Question: In the opening action scene, while Bond is fighting the terrorist on the top of the train, Moneypenny says "I do not have a clean shot." She has already been communicating with him on radio, why doesn't she just tell him to get out of the bloody way?
Question: In more than one scene, various officers are wearing some sort of necklace, apparently permissible additions to the uniform. They are of several different designs. What are they, and what do they represent?
Answer: They appear to be versions of a Hawaiian lei. During ceremonies and celebrations, it is permissible to wear pins, ribbons, and other items as a show of respect or support.
Question: Can inverting a plane completely upside down and then turning it 180 degrees truly keep it from going down in a sharp nosedive and "gliding" to safety? Seems rather far-fetched but made for a very interesting exciting movie focal point.
Chosen answer: Popular mechanics wrote an article covering this. In short, inverting a passenger jet is certainly doable, but the specific chain of events seen in the film are more of a stretch. Possible, but...challenging, to say the least!
Question: Did one of the church ladies in the "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" scene, poop herself? The one with the floral shorts. Watch at the end when she is walking out of the church. (00:25:15)
Answer: The marks could be from when they were sliding across the pews.
Answer: 100% period! If you watch from the beginning of the scene, you'll see the stain slowly growing, also it's not on the side of her shorts, is in-between her legs, and eventually down the back.
Answer: Period shorts.
Question: If the island sinks underwater at regular intervals, then what happens to the tiny elephants, giant bees, etc (and the whole ecosystem) while the island is underwater?
Answer: There is a deleted scene on the DVD/Bluray where they attempt to give an explanation. Kailani asks "What happens to the animals when the island sinks? They can't all die!". Alexander replies "Even the mammals develop quasi-amphibian characteristics. They just burrow below the ground's surface and absorb the oxygen through their skin."
Question: What are we supposed to believe at the end of the film? Or is it deliberately left ambiguous? My mum had this theory that Pi made up the animal story to escape the reality of his ordeal. What do you think about the ending?
Answer: It's completely up to the viewer to decide. There's no right or wrong answer.
Question: What is the significance of the birth mark that keeps jumping between characters as time goes by?
Chosen answer: Jim Broadbent's publisher character Cavendish has one but it is very easy to miss. It can be seen for a split second when he is about to get into bed as a young man with Ursula. The Comet is the subtle link, but each protagonist is more overtly linked by their actions or what they leave to history. Frobisher reading Adam Ewing's Novel. Luisa Rey reading Frobisher's letters and playing his Cloud Atlas Quartet. Cavendish reading a bound copy of Luisa Rey's Novel while on the train. Sonmi's fellow fabricant watching and being inspired by the movie that was made about Cavendish's adventure. All their actions culminate in the redemption of Tom Hanks in the final story.
Question: Since Blue Falcon is an older character... Is Captain Falcon from the F-Zero games based off him? The similarities are great.
Chosen answer: No. Other then the color blue, and falcon in their names, there is nothing indicating Captain Falcon was inspired by Blue Falcon.
Answer: The Blue Falcon was a Saturday morning cartoon series that ran during the late 1970's.
Question: I don't remember if it was mentioned in the movie, but are the three stooges brothers or friends?
Answer: In the film, they grow up as friends, but it is a bit misleading, considering they were all babies put on the doorstep together. That WOULD make one confused as to the answer to that question.
Question: At the bank I see Obama on the 50 bank note. Who is on the 1,000? I saw other denominations, but no clear shot of those people, but does anyone know who else is on various denominations?
Question: Towards the end of the film, Heather steals the Seal from inside of Leonard, and we see him burn up. But the shot goes noticeably out of focus when this happens. What gives? The scene appears to be CG, so it makes no sense for it to go so badly out of focus. Were they just trying to cover up a dodgy effect?
Answer: I believe your theory is correct, it appears to go out of focus to help cover up some unconvincing CGI. The final explosion looks very cartoonish.
Question: The guy who was sent back in time to run the loopers, Abe, is he the same person as Kid Blue but just his older future self?
Chosen answer: Writer/director Rian Johnson has stated that he didn't write the script with the intention of having Abe and Kid Blue be the older and younger versions of the same character, but that he likes the widespread fan theory that they are, acknowledging that the dynamic he wrote for the two characters very much lends itself to that interpretation. So that's an official "No, but it's a cool idea".
Question: When Maggie asks Barney if he still thinks about Billy after his death, he says "We keep it light until we have to get dark. Then we go pitch black." What exactly does Barney mean by this?
Question: How did Io die and why didn't Gemma Arterton reprise her role? If she was resurrected by Zeus at the end of the first movie, why couldn't he do it again?
Answer: No particular reason, she was filming Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters. The producers of the movie thought it would be easier to say she died, rather than recast her.
Question: When trying to find a way to rescue the hostages, why pose as a film crew? Why not as a bunch of tourists?
Answer: A film crew is more credible than a group of tourists being involved in this type of activity. Tourists' behavior would be more limited and subject to being noticed by authorities if they acted in a unusual manner. A film crew would have access to more out-of-the-way locations, and if they acted suspiciously, could pass it off as it being part of making a movie.
Question: Is Griffin always naked? Because his clothes (glasses) are visible but he is not.
Answer: There's a scene where he's wearing swim trunks which are visible, but he gets embarrassed when they're pulled down and he runs away. Obviously just meant to be a gag, but if the thought of people "seeing" him naked embarrassed him, one would think he must normally be dressed in clothes that can't be seen.
Question: Can someone please explain the photos in the yearbook? It seems like it was the gang in 1999, but they never posed for those photos in the first American Pie.
Chosen answer: They have been friends for a long time. They had plenty of time to take pictures. We only see them on screen for a few hours of their lives spread over a short while.
Question: In all the articles I have read, Booth shot Lincoln then jumped out of the box into the audience below, spraining his ankle. He managed to escape because the audience thought it was part of the act. In the movie the show is interrupted by the Manager coming onto the stage to announce that Lincoln had just been shot - no disruption during the show until then. Is this a goof or not?
Answer: Lincoln was shot at Ford's theater while attending the play Our American Cousin. The interruption by the manager to announce that Lincoln had been shot was during a different play that Tad Lincoln was watching at the time in a completely different theater.
Question: Why doesn't Kay kill Anderson after he grabs her and takes the elevator up to Ma-Ma? Or at least, why doesn't Ma-Ma kill her when Kay comes in with her? They were intent on killing the Judges and didn't care about the consequences. So what was Ma-Ma hoping to accomplish having her as a hostage that she couldn't try to accomplish without one? At this point, she already had the 4 crooked Judges on their way.
Answer: Kay wanted to punish her for what she did to him earlier. Ma-Ma wanted leverage against Dredd should he get past her Judges.
Answer: Because Bond is fighting to the death with a man who's trying to throw him off a train. He can't exactly step out of the way.
Brian Katcher