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: Is it really possible to shoot a door open like the pirates do in the movie when they reach the bridge?

Answer: Probably not. The Mythbusters tested the myth of shooting open a locked door, and in most cases, it took immense and multiple fire power to blow open a lock.

raywest

Question: I don't understand that when Cheng keeps picking on Dre, he's telling Dre to stay away from him and his friends. Can someone please explain that?

THE GAMER NEXT DOOR

Answer: It is a common bullying tactic, telling someone to "stay away" from you knowing they cannot. Kids who go to the same school or live in the same neighborhood are bound to run into each other. It just gives the bully an excuse to antagonize the victim whenever they do run into each other because the victim isn't following orders to "stay away."

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: He dislikes how close he was getting with Meiying (Cheng's crush) and does whatever he can to scare him off so Dre doesn't talk to her anymore.

E-Mail Surveillance - S2-E9

Question: When Angela is buying the Baby Ruths, most of the other candies are turned backwards (I assume to avoid product placement). But above the Baby Ruth is one with the name facing forward that looks like it's called "Picaroon." Is this a real candy bar that's local to the Scranton area or just completely made up? If it's made up, any inside information about where the name came from or if there's an inside joke or show reference to it?

Bishop73

Answer: In the 2007 episode "Ben Franklin" when Jim is talking to Pam there is a candy bar with a purple wrapper that says "Picar-" I assume picaroon, it's hard to see past Pam. I found this trying to investigate what that candy bar is lol.

Answer: There does not appear to be a real candy bar by that name. The word is real, however. It refers to someone who is a rogue, a scoundrel, a thief, or an otherwise dubious character.

raywest

Answer: Eight days a week by the Beatles.

Chosen answer: Earlier in the film, it's mentioned that he had some money buried in a special spot in his yard, but that it had been dug up. When he saw the shovel at the end (which indicates that something was buried that he should did up), he realised that the new money stash had been buried in the same spot as his old stash. They basically gave him the clue, and he put two-and-two together on his own.

TedStixon

Answer: She may have said goodbye to Adam but it just wasn't shown.

Question: Did the guy and the girl at the end of the film end up living? I don't think they brought it up in the other films.

Answer: We are led to believe that they did in fact survive. The guy most definitely did. He is in the support group in Saw: The Final Chapter. (He has a bandage / cast on his destroyed arm).

Alan Keddie

Answer: This was a reference to the previous movie, in which a scene showed Juni and Carmen able to read each other's minds. In this scene, Juni told Carmen, through reading minds, that her feet stink. She said it because he wanted to be told something only Carmen would say.

Casual Person

Question: How did Stane's guards round up the ten rings? They didn't appear to have any weapons when they arrived, and the ten rings appeared to outnumber them.

Answer: Given that Stane was carrying (and used) the small, easily-concealed paralysis device, it may be assumed that his entourage were carrying (and using) the devices, also. They simply paralyzed the 10 Rings guards.

Charles Austin Miller

The Ten Rings members were shown kneeling with their hands on their heads, though. They wouldn't be able to do that if they had been paralyzed.

Phaneron

That doesn't negate the probability that Stane's entourage used the paralysis device on a few guards to demonstrate the effect, whereupon the other toady guards simply surrendered.

Charles Austin Miller

Makes sense.

Phaneron

Answer: He may have had another group of guards lying in wait and then surprise the Ten Rings members from behind after a certain amount of time had passed.

Phaneron

Question: What kind of snake did Jesus step on at the very beginning of the movie?

Answer: There is no gospel that recounts Jesus stepping on a snake, so the snake scene is only a dramatic fabrication for the movie. Presumably, the snake in the film represents temptation, perhaps even the same snake that tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden. As for its species, the snake appears to be a non-venomous constrictor that is not native to the Middle East, possibly a Garden Tree Boa from South America or a Southeast Asian python.

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: It is not a boa as it has heat sensing pits. It is either a ball python or reticulated python, I think.

Answer: But the snake was albino and wasn't beefy like a constrictor.

Answer: It's a 1969 Pontiac Custom S.

lionhead

Answer: According to Internet sources, it's a 1968 Pontiac Firebird.

raywest

Answer: I watched the clip on YouTube, stopping and enlarging the image to scan it, but I did not see Cho sitting among the other students at Cedric's memorial scene. She may have been sitting in an area in the back or off to the side where the faces were less visible or else she was too distraught to attend the ceremony.

raywest

Question: Why does the play start with The Van Daans already at the Annex when it's clear that they arrive a week later in the diary?

Answer: Movies do not always exactly follow the books they are adapted from. Oftentimes scenes and/or characters are changed, deleted, or streamlined, often because there is a limited amount of time in a movie to tell the story. In this case, it just simplified the plot by having the Van Daans already at the Annex, eliminating the need for two separate arrivals and instead focusing on the Frank family's reactions to their situation.

raywest

Question: I was just wondering why the Death Eaters were so eager for the Dark Lord to return, but the moment he's resurrected (which happens in this film and in the book), they are suddenly really afraid of him. I mean they go on and on about how they can't wait for him to return but the moment he does, it's almost like they wish he hadn't e.g. the scene in this film in the graveyard where Voldemort calls out Lucius Malfoy or the scene at the start of "The Deathly Hallows part 1" where they're all having a meeting at Malfoy Manor and Voldemort is walking and talking amongst them and they're all fearful of him.

Answer: Voldemort works on fear and hate. His minions are full of that. They hate muggles and wish they could dominate them, to crush their world. Voldemort promised them that, so they follow him, to reach that goal since he is a powerful dark wizard with followers and the ambition to go as far as he can. But Voldemort likes people being afraid of him, even his minions, so he is harsh on them, punishes any tiny mistake severely, does cruel things to them. So they fear him, are very submissive in his presence because of his cruelty and magic prowess. but he does lead them to their ultimate goal.

lionhead

Question: How in the world did Jake escape from prison so easily? Why didn't the guard who came to release him for lunch call in backup when he saw Jake hanging, and why weren't there any other guards around that could stop the escape attempt? How did no police see Francis pouring gasoline right outside the police station? How in the world did no police see Jake escaping between his cell and the front door? When Jake was getting into the Jeep, about 4 prison guards came out putting on their jackets, but where were they during the escape?

Answer: The reason the escape unfolded this way is because it is a movie, and movies often use plot devices that have little resemblance to reality. This is called "suspension of disbelief." That means the audience accepts a certain premise that they know is unrealistic in order to allow the story to unfold. For example, in a Sci-Fi movie, we know that spaceships are unable travel to different solar systems in a mere matter of days (i.e. Star Trek). If Jake was unable to escape from prison as easily as he did, that would be the end of the movie.

raywest

Question: After Tom Ripley kills Freddy with the statue, how is it possible to have carried him out with Freddy being much heavier than Ripley and also without that nosy landlady seeing it?

Anthony Lemons

Answer: I'm thinking that with all the adrenaline pumping through Tom's veins after having committed the murder would be more than enough to take care of the strength issue. As for the nosy landlady - she was probably asleep. Or otherwise occupied.

Alan Keddie

Answer: Yes they did. In addition to selecting football players from Marshall's Junior Varsity team, the coaches also recruited several players from other sports. Some of those athletes had never played on an organized football team previously.

BaconIsMyBFF

Correct me if I'm wrong but wouldn't it have been awfully risky to recruit athletes who've never played football in their lives?

Not necessarily. Since they were already collegiate level athletes, it is likely they were quite physically fit. Those who had little football experience were likely used as bench players and saw little on field action.

BaconIsMyBFF

I don't know that your statement that those who had little football were likely used, as bench players and saw little on field action is true. See, most of Marshall's experienced football players were killed in the plane crash which the movie is about.

There were about 20 freshmen players and several upperclassmen from the varsity team who weren't on the tragic flight that played the 1971 season. The majority of the team were at the very least, experienced high school players. The number of athletes on the team that had NEVER played on a football team before was low, but it was noteworthy.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: Why was the name Max used for the helmet? Does it connect to one of the other 6 movies?

Answer: Yes the third movie Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo there is a character in the movie named Max.

Yes, but that Max didn't have two X's in his name, plus he was a thief trying to steal Herbie, not race him with a big racing suit.

Question: What is written on the back of Norma's shirt when she brings the attendance slips to Ms Collins?

Answer: It's either cycnus X*1, or cygnus X*1. I have no idea what that references, but according to Google, cygnus X-1 relates to a black hole. An in-joke maybe, or simply a coincidence, since quirky-lettering shirts were fairly standard in the 70s.

Purple_Girl

Question: Besides saying "Quiet" and "He warned you", does 8 have any other lines of dialogue?

Answer: Nope. Only some sounds (like the magnet scene).

YellowBird

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