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.

Question: Does the ending mean that the policewoman gives up on her hunch?

Answer: No, she didn't give up. When "Smith" called Detective Atwood, she realised that it was a different voice (Brooks) and that the police may have fingered the wrong person. She was not the type who would let this go.

raywest

The Gold Rush - S1-E18

Question: In this episode, Hogan and company used gold bars disguised as bricks to replace the destroyed wooden steps. However, the next episode, "Hello Zolle", the steps are back to wood. Is this considered a Continuity mistake or was it cost a cost cutting measure?

Movie Nut

Chosen answer: It was neither of those. In earlier TV shows, it was typical that each episode was a self-contained story, and the plots and non-regular characters were rarely carried over from previous shows to the next. Any problems or situations were resolved at the end, even if some plot threads were illogically left unexplained. This allowed episodes to be aired in any random order. Today's TV series usually have ongoing linear timelines and continuous plots that are played out over multiple seasons.

raywest

Question: How old was Jenny when she died?

Answer: 36. (4 months shy of 37). Her date of birth was in July 1945 and she died in March 1982 according to her headstone shown in the film.

Chosen answer: The firm had landed the "Texas Tiller" account and had decorated the office to make the people from Texas feel "at home". They felt that in addition to the Texas state flag and horns on the wall that a confederate flag was in order too (since Texas did join the Confederacy).

Bishop73

Question: Is Lokar based on a real person?

Answer: No, he's a fictional character, but could be a composite of multiple people.

raywest

I don't what you mean by a composite of multiple people.

Taking plot-relevant characteristics, behaviour, roles, etc. of a few different real life people and putting them all into one new character. While technically fictional, he might share traits with real people.

Question: Who organized and ordered the killing of all the dons at the meeting where only a few come out unharmed. And why?

Answer: Don Altobello was behind the plot to assassinate the other Dons. The motive had to do with the Immobiliare deal that Michael had attempted to keep free of any Mafia involvement.

raywest

Question: Why is the cartridge for Donkey Kong 64 yellow instead of grey?

Answer: It's the color of bananas, which feature prominently in the Donkey Kong Country franchise.

Phaneron

Chosen answer: Because both of them are former Death Eaters who have the Dark Mark branded on their arm. Karkaroff's was getting stronger, so he kept trying to talk to Snape to get information if he had any, as he was convinced that Snape was still a Death Eater (as we saw in the book in the trial scene). Karkaroff was terrified of the prospect of returning to Voldemort, as he had betrayed several Death Eaters to the law when he was caught.

Question: How exactly did Stan know IT was a female and was expecting?

Answer: On the ground there were opaque eggs with moving objects seen inside, indicating that the spider creature was a female that had laid them.

raywest

Answer: It's never specified: somehow Stan just knew, perhaps through a vision or a nightmare.

Answer: It's never specified: somehow Stan simply knew.

Answer: Because when the Losers found It in its side form, only Stan saw its egg sac, writhing with soon-to-be-laid eggs.

Question: Is the bank teller the same actress shown on the parole board when Red is paroled?

Answer: No. Although IMDb lists the bank teller as Claire Slemmer, her list of credits does not include being on the parole board. The actress playing the board member is not even listed in the credits.

lartaker1975

Question: After Miles accidentally mentioned the rehearsal dinner to Maya, she asked him who's getting married and obviously (though not on camera), he told her Jack, thus starting a big fight with each other. Why did Miles tell her Jack instead of making up a random stranger he could say they knew since already slipping out info about the dinner? She would not have ever known, no fight would have taken place, and Jack would have saved face - literally.

Answer: Miles himself answers this question in the film. He tells Maya that he could have made something up, but chose to tell her the truth because he respected her and didn't want to lie.

Question: Why is the plasma coolant tank breakable? Why are there clear windows? What if a crew member accidentally hit it with something that could easily break the window and cause plasma coolant to spill out?

Answer: It's likely made of transparent aluminum so the crew can easily see its condition. Transparent aluminum has greater strength than materials we use for transparency. Remember, too, that it was Data who broke it. The rest of the crew wouldn't have the physical strength to break it.

Question: When Angelo Palazzi is gassing the jet crew, there is a voice mixed into the crew's gasps saying "Answer the question." Has anyone else ever heard this?

Answer: I just watched this movie, and in this scene, while I didn't hear that particular phrase, there is constant talking by the air traffic controller over the radio requesting routine information from the crew about their flight status. The conversation became more urgent when the stricken crew were no longer responding. In that event, a logical comment from the controller would be, "Answer the question."

raywest

Question: When Lucius was walking the perimeter painting a yellow stripe on the poles and he sets the bucket down to go into the woods and pick the berries, he saw a "creature." You can see a flash of something but it isn't red. So what exactly did he see? Lucius claimed he saw a creature through a letter in the village meeting but maybe he actually saw one of the Elders and that's why he was so upset and that's why the elders didn't get angry at him for crossing the perimeter and instead Walker said he was brave. Just to continue the show. Or maybe he saw Noah and that's why Noah was so excited in the town hall. What did Lucius see in the woods when he picked the berries?

Answer: It's not known what Lucius saw. It was either one of the elders who was in costume perpetuating the ruse that dangerous creatures roamed the woods, or it was Noah, who'd discovered the secret and took it upon himself to frighten the other village youths who occasionally overstepped the boundaries.

raywest

Answer: He wrote the letter because he believed this was all happening because he went into the woods and touched the red berries. You (and lucius) only see a branch move which would make one assume a creature had been there.

Question: Would the military really have sent a rescue mission to save one man during world war 2?

Answer: No, not really. There is no evidence of any such mission. While the U.S. military does have a policy of excusing the last remaining members of a family from combat after their siblings have been killed-known as the Sole Survivor Policy, officially implemented in 1948 but followed de facto before then - they never sent a unit into enemy territory to "save" anyone. The real soldier upon which the film is based, Frederick Niland, was simply taken out of active duty and sent home when it was learned that his three brothers were dead (though his eldest brother, Edward, was later revealed to be alive in a Japanese POW camp and ended up outliving Frederick).

Question: If the movie is based on the experiences of Scott O'Grady, why didn't the filmmakers use his story, instead of making a story that's almost completely fiction?

Answer: Filmmakers have greater artistic licence doing a fictional story inspired by a real-life person's experience rather than portraying actual facts. This allows them to embellish details and/or create whatever story they wish to tell that is grounded in reality. There would also be legal issues of depicting real people (other than O'Grady) in the film.

raywest

Question: If terrorists just wanted a Jericho missile why not just buy one from Stark industries, instead of trying to force Stark to build one? We learn they have the connection to Obadiah, so they can buy Stark weapons under the table.

Answer: Buying one would cost them millions, if not billions of dollars. Forcing Stark to build one for them would certainly save them a fortune. Plus, we don't know if they intended to purchase one before kidnapping Stark. They were paid to kill Stark, but once they found out Stark was the one that Obadiah paid them to kill, they scoffed at the amount they were paid and demanded a higher fee. Once they had Stark, they might have decided then and there to take advantage of the situation and get a free missile out of it.

Phaneron

Question: Why does Pennywise kill Georgie and Patrick almost immediately, but then spend time tormenting the other kids instead of outright killing them?

Phaneron

Chosen answer: In order to install the fear of death in someone, to put them in your grasp, you must kill those closest to you. In doing so the fear is always inside them. Pennywise will always be in their thoughts and dreams. Which will constantly torture the kids, which what he wants.

Answer: Pennywise murders and eats children because to him frightened children taste the best. By killing George and Patrick then torturing the others, he's building up enough fear in them so when he does decide to eat them, to him they'll be delicious.

Question: Did the scene where Ira Hayes rages against police after a bartender refuses to serve him really happen?

Answer: Following WWII, Ira Hayes hated the fame and sensational publicity associated the flag-raising at Iwo Jima. Deeply depressed, Hayes descended into alcoholism over the next few years, and it eventually killed him. Director Clint Eastwood actually underplayed the true extent of Hayes' sad decline, and the scene you mention was no doubt dramatized for the screen. In real life, Hayes was arrested 52 times for public intoxication and disorderly conduct at various places across the country before his death.

Would that be a yes, or no? I've got autism.

It's yes, but he/she is saying that the incident was probably exaggerated for the purpose of the movie, to make it more dramatic. It likely combined a number of similar drunken incidents into the one scene.

raywest

Answer: Definitely yes :). The poor guy was a raging alcoholic who literally drank himself to death.

stiiggy

Question: When Beck tries to dodge the huge diamonds, the ship gets a breach. Wouldn't that cause the outside material to spray into the ship's interior, given the intense temperature and pressure?

Answer: The inner-earth ship known as VIRGIL is comprised of multiple double-hull detachable sections. The outer hull can be breached, while the inner hull can maintain structural integrity just long enough to jettison the damaged compartment. When VIRGIL encounters the giant diamond field, the very last section (the weapons control compartment) suffers a hull breach, and it immediately begins automatic detachment. Dr. Serge Leveque, the nuclear weapons expert, sacrifices himself by saving vital weapons deployment information from that compartment just before it detaches and is destroyed.

Charles Austin Miller

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