Answered questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: In the movie at the 93 minute mark there is a white frame for a few seconds. What is the significance of that?

Answer: When David's life flashes before his eyes.

Question: During the scene when Roberta is reading the newspaper about her mother's death, the printed article mentions that the truck driver who killed her mom was named Peter. Are we to believe that this is "Crazy Pete"?

Answer: There are two different men named Peter. In the shot of the newspaper while Roberta is reading the article, it states that the driver of the pickup truck was Peter Norris (00:41:35). Then Sam finds the article about 12 year old Jonathan Simms and his mother, Beverly Ann, so we know that "Crazy Pete" is Peter Simms (00:43:00).

Super Grover

Answer: We are never even told that Crazy Pete is even the old mans real name. It was probably just a random person who killed Roberta's mother.

Question: Why was the name Max used for the helmet? Does it connect to one of the other 6 movies?

Answer: Yes the third movie Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo there is a character in the movie named Max.

Yes, but that Max didn't have two X's in his name, plus he was a thief trying to steal Herbie, not race him with a big racing suit.

Answer: Maybe Meg hadn't hugged her mom in a really long time so the mom must be thinking that she is dreaming that Meg is hugging her.

Question: Who is the actor with the scarred face Constantine sees when he first enters Papa Midnight's bar?

Answer: There are numerous uncredited actors in "Constantine," filling numerous generic roles such as "nightclub patron" or "demon," et cetera. The big scar-faced guy who passes John Constantine at the doorway in the club seems to be one of these uncredited, generic characters. There is no special mention of the character's name or his significance to the story, and no listed actor in the cast resembles him. However, having re-watched this scene many times, I'm starting to think the scar-faced man was an uncredited cameo by athletic 1970s actor John Beck (who would've been about 62 when "Constantine" was made). The facial proportions and mustache are right for Beck, his profile looks like a match, and Beck is slightly taller than Keanu Reeves, as depicted in the film.

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: I was thinking it was Jonah Hex...a DC character with the scarred face and all that. Maybe an Easter egg?

The original post specifically inquires about the actor rather than the character in the scene. The actor appears to be John Beck, an athletic actor who gained some stardom in the 1970s and 1980s. Beck was still active in film during the early-to-mid 2000s, when "Constantine" was produced, although he is uncredited in this movie (as many "Constantine" actors were uncredited).

Charles Austin Miller

Question: Nurse Wilkins is a named character in the film, but the entirety of her role seems to be her saying that her castor oil was stolen in the scene where Sandy was at a reception. Did she appear again (eg. at the gym), and was the castor oil significant in any way?

Answer: Nurse Wilkins, played by Fannie Flagg, only appeared on camera once during "Grease." It was, as you point out, during the scene in the office when Sandy first arrives to register at Rydell High School. She may have been present in other scenes, but never appeared on camera. She may also have had other speaking parts which were sacrificed to the cutting room floor. There is no way of knowing that. Castor oil was used, historically, for a variety of medicinal purposes - most notably as a laxative and remedy for minor digestive problems. It has a distinctly unpleasant taste. Therefore, stealing it would probably be just a minor prank, without any other apparent significance. I suppose one could draw conclusions about other uses adolescent boys could find for an unctuous substance like castor oil, but that would probably be reading far too much into a throw-away line.

Michael Albert

Nurse Wilkins is mentioned a classroom cut scene (available for flu jabs). Speculation, but maybe originally Sandy was originally going to be sick for the dance competition like the stage play (with Nurse Wilkins playing a role), but when ONJ's role got enhanced during filming, this scene was dropped.

Question: Marlon mentions having been very sick and hospitalized for a long time when he was a boy. Is this supposed to be when they switched a child actor for someone who was willing to commit to the show indefinitely?

Brian Katcher

Answer: Yes and no. Yes because they could have found someone who looked remarkably similar to the child actor that played him and if he had been "sick" for a long time (depending on the illness he "had") it would have explained why he looked slightly different. No because of him being Truman's best friend. Unless the studio found an actor who did look almost identical to the child actor, Truman would have been able to figure out his best friend was a different person.

Answer: It's probably a way of giving characters a break from the show, a way of writing them off-screen for a short while.

Question: What happened to Todd? Did Margo kick him out?

Answer: It wouldn't be much of a surprise to kick him out. Obviously he has no idea what happened to her when she comes back and asks her. She also believes the police knocking at her door is actually Todd and says if he want to come in, he'll have to break the door down. So logically, she did kick him out.

Question: Wasn't Jack chopping down the doors trying to kill Wendy? Why did he stop and suddenly only go after Danny when Dick pulled in?

Answer: My assumption is that he probably wasn't thinking rationally and used poor judgment. He could have killed Wendy when he had the perfect opportunity, but he probably assumed Halloran's presence would be a threat to his goal. He would obviously chase Danny since he was trying to get away.

Answer: Danny is the one Jack wanted to kill since he possess supernatural abilities. When Jack was chopping down the door, he was preying for Danny more than Wendy. Later he realises that Danny has escaped and leaves the place.

In the movie, Danny's parents don't know about his supernatural ability but in the book they do. It is explained more in the book but since Holloran has the shining as well, they are linked. So where Holloran is, Danny is sure to be near. So when he shows up, Jack goes after him knowing this fact instead of going after his wife.

Season 9 generally

Question: Does anyone know if the reason most of the main cast didn't return for season 9 is due to the actors' decision or was it a show makers' choice?

The_Iceman

Answer: A lot had to do with the direction Season 9 went, and some of ABC's influence. Show creator, Bill Lawrence, was approached by ABC to continue the show and he wanted to more or less do a spin off and call it "Med School" since he felt Season 8 was the last season for "Scrubs" (even Zach Braff thought that and joked about it on Twitter a few times). However, ABC rejected the idea of a spinoff, and I think ABC felt the actors didn't need to be brought back because they would be working on other projects. It should be noted, while only John McGinley and Donald Faison signed on to be regulars for Season 9, Judy Reyes was the only regular not to return. She wanted to sign on as a regular, but her character did not fit in with the show's new direction and wasn't offered a contract. When she was offered a guest spot, she turned it down. The other regulars only returned to help transition the show into something new, which because of ABC was still considered to be "Scrubs." Most of the writers also did not return.

Bishop73

Question: When on the rooftop, Noah's dad mentions his mother was a good listener. Are we to assume that she left them but still has an amicable relationship with the father or she passed away?

Answer: It's assumed that the mother has passed away.

raywest

Question: During the masquerade scene, Ana walks down the stairs and passes by Jack before he takes a photo of Christian and his family. My question is, how did he get there at all? Is it possible he had that information, meaning where Christian's parents were and when the masquerade would be, from the files he got in Fifty Shades Freed? Did he even have those files before starting the fire because that's when they first came into focus for the story?

Answer: The ball was an annual charity event the Grey family held that Jack probably knew about. Certainly it is no secret where the Grey family estate is located, so Jack could easily find it and slip into the party, appearing as a guest and even using a fake name. As the event was to raise money, attendees would not necessarily be restricted only to invitees. Often, people can buy a ticket for such an event.

raywest

Answer: Eight days a week by the Beatles.

Question: When Ellie was attacked by a raptor in the power shed, she was startled by the hand of Mr Arnold which turned out to be his severed arm when she grabbed it, What happened to the rest of Mr Arnold's body? The raptor's mouths aren't big enough to swallow the whole rest of his body.

adamtrainman@aol.com

Answer: In Michael Crichton's original novel (upon which the movies were based), the Velociraptors didn't consume whole human bodies. A raptor would focus on its victim's abdomen, eviscerating its prey alive, eating only the entrails and internal organs. So, we may assume the majority of Arnold's body was left elsewhere in the power shed.

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: There is no way of knowing what happened to his body. The movie would not go into gruesome details like that, and it would add nothing to the story, but most likely he was partially eaten. Ellie probably interrupted the raptor's meal and it then became focused on hunting her.

raywest

Answer: In the book, his body was wedged between the pipes and the raptor ate what it could get to - this was supposed to be in the movie, however filming for that scene was delayed due to a real hurricane so it was cut.

Answer: The creators of the film were not concerned with details explaining scenarios. They simply wanted to create a shocking jump scare type of scene. In reality, the man's hand would not have been severed and left in such a position.

Anthony Lemons

Question: How did the pirates manage to recapture Phillips after he tried to escape by swimming?

Answer: They do it exactly as shown in the movie: Phillips, due to currents and his own physical condition, is unable to swim very far from the boat, so the pirates just follow him, trap him, and bring him back onboard. In addition, the Marines fire a flare, which lights up the scene...this was done so they could be certain the escapee was Phillips, but it also makes it easier for the pirates to spot him.

Question: At the drive-in, Kenickie confronts Rizzo about being pregnant, but she tells him not to worry because "it was someone else's mistake." What does she mean?

Carmen Dawson

Answer: She says it to hurt him.

Absolutely, she said it, like she said a lot of things - out of malice. Kenickie is genuinely distressed, genuinely meant he would stick by her, even if the baby wasn't his.

Answer: The whole meaning behind it is that Rizzo really is pregnant with Kenickie's kid but Rizzo says it's someone else's: "someone else's problem," pretty much giving a chance for Kenickie to be off the hook as not being the father. But Kenickie obviously knows she is lying. And he's upset and says "thanks a lot kid" sarcastically.

Bbanda100

Answer: Rizzo doesn't actually mean someone else got her pregnant. She is just letting Kenickie "off the hook," probably because she figures he wouldn't want to take responsibility, anyway, and she was probably going to have to handle this on her own. Kenickie is hurt by this, however, as we can tell by his expression when he replies, "thanks a lot, kid."

Michael Albert

I always read it as an expression of relief when he says "Thanks a lot, kid".

lionhead

It was not meant as an expression of off the hook. It was meant as in, "that's really a messed up thing to say!" He was hurt by her saying that he was someone else's mistake.

She didn't say he was someone else's mistake. I already said that in a different correction. She says "it was someone else's mistake." Meaning the baby isn't his.

lionhead

Answer: Both Kenickie and Rizzo are upset and being sarcastic. The interpretations of his and her words are debatable, especially since there is no way of knowing if Rizzo did, in fact, sleep with someone else. However, there's no indication that Rizzo was with another boy/man, so it can be assumed Kenickie is the father and both know this is true. My interpretation was that Rizzo, by saying "it's someone else's mistake", was referring to herself - that she was stupid enough to even have sex with someone like Kenickie in the first place. (The second inferred meaning is that she will not hold him responsible because she knows he isn't interested in being a father/paying.) Kenickie's response, "thanks a lot, kid" was returning an insult - the "thanks a lot" part being sarcastic and "kid" meaning immature and not old enough to have even been given the chance or "be lucky enough" for him to (lower himself and) sleep with her, given all the other "better" girls - WOMEN - around from which to choose.

KeyZOid

Answer: I thought Rizzo said it because she was hurt that Kenickie referred to it as a mistake. So in turn she said don't worry about it...it was someone else's mistake.

Answer: She just means that someone else got her pregnant, and that the pregnancy itself was unintentional.

Cubs Fan

Answer: It's been a while, but I thought the quote was: Kenickie: I don't run away from my mistakes Rizzo: Don't worry, you're someone else's mistake. I would agree with others that she's essentially letting him off the hook in the storyline (everybody knows it's his), but this particular quote is basically just a joke implying HE was HIS parents' mistake...as a way to lighten the mood.

She didn't say "you're someone else's mistake." She says "it was somebody else's mistake."

lionhead

Question: 1) In the big finale where the gateway was opened: was the ship destroyed before it went through the wormhole or did it blow up as it was going through - trapping everyone in Hell? 2) In the final scene just before the gateway is opened, there is an argument going about whether Miller's crew are alive or dead and talk about them belonging to the ship. We saw the crew die, so I fail to understand the mental imagery of their suffering Miller was shown. Also, if the crew belong to the ship to replace her old crew - why haven't we seen anything of the old crew?

Rosie John

Answer: As a representative of Hell, Dr. Weir was torturing Captain Miller with all sorts of horrific mental images. Miller cared very much for his crew, so Weir fabricated hellish visions of his crew. And the aft section of the ship didn't blow up, it was sucked into the Hell dimension.

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: The only ones who were sucked into Hell were Captain Miller, and Peters...as her body was in the same core room with Miller and Dr Weir. When Miller detonated the explosives he separated the rest of the ship, leaving only the stern to be sucked into Hell. It's a very sad and dark ending.

Justin ("Baby Bear") was the first crewman visibly sucked into the Hell dimension, which pretty much destroyed his mind.

Charles Austin Miller

Question: Why was Charles Wallace being sent to the office? For calling out on the two teachers or for causing Meg to hurt Veronica? Also, why aren't the two teachers in trouble for making fun of the Murry family?

Cody Fairless-Lee

Answer: We are never told why Charles Wallace was sent to the office. Perhaps the principal wanted to hear his side of the story seeing as he saw what happened. He may have also told the principal what the teachers said as well.

Question: I heard that Quirrell was the muggle studies teacher before this year. So after he took defense against the dark arts, why not give muggle studies to Arthur Weasley?

Answer: Mr. Weasley was fascinated by Muggles but he was not an expert. His knowledge in that subject was somewhat sketchy and based on erroneous assumptions. He frequently got many details wrong. He usually relied on Harry for explanations.

raywest

Answer: Even with his fondness for Muggles, Arthur may not have wanted to be a teacher. And even if he did, another possibility is that he doesn't have the necessary educational requirements (i.e. O.W.L./N.E.W.T. passing grades in certain subjects) or enough teaching experience.

Cubs Fan

Question: Billy admits that he shot his wife and daughters to save them from a more horrible death at the hands of the vampires. Grieving, he says, "I tried to shoot myself, too, but the fucking gun jammed." But Billy is a deputy sheriff, and any competent law officer can resolve a jammed gun in a matter of seconds. Did Billy actually chicken-out of killing himself after murdering his family?

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: Perhaps Billy was not a competent law officer. Or maybe you were right he chickened out. Billy could have killed himself in other ways. Other ways more quiet than gunshot.

Alan Keddie

Exactly. How could he go on living after killing his whole family? A minor problem such as a gun jam shouldn't have prevented him from committing suicide. In fact, he couldn't become a law enforcement officer without demonstrating a proficiency with firearms, including the ability to field-service his weapon quickly in an emergency. The simple procedure for fixing a jammed firearm is at the top of the list of required skills.

Charles Austin Miller

Are we ignoring that he was obviously extremely distraught at this time? My take on this has always been that he pulled the trigger, the gun jammed, and he just gave up on everything. He literally didn't care enough about anything at that point to even bother taking his own life anymore. Let the vampires take him; or not. His family is gone, by his hand no less, nothing at all matters anymore. I didn't see it as an inability to clear the jam, I saw it as a psychological breakdown that resulted in complete and total apathy. The jam was nothing more than the straw that broke the camel's back.

Phixius

If he gave up on everything, why did he covertly signal Eben with a flashlight? If Billy had truly given up, why not just walk out into the street and be slaughtered by the vampires, rather than continuing to hide?

Charles Austin Miller

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