Question: How did both Akeem and Semmi get a job at McDowell's without Akeem's parents noticing? Also, wouldn't Mr. McDowell have noticed in doing Akeem's pre-employment background checks who Akeem really was vs finding out when the parents arrived? (00:44:08 - 01:29:34)
Brian Katcher
15th Jul 2020
Coming to America (1988)
6th Jul 2020
Frequency (2000)
Question: Why did John's house suddenly alter so drastically when Jack's hand was blown off in the past? Did this one event somehow turn John into a better interior decorator?
Answer: Because the house is no longer John's. In this universe, his parents still live there.
Or he lives there and his wife redecorated.
I always took the scene at the end with Julia and Frank getting in a packed car with an older looking Elvis as them moving and leaving the house for John. And as I said above John's wife must have moved in and decorated.
Answer: The house changed because John's life changed, with both his parents alive to nurture and guide him, he became a different person. Different lifestyle and attitudes.
22nd Jun 2020
Skyfall (2012)
Question: In the opening action scene, while Bond is fighting the terrorist on the top of the train, Moneypenny says "I do not have a clean shot." She has already been communicating with him on radio, why doesn't she just tell him to get out of the bloody way?
Answer: Because Bond is fighting to the death with a man who's trying to throw him off a train. He can't exactly step out of the way.
30th May 2020
Matilda (1996)
Question: Why would Matilda interfere with the FBI investigation? Wouldn't she want her father to go to jail?
Answer: At the end of the day, he's still her father, and she's a young child. It would be difficult for her to give the FBI the smoking gun.
Answer: No. She didn't get along with her family, but she was a basically kind girl who still looked out for her father.
Answer: Kids generally like to see the best in the people closest to them, and while Harry and Zinnia were mean and neglectful, Matilda still had a little bit of love for them (and/or sympathy for how stupid they actually were) and didn't want to see them go to jail. Part of it might have also been because she knew they wouldn't survive very long in prison. And besides, she got what she wanted. To be with Miss Honey.
And besides, she already got what she wanted. A life with Miss Honey. An actual loving family/relationship.
29th Aug 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Question: In this movie, Saruman says that orcs were elves once, and were mutilated by the dark forces, but when reading the book I saw no evidence of this. What exactly is the origin of the orcs?
Answer: Orcs are believed to be corrupted elves, but it happened so long ago that they wouldn't mention it in the Ring trilogy. It would most likely be discussed in The Silmarillion.
Answer: In the books, Treebeard says something about Trolls being corrupt Ents, just as Orcs are corrupt Elves.
15th May 2020
Charlie Bartlett (2007)
Question: What exactly is wrong with cameras? It's a public area. They have no privacy either way.
Answer: It is debatable if there is anything wrong with using cameras, but I can think of some possible answers to "what exactly is wrong with using cameras" at a school yard. Cameras symbolize authority over and oppression of students by the principal (and other authority figures). Cameras are indicative of a lack of trust of ALL students, but usually there is only a small percentage of trouble-makers. The use of cameras unjustly undermines the maturity of most students and makes the students resent the school authority figures. Cameras make the assumption that all the students are engaging (or might engage) in unacceptable behavior, which is offensive to the majority of students who follow the rules. Cameras are contrary to our value of "freedom" and that Uncle Sam does not have a right to constantly monitor citizens. People should not be videotaped in a free society if they have done nothing wrong. Many people simply do not like being videotaped. Cameras can record embarrassing acts.
That doesn't answer the question.
9th Oct 2017
Seven (1995)
Question: How did Doe manage to kill Mills' wife? He says "this morning" in the last scene, but that morning he was already in jail.
Answer: He had a busy morning. It is a bit far-fetched, but Somerset did express appreciation for how "methodical, exacting" John Doe was. So it's not totally unbelievable that, 1) Mills leaves for work - maybe even earlier bc he picks up Somerset, 2) John Doe arrives at Mills', maybe he even bought a box the night before to save time, 3) He finds a delivery guy, gives him the box plus $500 - good chunk of $ in 1995 (even more in 1986), 4) Hails a cab, to the police station. My question is...what was the cabbie thinking? Guy is covered in blood and asks for a ride to the police station.
Well, the guy wanted to go to the police station. He probably told the cabbie he'd been the victim of or witnessed a crime he needed to report immediately.
Answer: The events of John Doe arriving at the police station and the last scene where Mills kills him takes place on the same day.
What about the 7:01 am time?
When? where do you see that? What is the significance? Would be nice if you could give that info so I won't have to search myself.
It was 07.01pm. You will remember at the end of the film Mills was in the police car at night. If it was 07.01am more than 12 hours would elapse before Mills was picked up. Highly unlikely.
7th May 2020
My Cousin Vinny (1992)
Question: How did the witnesses think that it was Bill and Stan who committed the murder? Didn't they even see the faces of the other killers after them?
Answer: This is actually fairly common in real life. It goes something like this: the witness sees two men in a green car fleeing the scene of the crime. Later they learn two men driving a green car have been arrested for the crime. In their minds, they saw these two men, and as time goes on they subconsciously "see" them in their memory of the event. This is addressed in the film. Vinny even questions one witness about that, asking if it's possible that they just saw "two guys in a green convertible, and not necessarily these two guys."
Answer: The witnesses saw two young men in a very similar car to Bill and Stan's drive off. The prosecutor made a compelling case that they were the murderers, while Vinnie initially bumbled. In cases like this, it's somewhat easy to convince someone to believe they saw what they want to believe, especially if they feel they're doing a civic duty or if it makes them feel important. See the play 'Twelve Angry Men' for an example of this.
Answer: One more thing to add: At the end, when Sheriff Farley announces that the real killers have been apprehended, he says they look just like Bill and Stan.
Answer: They saw hardly anything at all, but they are convinced somehow that they saw these 2 boys and not someone else.
7th May 2020
Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)
Question: When Pee-Wee offers gum to Francis and Mr. Buxton as a peace offering, what was it with the gum that caused Mr. Buxton to scream?
Answer: It was some sort of gag gum (popular in the past) that either had hot pepper/cinnamon or simply tasted terrible.
7th May 2020
Friends (1994)
The One With Frank Jr. - S3-E5
Question: When Monica's bathroom floor just got redone by Joey, Chandler wants to use it. Monica asks, "What are you doing?" Chandler says, "Want a number?" What does that mean?
Answer: He's asking if she wants to know if he's going 'number 1' (urinating) or 'number 2' (having a bowel movement).
28th Apr 2020
Beetlejuice (1988)
Question: Does Beetlejuice kill the young Girl Scout?
Answer: I think you're thinking of the musical, there's no Girl Scout in the movie. As for the musical, after the girl plays up her heart condition and how a minor shock to her system could kill her, she ironically survives her encounter with Beetlejuice just fine.
26th Apr 2020
The Simpsons (1989)
Oh, Brother, Where Are Thou? - S2-E15
Question: How exactly did the production of Homer's car bankrupt Herb? If Herb, as a highly successful car manufacturer, was spending so much money spoiling Marge and the kids that an $82,000 price tag for making a car was enough of a straw to break the camel's back, wouldn't he have gone bankrupt sooner than later anyway?
Answer: It wasn't the cost of one car, but that they'd produced thousands of Homer's ridiculous vehicles, which they'd marketed as a family car, but cost five times as much as a new car at the time. No one would buy them and the company went under.
Wasn't the car just a demo though? How would they have been able to produce thousands of cars in such a short amount of time?
Big difference between a "demo" or prototype car compared to a launch car. The dealers must have stock available of the launch car so people can actually buy them straight away.
8th Apr 2020
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Question: When Déagol finds the ring, Sméagol asks to have it. When Déagol asks why, Sméagol says because it's his birthday and that he wanted it. Was it really Sméagol's birthday or was he already so quickly drawn by the ring's power that he only claimed it was in hopes that Déagol would hand it over?
Answer: In the book, it absolutely was his birthday.
What chapter in the book where smeagol kills deagol?
The Fellowship of the Ring, chapter two 'The Shadow of the Past.'.
Answer: It probably wasn't his birthday on that exact day, that would be too much of a coincidence. But close is definitely possible, or at least closer than Deagol's. Both were immediately drawn by the ring, heavily enough that they fought over it and Smeagol becoming the ultimate winner. Both did everything to keep it.
4th Apr 2006
Red Dwarf (1988)
Answer: In the book, the Cat finds the concept of a name confusing, as he's convinced he's the center of the universe and the idea that someone wouldn't know who he was is baffling.
21st Mar 2020
Bridesmaids (2011)
Question: How did the broken taillights cause the crash?
Answer: The driver behind her couldn't see her brake lights and didn't realise she was stopping.
Plus the driver was also driving really close to her.
17th Mar 2020
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Question: Andy didn't kill his wife and her lover. Still, he says in the beginning of the film that he did do something wrong. What does he mean by that?
12th Mar 2020
Cast Away (2000)
Question: Why did Chuck and Kelly not get back together at the end? Yes I know she's with that other guy but they still have feelings for each other. She didn't move on by choice, she had to move on because she thought he was dead.
Answer: She hadn't seen Chuck in years, she's married to another man, and had a child with him. Just because she still cares for Chuck (and maybe wishes things had turned out differently), doesn't mean she doesn't love her husband or wants to leave him.
And if I recall, they didn't meet because the new husband told her that Chuck didn't want to see her.
6th Mar 2020
The Big Bang Theory (2007)
The Veracity Elasticity - S10-E7
Answer: She wanted room for her own things. The apartment was cluttered with so many collectables that Leonard never looked at, that he never noticed when she put some in storage.
Well if they're a couple why not talk to him about it? After all couples are supposed to compromise on things, imagine if he'd done this to her.
6th Mar 2020
Joker (2019)
Question: So if Thomas Wayne is Arthur's father does that mean that he and Bruce Wayne are brothers?
Answer: Half brothers, yes, provided Thomas really is Arthur's father.
29th Feb 2020
Beetlejuice (1988)
Question: How did the football players die exactly?
Answer: A bus accident.
Answer: After returning to Juno's office, the quarterback tells her that he doesn't think they survived the crash.
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Answer: How would Akeem's parents know what they were up to? They think he's taking an American vacation, and in the pre social media days, it was hard to keep track of people. As for McDowell, what sort of background check did you expect him to do on a fast food employee in the 80s? McDowell seems like a guy who would cut corners anyway.
Brian Katcher
There aren't exactly a lot of people lining up to work at McDowell's, so Cleo gives the applications a once over and hires them on the spot. I'm in my 40's and I've had plenty of jobs that didn't even call my references, let alone perform a background check.