Question: Why would Ephrain not break bread with Avnar at the end of the film?
raywest
19th Feb 2021
Munich (2005)
19th Feb 2021
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)
Question: Why does Luke offer to sell the droids to Jabba the Hutt at the beginning? Would Luke actually have left C-3PO and R2-D2 with Jabba if Jabba had agreed to give Han back in exchange for them?
Answer: The Droids were his inside men. All part of his plan to free Han. Why do you think R2-D2 had the light saber hidden within him? C-3PO knew nothing of it.
Answer: In his hologram message, Luke offered the two droids to Jabba as a "gift" to show his supposed good faith before he arrives to bargain for Han. He was not offering to sell or exchange the droids for Han. Of course, Luke had no intention of giving up the droids and knew Jabba would never hand over Han. Luke's rescue included retrieving Han and the droids.
19th Feb 2021
Star Wars (1977)
Question: When Luke finds R2-D2 after R2 runs away from Luke's home, and then R2 starts beeping something and C-3PO says, "There are several creatures headed from the southeast!" Why then does Luke go to take a closer look instead of simply getting the droids in his speeder and getting out of there?
Answer: Luke is focused on finding Obi Wan and delivering Princess Leia's recorded message, which has intrigued him. Also, Luke is young, adventurous, and rather rash; he's curious to know what he's up against and whether or not it's necessary to flee or stay and continue his mission. He has a Jedi Knight's nature, and they do not run at the first sign of danger.
19th Feb 2021
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Question: Why does Satipo follow Indy into the boobytrap-filled temple at the beginning of the film, if he's aware of the danger and is terrified to go in?
Answer: He was greedy and probably assumed Indy would disable all the boobytraps getting to the idol, thus clearing the way for him. As for Satipo acting afraid, he was probably faking it so Indy would not suspect that he intended to steal the idol and trap him inside the temple. It also deliberately misleads the audience as to his duplicity, making his betrayal an unexpected twist. He may actually have been afraid but was it was the price for obtaining what he wanted.
18th Feb 2021
Marathon Man (1976)
Question: Why does Babe throw Szell's diamonds away when he could've kept a few? Why would Szell be stupid enough to risk exposure when going to the diamond district of New York where somebody might recognize him?
Answer: The diamonds were "blood money" that were stolen at the expense of many Jewish lives during the holocaust and also resulted in Babe's brother, "Doc" being murdered. For that reason, Babe would not want them, nor would he allow others to profit from them. Szell needed to risk being recognized in New York in order to retrieve the entire cache of diamonds from the bank safe deposit box after his brother, Klaus, was killed. Klaus would retrieve as many diamonds as Szell needed to sell to support himself in South America. Once Klaus was dead, no-one else could gain access to them for Szell, or if they could, probably would have stolen them.
18th Feb 2021
Monk (2002)
18th Feb 2021
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
12th Feb 2021
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Question: Why was Aragorn so reluctant to claim the throne? While in the novel he is proud to be destined to rule Gondor and Arnor.
Answer: Probably for multiple reasons. For the movie, having Aragorn struggle against his own desires and an inherited destiny makes for a more conflicted, intriguing, and three-dimensional character rather than the stereotypical power-obsessed trope. Being king is an immense responsibility and a heavy burden. Personal wants and freedom are sacrificed to serve others. Not every ruler craves power and oftentimes were born into an unwanted, pre-destined path. Aragorn was raised in Rivendell, unaware he was the heir, nor was he groomed to become king.
11th Feb 2021
Dracula Untold (2014)
8th Jun 2020
Frasier (1993)
Question: Why did Niles stay with Maris for so long considering they hint she's horrid. That and why did they never show her?
Answer: Niles did love Maris, but he was very much a pushover who let Maris control his life. He accepted that because of Maris' money and connections, which gave him a very good life.
Answer: I forget exactly, but I believe it's along the lines that Niles enjoyed the social status that being married to her brought him, despite her flaws; it's somewhat akin to someone staying in a bad relationship because the sex is good. As for the second part of your question, the producers were planning to cast someone, but as the show wore on, the writers found they enjoyed writing Maris as an unseen character, and as the descriptions of her became more outlandish and contradictory, it was felt that finding the right actress for the part would next to impossible.
Answer: The other answers accurately explain Niles and Maris' relationship. As to her never being seen, Maris is a version of Norm's wife Vera in "Cheers." Vera remained unseen throughout the entire series, but was often talked about and incorporated into various episodes. It was left to viewers' imagination regarding what she looked like and guessing if she'd ever appear. Vera sort of appeared in one Cheers episode when she was hit by a pie that entirely covered her face. Her voice was also occasionally heard. This same plot device was used in "Frasier."
3rd Feb 2021
Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)
Question: Depending on child labor laws just how did they get the young Diana actress to do her own stunts?
Answer: Lily Aspell, (young Diana), performed many of her own stunts. She is naturally athletic and was already an expert equestrian rider (her parents and uncle are professional jockeys). Stunts are carefully coordinated, and she would never have been allowed to do anything dangerous. Stunt doubles perform the more dangerous action scenes. Often, CGI superimposes an actor's face over a stunt double's body. Safety harnesses and suspension cables are used and later removed digitally. Actors also perform many scenes in front of a "green screen" and special effects are added later to look like an extreme environment. I once observed a movie scene being shot. What looked like a wild car chase in the move was actually filmed with the vehicles driven at slow speed. The action was sped up during the editing process.
31st Jan 2021
Batman (1989)
Question: Why is Robin omitted from this film?
Answer: According to screenwriter Sam Ham, Batman started out solo in the comics.
Answer: In addition to the other answers, it may also be a factor that around this time the "current" Robin, Jason Todd, wasn't very popular, to the extent that a phone poll was taken which ended up with him being killed off not long before this film was released. Batman was Robin-less in the comics from 1988 - 1991. Given Robin's lack of popularity and strong association with the Adam West Batman series, the filmmakers may well have felt that a clean slate would be a better approach.
Answer: Probably because this was the first movie in the series. It sets up the entire Batman premise and goes into Wayne's backstory before he met Robin. Adding Robin at this point would only clutter and confuse the plot. It would also slow the action and diminish the conflict between Batman and the Joker. Robin being introduced later allows for his own history to be better incorporated into the overall story.
28th Jan 2021
Cars (2006)
Question: In the final race, Lightning stops at the finish line and gives up the win to help The King. I don't get why. If he wanted the win and the Dinoco sponsorship, then why not win, then go help him. Sure, he was being a good sportsman, but even in football, you can win, cheer, and then go congratulate the team and say good game. He would have been praised either way.
Answer: It was about choosing personal character and integrity over fame and monetary reward. Lightning McQueen knew that if he won, the ensuing glory and adulation could be shallow and fleeting, as it had been for Doc. McQueen was already selfish and arrogant, and he realised winning the championship would have made him worse. He instead makes a sacrifice to help someone else, stays loyal to his less-glamorous Rust-Eze sponsor, who always supported him, and knows who his true friends are so that, moving forward, he can build a more meaningful life.
26th Jan 2021
Charade (1963)
Question: When Audrey Hepburn confronts Cary Grant by saying that Carson Dyle is dead, shouldn't he have asked her how she knew that fact? (00:50:57)
25th Jan 2021
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017)
Question: Why did the bank people open the safe in the beginning of the movie? I get that they were trying to demonstrate the safety of the vault, but how does opening it do that? Feels like something written just to help the story move on.
22nd Jan 2021
Apollo 13 (1995)
Question: Since it was so cold on the return journey to Earth, why didn't the astronauts wear their full space suits they wore on lift-off to keep warm? The just seem to be wearing their lightweight flight overalls.
Answer: Because they need to be able to move quickly through the confined space of the module, and the full suits would be far too bulky in an emergency.
The older Apollo missions all splashed down with full suits and helmet on. Just the launch suits, not the much bulkier EVA (moon walk) suits.
Answer: According to Jim Lovell in a later interview about the mission, the crew considered putting on their space suits but in addition to them being too bulky, there was concern the suits would make them perspire too much, thus making them wet and even colder. It wasn't quite as cold as depicted in the movie, it was always above freezing, and there were no icy windows or frozen hot dogs.
According to Lovell in his book, there actually were frozen hot dogs.
Answer: In addition, since they have to leave the ship after landing, the suit filling with water would be very dangerous.
The launch abort mode was for an ocean landing, so they would have been just as vulnerable at the start of the mission. I get your line of thinking though.
Answer: Don't remember the source (the actual movie or one of many books) but I do remember there were only two moon suits on board (the CMP, Swigert, doesn't land on the moon). I believe they decided to suffer together. I misread the question, but the option for wearing the Lunar EVA suits was considered. IIRC, they did actually wear the boots at one point.
21st Jan 2021
Cast Away (2000)
Question: I recently submitted a "mistake" which revealed my own misunderstanding. The package that Chuck eventually delivers to Bettina had been sent to her partner in Moscow, which COULD explain its presence on a westbound trans-Pacific flight. Still, would a package sent from Memphis to Moscow be routed through southeast Asia? It would be shorter, and therefore faster, would it not, to send it across the Atlantic?
Answer: There are two packages sent by Bettina Peterson. The first we see goes to Russia to a man also named Peterson. The second never reaches its destination but we don't know where exactly it was being sent. That second package must have been going somewhere that required it being routed through Malaysia.
Agree with your answer, but something else occurred to me. Bettina appears to be sending out packages via FedEx fairly regularly. She is an artist, and may sell her work internationally. While she does create large-scale wing sculptures, she may also do smaller types of metal artwork, jewelry, etc. We assume she was only mailing packages to her cheating husband, but she could have been sending something to a customer in Southeast Asia.
I found an earlier version of the script that explains this. After rescue, FedEx looked at the husband's records, which indicate he had moved from Russia to Kuala Lumpur. The package on the plane was being sent from the lady in Texas to there. The FedEx people could not locate a current address for the now ex-husband, so Tom returned it to the sender address in Texas.
21st Jan 2021
Saw IV (2007)
Question: John Kramer says to Cecil who is tied to a chair, "Some people stop to help a stranded motorist and get taken out by a speeding semi. There's no accounting for it." Who is he referring to by the stranded motorist? And who was killed by a semi while helping the motorist? It's been a while since I watched the movies. I don't remember it.
20th Jan 2021
Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves (1997)
Question: Why didn't Marcia Strassman reprise her role of Diane Szalinski?
20th Jan 2021
Heartbreak Ridge (1986)
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Answer: Avner had refused Ephraim's request that he return to Israel and Mossad. When Avner invited Ephraim to dinner to break bread, it was a symbolic gesture to make peace between them. Ephraim's refusal indicates they will never reconcile their differences.
raywest ★