Question: Why did Keyser Söze (Verbal Kint) plot to kill/eliminate all the 'Usual Suspects'?
Tailkinker
26th Nov 2008
The Usual Suspects (1995)
Answer: We cannot assume that the suspects crossed Keyser in any way as we cannot assume any of the story is true, therefore it could be because they crossed him or simply because they know his face.
25th Nov 2008
Quantum of Solace (2008)
Question: Is that a real opera? If so, what is it?
Answer: Tosca, by Puccini.
25th Nov 2008
Quantum of Solace (2008)
Question: I have some doubts about this movie and Casino Royale: What was the exact relation between Le Chiffre and Greene? For what I understood, Mollaka, the airport guy (I think his name is Carlos) and Dimitrios all worked for Le Chiffre, right? So, Le Chiffre owed money to Mr. White's organization (Quantum) and Mr. White killed him. I think this is it, although I'm not sure. Any explanation would be appreciated.
Answer: I think you've got it pretty much right. Greene is one of the members of Quantum, along with Mr White and numerous others. Le Chiffre appears to have been his own man, working as a private banker for various organisations, including Quantum, who, in addition to using his services, would introduce him to potential new clients. Mollaka and Carlos were both freelance operatives employed by Le Chiffre through his associate Dimitrios to take down the prototype aircraft as part of his efforts to manipulate the stock market. When Le Chiffre lost the money through taking too many risks with it, Quantum came to the conclusion that he couldn't be trusted, so Mr White took him out of play.
24th Nov 2008
Apollo 13 (1995)
Question: When Apollo 13 launches, there is a lot of white stuff that look like shingles (I don't know how else to describe it) that fall off the space craft as it is rising. What is it?
Answer: It's ice that condensed on the side of the rocket. The fuel has to be kept at low temperature, leading to the rocket being extremely cold.
I get it. The fuel needs to be kept at low temperatures. Otherwise the rocket would overheat, and explode.
The fuel does not have to be kept at low temperatures. The ice "shingles" form on the outside skin of the Saturn V that surrounds the oxidiser tanks. The oxidiser is liquid oxygen, which liquefies at −182.96 °C, cold enough to freeze atmospheric water vapour into ice.
The answer to the question states that the fuel has to be kept at a low temperature.
Then the answer is wrong. The fuel of the Saturn V (kerosene) was kept at ambient temperature whereas the oxidiser (liquid oxygen) was kept at near cryogenic temperatures. Look, this isn't rocket science! No, wait, yes it is.
Then why is the ice there?
It forms the skin of the Saturn V that encloses the oxidiser tanks. The liquid oxygen in the tanks is so cold (−182.96 °C) that atmospheric water freezes into ice and is dislodged when the Saturn V is launched.
Ever noticed a wet can or glass of a cold drink in the summer? That's humidity from the air condensing on the cold surface of the glass. Now imagine if that can or glass were about 300° BELOW 0. That same humidity would condense and freeze. It being Florida in July, very humid, lots of condensation turning to ice. It didn't happen to the Space Shuttle because the tank was covered in that brown foam to insulate it like a styrofoam cooler.
23rd Nov 2008
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993)
Question: Does anyone know which episode O'Brien and Bashir come out of the holo suite after fighting The Battle Of Britain?
Answer: The fourth season episode "Homefront".
23rd Nov 2008
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Question: This might be a daft question, but what exactly is Denethor's problem? From the Extended Version of "The Two Towers" to when he dies in "The Return of the King", I just get the impression that he's being an a** for no apparent reason.
Answer: Denethor is basically a grim and humourless man, largely brought on by the early death of his beloved wife, thirty years before the events of the film. In many ways an intelligent ruler, he nevertheless commanded the city under the continued stress of the threat of Mordor, a power that built throughout his reign as Steward and this took a great toll on the man. In the books, Denethor repeatedly used a palantir to gather knowledge from afar; this allowed Sauron to tap into his psyche and sap his will, casting him deeper into a state of fear and paranoia. Ultimately the loss of his beloved son and heir, Boromir, sent him over the edge, leaving him as the bitter and rather twisted man that we see during the events of "The Return of the King".
17th Nov 2008
Quantum of Solace (2008)
Question: What was the purpose of visiting Vesper's boyfriend at the end of the movie? Was he involved? Because I don't remember anyone saying anything about that in the movie.
Answer: He's an operative of the Quantum organisation that Bond is up against who specialises in seducing women who can then be manipulated into helping their cause - in Vesper's case by pretending to be kidnapped to force her to cooperate. When Bond catches up with him, he's in the process of seducing another woman, no doubt to involve her in some scheme or other. Bond tells her the truth and she leaves, leaving Bond to deal with the Quantum agent.
6th Nov 2008
Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969)
Question: From the Bruces' philosophers song, what do they mean when they say "There's nothing Neecha couldn't teach ya about the raising of the wrist"?
Answer: Well, the whole song is about drinking, so it's pretty clear that "the raising of the wrist" refers to the movement made while drinking. "Neecha" is, in fact, "Nietzsche", as in Friedrich Nietzsche, a nineteenth century German philosopher. So the line's suggesting that Nietzsche was a heavy drinker - that there was nothing that he didn't know about it.
6th Nov 2008
Iron Man (2008)
Question: How come Tony Stark put Hot Rod Red on his suit? Is it because he liked the color?
Answer: Yes. He loves messing around with customised cars like that - throwing in some of the red colour is a nod to that. Plus it stops him flying around in a gold-coloured suit, which even he considers a bit over the top.
6th Nov 2008
V for Vendetta (2005)
Question: It becomes clear that V gives his victims Scarlet Carson roses in memory of Valerie, but how does Delia work out that the murderer is V from the roses? Surely she didn't know that Valerie had written to V mentioning them. Also, are we ever told what V was originally imprisoned for?
Answer: Nothing is ever revealed about V's history before Larkhill so we don't know why he was there. As for the roses, in the original comic book, in order to keep him compliant during his time in captivity, V was allowed to tend a small garden while his health was monitored. It was during that time that he first grew the Scarlet Carson roses and also surreptitiously obtained the chemicals that he would use to destroy Larkhill and make his escape. Whether this can be considered consistent with the film storyline is an open question - certainly nothing in the film actively appears to contradict it.
6th Nov 2008
Star Wars (1977)
Question: If characters such as Luke and Obi-Wan are human, how come they are in a galaxy far, far away?
Answer: Well, it's also a "long time ago", so it doesn't rule out the possibility that the human inhabitants of Earth travelled here from there. Could also be a simple case of parallel evolution and the filmmakers refer to the species as "human" for convenience, in the same way that the standard Star Wars language is represented as present-day English, despite the fact that it obviously wouldn't be.
Answer: Why shouldn't humans be there? Maybe a god/gods created humans on multiple planets. Maybe humans have evolved and developed on multiple planets, multiple times. In the Battlestar Galactica series, it's established that "all of this has happened before" - the human race advances to a certain point, then they create the Cylons that destroy nearly all of them. The survivors find a place to start over and produce new generations, who will create Cylons again someday. You could imagine something similar about the Star Wars universe, or imagine any other explanation.
Answer: We don't know they're "human" as we understand it anyway, despite the use of the word which may be a translation, as mentioned already (their alphabet isn't Roman, for a start). Like The Doctor or any number of humanoid races in sci-fi who resemble us externally but aren't homo sapiens.
6th Nov 2008
There's Something About Mary (1998)
Question: During the end credits it says "Dedicated to Ryan Mone." Who was he and what happened to this man?
Answer: Ryan Mone was a young hockey player from Martha's Vineyard, who died in a car accident at the age of just seventeen. The Farrelly brothers are long-term friends of the Mone family and chose to dedicate their film to Ryan as their tribute to his memory.
6th Nov 2008
Max Payne (2008)
Question: Was this the first PG-13 film to use the F word? If not, what movie was the first?
Answer: Hardly. The word "fuck" has been allowed, subject to certain conditions, in PG-13-rated films ever since the rating was introduced in July 1984. Prior to that (and even occasionally afterwards), it was not unheard of for a film rated as low as PG to get away with using the word, with the first use in a PG-rated film being in All The President's Men in 1976.
6th Nov 2008
Star Wars (1977)
Question: If dates in the Star Wars universe are based on when events took place in relation to the Battle of Yavin, what date system was used up to and during the battle?
Answer: The Galactic Standard Calendar has been used consistently in the Star Wars universe for thousands of years and is, from its alternate name of the Coruscant Standard Calendar, probably based on the Coruscanti year length. Each new regime that has ruled the Star Wars galaxy has tended to reset the clock, as it were, so the Empire tended to count years from when Palpatine declared himself Emperor in 19BBY, during the events of Episode III. The Old Republic started their count thousands of years earlier, when it was founded. When the Empire fell to make way for the New Republic, they chose to start their calendar from the year of the Battle of Yavin, the year when they struck their first huge blow against the Empire.
6th Nov 2008
The Italian Job (2003)
Question: When the gang is discussing how to steal the gold in transit, when Charlie says, "We'll do it like The Italian Job", was he referring to the their Italian heist in Venice or to the original Italian Job movie, where the gang creates a chaotic traffic jam in Turin?
Answer: He's referring to their Italian heist where they have the item they're stealing drop through the ground. There's no indication that the original film is supposed to exist in the universe of the remake.
What were your sources? I agree with you.
The original film is on a TV in the background.
6th Nov 2008
Iron Man (2008)
Question: What was the type of jet that Tony Stark used to travel to Afghanistan in? Is this an actual jet or a movie mock-up?
Answer: It's a CGI mockup. Originally a Boeing 737 Business Jet, it was decided during production that a regular jet wasn't nearly sexy enough for Stark, leading to everything from the wings back being replaced with a digital model that looked cooler.
6th Nov 2008
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
Question: Obi-Wan says that it's impossible for anyone to alter the information in the star system library. How, then, could it be possible that a Jedi erased this information, as Yoda says?
Answer: What Obi-wan says is "Who could empty information from the archives? That's impossible, isn't it?" It's a question, not a statement. He's heard that it's supposed to be impossible, but the fact of the missing information clearly contradicts that. Yoda puts him straight, telling him that only a Jedi (i.e. somebody on the inside) could have done it.
16th Sep 2008
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)
Answer: No.
15th Sep 2008
The Dark Knight (2008)
Question: In the courtroom scene, the mob guy suddenly pulls out a gun and attempts to kill Harvey Dent. How was he able to get a gun into the court building? Surely the metal detectors and/or security would have easily caught him?
Answer: Dent specifically describes it as a ceramic gun, which is presumably designed not to set off metal detectors. It's arguable that security should have frisked him more closely, but as the witness was expected to be cooperative, based on his previously sworn statement, it's understandable that they didn't consider him a major threat and simply relied on the metal detectors.
14th Sep 2008
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Question: Something that I was confused about: in the later movies, Vader supposedly can't breathe for long without the respirator in his suit. However, in this movie, there has to have been several minutes from the time Obi-wan leaves him lying on the ground, to the time Palpatine arrives, and the time that the medical ship arrives. Later, when his armor is being put on, he lies on the table before his mask is put on, and has to be breathing on his own. If he could breathe on his own right after his accident, shouldn't he have been able to twenty years later (after his injuries have probably healed somewhat)?
Answer: After the battle on Mustafar, Anakin's basically keeping himself alive through sheer force of will more than anything else; once rescued, he's being helped by the Imperial medics and the Emperor's own power. His lungs have been badly seared - he's still capable of breathing, but much less efficiently than when he was healthy - the respirator built into his suit compensates for those injuries. Twenty years on, when Luke removes the helmet to see his father's face, Anakin's body has been nearly fried by the Emperor's Force lightning - he's already dying. Taking the helmet off might accelerate that, but he's happy to sacrifice what would only be a few more minutes of life to see his son with his own eyes.
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Answer: Each of them has unknowingly crossed him in some manner. So he pulls them together into a group, uses them as pawns to help him eliminate the man who can identify him, then, once that's done, he cleans up the loose ends by taking them out.
Tailkinker ★