Question: At the beginning it's seen that the autopilot knew about the whole "meteor field" in front of Avalon, as the rocks are visible on the projection of the ship right before the autopilot converts energy to main shield. It even "saw" the big meteor that hit Avalon. So why didn't the autopilot fly around and then return to the original heading? (00:02:27 - 00:03:00)
raywest
29th Jul 2020
Passengers (2016)
Answer: The ship was traveling far too fast surely to change course in time, at half the speed of light.
25th Jul 2020
Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Answer: Was this bought on by her husband dying or something she always had?
20th Jul 2020
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
Question: Why did Hermione take her time turner with her to Hagrid's hut with Harry and Ron? She wouldn't need it.
Answer: In the book, Hermione had to receive special permission from the Ministry of Magic to use the Time Turner and then had to abide by strict rules on how and when to use it and to keep its use a secret. As noted in the other answer, she would keep the Turner with her at all times to prevent it from being found and misused by other students (like the Weasley twins). For the purpose of the movie, Hermione is more prominently shown wearing it which is meant to be a clue to the audience about its existence and purpose.
14th Nov 2019
General questions
Many actors and actresses have openly admitted that they hated the movies they starred in. If they felt that way, why do they agree to be in them?
Answer: There could be a handful of reasons. Perhaps they entered the project believing it could have been a good movie, but later realised the end product wasn't good or wasn't what they were expecting. Maybe the studio interferes and it goes through reshoots or rewrites. Or maybe they didn't really have that much investment in the project to begin with and were only doing it for the money.
Answer: Another possibility is to try to diversify and/or avoid being stuck in a particular type of role. For example, Daniel Radcliff did not want to be known forever as Harry Potter, so got involved in other types of movies (more adult roles) in order to continue having a career as an actor. (I'm not claiming that he didn't like the new roles - I'm only giving an example of why actors try to move on).
Answer: Because they were contracted by the film company or studio and had to be in the movie whether they wanted to or not. A classic example is Val Kilmer, who didn't want to be in Top Gun, but was contractually obliged to. https://news.sky.com/story/val-kilmer-i-didnt-want-to-be-in-top-gun-but-begged-to-appear-in-reboot-11977483.
Answer: To expand on the other fine answers, actors will take roles in mediocre movies solely because they need the money. They have to support a lavish lifestyle or their careers have peaked and, no longer being offered plum roles, take any job they can get, often in low-budget horror or mediocre sci-fi movies.
Answer: Some actors will accept almost any role in order to work under a particular well-known/famous director or alongside a superstar, hoping to become better performers via the experiences and, in turn, get better offers in the future. (It doesn't always work out, so there may be regrets).
22nd Jul 2020
XXX (2002)
Question: Does the word 'Ahab' mean anything?
Answer: Captain Ahab is the main character in the book "Moby Dick" where he's obsessed at finding the white whale that bit his leg off.
So are there any similarities between the 'Ahab' rocket's mission and the Moby Dick Ahab character other than the shared name?
It doesn't seem so, but often times "Ahab" is used to describe someone vigilantly set about completing a task, or in this case an object (although it's usually said without regards to how everything ended for Ahab).
Answer: In Hebrew, "Ahab" means "uncle" or "my father's brother." In the bible, Ahab was an idol-worshiping ruler in the "Book of Kings." In literature, Ahab was the revenge-obsessed captain in Moby Dick whose sole purpose was to kill the white whale. The Ahab drone had a singular target like Captain Ahab, so that might be the inspiration for it being called that.
22nd Jul 2020
Pretty Woman (1990)
22nd Jul 2020
Pretty Woman (1990)
Question: Why exactly did Edward need a date so badly for the week? He made a big deal about it to his ex-girlfriend earlier in the movie about her going with him to something. Did he just not want to go alone or was there something that I missed?
Answer: Edward always needed to project a certain image of success, including having a beautiful woman by his side. His previous girlfriend dumped him because she was fed up with him treating her as nothing more than someone to cater to his needs and to be a prop to aid his business deals. He hires Vivian for the same reason and to charm the men he wants to conduct business with. Presumably, he would find a new girlfriend later on, but needed someone in the immediate interim to fill that role.
21st Jul 2020
Star Trek (1966)
For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky - S3-E8
Question: Dr. McCoy stays on the planet Yonada as one of Yonada's people, but doesn't change his Starfleet uniform to what the people of Yonada are wearing. Why not? He chose to stay and no longer wanted to be on the Enterprise.
Answer: There's no explanation. He may not have completely adjusted to living there or gotten around to getting new clothing. He was also still a member of Star Fleet and would wear his uniform until he formally resigned. TV shows back then were cheaply made and rather lax about details like that. They may simply have deemed it unnecessary to change McCoy's costume. It could also be interpreted as foreshadowing that he would return to Star Fleet. Also, in all the Star Trek series, miscellaneous characters would often wear only one outfit, even though the story may take place over many days. In the early days of TNG, Counselor Troi wore the same outfit in nearly every episode until she started wearing a uniform later in the series. The practical logistical reason for a character wearing one costume is that it maintains continuity for the post-production editing process.
20th Jul 2020
Timecop (1994)
20th Jul 2020
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
18th Jul 2020
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Question: When Elliot grabs Gertie's doll and tosses it to Mike, he says, "Do it, Mike. We have to." What does Mike start doing with the doll that brings Gertie to tears?
18th Jul 2020
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
18th Jul 2020
Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990)
Question: Why don't we ever see Maryann, the girl from the pilot, in other episodes?
Answer: It's typical for TV shows to undergo changes and be retooled after the initial pilot episode. Some characters are deleted while others are added, depending on how producers evaluate what does and doesn't work, how test audiences react, how well the actors work with one another, cast salaries, and so on. The Marianne character was probably dropped for one of those reasons and the Dylan character was added later.
17th Jul 2020
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
17th Jul 2020
Aliens (1986)
Question: When the Marines first enter the hive and encounter the cocooned colonist, at what point would she have been trapped there before the chestburster emerged?
Answer: As seen in the first Alien movie, once infected, the gestation period seems to be a matter of a few days. However, considering that Newt appeared to have been alone for a period of time, the colonists may have been cocooned for a longer period before the alien queen "impregnated" them.
Answer: No one can say for sure. In the first movie I don't think we really know how long Kane had the facehugger on him before they rescued him, so with this colonist, she could have been there for months.
17th Jul 2020
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
12th Jul 2020
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
Question: When Katniss goes in for her individual assessment, Peeta is exiting the room after finishing his and he seems to be in a daze while walking out, almost seemingly pretending not to acknowledge Katniss walking in. Was that intentional as to not give any hints to Katniss about what he did (painting Rue) too early or to not raise any kind of suspicion to Plutarch et al watching?
Answer: There's no definitive answer to this. It appears that Peta is non-verbally signaling to Katniss that there is something ahead she might react to rather than pretending not to acknowledge her. There is no reason why he would not acknowledge her or be concerned about raising anyone's suspicions. He and Katniss are supposed to be engaged, so it would be expected that they would have this type of connection and communication.
14th Jul 2020
The Sound of Music (1965)
Question: Did they use blue screens for this movie? I was watching it recently, and certain scenes looked like the distant background was fake, such as the nighttime scene when Captain Von Trapp confesses his love for Maria in the gazebo, the trees in the far background look superimposed, but I can't tell if that's because of the lighting.
Answer: Although bluescreen was used at the time, it was a photochemical process and not that reliable. For the scene you're describing, it was likely shot in a studio with a painted background. For more expansive night scenes, they shot them "day-for-night." They would be shot on location during the day with the image darkened and filtered to look like night.
Answer: In that era, movies didn't have computer-generated images and instead used a rear-projected screen of a previously filmed location. The actors would be in front of the screen to make it appear as if they were in some different location. The actors were posed in a way that the audience could not tell they were in front of the screen.
11th Jul 2020
Game of Thrones (2011)
Question: Is Cersei Lannister based on Lady MacBeth and Agrippina the Younger? Both were ruthless and ambitious with Agrippina being the mother of Nero. Cersei, mother of Tommen Baratheon. She, on the show, pushed for her son to become king as did Agrippina, so was inspiration drawn from her and Lady MacBeth?
10th Jul 2020
Bambi (1942)
Question: Why wouldn't Bambi's mother tell him that the Great Prince of the Forest is also his father?
Answer: Probably so he would not think he is superior to the other fawns and try to lord over them. She would have told him about his father when he was older. This is also a literary plot device by setting up a dramatic reveal at a crucial time (right after Bambi's mother is killed) that Bambi learns his father is the Great Prince. This has a greater emotional punch.
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Answer: The ship was designed to fly through meteor fields and had protective energy shields to repel them (shown at the beginning of the movie). Meteor fields are large and flying around them would add decades (if not centuries) to the journey. As Jim Preston noted, one meteor somehow broke through the shield and damaged the ship.
raywest ★