Question: At the end when Thorin is fighting the Orc, he is knocked down and drops his sword. Bilbo and the others come to his aid. They are then rescued by the eagles. We never see him pick up his sword, but when he's thanking Bilbo he has it. How did this happen?
Guy
20th Mar 2014
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
7th Aug 2013
General questions
A few years back me and my dad were in a motel flipping through the channels. We came across a movie staring Bruce Willis. For whatever reason, we didn't watch much of it and went to something else, but it has always stuck out in my mind and I'd like to find it. The scene shown had Bruce Willis and Jack Black in it. To sight his gun, Bruce had Jack hold out a cigarette pack so he could shoot it. He shot off Jack Black's arm, and then killed him. What movie is this?
Chosen answer: The Jackal (1997).
20th Mar 2006
Scrubs (2001)
Question: In trivia and other places on the web people mention that JD accidentally called the Janitor by his real name, Neil Flynn. If this is true, which episode and when does he do this? It's not in the episode where he watches The Fugitive cos he doesn't mention his name then and he doesn't definitely say he was in the film. Thanks.
Answer: What you're likely thinking of is the confusion that occurred when people realised that Neil Flynn actually WAS in The Fugitive. People checked the credits of the movie, and deduced that that was his real name in the show. It wasn't, Lawrence confirmed the janitor's real name was truly Glen Matthews.
28th May 2013
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Question: Is it really possible to destroy an iron pipe with a single rock?
Answer: Sewer and drainage pipes from the 19th century until only about 40 years ago were cast iron. It is a thick but fairly brittle metal, especially if it was older and beginning to deteriorate. It is theoretically possible to rupture the pipe with a rock, although probably not as easy as it appeared. Note I said "theoretically."
Answer: Well when Andy strikes the pipe, it sounds like metal.
23rd Jul 2012
Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade (1989)
Question: When Indy gets to where the Grail is and meets the Knight, the Knight says that he is one of many brothers chosen to protect the grail, but if being in that cave with the Grail grants him immortality, what happened to his previous brothers?
Chosen answer: The other two brothers are the ones who left the tomb and traveled back to Europe. One of them is the knight Indy and Elsa find in the catacombs under Venice with the shield that has the second marker. The one left behind is the one the brothers determined to be the most worthy to guard the Grail.
24th Jul 2012
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
Question: In the graveyard scene, I'm absolutely sure that Wormtail cast the Avada Kedavra spell on Cedric, but why is everybody saying that Voldemort killed Cedric then?
Chosen answer: You're right. Wormtail did kill Cedric on Voldemort's orders. At that point, Voldemort did not yet have his body back and was unable to kill Cedric himself. Some of the confusion may come from the fact the Wormtail used Voldemort's wand to kill Cedric, which is why his ghost comes out of the wand during the fight with Harry.
Why was Voldemort unable to kill Cedric? He could kill the muggle caretaker at the beginning of the movie himself, wasn't he? He didn't have his body then.
Pettigrew had his wand.
Also, everybody believed Pettigrew to be dead at this point.
6th Apr 2012
Beetlejuice (1988)
Question: Why does Bettlejuice give Lydia some BS reason why he can't tell her his name, but them puts her through a ridiculous round of charades for her to guess it?
Chosen answer: Because he can't say his own name, therefore the charades is the only way he can get her to figure out what his name is to say it.
Why can't Beetlejuice say his own name?
18th Nov 2011
21 (2008)
Question: When Prof. Rosa asks Ben to answer a "quiz-question" in college about 3 doors of which only one has a brand new car behind it, he explains he has a chance of 33.3% of choosing the correct door. However, when Prof. Rosa opens one door and leaves Ben a new chance to choose he claims that his chances of choosing correctly have increased from 33.3% to 66.7%, but as he already knows what is behind one of the doors, the car must be behind one of the other doors. Shouldn't his chances now be 50% in stead of 66.7%?
Chosen answer: No, the 66.7% (2/3) chance, while counter-intuitive, is correct. See here for a much more detailed and thorough explanation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Hall_problem.
30th Jul 2011
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
22nd Apr 2011
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)
Question: After Harry and Ron find the sword of Gryffindor, how do they find Hermoine again? The camp had enchantments and spells around it to keep them safe and Harry had to leave the protection set up around camp.
Chosen answer: Because Harry already knew where the camp was. The protection spells they use (Harry is shown at one point casting them as well) seem to be sort of like the Secret Keeper spell. If you cast them or they are cast on you, it allows you to see through the spells. Also, don't forget that the deluminator led Ron right to the general vicinity of the camp and that the Snatcher team could smell Hermione's perfume through the spells earlier.
21st Mar 2011
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000)
Question: Why do characters refer to Langston as "Dr. Ray" instead of "Dr. Langston"?
Chosen answer: The CSI team is very close-knit and use each others first name all the time. Calling him Dr. Ray is their way of including him in the closeness of the team and still giving him the respect of his title.
24th Jun 2010
Lost (2004)
The End (2) - S6-E18
Question: I recently submitted a question about whether everyone died on the plane or on the island. The answer I got was unsatisfactory. The answer was they did not all die in the plane crash but on the island where the events in the show really did happen. If this is the case, everyone in purgatory at the end makes no sense. If they all died on the island, then where were other characters like Michael, Ecko, etc. Also how did Kate, Sawyer, Hurley, Ben, etc. end up dead and in purgatory at the end of the series? Last we saw them they were still alive on the island. Are we to assume that everyone died at the end of last season when the bomb went off? I need more info here.
Chosen answer: None of the main characters died in the plane crash. Many died on the island after the crash (Jack, Charlie, Sun, Jin, Daniel, Juliet, others), some lived on the island for an apparently long time after the crash (Hurley, Ben, Bernard, Rose) but some lived lives off the island after the crash (Sawyer, Kate, Claire, Miles, Aplert, and Lapidus). Remember that Christian tells Jack that "time has no meaning here," (in Purgatory). When everyone meets at the church, they are at the end of their lives however long that may have been and will now "move on" together. They look like they did on the island because that is the way they best remember each other.
15th Jun 2010
Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)
Question: I noticed on the box set cover when I bought this movie that it said "and introducing Tom Hardy" instead of "starring Tom hardy" as normal. Any particular reason for this? Was it just because Hardy was a relatively unknown actor in the more widespread showbiz community?
Answer: That's exactly it. Hardy had only a couple of small parts before his starring role in Nemesis. Robin Wright Penn was credited the same way for The Princess Bride, her first major role.
15th Jun 2010
Avatar (2009)
Question: Now for people who have mastered the art of nearly light speed travel, wasn't it odd that they could not have destroyed the tree of souls with missiles launched from a distance? Dropping explosives seems so primitive.
Answer: This is answered in the movie itself. The Flux Vortex area in which the Tree of Souls sits interferes with the instruments of weapons and aircraft, rendering them imprecise or unusable. This is why every time the pilots flew into the Vortex, the had to navigate by sight alone.
14th Jun 2010
Avatar (2009)
Question: All the creatures in Avatar are six-limbed but the Na'vis are four-limbed. Isn't it a fault in an evolutionary point of view?
Chosen answer: Not really. It simply means that the Na'vi split off from the common Pandoran ancestral tree much earlier in their development, before six limbs became a common element. This could also explain why the Na'vi only have one sensory appendage while most of the other life forms have two.
16th Mar 2010
Back to the Future Part II (1989)
Question: I LOVE these movies and have seen them over 100 times. But one thing I never understood was when Doc was struck by lightening in 1955 and got sent back 1885 wouldn't the Delorean be there with him?
Chosen answer: Of course it did. You're not thinking fourth dimensionally :-) Doc and the DeLorean were sent back to 1885. Doc then placed the DeLorean in the abandoned mine for Marty to retrieve in 1955. Marty then used the repaired DeLorean to travel back to 1885. So technically, during Marty's time in 1885, there are TWO DeLoreans, the one in the abandoned mine (that Doc brought back with him) and the one in Doc's workshop (the same Delorean, just older, which Marty travelled in).
16th Nov 2009
Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)
Question: When Abbot is walking down the aisle at the wedding, everyone says "Good morrow Abbot", but one guys says "Hey Abbot!" and Abbot says "I hate that guy!" Is this a reference to something? I never got the joke.
Chosen answer: The scene is an homage to the late, great comedy team, Abbott and Costello. Bud Abbott was the straight man and Lou Costello was the goofy laugh-getter. Part of their act was Costello getting frustrated trying to understand Abbott and yelling "hey Abbott" at him.
16th Nov 2009
Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003)
Question: Exactly how plausible was the jump from the skyscraper that Terry and Lara did with their suits? With those very small "wings" or whatever the proper name for those yellow extensions is that were attached to their suits, in reality wouldn't they have plummeted to the ground instead of gliding away?
Answer: Very plausible. The suits exist - they are called glide suits or wingsuits and lots more info can be found with a quick Google search.
24th Aug 2008
The Dark Knight (2008)
Question: When the joker escapes the interrogation room he has a sharp object against his hostage's neck. Is it a shard of glass or a knife? It looks like a knife, but there was a shard of glass behind him in an earlier shot (that had magically appeared).
26th Jun 2008
Back to the Future Part III (1990)
Question: When Marty is in the bar on the morning of the showdown, Seamus shows up saying something told him that he should be there, as if his future depended on it. Was he right? Did what happened that morning affect Seamus' future?
Chosen answer: Seeing as how Seamus is one of Marty's ancestors and something significant to Seamus' future DID happen that day (Marty didn't get killed), Seamus was definitely right.
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Chosen answer: It's a mistake. While Thorin does have the sword (Orcrist) throughout the flight, during the initial shot when the eagle is picking him, Orcrist is nowhere on Thorin's body. Both of the eagle's talons are in view as they roll Thorin toward the camera, and his entire body can be seen down to his boots. Orcrist is not on him.
Guy