raywest

12th Jun 2020

Closer (2004)

Question: Is there a connection or special meaning when Dan asks 'Alice' during their last fight who she really is, and 'Alice' answers him "I'm nobody," and the fact that she is hiding her true identity as Jane Jones?

Answer: Anna says that Alice has "had quite a life" (after she read Dan's book that was based on Alice). Presumably Alice has been through difficult situations: abuse, neglect, etc. She considers herself a "nobody" and enjoys lying as a form of control. Which is why she never told Dan her real name, or everything about herself. She could never trust anybody completely. She also says "I'm the one who leaves." She prefers to leave men before they can leave her.

Answer: Yes there is a connection, but the exact meaning of it is deliberately left ambiguous as to why Alice/Jane kept her true identity hidden. It is up to the audience to interpret why she did this.

10th Jun 2020

Line of Duty (2012)

Question: In the first season, Hastings tells Arnott he's Catholic - but then in subsequent seasons he's supposed to be a Mason. Except the Catholic church considers joining the Masons to be a sin - is that a clue to Hastings' real status?

Answer: Many Catholics do not adhere to all church beliefs, such as divorce, birth control, gay rights, etc.

12th Jun 2020

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

Question: Why didn't they make Rey Luke's daughter?

Answer: For one, Jedi are not allowed to marry or father children. More importantly, it would have been a rather obvious and predictable plot device.

They are allowed to have children, just not be in a serious relationship. To be honest, it baffles me.

12th Jun 2020

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

Question: What was the purpose of the government officials arriving at Elliot's house in astronaut suits? I never really understood the purpose behind that.

Answer: They are not space suits. They're protective hazmat suits. They are dealing with an unknown extraterrestrial being, and would take every possible precaution to ensure they are not exposed to some potentially lethal alien infection.

Answer: Forgive my ignorance they just looked like space suits to me.

12th Jun 2020

Dirty Dancing (1987)

Question: Was Baby a virgin before she was with Johnny?

Answer: It is implied that she was.

12th Jun 2020

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)

Question: Whatever happened to the bus used in the film?

Answer: Its current location is right back in the Australian Outback in the city of Broken Hill, New South Wales.

12th Jun 2020

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)

Question: There is something about wizards I don't understand. Why do they keep their magic a secret?

Answer: Many reasons. Muggles (non-magic people) would have a variety of reactions to them. Many would fear their power, others would want wizards to solve all their problems with magic, others would want to eradicate them. From the wizards' point of view, they live a certain way, and that would be disrupted by humans knowing about them.

I thought the reason wizards kept their magic a secret was fear of discrimination.

That is one additional reason among the variety of others listed.

In the first book Hagrid explains that muggles would want magical solutions to all their problems and that the wizards are best left alone.

12th Jun 2020

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)

Question: Why does Harry's uncle hate wizards so much?

Answer: One reason is that Harry Potter's Uncle Vernon Dursley absorbed his hatred of wizards from his wife, Aunt Petunia Dursley. As the Harry Potter books progress, we find out that Vernon's wife, Petunia, was a "muggle" (not a wizard) but her sister, Lily, Harry's mother, had magical powers. Lily was invited to study at Hogwarts: here Lily refined her magical powers and wizarding abilities, and met James Potter, her future husband (and Harry's father). Petunia was jealous and resentful of Lily, and, because of this, Harry Potter and the whole wizarding world. For all his faults, Vernon loves Petunia, and so he shares her hatred of wizards. It appears that Vernon and Petunia know a lot more about the wizarding world than they would admit. They cannot tolerate the thought that Harry Potter is a wizard with powers and abilities greater than theirs, so they put Harry Potter (and the wizarding world) down at every opportunity.

Answer: He is someone who has a certain belief system and is intolerant of anything or anyone that violates that belief. He particularly does not like or trust something like wizards that are so different from himself. He also fears them.

10th Jun 2020

Sudden Impact (1983)

Question: Although "Dirty Harry" successfully stopped an armed robber in Santa Cruz, wouldn't he face criminal charges himself?

Answer: Probably, but action/police movies often are unrealistic about depicting laws and police procedures.

10th Jun 2020

Moonlighting (1985)

Question: What's with the show's title and why does their receptionist rhyme, and why'd she hire such a dork for a partner?

Answer: The show's title, "Moonlighting" was a take-off the agency's name, the "Blue Moon Detective Agency." The owner, Maddie Hays, a former model, renamed it after a shampoo brand she was once a spokesperson for. She did not hire her partner, David Addison. He already worked at the agency when Maddie took it over. The agency was struggling financially, and David convinced Maddie, who knew nothing about being a detective, that if she made him a partner, they could make it successful. Agnes, the receptionist, had a very quirky personality, and simply chose to use rhymes when answering the phone.

Also, the term "moonlighting" refers to someone who works a secondary job, usually at night. Maddie was a former model whose career had waned and the detective agency became her other career.

10th Jun 2020

Sleeping Beauty (1959)

Question: Is there any particular reason why Maleficent needs to lure Aurora up into the tower to have her prick her finger? We see that Maleficent magically creates the spinning wheel herself, so couldn't she have just done that in Aurora's bedchamber?

Answer: Being that Aurora is a princess, she would have many servants and other attendants constantly tending to her. They could conceivably discover the spinning wheel and prevent Aurora from pricking her finger inside her bedroom. Luring her into the tower makes her more vulnerable. It also adds to the story's drama and suspense.

8th Jun 2020

Eight Below (2006)

Question: Why did Maya give up in the end? I know she was bitten in the leg, but she can still walk around on the other 3 legs?

Answer: She may be able to walk on three legs, but traveling a long distance and keeping up with the other dogs in such extreme circumstances would be too much and would be extremely painful. Also, seal bites often cause a serious bacterial infection which would quickly sicken and incapacitate Maya.

Answer: Mya did survive because max wouldn't leave her behind.

9th Jun 2020

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

Question: Just before Sirius grabs Ron's leg, why didn't Harry and Hermione start running then? Why did they just stand still and watch?

THE GAMER NEXT DOOR

Answer: Because they were confused and surprised by Sirius' sudden appearance while he was in his dog form. It took them a few moments to collect themselves and react to the situation.

9th Jun 2020

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

Question: Why didn't Hermione cast immobilus on the Whomping willow when they were running after Ron after Sirius drags him into the shrieking shack? Or after it hit them back and they tried to get in themselves?

THE GAMER NEXT DOOR

Answer: They didn't know a simple magic spell would work on it. Students were forbidden to approach the tree because it was so dangerous. In the book, the Willow was turned "on" and "off" with a secret switch located at the base of the trunk. Only the Hogwarts teachers and some staff knew about it.

8th Jun 2020

My Cousin Vinny (1992)

Question: Why did the train that wakes Vinny and Lisa comes through town every morning rather than coming through anytime besides 5 or 4?

Answer: A train has many stops on each trip it makes, and reaches each one at a different time of the day. It's not just going to one town where the time could be adjusted.

8th Jun 2020

Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade (1989)

Question: In the desert the tank first shot towards the Joneses. Then one of the bad guys implied that they hit their vehicle, by saying they couldn't get out of the desert on foot. How did they know? The vehicle wasn't visible from their location.

Answer: He didn't know. He was just making an assumption and probably boasting, assuming that he had not missed the target.

8th Jun 2020

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)

Question: Did I miss something? How did it only take 1 day for the cargo ship to get from Isla Nublar to Northern California?

Answer: The timeline was purposely vague and compressed to expedite the plot. A movie has a limited amount of time to tell the story and there was no reason to show the audience any more activity that was happening on the ship.

8th Jun 2020

Cast Away (2000)

Question: If the package got delivered to the cheating husband, which we see in the scene where he receives it shirtless wearing a cowboy hat, then how did that package end up back on a plane headed to the USA and crash and wash up on beach? Wouldn't that package have been opened by said cheating husband?

Answer: I just re-watched the movie, and realise my previous answer is wrong. Here is what happened. Bettina Petersen, the lady on the Texas ranch, sends a FedEx package to her husband in Russia. She appears to regularly send out packages via FedEx, possibly to customers of her artwork. When the driver picks up the outgoing package, she tells him she will have another on Thursday. That, presumably, is the package that is aboard the doomed FedEx plane that Chuck is on and the one he returns to her four years later.

But why should that parcel return to her?

It "shouldn't" do anything. If the package raywest is referring to is in fact a second package to whoever, really, that just so happened to be on Chuck's plane, there wasn't actually a reason to return it, he just chose to return it to the sender if he ever made it off that island because that package was his saving grace and his will to get back home. That's the only reason he never opened it and why he returned it just so he could thank them by saying it saved his life.

The woman was sending the package overseas, but it's unlikely Chuck would travel out of the country to deliver it there. Instead, he returns it to the sender in Texas.

Answer: It appears the package he received contained the divorce papers, which he would have signed and then returned to the woman in the U.S. in a different package.

Might be possible! And maybe for the reason Bettina Peterson never got them she just took of her ex-husbands name at the ranch to just live free for herself again after her husband cheated on her.

Answer: The package delivered to the soon to be ex-husband has pink wings and the package Chuck never opens has gold wings.

5th Jun 2020

Batman (1989)

Question: Given how narrow that ledge is, just how could the Joker grab hold of it and silently pull himself onto it prior to yanking Batman and Vicki Vale over the side?

Answer: Most likely, in real life, this would be impossible. Movies take liberties with facts and realities in order to tell the story.

4th Jun 2020

Annie (1982)

Question: Why does Miss Hannigan want to keep Annie?

Answer: Mrs Hannagan said to Mrs Farrel that Annie has it coming to her for trying to run away all the time. She is supposed to be punished etc., not spend a week in the lap of luxury. So she's trying to keep Annie there. But later in the movie, after Hannigan saves Annie's life, it is implied that she actually does care for Annie more than she lets on. So maybe Annie was actually her favorite orphan and she really just wanted her to not leave. After all Annie spends time comforting Molly and the others, when it's supposed to be Mrs Hannigan's job, but she's too busy drinking. She probably actually liked having Annie around but would never admit it or show kindness outright. Until the end, when finally she did.

Answer: Hannigan was plotting with her con-artist brother for him and his girlfriend to pose as Annie's long-lost mother and father. The couple would claim Annie to collect the $50,000 reward that Warbucks was offering to find Annie's real parents.

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