Question: Why would they need to authenticate the Mona Lisa painting at the beginning? Wouldn't a replica yield the same punishment for whomever is in possession of it?
Phaneron
24th May 2021
Equilibrium (2002)
Answer: I'm not sure who "they" refers to, so I'm giving a general answer. They need to ascertain the monetary value of the painting in order to know how to proceed. Obviously, an authentic painting (perhaps worth millions of dollars) has a much greater value (selling price) than a fake painting (which could be produced at a small fraction of the cost plus would not hold the same cultural or historical significance). The "punishment" (sentence) that could be imposed may vary with jurisdiction, type of sentencing system, monetary value, and the offender's prior criminal record (if any). Although it may be possible somewhere for the replica to carry the same punishment that is attached to the authentic painting, the extreme difference in value between the two paintings is likely to separate them into different classifications or grades of the offense (felony/misdemeanor or grand/ petit larceny). In general, the grand theft of an authentic painting worth millions carries a heavier sentence.
The plot of this film is that all emotions have been outlawed, as are anything that can stir up emotions (art, literature, music, etc.) Anyone that violates this law is put to death. So someone that has a replica of the Mona Lisa would be executed just the same as someone that has the real thing. Monetary value doesn't factor into the equation, because the police force in the film incinerates all contraband.
Thanks for explaining why my general answer does not apply and is thereby "dead wrong." I know I saw "Equilibrium" but I didn't remember anything about it; it obviously didn't have a lasting impression on me. I should have at least looked it up before giving a general answer. Now I am wondering what the specific answer is... Good question.
4th May 2021
General questions
I remember seeing part of a movie or TV show in the 90s, and it showed a boy and girl on the Haunted Mansion ride at either Disneyland or Disney World. When they got to the part of the ride featuring the wedding, the girl started crying and said it's because she always cries at weddings. Anyone know what movie or show this was?
Answer: There is a 1997 Disney movie, "Tower of Terror." A man wants to reopen a hotel but can't because it's haunted. A group of ghosts have to discover how they died, once they do an elevator takes them to the ballroom at the top floor. One ghost finally gets to propose to his girlfriend.
29th Apr 2021
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Question: The beginning of the film shows that Clint is still on house arrest. Ant-Man and the Wasp showed that Scott's house arrest ended well before the Snap. Aside from being sentenced at a later time than Scott, is there any reason why Clint would be given a longer house arrest than Scott? Wouldn't his time working for S.H.I.E.L.D. make it more likely that he would have got a more lenient sentence?
Answer: Nothing was said about what Clint's sentence was, but we do know Scott took a plea bargain and therefore may have got a lighter sentence. And the fact that Clint worked with S.H.I.E.L.D. might have given him a longer sentence since he should have known the importance of following the Sokovia Accords. The out-of-universe answer is because the writers needed to show why Clint wasn't in Infinity Wars.
13th Apr 2021
Blue Streak (1999)
Question: How is it that Carlson can know that Miles hid the diamond in the police station, but not know what Miles looks like?
Answer: He most likely noticed a lot of weird stuff and started piecing it together. Like Miles having an obsession with the ventilation system, Tulley shouting Miles over and over again down the alley and again when he says Logan owes him $50,000. He'd be able to access police records and see that Miles Logan was arrested inside that very building whilst it was still under construction but the diamond wasn't on him... At this point, it wouldn't take much to figure out what was happening and who he was.
8th Apr 2021
Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)
Question: What was the point of having Steve take over the other man's body instead of just returning from the dead in his own body? Unless I'm forgetting something, the ramifications and ethics of him taking over his body are never explored in the film, so it has no effect on the plot, and Diana renouncing her wish would not play out any differently, because Steve goes away either way.
Answer: There's no definitive answer (and hopefully others will weigh in here with opinions). Diana had wistfully wished that Steve was still alive without ever knowing or intending it would happen, nor did she have control over the form it took. By happenstance, another man's body was possessed. The movie's timeframe is too short to know what ethical decisions would eventually have been made over Steve's soul inhabiting another body, though he does mention the moral dilemma it poses. After a reasonable amount of time, they would have to decide if Steve should continue in a co-opted body. Character-wise, it shows Diana's anguish over losing Steve yet again in order to defeat Cheetah. Steve's soul being brought back may foreshadow his resurrection in another way in the next film. Chris Pine (Steve) is reportedly returning for Wonder Woman 3.
Answer: I don't think writer Patti Jenkins is familiar with the Wonder Woman comics in so much detail that she was actually trying to pay homage to previous Steve Trevor story lines or hint at what's truly happening, but maybe. Steve Trevor has died and come back to life before in the comics. He's never possessed the body of another person, but once a brainwashed Eros possessed his body and once when Trevor came back to life, he dyed his hair black and went as Steve Howard. It does seem like Jenkins left things vague to bring up later, like with Cheetah.
1st Apr 2021
The Punisher (2004)
30th Mar 2021
Friends (1994)
The One with the Boobies - S1-E13
Question: After Joey says to his father "Now go to my room," it transitions to a new scene, and the music that plays sounds very similar to the song "Found Out About You" by Gin Blossoms, which was a popular song around the same time this show began airing. Is this meant to be an homage to that song, or is it just coincidental?
Chosen answer: The music definitely sounds like it's from that song, though very little is played. Its use would not be coincidental. 'Friends' frequently incorporated popular songs into episodes to reflect the storyline. In one episode, when Joey got brushed off by an attractive woman after she saw his "VD" poster in the subway, the song, "Don't Stand So Close to Me," by the Police, started playing. In another, after Joey moved into his own apartment and was feeling lonely, the episode ended with Eric Carmen's "All By Myself." The Gin Blossoms' song certainly fits with Joey discovering his father's affair.
30th Mar 2021
X-Men (1992)
Question: Does anyone know what the Russian writing says on the wall behind Omega Red when he is standing at the podium and talking about the return of the Soviet Union? (00:15:08)
27th Mar 2021
The Lookout (2007)
Question: When Chris is talking to Gary in the bar, he mentions that one of the side effects of his traumatic brain injury is that he randomly falls asleep. Would he actually be allowed to drive if that's the case? Seems like he would be required to disclose that to the DMV.
Chosen answer: That's a good question! If this condition was known to his doctor, the doctor would have been required to notify the DMV and Chris would more than likely lose his driving privilege. However, there are medications, for example, used to treat narcolepsy that Chris might be prescribed in order to regain driving privileges. He'd have to have maybe a six-month period free of falling asleep before his doctor would notify the DMV that it is safe for Chris to resume driving.
24th Mar 2021
Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021)
Question: I'm not a huge fan of DC, so I don't know much about any characters outside of Batman and his rogue's gallery. All the pictures I've seen of Steppenwolf from the comics show him to have a human appearance, with a goatee. Was his monstrous appearance in this film, and to a lesser extent the theatrical version, taken from the comics at all? If not, why drastically change the way the character looks?
Chosen answer: In the comics Steppenwolf traditionally has a very human appearance. He is tall and muscular with tan skin, black hair, and a moustache and goatee. Some of Steppenwolf's animated appearances show him essentially the same but with grayish/green skin, giving him an appearance somewhat similar to the 2017 Justice League version. According to Zack Snyder, the version of Steppenwolf in the 2021 version of Justice League was purposefully designed way back during the filming of Batman vs. Superman as not just a threat to the Justice League, but to the entire planet, hence the monstrous appearance. Warner Brothers made Snyder tone down the design because, according to him, they felt it was too frightening and intense for a PG-13 film. The version of Steppenwolf in Snyder's film has a very alien appearance, with the character's signature horns being part of his physiology rather than a part of his battle helmet, an immensely muscled physique, and covered in spiked armor.
26th Feb 2021
Clerks (1994)
Question: Regarding the scene with the highly offended customer, is the actor deliberately hamming it up, or is he just a bad actor?
Answer: I think it's a combination of both of those. He's played by Walt Flanagan, who also plays three other characters in the movie. Flanagan was a friend of Kevin Smith who filled in for several roles. He's definitely playing the part a little hammy... but I also think some of his reactions are a little off because it was (obviously) his first film, and he was inexperienced. (Though to be fair, he appeared in similar small roles in several other Smith films, and his acting improved over time).
23rd Dec 2020
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
Question: I was watching this movie last night, and I noticed there were a few people of color in Lake Town. The vast majority of people shown in The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings films are white, so are there any particular places in Middle Earth where people of color might be more prevalent, at least according Tolkien's writings?
Chosen answer: People with brown skin come from the land of Harad, to the south of Gondor and Mordor. Really black people probably exist south of it, but is unknown to the people of Middle-Earth. Any land east of Rhun is just as unknown, it's possible people of colour came from there and settled in Lake-Town.
28th Nov 2020
Breaking Bad (2008)
Dead Freight - S5-E5
Question: How did the train conductors not hear the water pump Walt was using to pump water into the tanker? They were only around 800 feet away in open land, so it should have been audible.
Answer: For one thing the engine running the pump isn't that loud. The characters have conversations at a normal volume without having to scream at each other. Even if the conductors could hear it, there is no reason they should care or be suspicious. It just sounds like an engine running in the distance and they don't care enough to look for what is making the noise. At that very moment there is also a kid riding a dirt bike in the area. Engine noises are a very common thing.
17th Nov 2020
Les Miserables (1998)
Question: I haven't read the novel, so I don't know if it's addressed there, but after Javert interrogates whom he later finds out to be Cosette in her own home, he goes back to find the house empty, and Cosette and Valjean are now living in another house. Is this an additional house that Valjean already owned as a safe house, or did he just rent it?
Answer: I'd say it was a house he rented.
9th Nov 2020
Breaking Bad (2008)
Question: I've noticed that every episode has scenes where the camera is swaying a little, suggesting the camera was handheld or resting on the cameraman's shoulder. Is there a reason for filming this way, instead of just using a steadicam? It doesn't really add any sense of style to the show.
Answer: As the other answer indicated, it is a common filming technique used to achieve various visual effects. Handheld cameras can create a deliberate sense of movement that follows a movie's action. A cameraperson can physically move in much closer to an actor, creating a more intimate connection between the character and the audience. It can also reflect a character's movement from their vantage point, and can be used to create a greater sense of realism with an edgier, less-rehearsed, or a documentary-style feel.
Answer: It is a style of filming a scene, a style of camerawork. In your opinion it doesn't add anything, but they do it for that purpose.
2nd Nov 2020
Beetlejuice (1988)
Question: How did Beetlejuice leave the model and attack the Deetzes as a snake if no-one conjured him?
Chosen answer: Barbara did conjure him earlier in the movie when she saw lights in the model going off and then said his name three times. According to Juno, they let Beetlejuice out but didn't put him back, which gave him the opportunity to attack the Deetzs.
4th Sep 2020
Deadwood: The Movie (2019)
Question: This movie takes place around 10 years after the show and was filmed around 12 years after the show ended. Why then do so many of the characters look like they have aged 20 years in that time? I understand a hard lifestyle can age a person, but could it be that drastic?
Answer: The actors are over a decade older, and older people age at an increasingly faster rate than when they were young. The film may also have been been filmed differently opposed to how the TV series was made. Different technology and types of film produce variations in color, shadowing, sharpness of detail, etc. that may show the actors' physical features in higher definition. Different make-up and lighting can also change the actors' appearances. This may or may not have been a deliberate choice, but it's the result. If the movie was intended for theatrical release (possibly for overseas markets) and not only to be aired on TV, it would have higher-quality production.
4th Sep 2020
Justice League (2017)
Question: Why leave all three Motherboxes on Earth? Wouldn't it have been wiser to let the Green Lantern Corps take at least one of them?
Answer: Darkseid's minions killed a Green Lantern. The humans, Amazons, and Atlanteans were the ones who were actually strong enough to fight off his forces.
1st Sep 2020
Boy Meets World (1993)
Angela's Men - S7-E3
Question: In this episode, Shawn enlists in the Army and is even given a uniform complete with a name-tag bearing his last name. Later in the episode, Staff Sergeant Moore affirms that Shawn is not going to be in the Army because he likes him and doesn't want him anywhere near the Army. Can a recruit just be dismissed like that? Even if he was eventually rejected, wouldn't he have to at least be entered into basic training first? Would a Staff Sergeant even have the clout necessary to unilaterally dismiss someone from their enlistment?
Answer: I'm a little fuzzy on the episode, but the uniform could be just part of the ROTC program they were in. They were the same uniforms with minor alterations.
24th Aug 2020
Seinfeld (1990)
The Bottle Deposit (1) - S7-E21
Question: When Jerry is driving back from the auction, there's an audible clicking sound coming from his engine, which he later discovers is caused by Newman and Kramer putting groceries under the hood. This sound effect is used in a lot of movies and TV shows to indicate a car is breaking down. Do cars actually make this sound in real life or is it a sound effect made specifically for movies and TV. If they really do make that noise, what exactly is the source of the noise? (00:07:35)
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Answer: They need to know they got the real one because that is the one that is so revered and protected. Not a replica.
lionhead