Question: Why does the play start with The Van Daans already at the Annex when it's clear that they arrive a week later in the diary?
raywest
10th May 2018
The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)
9th May 2018
The Goonies (1985)
Question: How in the world did Jake escape from prison so easily? Why didn't the guard who came to release him for lunch call in backup when he saw Jake hanging, and why weren't there any other guards around that could stop the escape attempt? How did no police see Francis pouring gasoline right outside the police station? How in the world did no police see Jake escaping between his cell and the front door? When Jake was getting into the Jeep, about 4 prison guards came out putting on their jackets, but where were they during the escape?
Answer: The reason the escape unfolded this way is because it is a movie, and movies often use plot devices that have little resemblance to reality. This is called "suspension of disbelief." That means the audience accepts a certain premise that they know is unrealistic in order to allow the story to unfold. For example, in a Sci-Fi movie, we know that spaceships are unable travel to different solar systems in a mere matter of days (i.e. Star Trek). If Jake was unable to escape from prison as easily as he did, that would be the end of the movie.
7th May 2018
Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)
Question: Why didn't Poe go with Rose, Finn and BB-8 to find the master code breaker?
Answer: He had to stay, to ensure the fleet would make the jump to light-speed. Finn knew the ship's layout and Rose was needed to disable the tracker. Poe stayed to convince Holdo that it was safe to use light-speed again.
6th May 2018
La Confidential (1997)
Question: Why wasn't Bud, the police detective who was shot but not killed, treated as a hero but instead is shown leaving town with the Veronica Lake look-alike played by Kim Bassinger? It doesn't make and sense.
6th May 2018
A Quiet Place (2018)
Question: Why can't they just build a trap to hunt the beasts down?
Answer: We see in the family's basement that the father had gradually been learning about the monsters. He may have planned to trap them at some point in the future, but as it stood, he didn't know enough about their weaknesses. The monsters were shown tearing through a truck and a grain silo like tin foil, so any trap that they would use would have to be extremely strong.
Answer: Although it's rather vague, the plot premise is that there are hoards of these creatures that have taken over most of the country, if not the entire planet. Trapping the ones that are in the family's vicinity would have little effect overall and no doubt they'd merely be replaced by other creatures.
4th May 2018
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Question: Why does Hermione not care about Crookshanks trying to eat Scabbers?
Answer: There's a few reasons. Hermione thinks Ron is over-reacting about it and that he is only trying to blame her for something. She's also being a bit insensitive to the situation, ignoring any real concerns Ron has. It's part of their simmering personality conflict, which they eventually overcome.
4th May 2018
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Question: How come Hermione never receives a Weasley jumper? She'd earn one to cancel a trip with her parents after never seeing them to stay with the Weasleys and make sure Arthur was OK, surely?
Answer: Molly wasn't ignoring Hermione. She knew Hermione's parents always gave her nice gifts for her birthday, Christmas, etc. Molly gave Harry a sweater because she knew his Aunt and Uncle never gave him any gifts. She simply didn't want Harry to be left out when everyone else got something. Also, Molly knitted the sweaters herself, taking some time to make them. She did not anticipate Hermione being there.
1st May 2018
Mackenna's Gold (1969)
Question: Did Omar Shariff make it out of the collapsing rock canyon alive? I missed the ending.
1st May 2018
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
Question: When Harry became the champion, why did Dumbledore get mad? I know in the book, he doesn't get mad, he asks Harry calmly. Why did the screenwriters change this?
Answer: It's typical for scenes taken from a book to be depicted a bit differently in a film adaptation. Movies are visual and in this instance, the filmmakers were going for a more dramatic, ramped-up effect. Dumbledore was never mad at Harry, but upset by the turn of events and he had to be certain Harry was not in any way involved.
Answer: He's not mad per se, he is concerned that Harry did it himself and that he put himself in danger. He felt it was careless of him to do that, that's why he asked so furiously.
28th Apr 2018
Cast Away (2000)
Question: At the end when Tom Hanks is going over the map and the woman drives up, where exactly is the crossroads location?
Answer: The credits mention Canadian, TX. Canadian is on Hwy 83 in the Texas panhandle. The directions given mention Hwy 83 south and I-40 east. I-40 is roughly 30 miles or so south of Canadian on 83. Texas road signs are visible at the intersection. The ranch, a bed and breakfast and museum are at 9760 County Road 5, Canadian, TX. It looks like the crossroads was actually filmed maybe eight or ten miles south at the intersection of Z and 5.
Answer: Somewhere in the Great Plains, you heard the Woman's vague directions, "Whole lotta nothing 'till you get to Canada", and from the looks of things, it's not important anyway, the generic nature seems to be a plot device.
26th Apr 2018
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)
Question: After she finds out that her father's dead, Elizabeth looks absolutely devastated and Will asks Tia Dalma if there is a way. What exactly does Tia say in reply? And why can't she bring back Elizabeth's father from the dead like she brought back Barbossa?
Answer: She says that he is at peace. It's probably possible that she could bring him back, but he doesn't want to go back.
If she would bring him back, he will be very distraught and not be able to live on normally. He'd probably go insane and commit suicide.
Answer: Tia Dalma (Calypso) brought Barbossa back only because she needed him as part of her plan to escape her corporeal form. The Pirate Lords had imprisoned her in a human body, and only they, which included Barbossa and Jack Sparrow, could release her. There was no reason for her to bring Elizabeth's father back from the dead, particularly as he is at peace and will be reunited with his dead wife.
26th Apr 2018
Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)
Question: Why didn't Snoke even try to recruit Rey, as she is stronger than Ben?
Answer: Even if she is stronger, loyalty would also play a part in whether or not he would want to recruit her. Snoke probably knows that like Luke Skywalker, she would never turn to the dark side.
Answer: Snoke, like previous Sith Leaders, is a manipulator who wants to pit the other Force-powerful individuals against one another for amusement, to weed out any hesitancy in his apprentice, destroy potential rivals, etc. He knew that he would accomplish all of these by using Rey to test and torment Kylo Ren, but miscalculated Ren's own ambitions.
26th Apr 2018
General questions
Has there ever been an incident in any Star Trek episode or movie where the Enterprise (or other vessel) encounters another ship that is oriented upside down relative to Enterprise's perspective? Given that starships use artificial gravity, a ship's orientation in space is meaningless (in fact there are times Enterprise will bank sharply to turn, but inside everyone and everything stays oriented upright and nothing falls over or slides off things). It just seems improbable that everyone is flying through space the same way, but I haven't seen or don't recall this. Is there something mentioned (show or novelization) about rules of orientation in space (e.g. a galactic law).
Chosen answer: There has not been any scene in any Star Trek film or TV episode of another ship being oriented differently from other vessels. Although it's possible in real life, for show production purposes, showing ships in various positions like that would make the story line unnecessarily confusing and disorienting.
Answer: In the final episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation (...All Good Things pt. 2) the future Enterprise is shown attacking Klingon vessels from below them at a perpendicular angle, firing phasers from the Enterprise's perspective straight forward and from the Klingon's perspective "up" through the ships. Also, although not technically fitting the question, a major plot point in the climax of Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan shows Kirk moving the Enterprise "down" on the Z axis to allow Reliant to pass and get behind her. The idea being that Khan is intelligent yet inexperienced in space combat and has difficulty understanding combat on a three dimensional plane.
Answer: There was an episode of Star Trek: TNG, Seasons 7 Episode 19, where Captain Picard and Data, in a shuttle craft, find the Enterprise spinning out of control.
11th Apr 2018
Trading Places (1983)
Question: I don't understand when Louie's finance was waiting at the police station for him to get released, a man sits down and asks about her purse - what was that all about?
24th Feb 2006
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
Question: Why does Voldemort call Peter Pettigrew Wormtail?
Answer: Voldemort was a legilliman, someone who could read other peoples' minds. That is how he learned of Peter Pettigrew's nickname for his animagus form of a rat. Voldemort likely calls Pettigrew that because the name is rather demeaning, and he considers Peter one of his most lowly and cowardly servants.
Answer: They call him that because it reminds them of how traitorous and cowardly he is.
Answer: That was the nickname he had been given at Hogwarts. He and his three friends, who could transform into animals (James Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin), all gave each other nicknames relating to their animal forms. Peter becomes a rat, and since rats have hairless tails, they chose to call him "Wormtail."
But that does not answer why Voldemort of all people calls him by the name given him - in secret, mind you - by his closest friends.
Pettigrew could easily have told Voldemort about the nickname himself, and Voldemort chose to use it to imply that he was as close a friend to Peter as the others had been.
Except that Voldemort doesn't see anybody as his friend. Only as his followers to follow out his commands.
10th Apr 2018
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
9th Apr 2018
Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
Question: Deanna Troi states that they will get rid of poverty, disease, and war within next 50 years. How would they get rid of things like autism, ADHD, or dyslexia? Aren't those medical conditions that cannot be cured?
Answer: Troi says that future medical research is far more advanced and humanity has learned to work together and overcome many social problems without being specific. It's unknown how these conditions will be cured, but possibly through advanced gene therapy, new drugs, new surgical techniques, etc.
Answer: The things you listed are not diseases, they are conditions. It is more plausible that she was referring to things like cancer, diabetes, stroke, and other similar disorders which, at some point in time, there might be a cure.
Troi said poverty disease war would all be gone within the next 50 years. I thought she meant things like autism ADHD and dyslexia would be gone too not just disease.
No, that's why she said disease.
Well the movie tells us that all bad things on earth would be gone within the next 50 years. I thought that would have included conditions like autism dyslexia or ADHD as well as disease.
The movie doesn't say "all bad things." She specifically says "disease." In other words things that can be cured, get cured. No doubt some things will be curable that we currently can't cure, and some things will never be curable. You're overanalysing a line used simply to explain that humanity advances itself in a short space of time.
8th Apr 2018
A Room with a View (1985)
Question: In the scene in Florence with the two fighting Italians, does one of them die? In one shot he is still moving his jaw, in another shot he seems rather motionless.
Answer: It's unknown if he survived or not, nor is it important to the film's plot. The scene is about how witnessing a violent act affects Lucy. The entire trip to Italy has a powerful effect on her personality, opening her to new emotions and sensations that she's never experienced before, having lived a rather pleasant though constricted and conventional life in England.
6th Apr 2018
ER (1994)
Question: Since Reese Benton is deaf, how does he calm down when Peter starts reading to him from his textbook?
3rd Apr 2018
Shrek 2 (2004)
Question: Puss reads on the bottle that potion is not intended for those with nervous disorders. What kind of nervous disorders is the warning part referring to?
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Answer: Movies do not always exactly follow the books they are adapted from. Oftentimes scenes and/or characters are changed, deleted, or streamlined, often because there is a limited amount of time in a movie to tell the story. In this case, it just simplified the plot by having the Van Daans already at the Annex, eliminating the need for two separate arrivals and instead focusing on the Frank family's reactions to their situation.
raywest ★