Phaneron

1st Jan 2018

Saw (2004)

Question: Why is Amanda the only Jigsaw victim who never has to harm herself to win the game, but kill another, making her game easier to win than the others?

Answer: She's technically not. A number of others have been put in traps/games where they don't necessarily have to meet physical harm throughout the series, including this film. Amanda's game is based more around emotional turmoil and a time-limit, which are tactics Jigsaw often uses either instead of or in conjunction with physical torment.

Answer: She's actually not. Dr. Gordon could have won his game without mutilating himself by killing Adam. And as for why she doesn't have to harm herself, since she has a large device rigged around her head with the lock attached at the back, Jigsaw may have decided it would be more fair to her to not have to mutilate herself to get the key.

Phaneron

Answer: She isn't. In fact, the bathroom game in this film is a perfect example of contradicting this, as Dr. Gordon has to kill Adam to win his game.

Question: How did Harry and Marv know that Kevin would escape through the back door of the Plaza Hotel while waiting for him?

adamtrainman@aol.com

Answer: It's most likely a plot hole, but one possible explanation I can think of is that perhaps Harry and Marv observed from afar the scuffle between Kevin and the concierge and deduced that he would try to flee the hotel from a door that wasn't necessarily being watched by the hotel staff.

Phaneron

Answer: It could also be because the Wet Bandits were planning to break into the hotel through that door rather than the front entrance and just got lucky.

Well, when Kevin got out the door, Harry and Marv were standing as they were waiting before they captured him. Besides, Kevin has been in that hotel a little longer.

Trainman

Answer: He's angry because one of his men was using one of their alien weapons out in the open.

Answer: He's been stealing advanced technology and money unimpeded for several years, but now Spider-Man has interfered in two of his heists. He's frustrated and concerned about what will happen if the Avengers catch onto him.

Phaneron

13th Dec 2017

The Ring (2002)

Question: Whenever Samara was still alive was she able to kill someone just by looking at them? Or was that only after she became a spirit she gained that power? Did Samara kill the doctor during the videotape session that Rachel watched of her? All you see at the end of the session is Samara finally looking up at the doctor and the tape ends.

Answer: While in the original Japanese film the character had the ability to kill people with her mind, in this remake the Samara character's abilities aren't quite as powerful- but she still has immense power and can drive people crazy by placing images in their mind. And after death, her spirit gains the ability to kill people via the cursed video.

Answer: She didn't have the ability to kill people just by looking at them while she was alive, although the evil surrounding her did drive the Morgan's horses to commit suicide. Had she killed the doctor, it would have been highly unlikely that they would have let her leave the hospital afterwards.

Phaneron

11th Dec 2017

Saw V (2008)

Question: The second trap, they had to break jars open that were on the ceiling and get into the safety chambers, but there were "only three" for four people... Those were some pretty long, tall chambers. Couldn't the two smallest people share a single chamber, and all four survive? Especially since they look tall enough for two people to lie down right on top of each other.

Answer: That was the entire point of the trap. Each trap in the overall game was meant for them to all work together. The tape for this trap asks "Who will be the odd man out?" They took this to mean that one person had to remain outside the chambers, but what it really meant was two people would each share a chamber (assuming all five survived the first trap) and one person would occupy the third chamber all by themselves. Charles realised this and tried to tell everyone, but was unfortunately killed by the explosion before he could.

Phaneron

Nope actually he said who of you 4 has to die...how he knew was 4 survivors?

He does not say that at all. The exact wording is "With only three points of safety, which of you will be the odd man out?" At no point does the tape say that one of them has to die. That would be completely contradictory to the point that the five of them were supposed to work together to safely get through every trap.

Phaneron

Not what he meant. He knows human nature is survival at the expense of someone else. He set the trap so all could survive, but he knows the panic and self-preservation will lead the group to sacrifice someone.

The_Iceman

5th Dec 2017

Ghost (1990)

Question: Did the subway ghost commit suicide or did someone push him on the train tracks?

Joey221995

Answer: He tells Sam he was pushed and takes exception to Sam's incredulous response, adding that he didn't jump nor did he fall.

Phaneron

Answer: He killed himself by jumping in front of the train. During his conversation with Sam, he's offended by any suggestion that he committed suicide. Soon afterwards, he forgets who Sam is, which indicates that he has mental health issues. He then jumps in front of a train.

26th Nov 2017

X-Men (2000)

Answer: The train had just started moving, so perhaps they just decided to wait for the first scheduled stop to get off.

Phaneron

20th Nov 2017

X-Men 3 (2006)

Answer: The implication is that the cure was ineffective. Magneto has full control of his powers by the time we see him in the mid-credits scene of "The Wolverine." Rogue, who also received the cure in this film, has her powers back in the extended edition of "X-Men: Days of Future Past," which takes place in the same timeline as this film up until the very end of it.

Phaneron

Answer: The cure is only temporary. The Rogue Cut of X-Men: Days of Future Past makes this explicitly clear as Rogue has also regained her powers after taking the cure.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: Not sure if this is a mistake or if it is because of the movie's time travel rules, but when Marty goes to 1955, he's there for a whole week so when he comes back to 1985, why does his family and Jennifer never question where he's been for a whole week?

Answer: He arrives back to the same night he left, specifically he arrives ten minutes earlier so he can rescue Doc. As far as his family and Jennifer were concerned, he was never gone.

Phaneron

16th Sep 2017

Donkey Kong 64

Question: Why is the cartridge for Donkey Kong 64 yellow instead of grey?

Answer: It's the color of bananas, which feature prominently in the Donkey Kong Country franchise.

Phaneron

15th Sep 2017

Iron Man (2008)

Question: If terrorists just wanted a Jericho missile why not just buy one from Stark industries, instead of trying to force Stark to build one? We learn they have the connection to Obadiah, so they can buy Stark weapons under the table.

Answer: Buying one would cost them millions, if not billions of dollars. Forcing Stark to build one for them would certainly save them a fortune. Plus, we don't know if they intended to purchase one before kidnapping Stark. They were paid to kill Stark, but once they found out Stark was the one that Obadiah paid them to kill, they scoffed at the amount they were paid and demanded a higher fee. Once they had Stark, they might have decided then and there to take advantage of the situation and get a free missile out of it.

Phaneron

Question: What body parts did Clyde cut from Darby? Clyde only mentioned three or four pieces, but cops on the scene say that Darby was found in about 25 different pieces.

EK8829

Chosen answer: He completely dismembered him. Clyde mentions taking his fingers with tin snips, I believe, so that right there can account for ten pieces.

Phaneron

Answer: He took his fingers off with bolt cutters, and his toes with tin snips. His head was on a table, and after dismemberment of his limbs, there's your 25 pieces.

6th Sep 2017

Sin City (2005)

Question: While re-watching "Sin City" on HBO recently, I realised that the closed captioning for this film has been noticeably censored. While the audio track seems intact, every instance of the word "fag" results in that entire line of dialogue being omitted from closed captioning. Is this strangely selective closed captioning censorship featured on the original "Sin City" DVD, or is this HBO's own particular brand of censorship?

Charles Austin Miller

Chosen answer: The word "fag" is only used once in the entire movie, spoken by Becky who refers to a club called the Amigo as a "fag joint." The omission in the subtitles might just be an oversight. HBO is known for having original content that pushes the envelope of what people consider to be tasteful (such as "Game of Thrones" and "The Sopranos") so it's highly unlikely that they would be resorting to censorship.

Phaneron

1st Aug 2017

Spider-Man 3 (2007)

Question: What did Harry ask Mary Jane to do when he kidnapped her just before she asked Peter out to meet her on the bridge? Did Harry asked Mary Jane to break up with Peter or else he will kill/harm Peter?

Answer: In a nutshell, yes. Harry wants revenge against Peter/Spider-Man because he incorrectly believes he killed Harry's father. He wants to make Peter suffer, and he knows making Mary Jane break up with him will be devastating.

Phaneron

Question: Why did Darby rape and kill Clyde's wife and daughter? Seems pointless, given that Darby and Ames were only there to rob the house.

EK8829

Chosen answer: Maybe Ames was only there for the robbery, but given how quickly Darby decided to commit rape, it may be something he has done before and decided to take advantage of once he saw that there was a woman home that he could have his way with.

Phaneron

Question: Clyde says to Darby, "Now, what we don't want is you swallowing your tongue, so bear with me" and then inserts some kind of mouthpiece into Darby's mouth. What does it do, and why does he not want Darby swallowing his tongue?

EK8829

Chosen answer: The devices he places in Darby's mouth is to keep his tongue in place. He doesn't want Darby to swallow his tongue (i.e. choke) because he wants him to be awake and alert for the duration of his torture. This is also why he gives him an adrenaline IV to keep him from passing out as well as tourniquets for his severed limbs to prevent him from bleeding to death.

Phaneron

1st Aug 2017

X-Men (2000)

Chosen answer: Ruby quartz. In the comics and various adaptations, ruby quartz is the only substance that can hold his eye beams at bay. There is a scene in "X-Men: Apocalypse" where Hank gives Scott some glasses made out of ruby quartz, along with an explanation of why they will work.

Phaneron

1st Aug 2017

Saw II (2005)

Question: Why does Xavier want to kill everybody and not tell them anything about the numbers behind their head?

Answer: He's only looking out for himself. He doesn't care if anyone else dies.

Phaneron

Answer: All of the games included a limited amount of antidotes, he was being selfish.

Answer: Yeah, there was only one antidote in the safe.

Question: Spoiler Alert. Why did Toomes lie about not knowing Spider Man's identity in the first post credits scene?

THE GAMER NEXT DOOR

Chosen answer: He may want Spider-Man all to himself for foiling his plans, or he may feel indebted to Spider-Man for saving his life. The post-credits scene from Morbius suggests that Toomes still bears a grudge against him.

Phaneron

Answer: Spider-man had saved his daughter's life and his own; Tooms felt like he owed Peter that much.

Erik M.

13th Jul 2017

X-Men (2000)

Chosen answer: The main goal of the X-Men is to show the world that not all mutants are necessarily evil or to be feared. Showing kindness and giving hospitality to one of their biggest detractors helps their cause, and Senator Kelly admits to having a change of heart just before he dies.

Phaneron

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