MovieChat Forums > Nightcrawler (2014) Discussion > Miscellaneous gripes

Miscellaneous gripes

posted 8 years ago by andyxu
9 replies | jump to latest

It's 2014. That VGA camcorder is not worth $800. His smartphone camera could probably film in better quality than that camcorder.

I have never heard of a GPS app that did not have voice directions.

The competing guys have an FTP server set up to deliver videos instantaneously. What is wrong with email?

At the Horror House, the assailants leave a gun, evidence, which could easily have been picked up.

I would've mentioned that he could've downloaded a police scanner app on his phone, but there are legitimate reasons to get an actual police scanner.

[–] KingCobra686 8 years ago

1) The camera wasn't worth $800, but he was trading a stolen bike for it and the guy knew it. That guy isnt going to give him retail price for that bike.

2) Not sure about this one. He hired Rick to also help out watching the car and with filming sometimes, so giving directions wasnt the only job that he had. Maybe he was taking shortcuts that the GPS wouldnt recommend also? Lou mentioned at one point that he had sent Rick a traffic report and complained that he hadnt read it.

4) The gun was obtained illegally and has the serial number filed off. There's not a whole lot that the police can do with that as evidence. On the other hand, if they get caught leaving the scene with that gun or in their apartment later with it, thats pretty solid evidence to convict them. What would they even use that gun for in the future? They would have to keep it relatively hidden. They wouldnt want to use it for another crime because it could potentially link them to other crimes if they got caught for just one. Theyre probably charging a ton for that hit and the cost of the gun doesnt really matter enough to make things riskier.

[–] andyxu 8 years ago

1) The guy was still offering plenty of money for the bike. Even if he sold the bike for only $300-400, he would still be able to buy something better.

2) Perhaps you are right. But a good smartphone app should have real-time GPS updates. There isn't enough info to make a definite conclusion. However, we can conclude that if you research traffic conditions yourself, the GPS app you're using is not updated in realtime and you might as well use a map.

4) You can certainly find fingerprints on the weapon. But if the burglars had bothered to wipe them off them they might as well have taken it. Besides, leaving a weapon there, even if it did not have a serial number, there are still ways to trace it back. Question gun shops, question people who recently bought that type of gun, and there is a slim chance that the murderers will be found. More than if the gun was taken. The news did speculate that the gun may have been the victims', but the victims were nowhere outside.

[–] KingCobra686 8 years ago

I agree with your points. I'm just trying to find justifications to explain them.

1) Lou probably got ripped off, but he probably didnt care at all. He seemed more interested in getting into the Nightcrawling game than getting full value for a stolen bicycle.

2) I would say that a prepared copilot could give better directions faster than a GPS voice update, but Rick doesnt really seem efficient enough to fit that bill. Maybe thats what Lou was hoping to get from him but didnt?

Lou was also real big on developing his "company", so I think regardless of Rick's actual value, Lou liked having him around to boss around and feel more legit.

4) Its unlikely that they would be dumb enough to leave a fingerprinted weapon at a murder scene haha.

It really depends on where they got the gun. Most likely they didnt walk into a gun shop down the street earlier that week to get it. There are plenty of illegal ways to obtain guns on the streets that would be hard to trace it back to.

If the gun is a fairly generic model and not super customized, what would the police do with it?

[–] drfunk-18075 8 years ago

They can run ballistics on the gun.

[–] bing-57 8 years ago

> They can run ballistics on the gun.

Not on a shotgun.

--
What Would Jesus Do For A Klondike Bar (WWJDFAKB)?

[–] KingCobra686 8 years ago

Exactly why they leave it there and dont risk taking it. If they run ballistics on a gun they find in a suspects house, thats solid proof that they are guilty. If they run ballistics on a gun at the scene of the crime it just tells them what they already knew.

[–] Holder_Matador 8 years ago

The gun was suggested to belong to the home owners. The news anchor said a weapon commonly used in home defense (not sure I buy that) and then then discovery of drugs in the house strongly hints that it wasn't their gun to trace to them.

[–] andyxu 8 years ago

If you think about it from a logical perspective, the cash with a lower face value would be a better value than 800 in store credit, if the store's stuff is so overpriced. So you're trading the bike for $50, essentially, which is what that camcorder would be worth at Salvation Army or Goodwill, instead of cash that could be spent at a 2nd-hand shop or EBay.

[–] cleverhorse 8 years ago

'Miscellaneous gripes'

Great preamble!!! :)