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: If my memory is correct, when I first saw Tombstone on cinemax in 1997, Josephine (Dana Delaney) was nude in one scene with Kurt. Now in 2017 I bought a director's cut DVD, but that scene is gone. Also, I seem to recall Wyatt shooting people out to get his family on the train leaving Tombstone, but that is gone too from DVD. Why the difference? And how can I see these again?

Answer: I believe those scenes are in the Kevin Costner version of Wyatt Earp.

In the true to life account of Wyatt and Josie it is said that when the fight at OK Corral begins, Josie is actually having nude pictures (tin types) taken (or is taking them herself). In the movie she is depicted in a robe while taking a picture. She was quite risqué for the times. Probably why Wyatt found her so exciting.

Question: Why didn't Ethan just give Nyah one of his guns after she infected herself? She could have easily killed Ambrose and others with a surprise attack since they were more interested in keeping her alive and she wanted Ethan to kill her anyway. She had better odds of surviving that way than the impossible plot that followed. She could have killed everyone but Ambrose and he may have let it happen in order to still have a chance at selling the virus.

Answer: Ethan did not want her to kill herself. Giving her a gun would allow her to do so.

Question: How does Jigsaw make the puppet move and talk? And what did Zep do wrong to make Jigsaw put him in a game?

Answer: The puppet is an animatronic, so he programmed its mouth to move with the dialogue on the tapes. Zep is shown earlier in the film to get personally attached/involved with patients at the hospital, so the implication is that he is inserted into the game in a role where he is too personally involved with the dilemmas of strangers.

Phaneron

Answer: Found online: We don't know exactly what Zep has done wrong to call Jigsaw's wrath upon himself, only that he was an orderly at the same hospital where Dr Gordon works and he was an attendant to John Kramer. Dr Gordon hints to the fact that Zep shows too little professional detachment in forming "very special bonds with the patients." On Zep's tape, Jigsaw says "Will you murder a mother and her child to save yourself?" Perhaps this means Zep's sin is that he is always too involved in the lives of complete strangers, neglecting his own life. He has to put his own life over the lives of two strangers in order to win the game.

Ssiscool

Answer: No, he did not. He is seen getting off the bus with a suitcase, so he must have not been home for a few days so there is no way he could have known.

Bowling255

Question: What happened to the man's sister and why was there blood on the sister's bed?

Answer: His sister died of Leukemia. The blood is probably from one or more of his victims.

raywest

Question: Vincent Grey says "I know why you're scared of the basement." What is it that he knows?

Answer: He doesn't say "I know why you're scared of the basement." He says "Do you know why you're afraid when you're alone? I do. I do." He had been trying to get Malcolm to understand that he can see ghosts but Malcolm never believed he actually could and just thought Vincent was suffering from psychosis.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: How did Bobby beat his second opponent in the tournament? I'm talking about the match that was right before the one between Tommy and Daniel.

THE GAMER NEXT DOOR

Answer: The fight isn't shown in it's entirety but the final point is won when Bobby takes his opponent down and hits him with a back fist across the chest.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: Francisco 'Pancho' Villa was photographed on many occasions, and always had a full head of hair (as well as a moustache). Yet the film cast Telly Savalas as Pancho Villa, who shaved his head, and was always very proud of and conscious of being a Greek-American. The year after Pancho Villa was released Telly Savalas began to play the titular character of the police drama series, 'Kojak', which transformed him into the world's most recognisable Greek. So, my question is, given a film about Pancho Villa was made in Spain, where the producer and director had an unlimited number of actors of Hispanic ancestry to call on, why cast one of the world's most famous bald, Greek actors (sporting an unconvincing moustache) to play the hirsute Mexican Pancho Villa?

Rob Halliday

Answer: Hollywood, especially in that era, frequently would cast white actors to play people of color The studio knew Savalas would bring in a lot of viewers, while an unknown from Spain might not.

Brian Katcher

Question: Look how Mark Watney is able to walk, and stand on earth just fine. In reality, wouldn't he have had a hard time readjusting to earth's gravity if he was stranded on Mars as long as he was, especially since Mars gravity is much lower than earth's?

Answer: The scene where Mark is back on Earth does not take place as soon as he got back. This takes places months after returning. He likely would have faced some difficulties readjusting to the Earth's atmosphere upon returning, but would have adapted to the atmosphere, and be able to walk and move around properly after some time had passed.

Casual Person

How do we know it takes months after returning? I didn't see any words saying months later.

A number of factors indicate it is much later. He has regained much of the weight he lost (which he could have gained during the journey back, along with using the gravitational wheel of the ship to help his recuperation), he now wears glasses, he has become more grey. Most importantly, the Ares V mission is about to launch, which was scheduled to be 5 years after the main events of the film.

We don't see any words saying it happens the day after he returned either but you aren't assuming that to be the case. You are accepting that some time has passed, so assume it's enough for him to have adjusted, which is the case.

Answer: He's gained a lot of weight and has been hired for a teaching position. It's safe to say a bit of time has gone by.

Brian Katcher

Answer: During the journey back from Mars, Mark would have been able to use the exercise equipment present on the Hermes. This would have helped his body re-adapt to heavier gravity. He would also be able to regain much of his lost body mass during the long journey back. NASA knew that the crew would spend a long time in low-gravity so the equipment was designed to keep them fit. Despite this, he would have had a fairly long recuperation time on Earth. The epilogue of the film is set after he has fully recovered and is able to return to work as a lecturer.

Question: What exactly did that Police Officer mean when he said to Miss Hannigan "Look what I found under a paving stone"?

Answer: Paving stone is just a description of the City's street pavement, like the Lower East Side's Belgian block pavers or even cobblestones. It's pretty much similar to saying "Look what I found under a rock" and both are uncomplimentary to Annie.

Super Grover

Question: When Harry is packing his trunk at the end and Dumbledore is talking to him about setting the curtains on fire, does anyone know what is written on the inside of the lid of Harry's trunk?

Answer: It's hard to say what was written on the inside of the trunk. Sometimes they write the company that made the trunk so it might have had the manufacturer's name inside of it and maybe even the year that it was made as well. It seems like everyone at the school has very similar trunks so it may have his name written inside of it so as not to confuse it with anyone else's.

Answer: It looks like information for Harry's trunk in case it was ever found by someone. Probably had his phone number and address inside of it.

You wouldn't put that information on the inside.

lionhead

You would if you didn't want to display your personal information everywhere but also expected that if your trunk was lost, the finder would open it to see whose it was. Yes it is more practical to have an ID tag or similar in modern luggage but the Harry Potter stories are deliberately written as quaint and old fashioned.

You don't open luggage you find. Name of the owner is always on the outside.

lionhead

Sure you would. Presumably, it's very difficult to lose a trunk that big, given the modes of transport that Harry uses. Info on the inside would be a last resort.

Question: Why was Evan interviewed separately from the other "survivors"? Why is he so special; I thought all he did was win the lottery?

Answer: You thought correctly. He did only win the lottery. We only see Evan interviewed separately. It's just possible that he was last to be interviewed. Kimberly and the others were being babysat by Officer Burke, so it's likely they were interviewed before Evan. I think that all or any witness would be interviewed separately whatever the circumstances.

Alan Keddie

Answer: Right before Barney and Andy walk into the courthouse to meet Governor Ed, his chauffeur (played by Rance Howard) is standing beside the Governor's car. In the next shot inside the courthouse, when Governor Ed shakes Barney's hand, I'm presuming the young man with the Governor is his aide or personal assistant. The young man is carrying an attache case which likely belongs to the Governor, and earlier the Governor told Andy that he had some business in the vicinity.

Super Grover

Answer: I heard that that man was also Ron Howard's real father. Is that true?

Yes. The governor's chauffeur was played by Rance Howard (Ron Howard's father).

Question: Here's something I don't fully understand. At the end of the movie just before Carter dies, him, Clear and Alex are all drinking alcohol. They were just graduating from high school, or at least they were going to as Clear said that she and Alex went through four years of it, and only a few months had passed since then, so how are they drinking it at all? Did they have passports and if so, why? Are the rules different in France? Was it a special occasion? I just don't see it happening when you have to be twenty-one.

Answer: The legal drinking ages in Europe are much lower than some states in the USA. In many countries the legal drinking age is 18. In France and some other countries it is 16. In a large number of countries you are also permitted to drink alcohol from a younger age, provided it is with a meal and your parents have given consent. In France it is very common for younger people to drink wine with a meal.

Answer: The rules on drinking alcohol in France are much less stringent than the USA. 16 is the legal limit for drinking beer in France so all they need is their American passport to prove they are over 16.

The_Iceman

Answer: Maybe they had fake IDs.

Question: Bubbles dies because she was wounded in battle... yet nowhere in the scene could I see her actually get hit or hurt. Am I missing something, or do we just not see the moment where she's mortally wounded?

TedStixon

Answer: In the end they charge the Boulan-Bathors head on before they fall through the grid but before they fall they do make contact with the aliens and their weapons. Bubbles was also the last of them to fall through so she was exposed the longest to the Boulan-Bathor onslaught and was hurt. Its not specifically seen, nor do we know exactly how they were able to wound her flexible body.

lionhead

Question: Does anyone know what that spinning thing was at the top of the Trimaran's main mast?

Answer: A wind turbine to create the electricity he uses.

lionhead

Question: What made the banging the sound the crew heard before the oxygen tank exploded?

Answer: When Mission Control asked Jack Swigert to "stir" the No. 2 oxygen tank, Swigert complied; immediately, the astronauts heard and felt a loud banging noise followed by an actual explosion. As it happened, there were damaged electrical wires powering the "cryo-stir" fan inside oxygen tank No.2. Those wires violently shorted out when Swigert activated them, sparking an intense fire (fueled by the ship's pure oxygen atmosphere), destroying vital tank insulation, and overheating the No.2 oxygen tank to the point of rupture in a matter of seconds. So, the banging noises they heard just before the explosion were the result of electrical wiring violently shorting out and a flash-fire erupting, which precipitated the tank explosion.

Charles Austin Miller

Oddly enough, Jack Swigert had stirred the No. 2 oxygen tank a couple of times earlier in the mission, with no problems whatsoever. Why the wiring suddenly failed on this last attempt is still a subject of debate.

Charles Austin Miller

Why would it be subject to debate? The further into the flight, the less liquid oxygen in the tank. The frayed wires were not exposed until this point in the flight. Exposed wires allowed the arc. The arc caused the explosion.

What does the "ship's pure oxygen atmosphere" have to do with it? The ship didn't explode or burn. Apollo 1, yes, the command module did, but not 13.

Answer: Same issues Q and M have with James Bond.

Answer: Banning, head of Banning Corporation, wants to take over the global drinking water supply. He intends to start by poisoning major US reservoirs using genetically modified water strider insects. The striders carry bacteria that will spread from person-to-person.

raywest

Answer: If you're talking about his evil plan with the Banning Corporation, he wants to take over the world's drinking water supply (so that anyone who wants drinking water will have to buy it from Banning). He is trying to contaminate the U.S. drinking water with a deadly bacteria.

Bishop73

Question: After Miguel comes back to the land of the living, does the family believe that he went to the Land of the Dead? And if not, then do they believe that Hector got murdered, since the letters to Coco prove that he was the writer of De la Cruz's songs? And if they believe, do they manage to prove this to the general public and that is why they hate him? Or do they just hate him because they discovered that he lied about writing his own songs?

Answer: It is never actually addressed what Miguel told his family about his adventure, so it can't be said whether or not they believe him. It would seem to make sense that he would tell them though, it was a pretty fantastic tale after all and I'm sure he would want to tell his family about it. It would also make sense that his family would believe his story, it's really the only way he could have known that Remember Me was a lullaby Hector used to sing to Coco. The letters Coco saved prove that Hector was the actual writer of De la Cruz's songs and it was later proven to the general public, hence the graffiti on De la Cruz's memorial and a memorial for Hector taking it's rightful place in town. It can also be reasonably assumed that the general public is aware that De la Cruz murdered Hector since the theft of the music and Hector's death go hand in hand. It wouldn't make much sense for people to hate De la Cruz so much if all they thought he did was take credit for his partner's music after his partner was already dead.

BaconIsMyBFF

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