Gavin Jackson

26th Nov 2024

Runaway Train (1985)

Question: In the film, Manny is in jail for safe-cracking and Buck is in for statutory rape (he didn't know the girl was underaged). Aren't these crimes pretty minor for both men to be in a dangerous maximum security prison in Alaska?

Gavin Jackson

Question: Deadpool knows that he is in a film, which explains why he can easily recognise everyone, including Wolverine, X-23, Johnny Storm, Blade, Ant-Man, Sabretooth, Juggernaut, and even the actors playing them. So why didn't he recognise Elektra? Jennifer Garner's popularity alone should have made it easy for him.

Gavin Jackson

Answer: Part of the novelty of knowing that he's in a film means servicing the plot, especially as a proxy for those audience members who may not be as familiar with some characters. Deadpool also does seem to know who Elektra is, as he apologises to her upon hearing about Daredevil's death, even though he just met her moments earlier.

Phaneron

Question: This is a question for all Deadpool films. Why does Deadpool bother wearing a face mask considering most of the people in the films (villains and good guys) already know his real identity and even refer to him as Wade? Is it just a pride thing or something?

Gavin Jackson

Answer: In addition to knowing he's a character in a movie, Deadpool likes to fancy himself as a superhero, and the mask is part of his branding.

Phaneron

14th Sep 2024

Wolf (1994)

Question: Was Will the one who murdered his wife, or was it Stewart in an attempt to get Will charged with murder, so he could get his job back and not have to deal with Will anymore?

Gavin Jackson

Answer: It was Stewart. The wolf, as Dr Alezais says, removes everything from a person except for the person's nature and heart. Stewart, when talking to Laura at the estate, states that she knows what happened to Charlotte, which was his subtle way of saying he had murdered her.

Answer: My take was that it was Will who killed his wife.

raywest

When Charlotte met Will in the hotel lobby about her "mistake" with Stewart, she said that she would talk to him about it. Will refused to listen and told her to keep away from him. He didn't want to be anywhere near Charlotte, and after she left the hotel, she probably went to talk to Stewart anyway. Considering the kind of person he really is, he murdered her. It was even said that there were more deaths besides her, all done by Stewart.

I also think it was Will, out of anger because she cheated on him.

Azalea

Question: Was the ill-fated Rollercoaster in the film supposed to be a working one? The owner's angry reaction to its destruction suggested that it was, but if you look closely, there were gaps in the tracks and also where was the actual rollercoaster itself. This has always confused me.

Gavin Jackson

Answer: To me, in real life, it looks like a roller coaster was already set up for demolition because of its poor conditions, and the crew was able to film it for the movie. However, in-universe, the owner kept saying they were closed. It's possible they were closed to repair the roller coaster to make it work but now it's completely destroyed and beyond repair.

Bishop73

Question: We learn in the film that Shazam and Wonder Woman are friends, and (Spoiler alert) she brings him back from the dead at the end. So, why didn't she help him during the final battle or give any other much-needed assistance during the film?

Gavin Jackson

Answer: The dinner scene, where Wonder Woman has the head of the Wizard, never happened. There's no indication they knew each other, let alone were friends. In the realm where superheroes actually do exist, there'd really be no reason why she, Superman, who is supposed to know them too, or any other hero wouldn't be there to help. So the only answer would be an unsatisfactory one that sounds pedantic: she didn't help because it's a Shazam movie and not a WW or JL movie. One could say that she and the other heroes were busy with fighting crime/battles in their own city or they didn't know they needed help. She only appears at the end, it seems, to restore the god realm. It's also been said they didn't think Gal Gadot would be available to shoot her cameo scene, so Wonder Woman may not have been in the film because of a scheduling conflict. But to me, if she was meant to be in the film, they would have secured her availability long before shooting.

Bishop73

Answer: Where did you get the idea that they are friends? The movie makes it pretty clear they have never met before.

Cause they are having dinner together near the beginning. And you still didn't answer why she didn't help.

Gavin Jackson

Answer: The other superheroes don't sit around waiting for someone to call. Batman has a city full of rogues' gallery: Joker, Penguin, Riddler, Mr. Freeze, Killer Croc, Catwoman. Wonder Woman also has the same. They're busy people! But they'll come if asked or if they find out another hero needs help.

Question: Was Kittridge a good guy or a bad guy? I just couldn't figure him out by the end.

Gavin Jackson

Answer: He's not a bad guy to the extent of murdering and plotting against the good guys, but he's not exactly morally upstanding either. Kittridge doesn't want to destroy the Entity like Ethan; he wants to gain control of it on behalf of the US government and is happy to deal with the White Widow or anyone else to achieve that end. His appearance on the train isn't especially nefarious; he's just the highest bidder.

Jon Sandys

Answer: He's either.

Question: Why does Jennifer at the end never seem surprised or even question Marty over why he is dressed as a cowboy (even though Marty's family does and Dave even comments on it)?

Gavin Jackson

Answer: Not sure why it's suggested that Jennifer knew about Doc and Marty's time-traveling. She immediately wakes up and tells Marty that she "Had the worst nightmare," and then in the truck, she starts saying, "That dream I had seemed so real. It was about us, and you got fired." She then asks Marty to confirm if it was a dream. Marty only had to inform her and show her the remains of the DeLorean because she still had the "You're Fired" paper in her pocket, neither of which Marty or Doc knew she had. At that point, it would've confirmed to her that she wasn't dreaming.

Answer: Jennifer was already aware of Doc and Marty's time-traveling, while his family knew nothing about it. She'd been to the future with Marty and Doc, and previously saw Doc wearing futuristic clothes. There's no reason she should be surprised, and Marty quickly updated her about everything soon after.

raywest

20th May 2023

Halloween (1978)

Question: Just a curiosity question, but in the scene where Michael Myers is walking around the school yard following Tommy, was Nick Castle actually wearing the mask during filming?

Gavin Jackson

Question: I'm really confused by Eddie's behaviour. Why did he suddenly decide to abandon Vincent and Carmen. And why couldn't he just take the money at the end (and maybe give it to charity if he didn't want it as Carmen suggested). Why did he unnecessarily have to turn it into an issue with Vincent?

Gavin Jackson

Answer: Because it wasn't about the money or a personal issue with Vincent. Eddie had a sudden realization about his own integrity and what he was doing (helping to rig games' outcome to skew betting odds). He wanted to win legitimately against Vincent. Earlier, he had become rather fed up with Vincent's egotistical nature and arrogance, which led to them parting ways.

raywest

19th Mar 2023

Die Another Day (2002)

Question: The Bond films have traditionally hired English directors to helm all the films (much to the annoyance of many American directors like Steven Spielberg who would love to direct a Bond film). So why with this film did they decide just once to break tradition and hire a New Zealand born director instead. I'm truly baffled.

Gavin Jackson

Answer: I'm not sure about the idea that Bond films traditionally only hired English directors. Tamahori wasn't even the first New Zealander to direct a Bond film. Martin Campbell is a New Zealander who directed "GoldenEye" in 1995 (and "Casino Royale" in 2006). The first Eon Bond film, "Dr. No" was directed by Terence Young who was Irish, who directed 2 additional Bond films. Technically, Roger Spottiswoode is Canadian, but has dual citizenship. The first non-Eon Bond film, which had 5 directors credited, had 2 Americans, a German, and a Scottish director. And the 1983 film, "Never Say Never Again" was directed by Irvin Kershner who was American. And following Tamahori, there have been Swiss and American directors of Bond films (Marc Foster and Cary Joji Fukunaga).

Bishop73

Question: I have two questions. Firstly, where did they film the scenes when Bond and Anya first encounter Jaws, it looks like the Karnak Temple to me. And secondly, why was Bond so desperate to rescue Anya at the end, considering he knew full well that Anya was planning to kill him after the mission was complete (although thankfully she changed her mind).

Gavin Jackson

Answer: First, it was indeed filmed at Karnak. Second, he rescues her because they are, for the time being, on the same side-therefore, she is an ally, and Bond won't just leave her to drown/die. I think, if he is even mindful of her promise during the heat of the moment, he would still consider it wrong to leave her behind; while the mission is on, she's a colleague in distress, and that's that. Once the mission is over, she can do what she likes, and Bond will deal with it then. (Though his surprise when she first draws the gun on him in the escape pod suggests he wasn't taking her threat seriously, so...bit of a freebie for him).

11th Aug 2022

Grease (1978)

Question: Did Sonny and Marty become a couple at the end? You see them both dancing together during the finale but for the rest of the film, there's no suggestion that they are a couple, so I was a bit confused.

Gavin Jackson

Answer: It's hinted throughout the movie that they were dating already. The Pink Ladies are the T-Birds counterparts and therefore they date within the groups. Putzie/Jan, Doody/Frenchy, Kenickie/Rizzo, Sonny/Marty. Zuko is the only one not with a Pink Lady.

11th Aug 2022

Virtuosity (1995)

Question: What exactly is the crowd chanting at the fighting match? It's sounds like "Go Rumba" or something but I can't make it out.

Gavin Jackson

Answer: They are saying "Kapow".

LorgSkyegon

Question: When we first see Alan Grant, he and his team are excavating old dinosaur bones. Given that this is a time when Dinosaurs roam freely on earth, why is he even bothering? He could learn far more from simply studying a live dinosaur than its bones. And secondly, given that dinosaurs are alive and free, who is gonna have the slightest interest in bones that are millions of years old. I considered this a goof, but I'm opened to any explanations.

Gavin Jackson

Answer: The live dinosaurs are genetically tweaked recreations, they're not the "pure" dinosaurs of the past, which would still be of great interest. Plus just like any other archaeology or historical study, there's always more to be learned about the past, and a great many people are interested in what the past has to teach us.

Answer: Agree with the other answer but would add that while to date about 1000 species of dinosaurs have been identified, it is believed there are at least 1,000 more types that existed and are still to be discovered and studied. Only a tiny fraction of the known species were cloned by In-Gen and Biosyn, and, as noted in the other answer, they are not genetically pure. Also, there is much to learn about dinosaurs' habitat, range, species evolution and decline, mating habits, health and diet, the existing climate at the time, and so on. That would be why paleontologists like Alan Grant continue digging.

raywest

Answer: The existing answers are good. In the movie, Alan Grant actually asked, "Why do we dig?" and answered his question, "Because paleontology is science [fossil animals and plants], and science is about the truth. And there is truth in these rocks." [00:20:52].

KeyZOid

16th Sep 2021

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Question: At the end when Gamora and the Good Nebula are speaking, Gamora asks Nebula what happens in the future and Nebula responds that she tried to kill her many times, but they eventually became friends. Why didn't Nebula bother to tell Gamora that Thanos killed her to get the Soul Stone. Seems odd that she left that out.

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: Nebula already alluded to Gamora being killed by Thanos earlier when she said something along the lines "You know what he does to you?" In this scene in question, Gamora is already disillusioned with Thanos and frees Nebula from captivity to battle him, thus it's not necessary to show the audience Nebula telling Gamora what Thanos did to her. She may have told her offscreen while they were on their way to find the evil Nebula.

Phaneron

Question: I am curious about one scene. After Bender gets his "stash" back from Brian, Andrew looks at Claire and shakes his head. Claire walks off and Andrew and Brian have some kind of whisper exchange and Brian then walks off. My interpretation of this scene is Andrew has just dumped Claire and Brian can't understand why he"s done it. If not, could someone explain this scene to me?

Gavin Jackson

Answer: It's rather simple. Andrew is trying to tell Claire and Brian not to go smoke pot with Bender, in addition to trying to hold back from his own desire to try it.

LorgSkyegon

Answer: Andrew and Claire were never a couple. They knew each other casually in the school hallway. They were upset that Bender would use Brian to hold his "stash." They thought Brian was too smart to do something that stupid. They were also upset at Bender for bring his stash to school and involving someone else in his scheme. They were starting to become friends at this point and disappointed at both of them.

7th May 2021

24 (2001)

Answer: It's never explained but my best guess would be that to assassinate a president-elect, they would hire a solid professional used to taking out high-profile targets who could remain anonymous. After the failed attempt he would likely have changed his face again and remained in the shadows till new work came along.

The_Iceman

Show generally

Question: Why is Tom Clancy credited as an executive producer on this show considering he passed away 5 years before the show went into production?

Gavin Jackson

Answer: As he is the author who created the Jack Ryan character that was adapted into a successful movie franchise, he could be credited as an executive producer for any TV or movie projects both before and after he died. It was announced in 2015 that the series would be produced for Amazon. Clancy died in late 2013, and he probably was involved in the series' earliest stages or discussions just prior to his death, and therefore would be credited posthumously. The title of TV or movie "executive producer" is fairly broad and can include one or more function, including securing financing, production oversight, creative input, script consultation, story concept, and more. Clancy's estate would likely continue to be involved under his name following his passing and receive profits and royalties.

raywest

While his estate would receive the profits, it's not automatic that Clancy would receive credit as a executive producer just because he wrote the novels. Authors like Michael Crichton, Douglas Adams haven't been credited as an executive producer after their death for use of their characters and works. Clancy's estate must be involved in the production in some way and rather than credit the estate, they credit the man.

Bishop73

Most likely his estate would be involved, through surviving family members, lawyers, etc. to act on his behalf in his name. No one said it was "automatic." It would have been a contract arrangement made while he was alive and that would continue posthumously. Whatever Michael Crichton or Douglas Adams did was a different arrangement for whatever reason they chose.

raywest

Nothing in your answer suggested anything about a contract arrangement (which if true would be the reason). You implied it was automatic. You said "as the author...he would be credited...for any...projects", but that simply is not true.

Bishop73

13th Oct 2020

The Frisco Kid (1979)

Question: When Avram is departing on his horse after meeting Tommy, Tommy asks him if he speaks any Mexican. Abram, who doesn't, is puzzled by the question and asks why...to which Tommy responds "Just curious." I've always assumed that Tommy was mocking him cause he was unknowingly riding south and headed for Mexico instead of West towards San Francisco. Am I right?

Gavin Jackson

Answer: Right on the nose.

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