Question: Why is the Skipper so superstitious? In the Season 1 episode "Waiting for Watubi," the Skipper thinks he's cursed, and in the Season 3 episode "Up at Bat," Gilligan gets bitten by a bat, and the Skipper thinks Gilligan will turn into a vampire. For a level-headed man, this seems quite strange.
raywest
17th Nov 2024
Gilligan's Island (1964)
Answer: Sailors are also very superstitious for various reasons, and through the adventures the Skipper had while on the open sea (including his service in WW2) and before beginning the tour business with the Minnow, the Skipper would have made his superstitions a huge part of his life and would have been easily susceptible to superstitious beliefs.
Answer: The Skipper never thought Gilligan would turn into a vampire. When the bat flew out, that's when Gilligan said, "I'm going to turn into a vampire." When his odd behaviour started up, the Skipper began to believe it.
15th Nov 2024
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Question: To create a horcrux, a witch or wizard must first split their soul by intentionally and deliberately murdering someone without any guilt or remorse for their actions. Since Tom Riddle murdered countless people, shouldn't his soul have been split into more fragments rather than just seven?
Answer: The other answer is spot on, but I would add that it requires casting a specific spell while simultaneously killing someone to make horcrux and split one's soul. (The movie downplayed this and the spell name is never revealed in the book.) Professor Slughorn had told the young Tom Riddle that the act involved dark magic, though he did not provide details. Riddle apparently discovered what that dark spell was to make horcrux.
Answer: Next to the act of murder, one also has to purposefully turn an object into a horcrux in order to make a horcrux. Your soul splitting doesn't automatically send that piece of soul into an object; your soul will be split but still connected to your body. As for when Voldemort's killing curse rebounded onto Harry, his real body was destroyed, and his fragmented soul shattered because it was frail and unstable, causing a piece to detach and lodge onto Harry.
The question wasn't about how to make a Horcrux. It was about why each murder Tom committed didn't shatter his soul more. For example, if Tom killed 11,000 people, then shouldn't his soul have shattered into 11,000 pieces?
I think your soul splits when you kill someone, but doesn't split again when murdering someone else (which part would?). Once you murder, your soul is split and will stay split until you detach a part of your soul. It's not like Tom could have saved up on fragments of soul by killing and then put pieces of his soul into objects one after the other. He had to murder and then purposefully put that split part into an object, and only then be able to split his soul again with another murder.
To further clarify, according to J.K. Rowling, random killing damages a wizard's soul, but does not split it. That requires using Dark magic and deliberately storing the soul shard into a vessel, making it a horcrux. Riddle chose six significant objects for the horcruxes and left one soul piece in his body. When Riddle cast the Killing Curse at baby Harry, it rebounded and simultaneously destroyed Riddle's body and sheared off another soul piece. Harry's forehead scar was an accidental seventh horcrux that Riddle never knew existed. It was Lily Potter's love and sacrificing her life to save Harry that protected him from the killing curse.
15th Nov 2024
Flightplan (2005)
Question: I don't see any motive for her to open the coffin, for which only she had the lock combo. Her motive was to find her daughter. Her daughter could not possibly have gotten into the coffin. This makes the plot too loose, in my opinion. It bothers me every time I try to re-watch the movie to find a reason why she would search the coffin. Or does the plot suggest here that she gave the combo to Julia, Julia somehow climbed down there, somehow found the coffin, opened it and climbed in? (00:59:10)
Answer: By this time, Kyle believed Julia was not hiding but forcibly taken. She is investigating every possible place, however improbable, where her daughter might be, including the casket on the off chance someone obtained the lock code or there was an alternate default code. As it turned out, the funeral home was in on the scheme. Kyle suspected Julia could be drugged or dead and her body hidden. Kyle's an aerospace engineer who's methodical, determined, detail-oriented, and a problem solver. After systematically eliminating one possibility, she moves on to others.
13th Nov 2024
Ad Astra (2019)
Question: When Roy travels across the Martian landscape, he is in an enclosed buggy. Why aren't these used on the Moon, where they would offer greater protection?
Answer: Unlike the moon, Mars has an atmosphere, weather, and winds that can reach up to about 60 mph. Mars also has severe dust storms that quickly cover objects in a thick, gritty layer of toxic Martian soil. An enclosed rover protects the driver, equipment, and other sensitive instruments from the elements. This is actually a concern for when humans eventually colonize Mars.
13th Nov 2024
The X-Files (1993)
Never Again - S4-E13
Question: When Mulder is on the phone with Scully and hears that she has a date, why does he make the punching motions after they hang up? Is he jealous?
Answer: It's not about Scully having a date. Mulder, who is vacationing at Graceland, Elvis Presley's home, is frustrated when Scully calls and says the Pudovkin investigation is not an X File case and she's turned it over to the Philadelphia office. After hanging up, Mulder humorously expresses his frustration by mimicking Elvis' karate moves. Many Elvis imitators do this as a parody.
13th Nov 2024
Pretty Woman (1990)
10th Nov 2024
Young Frankenstein (1974)
10th Nov 2024
A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
Question: When the Baxter House is lit on fire, everybody comes out the front door and is promptly shot. Was there no rear exit or window?
Answer: A house that size likely had a back door and windows. Being made of wood, the fire could spread quickly, and the flames may have blocked the rear exit, as well as thick smoke making it difficult to breathe and see where one is going. The front door was probably the closest exit. Of course, the point of the plot is that they all get shot when they run out.
10th Nov 2024
Face/Off (1997)
Question: Did Nicolas Cage and John Travolta get along while working on this movie? Was there any feud between them?
Answer: There's no report of any conflict, and they spent two weeks working together before filming started to develop their characters. There are some reports of a Face/Off sequel being made with the original cast, but nothing is verified. If true, the two must be on good enough terms to be willing to work together again.
10th Nov 2024
Angels & Demons (2009)
Question: What was the point of putting the first murder victim somewhere they were unlikely to be found?
29th Oct 2024
Midsommar (2019)
6th Nov 2024
The Godfather: Part II (1974)
Question: I see this as an (unavoidable) mistake, but during Vito's path across the rooftops prior to killing Fanucci, the buildings, bricks, and chimneys are obviously old (brick wear, missing mortar, patches). When, if the scene took place at that time, most of the rowhouses in NYC would have been built circa 1890-1920, so they would have been essentially brand new. Does that seem accurate?
Answer: I just spot-checked real estate in the filming location (per web sources, Little Italy in NYC). Similar to my old Italian neighbourhood in Philly, the houses I checked were built in 1905, 1905, and 1910 (the exteriors are similar, like my 1917 Philly row house). So I think the obvious age of the buildings in the movie was an unavoidable inconsistency.
Answer: I would say not entirely accurate. New York tenement buildings were built as early as the 1820s, but the majority in the mid-to-late 1800s, so many were fairly old during this scene's timeframe. There are numerous other factors related to that era, including poor maintenance, inferior building materials, shoddy construction practices, lax government regulation, inspections, oversight, etc. All would contribute to the tenements' poor condition.
29th Oct 2024
The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
Question: What is Jason holding when the helicopter arrives? A child? From where?
Answer: The French lady's child, who was trapped in the cab when they were all heading to the library. Emmy Rossum was translating for her when the cop was trying to get her out. Hope that answers your question.
29th Oct 2024
Halloween Kills (2021)
Question: Why would the police cover up Hawkins' accidental shooting of Pete McCabe in the 1978 flashback?
Answer: As you point out, it was a cover-up, probably to protect their reputation and one of their own. They would want to avoid any negative publicity, public outrage, and mistrust. It could also create accusations of police incompetence, leading to a civil lawsuit, firings, internal investigations, etc. There may be other things going on that the police want to avoid being scrutinized too closely.
27th Oct 2024
General questions
When a show has locations that are shown often enough, but not in every episode, how is that set handled? Is it created and put aside somewhere, or rebuilt whenever needed? For example, Niles' apartment in "Frasier," Deacon and Kelly's apartment in "King of Queens," Walter Skinner's office in "X-Files," the Mighty Weenie restaurant in "Family Matters," etc.
Answer: Sets not used in every episode are usually built in sections that can easily be dismantled and reassembled as needed. I've noticed in some shows that one shell structure is often repurposed into whatever is needed. In "Friends," one set was used for Chandler's work office, also as Rachel's office at Ralph Lauren, for Joey's new apartment when he briefly moved out, etc. The same with "Roseanne," where Crystal's house was also used for David's home, for "The Fifties Show" episode, etc. Darlene's Chicago apartment set was also used for Becky and Mark's Minneapolis apartment.
20th Oct 2024
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998)
Question: At the end, when Julie gets to her new home, she taps the newly sold sign, then she gets her mail and goes inside. How does she have mail if she just started living there?
Answer: Also, we are led to believe that this entire ending is a dream sequence, not unlike the ending to the previous film. And, as we all know, in dreams nothing really matters. Also, we simply do not know how long it has been since Julie and Ray moved in. Maybe they just haven't taken the sign down yet.
15th Oct 2024
Beetlejuice (1988)
Question: Was Jane lying when she said that she decorated the Maitland home (she wanted Lydia to mention this to her parents)?
Answer: Jane appears to be taking credit for what Barbara and Adam had done. At the beginning of the movie, the Maitlands are discussing the home projects they've been working on. Adam has been refinishing cabinetry while Barbara has chosen wallpaper, and they're spending their two-week vacation working on the house.
Answer: It's never answered in the film if she actually decorated the house for Adam and Barbara, but there isn't really any reason to doubt it.
My interpretation was that Jane was always chasing a buck. She aggressively pestered Adam and Barbara to sell the house just to earn a commission. She was hustling the Deetzes for her decorating services. Regarding Barbara and Adam, they just didn't want anyone in their beloved house, much less having it redecorated after all the work they did on it.
But if she actually did, then I wonder if they would care as much about the Deetzes remodeling the home?
This is a stretch, but maybe Jane wanted to keep the house as close to how Adam and Barbara had it, like a shrine. It's not uncommon for those who lost loved ones to try and keep things as close to what was possible.
What I meant was, why would Adam and Barbara, not Jane, be so upset about the remodeling if Jane did the decorating anyway? Granted, they apparently chose to live with it.
That was probably a comfort thing. They learned they were going to spend over a century in that house, and it would be one thing if it was closer to what they were comfortable with, but the Deetzes' style was too much for them.
15th Oct 2024
Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)
Question: How come Diana's not electrocuted like Barbara is, given she's wearing armor, and metal conducts electricity?
Answer: Probably because they are biologically different, even though Barbara had wished for similar physical characteristics as Diana. Wonder Woman is nearly indestructible. Also, the armour is Amazon-made and may have supernatural properties that insulate it against electricity. There are likely various other reasons, but it comes down to Wonder Woman being superhuman and the armour not being regular metal.
15th Oct 2024
Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
Question: When Charles is being dropped off at the Boatman, why do his friends start making siren sounds?
11th Oct 2024
The Hand that Rocks the Cradle (1992)
Question: Is there any indication that Mrs Mott knew that her husband was sexually assaulting his female patients? I doubt any pregnant woman would be pleased if she found out her husband was taking advantage of other women for his own desires behind her back.
Answer: Totally agree with the other answer, but would add that Mott's previous victims only came forward after Claire made her allegations. Many sexual assault victims fail to report crimes because they are embarrassed, think they won't be believed, fear public backlash, dread the legal process, etc. Mott, being a doctor, made it hard to prove his actions were "sexual" in nature. He was pretty subtle, leaving his victims unsure and making it difficult to prove sexual assault.
I just figured that maybe there was occasional gossip/rumours about Mott's behaviour before Claire reported it. But you are very correct - his actions would be subtle and difficult to prove. Also, the people who do these things are usually popular and well-respected, not stereotypical "creeps."
Answer: I don't think she knew. Later on, while talking to Claire, she sounds happy about him and says that he was the only one who really understood her. It's also possible that she heard occasional rumours about him, but refused to believe any of it. This happens in real life - a person will ignore numerous allegations against their spouse/partner. They don't believe it, and/or they want to cling to their ideal fantasy life. Notice how Mrs Motts thinks of her husband's death as a murder, and Claire is the "murderer."
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Answer: Many people are superstitious, regardless of age, personality, temperament, background, and so on. It's usually something they grew up with and is ingrained into their thinking. It was particularly more prevalent in the era (first half of the 20th century) that the Skipper grew up in and may have been influenced by culture, family beliefs, religion, limited education, etc.
raywest ★