Phaneron

7th Sep 2022

The Mummy (1999)

Question: If Imhotep was buried alive, how did his organs end up in the jars?

Answer: It was actually Anck-su-namun's organs that were in the jars.

Phaneron

Question: Why did Diana destroy the mall's security cameras, and why did she want the little girl to stay quiet?

Answer: At this point in time, her gig as a superhero is not public knowledge, and she wants it to stay that way.

Phaneron

How would that accomplish anything considering there were many people in the mall who saw what happened?

It really wouldn't, but then again, the writers didn't put much thought into this movie.

Phaneron

As the other answer indicated, Diana/Wonder Woman wasn't yet known publicly as a super-hero. A video recording is different from eye-witness accounts of what people actually saw or believe they saw. Memories are faulty, they fade, and everyone sees and remembers things differently. Regarding the child, I interpreted it as Diana just motioning in a friendly way for the rather precocious girl to stay put, behave, and quietly wait for her mother.

raywest

In my opinion, it wouldn't, and it's just another example of the shoddy writing in this film.

wizard_of_gore

Answer: This was long before the age of superheroes, when everything was normal and meta-humans were just theories in a lab. It was her appearances which stated it all. Remember the tagline, "The Dawn of Justice Begins with Her."

27th Oct 2021

Saw II (2005)

Question: Why would there be a tunnel system with an industrial bathroom beneath a house in a neighborhood? I know John Kramer was involved in real estate with his wife and lawyer before he became Jigsaw, so it would make sense that he probably designed it, I'm just not sure what purpose it would serve.

Phaneron

Answer: It serves as the perfect location for John to set up and play his "games."

jacrispy

But it was mentioned in Saw IV that John was involved in real estate development prior to becoming Jigsaw. So if those tunnels already existed underneath those houses, what purpose would they serve?

Phaneron

Unless the houses were built on a former industrial unit which would explain the tunnels and industrial bathroom. But it wouldn't explain why they were left there when the houses were built.

Ssiscool

23rd Jun 2022

Spider-Man 2 (2004)

Question: After Harry discovers that Peter is really Spider-Man, he tells Peter that he murdered Norman Osborne. Why didn't Peter just say, "I didn't kill your dad. He was already dead when I brought him to you"?

Answer: Anything Peter tells Harry about his dad at this point could lead to Harry asking more questions, and Peter wants to get to Doc Ock's lab before it's too late.

Phaneron

Answer: As the other answer suggests, it'd be a dangerous waste of time. Additionally, Harry is literally driving himself insane believing that Spider-Man killed his father... so it's not like Harry would actually believe Peter anyway even if he tried to explain it in that moment.

TedStixon

Question: Peter, MJ and Ned were all rejected from MIT for their associations with Spider-Man, so why wasn't that the case with Flash, who wrote an entire book about his supposed close friendship with Peter?

Answer: Flash is shown to come from wealthy parents. It's possible they made a large donation to MIT and/or are influential alumni themselves. Writing and publishing a book also isn't something that happens overnight. He could have been accepted into the school before the admissions board even knew about the book.

Phaneron

15th Apr 2022

Batman Returns (1992)

Question: When the Penguin kills the Ice Princess, he then tries to kill Catwoman with his umbrella and crosses the crowd to his press van. Why doesn't the mob kill him after the murder and attempted murder?

Erik M.

Answer: The public believes Batman killed the Ice Princess, and they don't know about Penguin trying to kill Catwoman. The crowd that is surrounding his van are his supporters, not an angry mob.

Phaneron

OK, thanks, Phaneron.

Erik M.

11th Apr 2022

Spaceballs (1987)

Question: Planet Spaceballs intends to steal all the air on Planet Druidia. Spaceball city and Planet Druidia are neighbors. When Megamaid explodes, her head lands on a beach on a planet that presumably has air. Why not steal the air on the planet inhabitated by apes? There's apparently no air shield. Additionally, the desert planet where Yogurt lives also has air and no air shield. Two other planets, in addition to Planet Druidia, that have breathable air.

Answer: It also might stand to reason that the very fact that Druidia has a shield is what makes it viable. It almost creates a docking port for Mega Maid who was presumably designed for that very purpose. After all, what other purpose could a space maid with a vacuum possibly have?

Answer: The Spaceballs are a race of bullies, they only pick on planets they know have no defense, like Druidia. Yogart, like Yoda, was a very powerful being with mystic powers, While the planet of the Apes were highly intelligent and were most likely able to out smart a race of idiots.

Answer: In the context of the movie, the Spaceballs seem to hate Planet Druidia. So why not steal air from the planet they hate? In a more meta behind-the-scenes context... it's just better for the plot for them to target Druidia since it makes more sense dramatically and creates stakes for the story.

TedStixon

I would also add that the characters know they are in a movie, and thus they need to service the plot.

Phaneron

24th Mar 2022

Shallow Hal (2001)

Question: Near the start of the film, Mauricio said he didn't like his girl Lindy's big second toe. Hal suggests what if she could have her toe filed down and Mauricio says "Then I'm dating a nub?" What exactly is a nub?

Answer: "Nub" is another word for "lump." Mauricio is so shallow that he's defining Lindy entirely by her toe, so if she had the toe filed down to a nub, then he would see her as that much in the same way he only views her as an elongated toe.

Phaneron

3rd Mar 2022

General questions

Are there any TV shows that had such bad ratings/view numbers, they were taken off the air rather quickly? After just one, two, three episodes?

Answer: "The Mike O'Malley Show" from 1999 was canceled after two episodes.

Phaneron

Answer: Tons. One random example which comes to mind is 2007's Drive, starring Nathan Fillion: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drive_ (2007_TV_series). Only 4 episodes aired before it was pulled off air. It was actually quite a promising show, but the ratings just didn't hold up. "Heil Honey I'm Home!" is one of the more notorious examples: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heil_Honey_I%27m_Home!, a sitcom about Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun living next door to a Jewish couple, cancelled after one episode. More here: https://tvovermind.com/six-short-lived-tv-shows/ and here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_television_series_canceled_after_one_episode.

Jon Sandys

Answer: No, they are part of the multiverse. The MCU is just one of those universes within the multiverse.

lionhead

Answer: I almost think the best way to refer to them would be to call them "MCU-Adjacent." Both answers nail it - they're not part of the MCU universe itself, but are canonical to it and co-exist alongside it thanks to the establishment of the multiverse. And considering the "Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness" trailer teases Patrick Stewart as (presumably) Professor X, I think we could probably also apply this to pretty much any other Marvel adaptation ever made that was not made by Marvel Studios itself. It all co-exists and is all canonical to each other through the use of multiverses/alternate timelines/alternate dimensions.

TedStixon

Answer: Their respective movies themselves are not retroactively part of the MCU franchise, but since characters and events from those films crossed over here, they can be considered canon to the MCU's overall narrative.

Phaneron

Answer: No. It's explained that they are from another universe, and were sent back to their universes at the end of the film.

gobylo

25th Feb 2022

Venom (2018)

Answer: Possibly, but very unlikely. The mid-credits scene in Spider-Man: No Way Home sees Eddie Brock telling his bartender that he intends to go to New York to "talk to this Spider-Man guy" (paraphrased), which would suggest he's never heard of Spider-Man before, and if he occupied the same universe as the Andrew Garfield version, he would definitely know who Spider-Man is, not least because Eddie is an investigative journalist, and Spider-Man would undoubtedly be one of, if not the most, famous persons on the planet.

Phaneron

Answer: No, it's established that Tom Hardy's Venom is in a universe of his own. The mid-credit scene of "Let There Be Carnage," shows him jumping into the MCU and seeing Spider-Man for the first time. At the end of "No Way Home," he wants to go to New York, but is pulled back, but leaving a piece behind. Somebody will be Venom in the MCU, maybe rich kid Eddie Brock, his arrongance would be perfect for Venom.

Venom, as in the symbiote, knows who Spider-Man is and has been to multiple universes. It's Eddie Brock that seems unaware of Spider-Man. Although there was that "incident at the Daily Globe", which in the comics is what started Brock's hatred of Spider-Man.

Bishop73

Answer: I agree it's unlikely he's in the Garfield universe. At the time of the film, Tom Holland was already Spider-Man. It would be different if this Venom film came out before 2016. But the Symbiote has been to other universes in the multiverse as explained in "Venom: Let There Be Carnage", so it's possible it's been to the Garfield universe and could be the same one from the Maguire universe.

Bishop73

25th Feb 2022

The Simpsons (1989)

You Only Move Twice - S8-E2

Question: I, like Marge, don't know much about football. Why is Homer disappointed to own the Denver Broncos team? I know his first choice was owning the Dallas Cowboys, but he seems to especially dislike the Broncos.

Answer: I don't think the writers had anything particular in mind when choosing the Denver Broncos to be the butt of the joke. But I wonder if it's meant to be a clue where Springfield is. But, while this episode did air late 1996 when the Broncos had a winning season, given the amount of time needed to produce the episode, it was written when the Broncos were a mediocre team at best. From '92-'95 they had a 32-32 record and never finished higher than 3rd in their division. And the Cowboys and Broncos are in separate conferences, so they're not particularly rivals. But as Phaneron points out, the Broncos ended up winning back-to-back Super Bowls in the following 2 season after this episode aired, so Homer is a very lucky guy.

Bishop73

Probably also worth mentioning that by the time this episode had aired, the Broncos had an 0-4 record in the Super Bowl, and to this day I believe they hold the record for most Super Bowl losses.

Phaneron

The Buffalo Bills also had an 0-4 record at the time of airing having lost 4 straight years.

ctown28

The Vikings are also 0-4 in the Super Bowl. The Patriots have 5 losses (although only had 1 at the time this episode aired).

Bishop73

True, and they would have been a funnier pick for Homer to end up owning, given that two consecutive of those four Super Bowl losses were to the Cowboys. Although Homer fantasizing about being John Elway in the episode Cape Feare makes his disdain for the Broncos rather funny.

Phaneron

Question: When Clyde is about to die from the bomb, why didn't he just end the call on the phone he was calling from? He could have probably cancelled the detonation.

tetracore99

Chosen answer: Unfortunately, that wouldn't have done it. Once the phone on the bomb received the signal there was no going back.

Phixius

Oh, and you know this how?

Because that's generally how cellphone bombs work. Nobody's on the other end to answer it, so it's not triggered by being answered. As soon as any call signal is received, game over.

Unless I'm misremembering, when they find the bomb at city hall, the bomb expert even mentions that the bomb can't be disarmed once the call goes through.

Phaneron

16th Feb 2022

Spider-Man 3 (2007)

Question: Why did Peter decide to abandon the black suit? I mean, what was the reason for Peter to free himself from the symbiote suit?

Answer: After he struck Mary Jane in the jazz club, he finally came to the realization that the suit was having a negative influence on him and making him aggressive.

Phaneron

1st Jan 2022

The Prestige (2006)

Question: Why was Angier's first name of Rupert in the novel changed to Robert for the film?

Phaneron

Answer: I learned the answer to this today while reading the novel, in which Angier states that the name "Rupert" attracts amused inquisitiveness from Americans, so while traveling in the United States, he goes by Robert or Robbie.

Phaneron

18th Jan 2022

General questions

I saw a movie or TV show back in the early 90's when I was a kid. I only remember one scene because it scared the crap out of me. I believe in the scene, an older man (probably 60's?) was fed feet-first into a shredding machine or large wood-chipper and killed. It was outside. The camera was inside it looking up. And I think there was a woman behind him who either pushed him in, or was trying to get him out. He was awake, shouting and struggling. Ring anyone's bell? (And it was not "Fargo.").

TedStixon

Answer: This might be from the TV series Friday the 13th. The episode is called "Root Of All Evil." The plot of the episode deals with a cursed mulcher. Anybody that gets thrown into it is killed and money is expelled from the other side. The richer the person is, the more money that comes out. Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AD9XnWh5Mx4.

Holy crap! I think that's it! Quickly scanned through the episode, and it seems to (mostly) match up with what I remember. Not exactly, but considering how young I was, I could just be misremembering it. Additionally, since I was born in '88 and probably saw it when I was 3-4 years old (so '91-'92ish), it would also line up because the show ran until 1990 and was likely still on the air in re-runs.

TedStixon

In fact, I'm 90% sure the death at 31:13 in the video is the exact scene I'm remembering. The only difference is that it's a man and not a woman who pushed him in, but that just could be my memory being dodgy since I only saw it once about 30 years ago. Thank you! I think you got it.

TedStixon

You're welcome.

Answer: I know there're several films where someone has died in a wood-chipper or similar device. License to Kill (1989), Bond is dangling over a shredder and Dario is standing over him. Pam shoots Dario and Bond pulls him into the shredder.

Bishop73

That's a good example, but it's not the scene I'm looking for. It's hard to give details due to the 500 character limit. But the scene seemed to be outside during the daytime (I think there were trees in the background), I think the old man who died was wearing a flannel shirt (that could be wrong), and I seem to recall him having like gray or white hair. I think the woman was trying to save him.

TedStixon

I don't know the film you're talking about, but have you tried looking up "woodchipper" or "body in a woodchipper" in IMDB's plot keywords? The latter has 13 movies listed.

Phaneron

Yeah, I've scoured IMDB for it, but the problem is almost everything I run into is either from the year 2000 or after (like I said, I saw this in the early 90's on TV), or just not the movie/show I'm looking for. I'm assuming it might have been like an obscure episode of a TV show or movie that might not necessarily have a plot keyword attached.

TedStixon

Question: If Jonathan and Mr. Ages were the only mice to survive the escape from NIMH, then where did all the other intelligent mice come from? Did one or both of them father a new generation of intelligent mice? Mrs. Brisby's marriage to Jonathan makes this all a little confusing.

Phaneron

Answer: Mrs. Brisby tells Nicodemus that Jonathan had been teaching her to read and her children as well. The children were better at reading that she was but that might be something that they inherited from their father. I think Mr. Ages was also able to read so that makes him intelligent as well. Remember the injections that the mice and rats were given also gave them the ability to read.

Answer: What other intelligent mice? I have watched the movie many times and I don't remember seeing any other intelligent mice. The mice that tried to escape with the rats were sucked down the ventilation shafts, so we don't know what happened to them.

Well, Mrs. Brisby for one, and by extension, her children. She wasn't part of the experiments at NIMH, so why does she possess human intelligence like Jonathan and Mr. Ages? Similarly, why do Jeremy, Auntie Shrew and the Great Owl have human-like intellect as well?

Phaneron

15th Jan 2022

Hostel (2005)

Question: How did Paxton know that "Edward-salad-hands" bad guy (who he follows off the train and kills in the toilets at the end) was part of the Elite Hunting club? As far as I can remember, the last time Paxton sees him is when he is talking to Josh in the bar. Not an obvious clue... Unless he murders him simply for eating his lunch without a knife and fork? Reasonable.

Answer: Just before Paxton is taken to be tortured, he witnesses the Dutch businessman working on Josh's corpse.

Phaneron

7th Jan 2022

Tommy Boy (1995)

Question: Why can't the kids at the back of the school bus just tell the driver to stop for Tommy instead of letting him chasing it?

Trainman

Answer: He was the fat kid. I was teased in school for being the nerd who wore glasses and read books.

Answer: Because they're being mean and wanted to watch Tommy chase the bus.

Bishop73

Why were they so mean to Tommy?

Trainman

He's an overweight doofus, which makes him a prime target for bullying.

Phaneron

Question: Why can't Kevin just call the police that Harry and Marv is about to rob Duncan's toy chest at midnight instead of stopping them himself?

Trainman

Answer: There is no reason other than it would be an incredibly boring movie if he did that. Obviously that's what one would do in real life, but if one buys that Marv and Harry can survive the multiple fatal traps they encounter, then one can suspend disbelief enough to accept a questionable decision to advance the plot.

Answer: I think it's the same reason he didn't call the cops in the first film, he was afraid of the cops because he committed a crime himself. While it could be considered a stretch, it's not really explained in the films. In the first film he is chased by the cop for stealing a toothbrush and in the second film the hotel has found out Kevin was using a stolen credit card, so he flees. Of course, he ends up calling the cops in the first film and makes a recording of their confession for the cops in the second film.

Bishop73

Answer: What cop would believe a little boy that he knows that two escaped convicts, he single handedly captured before, we're going to rob a store.

Police are required to follow up on reports. They can't just disregard a report because they think it's unlikely.

Phaneron

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