Answered questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

These are questions relating to specific titles. General questions for movies and TV shows are here. Members get e-mailed when any of their questions are answered.

Answer: Kata is definitely real and is used in several Japanese martial arts to varying degrees.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: If Bellwether's plan was to make predators go savage, why did she use the serum on Mr. Otterton instead of using it on Manchas who was a predator?

Answer: Otters are carnivorous and are therefore predators. They mostly prey on fish but also eat other aquatic animals such as frogs, crayfish, and crabs.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: The implication is that the cure was ineffective. Magneto has full control of his powers by the time we see him in the mid-credits scene of "The Wolverine." Rogue, who also received the cure in this film, has her powers back in the extended edition of "X-Men: Days of Future Past," which takes place in the same timeline as this film up until the very end of it.

Phaneron

Answer: The cure is only temporary. The Rogue Cut of X-Men: Days of Future Past makes this explicitly clear as Rogue has also regained her powers after taking the cure.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: Why did Nicki want Rachel dead?

Answer: She admits that while high on drugs she had a fit of jealousy and hired an assassin to kill her sister.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: While she did it high on drugs I don't think she actually regretted her actions that much. She had months to track down this Armando and cancel the hit. Also she 'paid him in full, and then some' so like surely she wound't have taken the kinda cash the first time she went to find him and ask him to do it.You don't have a sudden fit of jealousy while high with loads of money that just happens to be ready to go. Must have been two separate meetings. She was jealous and hateful deep down inside and it came out while she was high and then once it started she was didn't stop it.

She didn't want to stop it until the young boy Fletcher was almost killed in the boat that the guy the Hitman booby trapped she just didn't want the boy hurt but she always wanted her sister to be done with.

Question: Why didn't Lokar have his men burn the bodies if he wanted to avoid being exposed?

Answer: Burning large piles of bodies is time consuming, laborious, and may actually draw more attention than simply leaving them in mass graves.

BaconIsMyBFF

Besides, it's difficult to destroy a body, even by burning it.

Question: What's with the scene where the cops drive towards the Nakotami building, but then turn around? Didn't Hans order 911 to be called so the FBI could be called out?

Answer: It was all about timing. Hans' plan did require having the police and the F.B.I. involved eventually, but John McClane set off the fire alarm before Hans was ready for the authorities to intervene. That was why Hans then ordered Eddy, the terrorist impersonating the security guard at the front desk, to call 911 and cancel the alarm.

raywest

It was just the Fire Department that responded.

Question: At the beginning of the movie, whenever Katie is standing in front the fridge, what does she hear whenever she looks in the hallway and heads upstairs? It seems as though she hears something that makes her head that way, but what?

Answer: She hears water running and head upstairs to the bathroom. She hears the TV and went to the hallway.

Question: Throughout the course of the movie, why is Ian so obsessed with making money off the Chipmunks? After all, he lives in a mansion, has an outdoor pool, a nice car, and a group of house servants, and if he has enough money to afford that many extra toys for the Chipmunks when they arrive, any extra diamond or ring shouldn't be a problem for him.

Answer: Ian is a greedy "business man", no matter how much money he has he will always want more.

Question: In the missile scene, the missile goes head on with the jet, and Stackhouse almost dodges it. Wouldn't Stackhouse have had no time to react given how fast missiles are?

Answer: By judging the times correctly he would have stood a chance of dodging it. Albeit a very slim chance.

Ssiscool

Question: The bullies think there is a real high school reunion going on. Yet having sat outside the boarded up and abandoned school for 3 hours, they do not seem in the least surprised and begin to doubt a reunion is taking place. They are not suspicious even when they have to break a window to get in to the school.Surely they would be suspicious by then and not go in?

swordfish

Answer: Some people are not the brightest button in the box. If wanting something enough they will overlook the obvious.

Ssiscool

Question: Why didn't Bryan just guide Kim out onto the balcony/window edge of the bathroom (like he did when he got to the apartment later after she and Amanda had been kidnapped) and to safety instead of letting her be taken?

Answer: Even if Kim had gone out on the balcony/ledge, she'd still be found and taken by the kidnappers or else she'd fall one storey down and be killed or seriously injured. Bryan knew that.

raywest

Answer: The kidnappers would've heard the window open or seen her come out (as they were directly in-front of the bathroom) Also, you've got to note that Bryan was in the secret service and had learned skills that were extraordinary as well as gained strength and know how to cope with situations (like not get panicked), if she did prevent the kidnappers from; seeing her or hearing her, most probably, she would've; 1. Either fell because she couldn't keep her balance 2. Fell because was was hurriedly trying to get out.

Question: Why does the lady in the post office where Johnny Depp got his UPS package acts strangely when she sees him (I assume he was shooter in this moment) once again in the grocery? The lady tried to flirt with him before. I didn't get why suddenly she's too uncomfortable with him in that scene.

John Edther

Answer: The woman was afraid of him because by that time, it was pretty well-known in the town that Mort was suspected of having murdered his missing ex-wife, Amy, and her fiance, Ted (and also Tom Greenleaf and Ken Karsch), but it had not yet been proven.

raywest

Answer: No.

Is David Tapp still alive?

In the film or video game?

Answer: No, his decomposed corpse is shown in the second film.

Answer: We don't find out in Saw, but Saw II shows his deceased corpse, and flashbacks in Saw III reveal that Amanda went to the bathroom to put him out of his misery, to spare him a long death.

Answer: No, he was suffocated by Amanda Young in a flashback in Saw III, sometime between the events of the end of Saw and the beginning of Saw II.

Answer: No he didn't survive however he was mercy killed by Amanda Young.

Ssiscool

"Mercy killed"? I don't get that part.

Death by dehydration or starvation is pure agony. Suffocation, while brutal and terrifying, is nowhere near as protracted. Hence, merciful.

Amanda, feeling sorry for Adam who is locked in the basement to die of his wound, hunger or thirst (whichever happens first), goes back to kill him by suffocating him. This is so he no longer has to suffer a long slow and painful death. She took mercy on his situation. Hence the phrase, mercy killing.

Ssiscool

Question: In the mall, the Bluesmobile is going toward the Jewel store. As it does, there is a ball flying in from off camera. Trouble is, it was moving too slowly to have been launched by the car. Was it thrown from off camera by the crew for comic effect? The camera was at or near ceiling level l.

Movie Nut

Answer: Yes.

Question: In the beginning, there is a watchman that announces "Another minute closer to Christmas!" as each minute ticks off a countdown clock. Assuming that each panel (days, hours minutes) is on a revolving wheel of some sort, how can the three wheels work correctly in such close proximity to each other? Granted, only the minutes part moves for the sake of the story, but it still begs the question.

Movie Nut

Answer: By machine.

The clock in "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" is designed for cinematic effect; a real-world counterpart would rely on precise gearing and engineering to allow three separate wheels to operate in close proximity without interfering with each other. The key would be in the gear ratios and the alignment of the gears to ensure smooth operation of each panel.

Question: While the ship is sinking, Rose must use the lifts to get to Jack. The lift man tells her the lifts are closed. She then pins him against the wall, yells something, and then screams 'Now take me down to E deck'. Just what does she yell?

Answer: She said, "I'm through being polite, God damn it, now take me down."

Answer: I just watch the clip on YouTube. Rose says, "I'm through being polite, god damn it. Now take me down."

raywest

Question: How did Anna get into Neville's house after she rescued him? I understand how she got to the house, but if he was unconscious or delirious how was she able to enter the premises with the locks and traps all set up?

Answer: The easy answer is that it's a plot hole. We can, however, speculate that Robert Neville himself guided Anna and Ethan inside the fortified home; but Neville just doesn't remember it because he was, as you mentioned, injured and delirious. The progression of the film from his rescue until he regains consciousness is solely from Neville's point of view, and he obviously had a memory lapse.

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: It's quite possible Neville didn't bother locking up after himself. He appears to be on a suicide mission. Anna even makes a mention of it, and Robert does not refute it. There would be no need to lock up if you did not intend to return.

jshy7979

Answer: As mentioned previously Anna parallels the Ruth character in the source novel. These plot holes left for us by sceenwriter Protosevich are ingenious...I am truly surprised that so few people have noticed these parallels. Anna gets in because she is a vampire herself albeit she has changed and is part of a new society - perhaps the one in Vermont.

Question: What exactly is Preacher's role in the group? He only has a few lines and never appears to be really doing anything of use.

Kyle G.

Answer: Based on his scenes, he seems to be a photographer for the team. He was taking pictures of Jo, showing how Dorothy worked, and was setting up a camera when Bill and Jo were going after the F5 at the end.

Answer: He's one of the scientists who works with Jo tracking tornadoes, gathering data, etc. He's a minor character, and therefore plays a lesser part in the story but is a part of the scientific team.

raywest

Question: If the children had run after the kite, and were on the other side of the park, how did they know that Katie Nanna was gone?

Movie Nut

Answer: It wasn't exactly specified exactly how far they ran, so they could have been very far away from her. Also, she probably saw them run away but didn't care too much about it, or at least didn't notice their kite, and just left.

Answer: Because he was holding the most powerful object in the world, the one ring. Even when he only just got it, its powers are not something to take lightly. If Isildur decides not to destroy it, there is nothing Elrond could do to stop him.

lionhead

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