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: When Mystique is disguised as Senator Kelly, why did she tell the other politicians about Professor Xavier's school?

Answer: Stryker was trying to get permission from the President to raid the school on the grounds that it is a mutant training facility. Mystique interjects and claims it is a docile boarding school in an attempt to dissuade the President from granting Stryker's request, as she doesn't want the students at the school to be harmed.

Phaneron

Answer: Ralph Macchio admitted that he didn't like it as he felt that they were just making the first movie all over again and left out a lot of good stuff.

Answer: I couldn't find any other information, but honestly... Soundwave is barely in the movie. Probably just wasn't worth it for the production to pay Welker to come in just to record a few throwaway lines.

TedStixon

I considered that possibility as well, but since Peter Cullen reprised his role as the voice of Optimus Prime yet again for this film despite Prime's minimal involvement, it doesn't quite wash. Also, given Frank Welker's highly prolific voice acting career, it's unlikely he would have declined on the basis of pay or importance of his involvement.

zendaddy621

Soundwave was barely in the movie (he's literally only in a few shots) and only had one or two lines. As the other answer suggested, it probably just wasn't worth it for the studio to pay Welker to come in, or they just didn't feel it was necessary given that Soundwave was essentially just a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo. Optimus has a much larger presence, and Peter Cullen's voice is pretty synonymous with the character in the film series. Hence, it was worth it to have him return.

TedStixon

Question: Who kills Nick and shoots at Patrick when they invade that crack house with Remy? (01:02:50 - 01:03:45)

Answer: It is not actually shown who shoots at and hits Nick, so it is necessary to make a deduction based on what is known. The shooter was behind the front door and shot at Patrick when Patrick was trying to aid Nick. Patrick retreated to the side of the house and returned fire. When Patrick entered the house, "Bubba" was seen lying facedown on the floor with a gunshot to his shoulder, apparently dead from Patrick's blind shots. No one else was in the front room, so it seems safe to conclude that Bubba killed Nick and shot at Patrick. "Fat Lady" Roberta emerged from a back room and Corwin Earle was in the upstairs hallway, so - even though they were in the house at the time - neither was likely to have been the shooter behind the front door.

That's not Bubba laying on the floor, that's the old man who resides at the house - Leon Trett. Bubba was Patrick's good-guy kingpin buddy, played by the rapper Slaine.

Question: How come Obi-Wan could use the force on Grevious but not the MagnaGuards?

Answer: He didn't have to on the MagnaGuards, he dropped something heavy on them and took them out. You might notice he was very close to Grievous when he used the force on him and needed time to focus his force push. Against the MagnaGuards that would just be inefficient. But he could if he needed, no droid is immune to the force.

lionhead

Question: Why didn't General Ewell think taking the hill was practical?

Answer: Mainly because his soldiers were tired after a long march and he didn't think they could make a direct assault on an elevated position (the hill was not quite as "bare" as the film suggests). There were also reports of Union reinforcements arriving to the area, and Ewell was afraid that his army might be exposed and overwhelmed if he attempted to take the hill without assistance (Ewell had requested, and been denied, reinforcements of his own).

Answer: He answered this question in the scene. He said karate only means something if it's used to defend honor and life, but means nothing if it's used to defend a plastic metal trophy so he doesn't want to train Daniel for a purpose he doesn't believe in.

Answer: It's pretty common to use someone's last name as a sort of nickname, especially if the last name is fun to say like "Smalls."

BaconIsMyBFF

Shoplifting - S2-E6

Question: Jo, Blair, Natalie, and Tootie look for a birthday present for Mrs. Garrett. When they find a shirt for her, Jo decides to try it on. When she comes out of the dressing room to show it off, why did a security guard immediately walk up to them?

Answer: The dramatic reason is to move the plot along. But in real life, store workers can be suspicious of groups of teens because of the perceived higher risk of Shoplifting. So the security guard may have seen them go into the changing room and decided to see what they were up to.

Answer: To let them know one of the exits was blocked off and told them to use the other one. Oh and Blair wasn't with them - she bought her own gift for Mrs. Garrett.

Question: Considering how varied their backstories were, it's hard to say how evil some were. Who is the most evil ghost?

Answer: The Jackal is bad, as a sadistic rapist and murderer, but he also recognized this in himself and had himself committed for treatment. When his asylum burned down, he intentionally chose to stay behind. I'd say the worst is the Juggernaut, an unrepentant serial killer.

LorgSkyegon

The Bound Woman wasn't much better. She never killed anyone, but she also was an abusive jerk who got killed by an ex. In the film she lures Bobby down where there is grave danger and she thinks it's funny, much to the chagrin of the wife of the family.

Answer: Well it's mentioned the jackal is the Charles Manson of the ghosts. I'd say that's he most evil one, probably the most angry one.

lionhead

How evil is the Great Child and Dire Mother? The first committed a massacre but was also trying to do the right thing and was severely handicapped; the latter helped raise her son horribly but also suffered from a lot of mental and emotional issues like PTSD it seems.

They aren't half as bad as the jackal. They are both estranged, traumatized, angry ghosts but not necessarily evil. These ghosts are together for the fact they have had bad experiences, either self made or happened to them, not because they are bad themselves. In order to understand it more there should be more information about the book and ritual they are involved in.

lionhead

What about the Juggernaut?

Well that one killed Dennis along with The Hammer. I'd say that one is pretty evil, also considering his history of being a serial killer before his death. Not as maniacal as the Jackal though.

lionhead

Good thing you mention the Hammer. I don't think he's really evil, misguided yea but he seems to be after the ones responsible for the evil plan which involved him being trapped. We see he seems calm towards Maggie. In life he was an honorable person who only killed his families' murderers and the law was corrupted, hence why he was brutally killed but not the higher ups responsible for his families' death.

Basically the Angry Princess was tragic, Great Child excusable because of mental handicaps and good intentions, Hammer is justified, Jackal and Juggernaut are unexcused, though some sympathy for them because they went insane.

I actually think it's the Juggernaut, as even the Jackal showed remorse for his crimes while he was alive. While the Juggernaut was just a murderer who only stopped because he was shot down by police.

Question: How come the Hammer runs to Arthur when he is climbing up the wires to get upstairs, when Arthur is innocent?

Answer: He didn't know Arthur was innocent. The spirit had been hunted, captured and imprisoned in that house. He probably thought he was part of the crew that grabbed him.

Question: In the film we see one ghost that is more of a neutral spirit. It is never seen harming anyone and the only time it scares someone is when it walks towards Bobby, but his head is near Bobby. Is the Torso a murderous spirit or not?

Answer: They all have the potential for danger, however some of them are not dangerous. I would say the Torso is not a murderous spirit, though potentially he could be one.

Answer: No, it isn't that they're evil, but all were victims of violent crime. They're all tortured souls.

Question: Dennis says that all the ghosts are violent. Well, then why are the First Born Son, the Torso, and the Withered Lover the harmless ones? Now, the 1st and 2nd ghosts had some danger to them, but not much - the Torso is only seen crawling to its head and doesn't even lift Cyrus, while the First Born Son seems to be more of a prankster than actually malicious and doesn't lift Cyrus. Is this a movie mistake or just the side result of poor movie filming?

Answer: I'd say it's more a case of Dennis being overly confident and not really knowing what he was talking about. He made generalized assumptions that all ghosts are violent, when they are not.

raywest

I should also add the Dire Mother and Great Child. The Great Child is dangerous but only as a protective spirit, while the Dire Mother on her own seems harmless, like the first 2 ghosts and Jean.

Question: The box art for this film shows all 12 ghosts in the scary face-except for the Withered Lover. Is the screaming face the Withered Lover?

Answer: Possibly. I remember seeing some version of the box art have blue clothing at the end. Not much, but you can barely see it near the mouth. That, and the bits of hair we see are brown, similar to the Withered Lover.

Question: After Cyrus dies, why don't the ghosts turn on the others, such as Arthur who is nearby them? A couple of ghosts such as the Torso and Withered Lover didn't kill Cyrus and are more or less harmless, but some of the bad ones like the Juggernaut, Hammer and Jackal did. Was this a minor overlook?

Answer: The ghosts are not stupid; they were trapped inside that house by Cyrus. They just punished him for that and then they leave. They have no quarrel with Arthur or the others, probably even realizing they were freed by them.

lionhead

I do remember the Angry Princess wanted to stab a couple of the ladies, and the Jackal was pure insanity, but with those two they could simply have been tired of the whole mess. We see just before they cross over that the Jackal was howling with laughter.

They were really pissed off being trapped in that house, and not really rational thinking people, being ghosts and all. Anyone alive would be a potential target as long as they are trapped.

lionhead

Question: What was the point of the "shooting the dog" test?

MikeH

Answer: It was to test whether the candidates were willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done. If they were willing to shoot the dog they had been caring for, it means they would be willing to make a tough choice in the field to complete a mission.

Answer: To see who is kind hearted or cold blooded, a spy has to make tough choices in the field.

Question: What is the actual reason given why the police couldn't find Billy's mom? Just the fact his mom didn't want to find him and left doesn't mean the cops would stop looking. It's hard to imagine a 5 year old isn't able to tell the cops his address, where he goes to school or where he lives in general. Teachers, neighbours, his physician or dentist, classmates, all can tell where the mom is. Next to that isn't his dad in prison and thus easy to find?

lionhead

Answer: He was a baby when he was abandoned - all he knew about his mother was her name, not her birth date or social security number. He didn't know anything about his father and his mother went back to her maiden name. In case you're wondering not everybody has their DNA taken.

He knew his full name. He's a legitimate son born in wedlock. They would have easily tracked down the father who is an inmate: that is on top of what the original poster mentioned, such as his home address or other minimal information. Lionhead, I believe this belongs in the Plot Holes section rather than simply the Questions section: I am not informed about Pennsylvania's laws for child abandonment, but I think it's rather unlikely that someone could just drop their kid in the middle of a crowd and get away with it entirely, especially when the kid knows his own full name.

Sammo

I'm not too eager to put it in the plot holes section, because it is plausible I suppose that she disappeared willingly and they couldn't find her specifically. But you address the right point I was trying to make that the cops won't simply stop looking for his mother. It's a crime to abandon your child and they will look up and question a lot of people. And I mean a lot of people to find her. Even if there is literally no family besides mom and dad, the dad will be found since he is in prison. He won't be able to help much but contact will be maintained, even if he doesn't want it.

lionhead

The thing is, they don't even have to question a lot of people since the kid is not a newborn left on the steps of a church or something: he was able to provide his own full name to the authorities. So it's absolutely straightforward for the police to see who his parents are - although it should be noted that he was born in a different state, I don't think it should be a particularly complicated research for the authorities.

Sammo

Show generally

Question: I've never seen the show so an explanation would really help. Why would Johnny open up his own Cobra Kai dojo? Since there was probably a lot of negative publicity due to how Kreese taught his students and how he attacked Johnny, a lot of people probably wouldn't go to a dojo synonymous with brutality but maybe to a dojo that taught karate the way it should be learned.

Answer: Just like in the original film, some guys want that brutality. Johnny in part opens the dojo because of his past rivalry with Daniel and to train a kid that's being bullied. But also, other kids that are being bullied want to join in order to learn to fight back. Johnny is also teaching the Cobra Kai creed (Strike First. Strike hard. No Mercy.") so that's why he opens his dojo with that name and the old Cobra Kai dojo's past reputation is exactly what he wants to elicit.

Bishop73

Show generally

Question: In what episode does Stevie say "You're talking to me about luck?" I've heard he says stuff like that in other episodes and could I please have a few?

THE GAMER NEXT DOOR

Question: When the commando teams drops their gear did the parachute fail to open, or could the equipment survive a drop from a plane at that height?

Answer: Depending on how it was packed most likely.

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