Questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: When Ben Healy goes to Junior's school to visit his teachers why is Mr. Thorn wearing a diaper?

Answer: He injured his behind when he sat on the toilet after Junior threw an M-80 firecracker into the pot.

Brian Katcher

Question: Is Quill actually a member of the Sengh Brotherhood or does he just have the spiderweb tattoo for protection in case he encounters them, as happens towards the end of the film?

Answer: No, he was a member, they most likely had different branches scattered all over the world.

Question: Is there a symbolic reason why Alice and Anna are both American? Or was it just a coincidence with the choice of actresses?

Answer: I think it mostly has to do with the casting of Natalie Portman and Julia Roberts. In the original play, there's no mention of Alice or Anna being American.

Answer: This is not an official answer, but my interpretation is that them both being American makes them interchangeable, in a way. Whether Dan or Larry is involved with Alice or Anna, both men have issues that cannot be totally helped by a relationship with either woman. Although, Larry and Anna only spent a night together.

Question: Why was John, just before his death, terrified when he saw T-800? The previous T-800 protected him and even there was a bond between them. So, when John saw another T-800, he should have been either sentimental or happy to see the T-800 alive as it should have reminded him of the previous T-800. Why was he scared to see it?

Answer: Because he's not an idiot. He knows Skynet still wants him dead, if it exists, and he knows "his" T-800 was destroyed. Which means if another one suddenly appears in his life, the overwhelming likelihood is that it's another attempt by Skynet to kill him.

Question: Who actually sent RALF to take David to the ship? The ship tells him to get in RALF but later on we see Carolyn looking shifty when they're questioning how he escaped?

Answer: Carolyn wouldn't have wanted David anywhere near the UFO as it could've been dangerous, so it's safe to assume that "Max" programmed the R.A.L.F robot. Although Carolyn didn't have anything to do with with David's escape, it wouldn't have escaped unnoticed that the R.A.L.F robot was in the hanger where the UFO was. Given that she's always the one with the R.A.L.F. robot, it's safe to assume she was acting worried that she'd be blamed rather than acting "shifty"

Question: At the pub in London, on Marwood returning from the toilet and saying "balls to Monty", Withnail says he's just spent an hour on the phone to Monty "flattering the bugger"? Surely Marwood wasn't in there for an hour and it's unlikely Withnail would have had time to phone Monty in the short while he surely must really have been in there, especially with a threatening guy sitting outside and likely to come in the longer he spent there.

Question: Why does Ed's Aunt Vesta throw candy at Evelyn? Why is she not shown?

Trainman

Answer: She's a grouchy, hateful, possibly senile woman who doesn't like Evelyn, despite the gifts she brings her. As for not showing her, it's funnier to try to imagine what she looks like.

Brian Katcher

Question: Why does Benji have to enter the facility at the same time Ethan is switching the security profile? It's more dramatic that way, but couldn't Benji have waited to enter until after he knew the profiles were switched?

Answer: He most likely could have waited, but as you pointed out, it's more dramatic that way. This is a movie and the action is choreographed for maximum dramatic and visual effect, timing, tension, continuity, audience attention, and character interaction. We're not supposed to overthink it.

raywest

Question: What did Harry and his friends come across when they were trying to escape from Filch?

Answer: Presumably you are referring to when the trio come upon "Fluffy," the three-headed dog, that is kept in the restricted area of the castle. Inside the room there is a magical self-playing harp that keeps "Fluffy" asleep when it's playing. Hermione also noticed Fluffy was lying atop a floor hatch, which leads to where the Philosopher's Stone is hidden.

raywest

Answer: In addition to raywest I will add that at this point in the book, the Harp isn't playing and Fluffy is awake. It is also not known at this point that music puts Fluffy to sleep.

Ssiscool

True, although the question only relates to what the trio came across while evading Filch, not about knowing what any particular object is or does. (I just added an explanation as an aside.) However, I'm not sure now the harp had been installed yet when they first found Fluffy, so it was probably about the floor hatch.

raywest

Question: There's a scene where Al Pacino gets called away from dinner with friends to investigate a girl's murder... who is she? And what's the importance of that part of the story? She doesn't have the same hair as the prostitute Waingrow kills.

Answer: Waingrow is a serial killer. He is kills several young, black prostitutes in LA. Showing Waingrow attacking one and then the body of another is a clever trick to explain to the audience that there is more than one victim without having exposition directly stating this fact. Vincent is coincidentally asked to cover the homicide because his team is available that night and there are apparently no other detectives free.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: When the kidnapper threatens to shoot Brad Garrett if he doesn't change the channel back, he then pulls the trigger but the gun doesn't go off. But when the gun is checked and empties, there are 6 bullets in the gun. Why did it not go off?

Rollie55

Answer: There were 5 live rounds ("bullets") and 1 empty shell. So the cylinder was positioned to shoot the spent round when the trigger was pulled.

Bishop73

Chapter Seven: The Lost Sister - S2-E7

Question: At the beginning, Eleven overhears Becky Ives call the police and talk about her. Becky wanted the police to come and take Eleven. Why would Becky betray Eleven all of a sudden? Earlier, she told Eleven to stay with her in the house while showing her own room. She even said she could get Eleven a real bed. Change of mind that soon?

Bunch Son

Answer: She said that to try to make her feel calm and "at home" in a way.

Question: When Malcolm leaves the bathroom after Big Momma gets in the shower, does the toilet or the shower make that weird noise? Also, what is he looking at that makes him vomit?

Answer: I think it's the toilet unclogging. Also, he was probably looking at the diarrhoea she left behind in the toilet bowl.

Answer: I looked all over Google and cannot find any references to Wahlberg bullying Reynor. Wahlberg mentioned that he would tease Reynor on set over silly things like his Irish accent, but all indications were that it was in more of a friendly way, kinda like how friends like to "bust each other's balls." Wahlberg also jokingly referred to Reynor as "an a**hole" in one interview, but almost immediately indicated he was just joking around and praised Reynor as an actor. Unless someone hears otherwise, it seems it wasn't a case of bullying so much as just friendly ribbing between a veteran actor and his younger co-star.

TedStixon

Question: Why did Palpatine ever want an apprentice? If I am correct, he always intended to dispose of Darth Maul, Count Dooku, and Darth Vader when they were no longer useful to him. And probably Luke, if Luke had accepted his offer. Why not work alone?

Answer: Because an Apprentice does the emperor's bidding, dispatches orders, acts as an emissary, intimidates enemies, is a spy, and so on. Having minions at one's disposal is a show of power, and supreme leaders would not do those things themselves. It dilutes their authority, and they would look weak and ineffective. As you pointed out, when the current apprentice is no longer as useful or obedient or becomes too powerful and poses a threat, they are replaced.

raywest

That's the rule of two for the Sith, there's always a Master and an Apprentice. No more, no less. In order to remain a Sith Master, Sidious must have an apprentice.

Answer: Succumbing to the dark side comes with it a megalomania that has you wanting to display proof of your omnipotence by training a skilled and powerful apprentice who starts out THINKING he's going to kill you and take your place someday but in the end is forever your obedient slave (or so you think.) Likewise, Sith apprentices all have an unspoken desire to eventually pull the ultimate power move by killing their master and taking their place as head honcho when they least expect it (or so they think). This of course results in Sith relationships always becoming weird and twisted, vaguely BDSM-like mind games.

TonyPH

Question: Mr. Chagall, the man who told Madeline about Lisle, what was the deal with his eye? It twitched seemingly uncontrollably in his first scene, but then when he's giving his speech at the party it seems completely fine.

Answer: Like all zombies his body was falling apart. He was pushing it back into place.

Answer: The line he says in Russian is " Ё моё!" It's a Russian phrase of excitement, surprise, or disappointment. Literally it translates into "it's mine." But as a phrase, it really doesn't have an English translation. Some say it's equivalent to using the F-word while others say not really since it's not an obscene word.

Bishop73

Thanks. I thought he said You're my whore. My brain wouldn't accept that.

Question: Louis is arrested for theft, and ultimately also booked for PCP possession. Penelope pays his bail and gets him out so the plot can carry on, but the theft and drug charges never come up again. Why is all of that dropped? Do the Dukes just drop the charges?

Answer: It's likely that the Dukes dropped the charges. They initially were planning on bringing Winthorpe back into the company after conducting their little experiment, and only changed their minds after Winthorpe threatened them at the Christmas party.

Answer: Petty theft and first time drug possession wouldn't be impossible to have the charges reduced or dismissed. If found guilty it would most likely be a heavy fine and probation. Also, after the scandal with the Duke brothers and Bryon Beaks, the plot against Louis would have been uncovered.

Answer: Louis became a millionaire again, and likely just hired a good attorney to get the charges dismissed.

Brian Katcher

Answer: The woman was just a random family friend or Geller relative invited to the rehearsal dinner. Because the woman was in a black outfit, Rachel mistook her for Chandler's dad (played by Kathleen Turner), who Monica had described as wearing a black dress. The character, named Amanda, is merely a plot device to set up a humorous bit where Rachel messes up and embarrasses herself.

raywest

Question: Can someone explain what the one Johnson agent meant to the other one when he said "it's like Saigon, ain't it slick?"

Answer: I don't remember the exact quote, verbatim, but using your wording, the proper punctuation would be "It's like Saigon! Ain't it, Slick?" The older Johnson is referring to Army Helo Ops in Vietnam. He's calling the younger Johnson "Slick", as a nickname. I believe the younger's response was something like "I was just a kid then" or something similar.

kayelbe

The younger one says "I was in junior high, dickhead". :-) Clearly not holding the older Johnson in especially high regard, or keen to make it clear he's not as old.

Answer: The elder Agent Johnson is a Viet Nam vet who excitedly says, "It's just like f***in' Saigon, eh Slick? The younger Johnson mockingly responds, "I was in Junior High, dickhead!" meaning he was too young to have served in that war. The older Johnson is comparing shooting at the terrorists (or just John McClane) atop the Nakatomi Tower to killing enemy soldiers from a helicopter in Nam. He is macho, has lost objectivity about the hostage situation, and is treating it like an arcade game. As pointed out in another answer, "Slick" is just a nickname, like calling someone "Dude."

raywest

Answer: "Like Saigon" could mean that under the circumstances, they were not likely to win or be successful in what they were trying to accomplish. Largely in the 1960s, the U.S. military was stationed in Saigon. While there, parts of the city were ruined or demolished by fighting. There was a lot of destruction in the Die Hard movie, and the situation seemed dire.

KeyZOid

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