Question: Why were the elves happy to see Scott and Charlie on their return to the North Pole? Their presence obviously meant that the old Santa was dead.
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Answer: As the various Santas periodically are killed or die by other means, the elves appear unsurprised and are happy and relieved that they don't have to worry about having a replacement. They also seem pleased to see young Charlie, who wasn't expected. I haven't seen the movie in years, but I seem to recall that the previous Santa wasn't particularly liked or was somewhat incompetent.
Question: Why did Jack Nicholson quit acting after appearing in this movie?
Question: Given that the mother pulled a vanishing act before with her daughter, why didn't the court put the child in foster care during the trial to make sure she didn't pull it again?
Question: Once her zealousness is uncovered, why isn't Judge Karlin reprimanded for this and disbarred? And her cases looked into to see if any more had ridiculous sentences passed down.
Answer: Who says she wasn't? She's only in this episode. Her whole future couldn't have been covered in 40 minutes.
Question: When Tuvia executed Arkady for his defiant mutiny, why did Tuvia have to turn his body to pull his weapon, instead of just drawing his gun and shooting him dead on the spot right there?
Answer: For two reasons: one, to let him think Tuvia was going and let down Arkady's defenses; and second, Tuvia was quickly and truly debating whether or not to shoot.
Question: What's the name of the younger girl that Aron is with throughout the movie? There's a scene of him sharing what little food he had with her, walking with her, and discovering the mass grave of bodies, and she's one of those shouting for justice when the German soldier was captured.
Question: After the judge disallowed the testimony of Kaitlin Costello, who claimed that Dr. Towler ordered her to change the admittance form, wouldn't it have made sense for Frank Galvin to recall Towler and ask him directly, and possibly face a perjury charge?
Answer: He couldn't do that. Since the judge ordered her testimony stricken, it was basically like it never happened. Therefore, there was no testimony on which to recall a previous witness.
If Towler were recalled, Galvin could have asked a general question such as "Have you ever asked or ordered anyone to change or alter an admittance form?"
Recalling a witness is something the court (i.e. the judge) has to approve, and given that a) the judge is already biased/bought against Galvin, and b) there is, again, no official testimony upon which to predicate recalling a witness, it is extremely unlikely the judge would permit the doctor to be recalled.
Question: What is the book title that Alisa shows the creature with gills?
Question: When Akeem tells the taxi to halt at the airport, there's something red on the hood. What is it? It looks like something to mount a camera on that was left on, but I'm not sure. Is it something taxi/NYC related?
Answer: That is the taxi medallion, a license for the driver to operate the yellow cab. All NYC yellow taxi cabs must have one of these metal plates (there are different types) affixed to the hood of their NYC yellow taxi. This particular type is the red apple medallion.
Question: How did Alice get her waitressing job? Would she need some sort of paperwork or license with her fake name?
Answer: "Alice," whose legal name was later revealed to be Jane Jones, had a valid passport. She could have used that to get the job and said she preferred being called "Alice." An employer is not going to discuss an employee's credentials with anyone. Being that she was an American, she may also have been working illegally and was paid "under the table," getting less money than a regular employee.
Question: In this movie, the Death Star is barely completed. Until now, what motivated people, on multiple planets, to obey and fear the Empire? What stopped everyone from simply not accepting the Emperor and his organization? Similar to how Tattooine did not acknowledge the Republic during Anakin's childhood.
Answer: One simple answer is that even before the Death Star the Empire still had vast amounts of firepower at its disposal, Star Destroyers, Storm Troopers, TIE Fighters/Bombers. A longer answer is that like a lot of fascist governments it wasn't an overnight thing - he invokes emergency powers, makes the Republic population feel threatened and like he's the only solution, etc. He doesn't announce to everyone at once "I'm secretly evil and you are my subjects". I suspect also a great many people didn't notice a huge amount of change in their day to day lives - if they felt they had nothing to fear from any government they wouldn't object to the rise of the Empire until it was too late.
Question: What was the reason that several major American cities were attacked with nuclear weapons?
Answer: According to Wikipedia: "It was a cross-section of 'domestic militia, anarchists, and religious fanatics' – terrorist groups that would never ordinarily collaborate, ideologically or politically. The only thing that connected them was the desire to take down the federal government of the United States. The entire plan was orchestrated by someone with deep resources, an ability to coordinate diverse groups, and by all indications, an American. After someone (believed to be Thomas Valente) tipped off the terrorists about the government's knowledge of the plot, they moved up the timetable for the attacks."
Question: Because Collins stated that the gunmen screamed "in a foreign accent," and because the police might have thought the robbers were terrorist in nature, why wasn't the FBI called in to help resolve the issue?
Answer: From a movie standpoint, it would complicate the storyline and take focus away from Det. Frazier and his interaction with Dalton, which is a big part of the plot. Also, someone having a foreign accent does not prove it was something other than a bank robbery/hostage situation. The police know that calling in the F.B.I. immediately complicates matters, as once the Feds are on the scene, they take over the operation, relegating the police to a minor role. That can lead to conflict and resentment. I would say there was some artistic license being employed in how the operation was shown to be handled.
Question: During the opening bank robbery and shootout, why didn't the SWAT snipers just immediately take out both gunmen outside right there, instead of having the SWAT ground team confront them? Wasn't the objective to neutralise the threats immediately? The snipers could have ended that in no time at all.
Question: What did Colleen mean when she told Graham to "see"?
Answer: She meant for him to see, when the moment came, that he would see and understand swinging his bat at the glasses of water would affect the aliens and save their lives.
Answer: In the context of the film and its message, it could be interpreted as her exhorting Graham to "see" how her death and what follows is all part of God's plan, which he rejects at first but then comes to believe is borne out by subsequent events and the film's conclusion.
Question: When Ethan and Grace are "racing" with the Fiat 500, the sound of the engine does not sound right. To me, it should be rougher. To me, the sound was more of an electric car, especially during gaining speed. Or, did I miss something?
Answer: While it looks like a normal Fiat 500, this is a specialised IMF car, as evidenced by the controls inside and its ludicrously high speed. It being electric is in line with that.
Question: What would have been the correct thing for Luke to do in the cave?
Answer: I'm sure there will be many interpretations about this, and I can't wait to read them. My take was, Luke's mistake was ignoring Yoda's instructions to leave his weapons behind before entering the cave. Rather than using calm reason and logic, he confronted his fears with force and attacked an enemy that turned out to be something else entirely.
Answer: I wonder if Luke was supposed to allow the illusion of Darth Vader to "kill" him, similar to how Obi-Wan allowed himself to be killed. A lesson about how you can still lose in the long run, even if you win a fight with weapons. Obi-Wan trusted the Force and did not need to win the last duel with Vader. Vader won, but was still trapped by his choices and his obligations to the Emperor.
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Answer: Unbeknownst to Scott, Charlie, and the viewer, Scott became the new Santa the moment he put on the Santa suit on his roof. Because of this, the elves don't even see him as Scott, but as Santa. His arrival also meant another successful toy delivery and the continuation of Christmas itself.
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