amidala to get himself voted as chancellor so he could have control over the republic. Why did he send Darth Maul after the Queen's ship when it escaped if he needed the Queen alive?
Question: When Jake and Neytiri return to Hometree, how did Tsutey know that they had mated with each other?
Chosen answer: Jake and Neytiri were holding hands and Neytiri had her hair unbraided. It is also possible that when Na'vi mate, their appearance changes slightly in a way that only other Na'vi could see.
Question: I get that the DADA role is cursed because of Voldemort being denied the role when he applied for it at Hogwarts, but why does Dumbledore not let Snape take the role like he's wanted to every year? I thought Snape was a double agent (he spies on the Death Eaters and Voldemort for Dumbledore, and he pretends to be on Voldemort's side too), so unless Voldemort decides that he wants to get rid of him for being in the role, he's okay to take it on provided he's given it, and yet every year, Dumbledore turns down his application. Is it because Snape's too involved in Voldemort's side of things or some other reason? I hope I explained it well.
Chosen answer: There are several reasons. First, the position is cursed, so there is little reason to give Snape the job when he will not last any longer than all the previous instructors. If Snape did become the DADA instructor, something could happen to him that could result in his being harmed, having to leave Hogwarts, or be otherwise incapacitated in some way; that would render him useless to Dumbledore as a double agent. Also, Dumbledore trusts Snape, but putting him in an environment where he is teaching about dark magic on a daily basis would be too tempting and emotionally compromising to someone who had been so easily seduced by the dark side. He could possibly relapse. It would be like having a recovering alcoholic work as a bartender. Of course, he does eventually become the DADA instructor, and lasted no longer than his predecessors.
In the movies it is never mentioned that DADA role was cursed by Voldemort.
This is true; though it doesn't say it's not either. With trying to fit 7 long books and years worth of pages of HP information in 2 and a half hours; as long as the movie doesn't say it's not cursed, with our knowledge, there is no problem with reporting that it is. Even directors of non-book movies do this all the time; leave background information out that helps explain things they just didn't have time so they explained it behind the scenes.
Question: In theatrical trailers, when the dwarves put Snow White on Shrek's table, he says "Dead girl off the table." In the real movie, however, "girl" becomes "broad", according to the subtitles. Is there a reason why?
Chosen answer: This is most likely because "broad" isn't too nice of a word, and children of any age could watch the trailer. Parents wouldn't want their children to copy inapropriate language, obviously.
Answer: Broad is just a slang word meaning Woman. It was historically a bad word, but now it's not.
Question: Since Loki is the son of Laufey the Frost Giant, why doesn't he look like one?
Answer: When initially found by Odin, he does. Something then acts on him that causes him to mimic Odin's more human appearance, which he then keeps until his exposure to the frost giants during the events of the film, which tips him off to his true nature. Whether this was caused by some magic inherent in Loki even as a baby or whether Odin did something to disguise the child's true origin is unrevealed.
Question: Is it true that the Jamaica bobsled team performed poorly at first during training as shown in in the film?
Answer: The real Jamaican team performed poorly throughout the Olympics and did not finish.
Question: After the dog and Prince Wendell have been switched, why does the Queen even care about having the dog (who is really Prince)? She doesn't know that Tony can talk to him, so as far as she knows, no one can understand the dog at all. Why would she be concerned?
Answer: Because if Wendell and the switched dog somehow came in contact with each other then they would switch back. She does not want to risk this happening.
Question: At the end of the scene in Brodie's comic book shop, Brodie says "cue the music." What song are Brody, Jay, and Silent Bob imitating?
Answer: Apparently it was a song that was improvised by Jason Lee and Jason Mewes. Stated on the commentary.
Question: Several times in the movie one character is able to ascertain in which hotel room another character is staying simply by asking the front desk for the room number. Was this realistic at the time the movie was made? Today, a hotel would never divulge a guest's room number to a stranger, since such information could potentially be used by burglars and/or predators to gain access to hotel rooms. Was security really that lax in the 1950s?
Answer: Not really. You could (and at some hotels are still able to) keep your room number private or you could not - i.e. you could ask the hotel staff to keep your number secret from strangers, or you could ask them to tell anyone who might ask. Not having seen this movie, I don't know how likely it would be in the situations you speak of that the hotel guest would choose the latter option- it might be a mistake.
Answer: Yes, security was that lax in the 1950s and beyond. People could acquire all kinds of information about individuals from various types of businesses. Not all were so careless, but many were or they naively didn't see a concern. In the late 1980s, I was a student at a university where a non-university person obtained his ex-girlfriend's class schedule simply by requesting it in-person from the registrar's office. Using that information, he was able to locate and fatally shoot her on campus.
Question: Will someone explain to me navigation. I have never heard of "Sou Sou West" or "Sou East by East."
Answer: There are four major directions (North, South, East and West), four minor (North East, south east, south west and north west) and 16 sub directions. Among these are South South West and South east by East. South South West is between South West and South and South East by East is between south east and east.
Question: When Alan has reached Jumanji, why were the bullet and rifle pulled into the game? They weren't from the game, but purchased by Van Pelt from a gun store.
Answer: The game is essentially "resetting reality" back to the point Alan was first sucked into the game. So it is undoing everything that has been done - including taking away the gun and bullets Van Pelt had purchased.
Answer: The gun and bullets may have been from the real world but they were Van Pelt's property. He purchased them at the gun store. Apparently the game pulls in Van Pelt and anything of his he was using to hunt Alan. It makes sense that the game would do this because Alan defeats Van Pelt by following the rules of the game. Having Van Pelt be able to simply purchase a gun in the real world and kill a player with it even after they've completed the game would be a huge cheat.
Question: Why is the man's groin blurred out in the fight-scene at the Japanese sauna? It's an R-rated movie (or unrated, depending on the cut of the film you watch), so it's not like they couldn't have shown it. The best I can figure is that it's a reference to the fact that genitals are blurred out in Japanese media due to "decency" laws. Is that what the joke was?
Answer: It is a possibility. In Japan, the showing of a person's genital area and/or pubic hair is considered obscene.
Question: If imprinting is possible for werewolves then why didn't Jacob do it to Bella? Mad Magazine pointed this out as he does this to her daughter, kind of creepy it was.
Answer: Imprinting is an involuntary mechanism. The shape-shifter can't voluntarily imprint on anybody. Jacob tried to imprint on Bella but was unable to do so and began going around looking for other girls to imprint on but, is unable to do it of his own free will.
Question: When Woody is trying to explain to Jesse, Stinky Pete and Bullseye why he was at the yard sale before Al finds him, Stinky Pete interrupts him. Why?
Answer: As we learn later, Stinky Pete has his own agenda. He's seizing on the fact that Woody was being sold as a way to convince Woody to go to the museum.
Answer: In order to stop Fogg from completing the journey, his rivals at the Academy wired (telegraphed) details to confederates in the countries he visited with instructions to waylay him.