Question: In Paris right before Jonathon meets Sasha, he orders a drink called Penot or something like that. What kind of drink is this and what difference did it make when he had the waiter add water to it?
Answered questions about specific movies, TV shows and more
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Question: Why can Harry only see the thestrals in his fifth year? He saw his parents die when he was a baby - I know there is an explanation I just can't remember it.
Answer: Harry never saw his father die. James Potter was in another part of the house when Voldemort murdered him. It's also unknown if Harry actually witnessed his mother's death. He was in his crib, and his view may have been obstructed. He only remembers seeing a green flash and hearing Lily scream. Also, because he was an infant, he could not interpret what he actually was viewing. One has to be consciously aware when seeing death. However, Harry should have been able to see the thestrals by his second year, after he witnessed Professor Quirrell's death in Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone, although he only witnessed his death in the film. In the book, he passed out before Quirrell died.
Answer: In reality, he should have been able to see them at the end of the fourth movie but off screen when they were catching the train home.
Question: I live in Southern California and I can hear the snakes 50 yards away. Knowing that there were rattlesnakes on the plane, wouldn't people on the plane have heard them?
Answer: Rattlesnakes only make a noise when they are disturbed and some rattlesnakes will even strike without starting to rattle first.
Question: When Homer opens the curtains from the Red Rash Inn Motel room, there are several Advertising sign posters in foreign languages. The one in the middle-right is in Korean and it advertises classes to learn English with a Texan accent. Can someone explain what this joke is about?
Answer: I believe the joke is supposed to be that the way Texans speak is a language all its own.
Question: When Ursula is posing as a human, does her 'unsinging' voice change to Ariel's as well, or just when she is singing?
Answer: Well from what I remember Jodi Benson, who is the voice of Ariel, disguised her voice for Vanessa so in a way she has the same speaking voice as Ariel but a little bit of Ursula's real voice seems to come through.
Question: This applies to the movie and the book. Is there any reason why somebody can't go back in time using a Time Turner and save all those people that Voldemort killed or perhaps kill the child Voldemort? It seems like such a big plot hole so I had to check before I submitted it as a mistake.
Answer: According to the Harry Potter Wikia, someone using a Time Turner can only stay in the past for five hours at a time, to avoid doing irreparable damage to the timeline or the time traveler themselves.
Chosen answer: To change time, even with good intentions, would be to break one of the most important wizarding laws. Hermione was only allowed access to a Time Turner under very carefully controlled conditions; Professor McGonagall had to write many letters to the Ministry on her behalf and, according to Hermione, told her a number of stories about occasions when wizards had attempted to alter time with horrific consequences. Going back to kill the infant Voldemort would simply not be an option.
Question: I was watching this movie last night, and it got to the part where Nightcrawler/Storm are looking down at the kids in the cell. On the back wall there looks to be an image of Nightcrawler in the place where he teleports later on. What is this doing there?
Answer: This is mentioned in a mistake for the film. It is in fact Nightcrawler himself just before he steps forward, appearing to have just teleported into the cell. For some unknown reason, the editors used this shot before he was to have teleported.
Question: In a conversation between Senator Kelly and Colonel Stryker - regarding whether Stryker wants a war - Stryker says he was leading military operations when Kelly was still a baby. Kelly isn't young. How old are each character supposed to be? (Granted, that's technically Mystique as Kelly, but Stryker does not know that).
Answer: Given his history with Logan, Stryker could easily be in in 70s. Assuming Senator Kelly is in his 50s, that could put Stryker as a young operative when Kelly was born. In any case, he may be exaggerating.
Question: In the first scene, Harry is practising his 'Lumos Maxima' spell under his bedcovers. But in film 5 (and the books, for that matter) it is said that students aren't allowed to perform any magic outside of school. So how was he able to perform this spell without being warned/expelled from Hogwarts?
Answer: It's also shown that the Ministry have some discretion in what's allowable. Given that Harry's using a low-level spell, out of the sight of any muggles (the incidents that get him into trouble in books 3 and 5 both take place with muggles present), in a repeated fashion that would clearly indicate practice, it's reasonable to think that the Ministry would exercise its discretion in this instance and choose not to pursue the matter.
Question: At the very end of the movie, Michael Caine states that the audience wants to be fooled as a dead Angier is shown in a water tank. What does this mean?
Answer: It means exactly what he says - the reason that illusion shows are successful is that the audience, whether they admit it or not, want to be fooled by the illusions that they see. They don't want to see what lies behind it.
Question: Why is the right field foul pole named after Johnny Pesky?
Answer: Popular Boston Red Sox lore credits the nickname to pitcher Mel Parnell who later became a sportscaster. Pesky had only 6 homers in Fenway Park and all were hit near the right field foul line pole, but never off the pole. The pole is only 302 feet from home plate. The left field foul line pole is named after player Carlton Fisk.
Question: How do the Death Eaters escape from Azkaban when it is very tall where the explosion happened/spell hit, and they don't (or shouldn't) have their wands?
Answer: Quite simply, someone else caused the explosion from the outside. Or for that matter, seeing how the Dementors have changed sides, it is not unlikely that someone was allowed to come in to Azkaban and break the Death Eaters out.
I think that Voldemort was the one who caused an explosion from the outside.
Question: Why wasn't Harry punished for using the Cruciatus curse on Bellatrix? The ministry obviously keeps tabs on underage wizardry. Wouldn't there be serious repercussions for using an unforgivable curse?
Answer: The Ministry can keep track of magic being cast, but appear unable to determine who actually cast it - for example, when Dobby uses magic at the Dursley's house during the events of the Chamber of Secrets, Harry is blamed for it, as he's the only known magic-user at that location. At the Ministry, there are something like a dozen adult wizards involved in the fight, including a considerable number of Deatheaters. The Ministry know that a Cruciatus curse was cast, but would have no way to know who actually cast it, letting Harry off the hook.
Question: Why does it seem like Filch is on Dolores Umbridge's side?
Answer: He has always been in favour of using much stricter discipline at Hogwarts, even talking warmly about medieval punishing methods. Umbridge introduces and enforces the sort of rigid regime he wants, one where the school will be free of pranks and rule-breaking, something he hates with a passion (since, as caretaker, he often has to clean up the mess afterwards). Hence, he is very much in support of Umbridge.
Question: If only Harry and Luna can see the thestral creatures, then how do all the others fly them when they go to the ministry without falling off, due to not seeing where they can hold on?
Answer: They have to feel the Thestrals with their hands to know where and how to climb up, and then simply grab hold of whatever they can and hang on for dear life. It is said to be a very confusing and scary way to travel!
Question: Specifically HOW would Pai Mei have taught the "five point palm exploding heart technique" to the Bride? We all know she trained with him for months. Bill (and the film generally) makes that very clear. Could someone simplify this for me?
Answer: It is obvious they practiced this on anything but a live person. See the look in her eyes when she completes the move on Bill? She's like, "yes, OK, it works" even though I'm sure she implicitly trusted Pei Mei, she had never seen the technique on a real person. So likely they would have used anything from a piece a wood to a dummy. Also she trained with Pei Mei for years not months. Remember Bill telling her not to sass back at least for the "first year or so till he warms up to her" - they had lots of time together.
Answer: The same way he would have taught her any other dangerous or esoteric techniques. Most likely, he would show her the precise way to position the fingers, precisely when and where to strike and then have her practice until she could do it correctly in an instant. In addition, a training aid such as a dummy would also help her know exactly how much force to use, as well as letting Pai Mei judge whether or not she did everything correctly and correct any flaws. But it really is impossible to do anything but speculate on this, as techniques like this and the teachings thereof are deliberately not shown to the general public (if they even exist, that is), and so the only ones who know how to teach this will not give away any hints or reveal any special training methods they use.
Question: Why is the Silver Surfer making craters all over the Earth? What purpose do they serve?
Answer: They're part of the mechanism that Galactus uses to extract the life-force from the planet.
Question: During a break in the card game Bond slips something into Le Chiffre's inhaler - but I don't recall anything coming of it later. What did he slip in and what was the significance of that?
Answer: It's a tracking device he can use to find Le Chiffre at all times. He uses it whilst in the hotel lift to determine that Le Chiffre is on the 4th floor of the hotel and which room he is in.
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Chosen answer: The drink is called "Pernod". It's an aniseed aperitiv, and when you add water to this kind of liquor it turns from clear to cloudy white.
Ioreth