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 Hagrid was blamed for killing Myrtle, why was he allowed to join the Hogwarts staff as Gamekeeper? Surely parents of students and other staff would object to him remaining at the school.

Answer: Hagrid wasn't accused of killing Myrtle. It was wrongly believed that Aragog, the giant spider, was the monster that killed her. Hagrid was found responsible for having brought the creature into Hogwarts and keeping it hidden there. That is why he was punished by not being allowed to use magic, though he was later exonerated of any wrongdoing.

raywest

Answer: Dumbledore trusted him and gave him the job as gamekeeper.

Chosen answer: The hand movements you refer to are called "time setting." The purpose is to maintain the beat of the song, and keep the singing on track, particularly in the old back-woods churches where there had rarely been instrumental accompaniment. It also has the added benefit of enhancing the energy of the musical experience for the participants. I am not certain if the denomination of the church was ever explicitly stated, but it was likely Pentecostal.

Michael Albert

Question: When Doc and Marty go back to 1985, after going to 2015, they land and find out that it's an alternate 1985 wherein Biff is in charge. Someone said in a question that when they returned, shouldn't they have seen Biff's casino as they fly over Hill Valley - is them not seeing the casino there to mislead the audience into thinking nothing has changed or is it a mistake?

Heather Benton

Chosen answer: Most likely this was deliberately done this way so the audience would not immediately know that the timeline had changed. It serves the plot better to have it revealed later.

raywest

Question: Did Woody really drive the truck his son traded in at the end of the movie, or was he dreaming?

Jonelyn Aspinall

Chosen answer: Woody actually drove the truck, but just for a short period before David switched places with him to drive everyone home.

raywest

Question: I've always wondered what the significance is of the old Shasta TV commercial that they are watching. This is one of my favorite movies, but this has always bugged me.

Answer: It doesn't really have any significance but the one man thinks the commercial is to make people go out and buy the drink.

Question: Why does Colin not want his girlfriend's pictures out in the apartment?

Answer: Because he's a sh*tty boyfriend (as reinforced by purposely making a point of showing Costigan hanging it on the wall later on).

Answer: Because he doesn't want her to be in trouble if he gets into trouble. Also he wants as little information about himself in the apartment. Another option is psychological issues. He had a hard childhood after all.

You are mixing the characters up, it was Damon that didn't want the pic up, not Billy.

The person talking about Billy is correct but for the wrong scene. Billy hangs the picture up in her old apartment, because she still has time on the lease.

Answer: Damon did not want Costello to know where she was from if he came over, either because Damon was embarrassed by it, or to protect her from them.

I disagree, Costello has all kinds of informants and people working for him, he probably already knows everything there is to know about Madelyn.

Answer: Colin is Damon, not a mixup. I agree that it is to protect her identity from someone who may enter the apartment.

Answer: My interpretation is to emphasize the divide between the two characters and show how the person one conveys on the surface could be vastly different from someone's true nature. Colin is a cop (arguably a good one who is granted his own team investigating organized crime). As a cop, society views him as a good, well-intentioned, selfless person who serves a greater purpose. Furthermore, we are shown that he is highly ambitious (pursuing a law degree and aspiring to a life in politics). All of this shows that on a societal level, he is a good fit or match for Madelyn. She is a doctor, therapist, university educated, decent person who would typically end up with someone in a similar social class and circle. This juxtaposes Billy, who despite the fact that he went to a prestigious and private private school, is extremely intelligent and we know from the beginning a good person, to the rest of society is simply a low-life murderer, criminal and thug and member of Costello's inner circle. This is not the kind of person that Madelyn nor society would pair her with. So, on the outside, the characters are written as such. But this small interaction with the childhood photo shows that surface interpretations are not an accurate representation of the true man. Colin isn't actually the right match on a more intimate level, and Billy, for all intents and purposes is more loving and compassionate to Madelyn's true self.

Question: In the scene where Sam is at the airport and catches up with Joanna, he says "Oh Jesus" and then "Here, I've got to run", before the camera cuts to the scene of him going back to his Dad. Did he talk to her during this time, or give her a note or something?

Lavender

Chosen answer: It doesn't appear so. Joanna was surprised and impressed that he would risk so much just to see her before she left.

Question: How did Moira, Charles and the others get away from the island? They did not have someone who can teleport them away, the jet is broken and they had no possibility to communicate with the others. You can hardly expect the Russians or the Americans, who wanted to kill them a few minutes ago, to suddenly want to help them.

Answer: They do have the ability to communicate with the other mutants, via the powerful telepath Charles Xavier. He could also use mind control on the navy captains to make them rescue them, or any number of other possibilities.

Sierra1

Show generally

Question: The star on the uniform patch (right sleeve) has five points and the star on the patrol car has five points but the actual badge has six points. Why the discrepancy?

Answer: There's probably no known reason for the discrepancy, and it's unlikely related to the story line. It may simply be that the show's props department were lax about small details like that. It could also be explained that Mayberry being such a small town with a limited budget may have acquired surplus badges and other second-hand equipment from some other town's police department.

raywest

Answer: Probably because the police department consists of only two people who are both pretty informal and there is no standard dress code.

raywest

This had always bothered me, Barney is always by the book...too much, but his badge is never correct. Very puzzling.

Question: On the audiotape "Heed my warning: do not proceed" is spoken. But if the officer remained there, how would he get out of this place?

Answer: The police arrive some time after Strahm saves himself from the water box trap. If he had just waited in the room with Jigsaw's body, the police would have eventually found him.

Question: In the film credits for American Hustle, I have rewound it several times and cannot find Robert De Niro listed, or the character that he plays, Mr. Tellegio. Is there a reason for this?

Answer: It was a cameo role, and most times those are non-credited. Often it is for contractual reasons and whether or not a known actor has to be paid a fee. De Niro appeared as a favor to the director.

raywest

Question: What kind of helicopter is that Alex was about to get into but didn't?

Answer: Sikorsky S-55.

Question: Why didn't Kayo get any credit at the end for his help? Mcquade and Jackson got a rousing public celebration for their work...but Kayo got nothing. I never understood that.

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: Part of it could be because more people in the crowd know McQuade or Jackson personally. We know McQuade's daughter and ex-wife are there. However, Kayo is also given the Texas Award of Valor, same as McQuade and Jackson.

Bishop73

Forever Charmed - S8-E22

Question: How is it that when Piper and Leo go to the past before Phoebe is born, Patty already knows about "the charmed ones"? I have been under the understanding that they are the only ones in existence, so how does she know about the concept of "The Charmed Ones'? Was it a prophecy or something?

Terry Foss

Chosen answer: Yes, Melinda Warren prophesied that each generation of Warren witches would grow stronger than the next, culminating in the arrival of three sisters. Each having one of her powers.

Question: Was Doctor Zaius really aware of what happened to the human race? Many times during the film, he does things that indicate such a possibility, like crushing the paper airplane.

Answer: Yes, he knows what happened and does whatever he can to suppress knowledge about it. He does not want his kind to know that humans were once far superior, which he believes led to their destruction.

raywest

Question: In a post-credit scene, it shows Sinestro taking off his green ring and replacing it with a yellow one. What was the reason for it?

Answer: In the comics Sinestro founded and led the Sinestro Corps, a group similar to the Green Lanterns, but they use the yellow part of the emotional spectrum: fear, rather the the green energy of willpower.

Question: Lord Blackwood dies through a set of circumstances that cause him to be hanged via chain. My question is this - was it merely coincidence that he ended up in the wrong place and the wrong time for the chain of events to kill him? Or did Holmes know it was going to happen that way it did? It seems a little too convenient to me, so I can't help but wonder if Holmes knew the crane would collapse as it did, setting off the chain of events. (Whether or not he knew if would kill Blackwood).

Answer: It was a coincidence.

MasterOfAll

Question: How did a starfish get on Gru's head while Lucy and Gru were underwater in the car?

Avh1

Chosen answer: The car is always shown in shots from the front so we can't see if the boot had a leak.

boss of epicness

If the boot had a leak large enough to admit the starfish it would have filled with water and Gru would have drowned.

Answer: Because Chip made a lab error in a previous job, and Abby and Dinozzo were instrumental in revealing/correcting the mistake which got Chip fired. Hence the grudge against Dinozzo and Abby. So, he framed Dinozzo for a murder and attempted to kill Abby at the end of the show.

Answer: He was only after DiNozzo. He only tried to kill Abby because she found him out and got too close.

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.