Question: In the book and the movie, why did Sirius wait many years before escaping Azkaban? If I remember the book correctly, he did it by changing into his dog form and walking past the Dementors, who navigate by emotions. I know he had seen Ron holding Scabbers/disguised Peter in the newspaper article, but could he not have turned into his dog form and walked out years ago? Even without knowing where Peter was?
lionhead
23rd Feb 2022
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
Answer: And do what? He had no goal, no way of avenging his wrongful imprisonment. He knew the dementors and every auror would be chasing him if he escaped, he had nowhere to go, no plan. Without any leads he would just be recaptured (and killed most likely). Seeing Wormtail in the papers however, gave him a reason to escape.
18th Feb 2022
Aliens (1986)
Question: 1) If a commanding officer orders you to do something but what they ask you makes no logical sense should you still do it? I'm of course referring to Apone ordering his people to get rid of their ammo. And what are the repercussions for NOT obeying the order? 2) Why wouldn't they check for aliens coming on the ceiling? Wouldn't the ceiling ducts show up on the blueprints they looked over earlier?
Answer: 1) Of course they are supposed to obey orders. Superiors don't usually completely explain the full reason why they give a specific order, it takes too long. That's why soldiers are trained to obey orders, no questions asked. You can see what happens when soldiers don't obey orders, because they had a good reason to tell them not to fire their guns, and they got lucky they didn't hit anything that could compromise the reactor. Insubordination is a serious offense. But since these are fictional space marines we can't really know what the repercussions would be. 2) The aliens didn't come through any ducts. They were hiding in the walls, which had a similar structure and colour as their bodies (logical since they made it). The marines didn't know the aliens would be so stealthy and smart to hide in the walls. They were there for search and rescue and weren't ready to face the aliens, since they hardly knew anything about them.
I think the second part of the question is referring to the scene where Hicks checks in the drop ceiling and finds aliens there. The poster is asking how come the drop ceiling doesn't show up on the blueprints.
18th Feb 2022
Volcano (1997)
Question: How could Stan and the train driver still be alive in such extreme heat and with lava just underneath them? Shouldn't it destroy their lungs? Shouldn't they get incinerated by the extreme heat of magma?
Answer: Yes, the chances of surviving those circumstances is completely impossible. Not just the heat, but also toxic fumes which will incapacitate you very quickly. At one point the soles of his shoes were melting, at that point you would have been dead. It's a heroic scene, but not very believable.
18th Feb 2022
Jurassic Park (1993)
Question: Why was Dr. Grant so dismissive of Tim when they first met? I can understand Grant being annoyed with the bratty kid at the dig site but Tim showed a genuine interest in dinosaurs and even mentioned he'd read Grant's book.
Answer: Dr. Grant doesn't like kids. Any kids.
That was an issue between him and Ellie Sattler, who wanted to have a family, while he did not. She eventually married someone else and had kids.
Answer: Grant just has a low opinion of kids in general. He probably thinks Tim is too young to really understand or appreciate the research that Grant has dedicated most of his life to. Also, Tim can come across as a little "too much" at times; he talks really fast and barely gives Grant a chance to get a word in edgewise.
16th Feb 2022
The Craft (1996)
Question: Correct me if I am wrong, but when Sarah first goes to the magical supply shop, it seems to me that the other girls had been there before. And the shop owner tells Sarah "You are not like your friends" when she does not steal anything. So why does the shopkeeper not call the police or ban them? Or perhaps punish them with magic, but there is the rule about receiving what you send out.
Answer: She feels they will learn their lesson eventually, or probably has felt the consequences coming. Such people don't believe in police justice. Nor does she count the money value of the items.
16th Feb 2022
American History X (1998)
Question: Why did Little Henry kill Danny? Was it a revenge for something?
Answer: It was because he got "punked" by Danny the previous day. He lost face and he took revenge by shooting him.
Answer: He was probably told to kill him to be allowed in a gang. For the gang it was a racist motive. They hate us so we hate them. Provoke us enough and we kill you. It would send out a clear message to the white supremacists.
13th Jan 2022
The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
Question: Minor question, when Trinity and the Keymaker steal the bike, there's a shot of the driver and in the back of his cab is a picture of what looks like a model. Who is she? It seems someone from the art department or set decorator put thought into putting up the picture in the first place, so it seems there might be some significance or inside reference. But it's also seen so briefly I could believe it's just random too.
Answer: Personally I think it's not meant to be significant in any way. A lot of truck drivers have pictures of models in their cabin I'd expect, just added for the stereotype. I don't know who the model is though. BTW, this is a scene from Matrix Reloaded.
4th Jan 2022
Ocean's Twelve (2004)
Question: What could Isabel Lahiri say to Matsui during the interrogation? Why he was so "upset" suddenly?
Answer: We have no idea, nor are we meant to. It's a joke.
It is a joke :) and it's good :) but what could it be? What could she say to his ear :) I'm asking just for curiosity and for mind exercise :).
She is good at her job and knows Matsui enough to have something on him that would make him talk and drop the act. Something personal.
If I had to make my absolute best guess, I'd say it had something to do with that niece of his.
4th Jan 2022
War of the Worlds (2005)
Question: A technical question about the movie. How exactly did they film the scene where the camera keep circling around the car Ray and his kids are fleeing the city with? There're no cuts or any visible sign of a camera platform or other classic filming tricks. It looks awesome.
Answer: The corridor crew on youtube talked about this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkvXGI6bk2Q&t=1017s Timestamp is 15:35 to skip to the scene you want.
4th Jan 2022
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Question: The Connors and Dyson go to great lengths to make sure the original T-800's chip and severed arm are destroyed so that it can never be rebuilt by CyberDyne. However, the "good" T-800's arm was also severed and left inside the heavy cog machinery during the fight against the T-1000 at the steel mill. Surely this leaves a plot hole, in that someone could retrieve THIS arm and still use the technology to recreate the T-800 one day? (albeit without the chip).
Answer: The chip was the main reason they could replicate the technology, the arm an added bonus. The first arm was intact too, this one is crushed, probably beyond recognition. When the factory gets remodeled, they will probably simply break it all out of the machinery and throw it away without knowing what it is.
Answer: From a real world perspective, the film was pretty long with a dense plot. Besides a lot of changes occurring, a lot was left out and the decision to show what Sarah and John ultimately did to the crushed arm may have just been left out. However, in Randall Frakes' novelization of the film, it mentions that John remembers the crushed arm and retrieves it and throws it in. As an audience, it seems we are to assume it being crushed was the same as it being destroyed.
1st Jan 2022
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Question: In the beginning of the film there is a pole thing with a circle on it sticking out of the ground, what is that?
Answer: That would be a crucifix using a "breaking wheel" or "Catherine wheel", which was erected on a pole to display the body. As a death sentence a person is bond to it, his limbs are broken in various manners, and then a colourful way was thought up to kill the condemned (decapitation, disembowelment, garrotte). Usually the body was left up on the wheel as a warning to others.
31st Dec 2021
The Incredibles (2004)
Question: What are the symbols behind Mr Incredible's head at Edna Mode's house? What do they mean?
Answer: If you mean the mural in the background as they enter the house, it's a depiction of Perseus fighting medusa. There are several ancient greek symbols visible also. Probably depicting names.
31st Dec 2021
Back to the Future Part II (1989)
Question: At one point in the film Doc pulls out a case of "emergency money" he's collected from different time periods. When did he have the time to go to all those time periods? Marty went to 1955 and after getting back Doc went to 2015 before coming straight back again to get Marty to go to the future, so when did Doc have the time to go collecting all that money?
Answer: He wouldn't have to travel to the specific time periods to get past money; he could have found ways to procure it in the present (from collectors, museums, banks, etc.) before ever time traveling in the first place.
Answer: He didn't just visit 2015 and came straight back. He had visited more places and spend some time travelling before returning to Marty. He collected all the money in those visits.
Answer: Doc Brown is a resourceful man. Seeing how the bills in his emergency case are pretty crisp and not knowing how many travels he really made, it is only safe to say that he must have found a way to get his hands on those bills. Though his masquerade and "adding of 30 or 40 years to his life" by way of treatment in a rejuvenation clinic may not have been born out of vanity.
27th Dec 2021
Stripes (1981)
Question: Why are Czechoslovak border guards speaking Russian? The Soviet Red Army would not be guarding the border with West Germany.
Answer: In 1981 Czechoslovakia was part of the Warsaw Pact and thus under the Iron Curtain. The Soviet Union would not fully allow the satellite states to do their own border security, so Soviet guards were placed.
27th Dec 2021
Stargate (1994)
Question: After the probe goes through the stargate General West discusses the possibility of a reconnaissance team but one officer says to get back they need to dial home. My query is, couldn't they just open the stargate again from their end? Instead of having to dial home to activate the stargate? Also, while on the alien planet, presumably they use satellite phones to communicate, how are they get the satellite signals for the phones to work without satellites?
Answer: The wormhole is a one way gate. So when the gate is opened from one side, you can't go through from the other side. You have to open the stargate from your own location in order to travel.
18th Dec 2021
Arachnophobia (1990)
Question: Which spider attacked the doctor in the barn, killing him? Was it the general, the queen, or just one of the offspring?
Answer: I think he's referring to the Brazilian doctor they brought in to help. If that's the case, it was the main spider that hitched a ride with the body.
Answer: One of the offspring. There was a brief shot of the little one crawling into the doctor's slipper.
Wrong doctor.
The question is actually referring to the entomologist played by Julian Sands, not the town medical doctor that Jeff Daniels moves in to replace.
18th Dec 2021
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Question: Are the Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield Spider-Man movies now part of the MCU?
Answer: No, they are part of the multiverse. The MCU is just one of those universes within the multiverse.
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.
Answer: No. It's explained that they are from another universe, and were sent back to their universes at the end of the film.
13th Dec 2021
Jaws (1975)
Question: When Brody and Hooper find Ben Gardner's boat why does Hooper dive into the water to examine the bottom of the boat when he already knows there's a man-eating shark in the water? How does Hooper know the shark won't swim up behind (or underneath) him and devour him?
Answer: Because he is under the impression the shark has recently eaten and the digestive system of a shark works really slow so it won't be out hunting for a while. With a normal shark anyway.
Answer: Hooper wanted to inspect Gardner's boat as soon as possible to see what caused it to sink, and before the town locals towed it and possibly destroyed any evidence. As the other answer noted, Hooper knew the shark's eating habits. He was willing to take a calculated risk and which he was quite nervous about.
16th Dec 2015
The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Question: When Bruce escaped the pit, did he throw the rope down so the rest of the prisoners could escape? I know they helped him, but isn't letting them go free a bad thing (they're prisoners for a reason, some of them could've been rapists like the ones that killed that little girl's mother)? And how did Bruce get to Gotham so fast? Do we know what country the pit is in?
Answer: Yes, he threw the rope to let the prisoners out. It may have been a dumb move on his part, although there is the potential that numerous prisoners there were also wrongfully imprisoned by Bane, and Bruce is intimately familiar with the criminal world and mindset - he may have simply judged that the remaining prisoners in the pit were worth freeing. Bruce has connections all over the planet, any company, or one could have dropped off billionaire Bruce Wayne back off at the states. It is never mentioned where the prison is located.
Answer: As far as the country the Pit is in, it's never stated in the film, only that it's in the ancient part of the world. In the comics, Bane was born and lived in the prison Peña Duro, although it doesn't share much with the Pit other than being where Bane was in prison. Peña Duro Is located in the fictional country of Santa Prisca, which is located in the northern part of the Caribbean.
Answer: It should be noted that the Pit was now Bane's. While it's a prison in the sense that the people can't escape, it wasn't specifically filled with criminals convicted of a crime in a legal setting. They were Bane's enemies who had been put there to be tortured. While it's likely some of Bane's enemies were criminals, they were probably free before Bane put them there. Remember, before Bane bought or took over the Pit, Ra's al Ghul had killed the prisoners as revenge for the murder of his wife. Although they also might not have been criminals convicted legally and would have been the Warlord's enemies.
Answer: While the actual pit was a set and Hollywood magic, the exterior of the prison [once Batman escaped] is Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur, India. A set of circular stones mark the supposed "entrance" to the pit. However, the interior of the prison, which had all of the wall/stairs, have a real life inspiration. Chand Baori, was built in the ninth century, and has 3,500 steps across 13 stories. Apparently, the priests who lived there also liked to chant as they descended the steps to reach water, which sent vibrations through the stairs. (Per Cracked. Com, "5 Mind-Blowing True Stories Behind Famous Movie Locations).
Although this is interesting, this not an answer to the question. I'd recommend to post this again as trivia.
I originally wrote it to answer the second part of the question, as I also wondered where it was set in, but I went overboard with the details. I submitted it to trivia.
22nd Mar 2004
Alien (1979)
Question: What exactly is the space jockey and why haven't we seen it in the other films except its fossilized self sitting in the what I call the laser gun?
Answer: It's another race of space alien that is also subject to infection by the Aliens. This particular one was infected and moved as far as it could from its race's known space and broadcast a warning before it died. The presence of eggs in the hold may indicate that it was a research ship. The race was never used in other Alien movies because it adds a new dynamic to the plotlines: two alien species, locked in mortal combat and neither particularly friendly with humans. In the Alien pseudo-prequel Prometheus we learn these beings are known as the Engineers and have interesting ties with both the aliens and humans as well.
Answer: Other theories, mostly developed in the comics derived from the original franchise, assume the xenomorphs were biological weapons conceived by the Space Jockeys for some interstellar war of theirs. Hence, the crescent-shape derelict was just a bomber, full of eggs and operated by a single pilot to minimize risks of accident with this mostly dangerous cargo. - what just happened though.
AKA, the plot of Prometheus.
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Answer: To add to the other fine answer that I agree with, Sirius' mental state negatively affected his desire and/or ability to escape. He languished in prison as a broken man, knowing that everyone believed him guilty and that no-one would help him if he did escape. Others would have killed him. It was a while before Sirius realised the Dementors couldn't detect his dog form. It also wasn't until he'd lost a significant amount of weight from being half-starved that he could slip through the bars as a dog, though, realistically, it wouldn't have taken 12 years to become that thin.
raywest ★