Question: Regarding the making of this movie and Matthew McConaughey's appearance. Was that just makeup he was wearing or did they digitally make him look different somehow? I want to say they digitally tried to make him look younger for some reason. he just looks very...odd, and in some scenes, his eyes don't seem to be making proper eye contact with Leo's, even when he is staring right at him.


Answer: It could be make-up, CGI, lighting, or a combination of all that. Regarding the lack of eye contact, considering he's supposed to be high on cocaine, his focus and reflexes would likely be affected.

raywest Premium member

1st May 2019

Iron Man 2 (2010)

Question: Something that has always bothered me about this movie - Howard Stark discovered a new element when Tony was a child, but did not have the technology to create it. He hid the plans for it in the Expo. I'm fine with that. However, is it just me, or does it seem like an extreme coincidence that the element his father found is the exact element that can replace the Palladium Tony is already using and that is making him sick? It also seems as though Howard knew he wouldn't be around to make it, even though it is only 20 years in the future. Is there implied to be some time travel having happened here, in which Howard Stark learned that at some point, Tony would need an upgraded form of Palladium and that he would not be around long enough to make it?


Answer: While convenient for the plot, there is no indication Howard Stark has knowledge of the future from time travel, although he was a smart enough man to know technology would advance enough for the element to be synthesized and he knew his son was smart enough to understand what needed to be done to create and use the new element. Howard Stark's Arc Reactor wasn't fully clean running and Howard knew with the new element, the Arc Reactor would be as close as possible to sustaining clean energy similar to the Tesseract. I can not say for certain, but I believe Howard's reactor ran on Palladium as well, so he was aware of the dangers it presented, he was not aware Tony would build a mini-arc reactor to put in his chest. Howard put the blueprint in the 1974 expo with instructions for S.H.I.E.L.D. to give to Tony when ready. However, it should also be noted that Stark Industries shifted from trying to provide sustainable energy to weapons manufacturing which was part of the reason Tony never discovered his father's work earlier.


Answer: There's no clear answer to these questions. Perhaps Howard had some theoretical ideas of where Arc Reactor technology would have shortcomings. Also Howard possibly expected Tony would follow his father's thinking, despite their clashes. Probably the filmmakers didn't come up with more detail than that and it's just a plot contrivance to keep the story moving and give us a sense of connection without worrying too much about the details.

2nd Apr 2019

Megamind (2010)

Trivia: When Metroman (voiced by Brad Pitt) makes his entrance at the museum opening, he walks in to the song from Elvis "A Little Less Conversation." This song is commonly played during the Ocean's 11/12/13 movies, in which Brad Pitt also stars. (00:10:00)





Phaneron Premium member

29th Mar 2014

TRON: Legacy (2010)

Question: During Clu's "Toast" to his army, there is a closeup of one particular program that has been converted. For some reason, this looks like Gem to me, even though the impression is that she died in the End of Line club (though if the sequence happened in real time, there was plenty of time for them to escape the club before it blew) Is it supposed to be Gem, or another significant program, or just a cool shot showing Clu's reflection in the visor of the program?


Chosen answer: There's no indication that it's anyone we'd know. I'm pretty sure the shot was simply placed there for the visual it creates.

Question: Why on earth does Bilbo remove the ring in front of Smaug? He has no real reason to believe that Smaug won't simply eat him or roast him. Smaug can hear and smell him but can't see him, so as long as he remains still, he is safe unless Smaug gets lucky. Seems like taking the ring off is a huge risk that was not necessary.


Chosen answer: Bilbo is actually quite clever, I think he was trying to talk his way out by buttering Smaug up. If he tried to run, Smaug, who was on high alert, would have caught him and swallowed him without a second thought. By playing with words he was able to both interest and distract Smaug, and get away.

Trivia: John Travolta is handed a bag of burgers. He takes one out and hands it to his partner, and calls it a Royale With Cheese. A nod to Pulp Fiction, where Travolta explains to Samuel L. Jackson that in France, they call a Quarter Pounder with cheese a "Royale with Cheese".


10th Jun 2010

Iron Man (2008)




Alex Montenegro

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