Questions about cinema and rental titles

Elf picture

Question: When The Central Park Rangers are called in action it mentions the Simon and Garfunkel concert and their actions being under speculation - was this a real event (their questionable actions), and if so what was the problem, or was it just a fictional jokey reference?

Answer: This was a real event. The Simon and Garfunkel free concert drew a crowd of over half a million people and the Central Park Rangers were investigated for being a little "over-enthusiastic" in their methods of crowd control. It was 1981 though, not 1985 as stated.

Absolutely correct and thank you - I was there at the concert and it was 1981. I love the movie Elf but that incorrect reference is a slight irritant - LOL.

Answer: I believe that this refers to an incident I was involved in. I was a new ranger riding Captain Cutter, an ex-race horse that we had Nick named Captain Goofy due to his propensity to suddenly spin in circles without warning. We were leading buses of handicapped people through shoulder-to-shoulder crowds when Goofy did his thing sending people scattering in all directions. It was over pretty quickly. I did not realise at the time that it was news.

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Fast X picture

Question: Spoiler! Does this movie actually end with Dominic and his son Brian about to die and the bad guy Dante winning?

Answer: It does - it's a massive cliffhanger leading directly into the next (and apparently final) film. The team's plane has been shot down and crashed, seemingly killing them all (but let's be honest, that's unlikely...). Dom and Little B survive the drive off the dam and crash into the river. Dante looks down on them and arms massive bombs along the length of the dam, they apparently have nowhere to run to... End of film.

Jon Sandys

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The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes picture

Question: When the Mentors were discussing with the Tributes on how to sell their performances for the audiences, why did the shackled Reaper fake lunge at Dovecote?

Answer: Because he didn't like her, he realized she was just a rich person who saw him as a means to an end, and really didn't care if he survived. He wanted to give her a scare.

Brian Katcher

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John Wick: Chapter 4 picture

Question: Regarding the scene where people catch fire after John Wick shoots them with a particular gun, what exactly is causing them to catch fire? I recall an earlier scene showed men carving lines into the tips of their bullets, though I don't remember if the two things are related. If so, is there something about carving the bullet that causes it, or is it the particular gun?

Phaneron

Answer: These are dragon's breath shotgun shells. The shells are filled with magnesium pellets and ignite when fired. The film seems to exaggerate the stopping power, making it seem almost like an explosive round rather than incendiary. These are not the same rounds that we see the men carving into. Carving grooves into a bullet is done so the bullet expands upon impact and causes more damage similar to a hollow-point round, though the effectiveness of this method is debated.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: It may be incendiary ammunition (not to be confused with tracer bullets). The bullets have a hollow head containing a flammable mixture that ignites upon being fired.

raywest

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Answer: He's not a bad guy to the extent of murdering and plotting against the good guys, but he's not exactly morally upstanding either. Kittridge doesn't want to destroy the Entity like Ethan; he wants to gain control of it on behalf of the US government and is happy to deal with the White Widow or anyone else to achieve that end. His appearance on the train isn't especially nefarious; he's just the highest bidder.

Jon Sandys

Answer: He's either.

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Answer: The black and white scenes are shown from the perspective of Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr.), whereas the scenes in colour are shown from Oppenheimer's perspective.

Casual Person

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Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace picture

Question: When someone becomes a Sith, they take a different name, i.e. Palpatine becomes Darth Sidious, Count Dooku becomes Darth Tyranus, Anakin Skywalker becomes Darth Vader. Does anyone know Darth Maul's non-Sith name?

Answer: No. According to the official sources, Maul was trained in the Sith ways from a very early age - it's quite likely that he himself doesn't remember his original name. Even if he does remember it, it would mean nothing to him any more - the Sith and their ways are his life - and he certainly wouldn't answer to it. According to the non-canon novel "Darth Plagueis", Darth Maul was named "Maul" by his mother before she turned him over to a young Palpatine. He didn't take a new name when he got the title "Darth."

Tailkinker

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