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: What is the thing that the five guys are saying in the plane before they make a toast to Billy?

Answer: The words of their chant are "Beware, beware, walk with care. Careful what you do. Or Mumbo Jumbo's gonna hoo-doo you. Mumbo Jumbo's gonna hoo-doo you. Boomlay, boomlay, boomlay, boom!" This comes directly from a poem titled "The Congo" by poet Nicholas Vachel Lindsay ("The Congo and Other Poems"), specifically the lines at the end of part I.

Super Grover

Question: Was the ending a suicide or just an accident?

Answer: An accident. They were inexperienced pilots trying dangerous barnstorming stunts. A fitting end for two adventurers afraid of nothing.

Brian Katcher

Question: The apes don't seem to have developed industrially; they are using horses and riding in carts. So are those rifles and bullets 2,000 years old?

apolloguy

Answer: SPOILER ALERT: They didn't develop along the same timeline as humans; they developed in a post-human world, with technology sitting around waiting for them to pick up. As Dr. Zaius reveals at the end, they knew of humankind and how human civilization collapsed, so they likely made a conscious decision NOT to develop industry, at least not on the scale we did, for fear of destroying the planet/each other all over again. They could pick and choose which human inventions they adapted, such as basic firearms like rifles, and continue manufacturing these on a small scale, while largely maintaining a pre-Industrial Age civilization.

So bullets and rifles, but not cars? I didn't notice any electric lights, either.

apolloguy

Have you never seen a Western? Guns were developed well before cars and electric lights.

Answer: According the Apes' history, the earth was destroyed in a nuclear war, which causes an Electro Magnetic Pulse. It causes everything electronic to shut down. The apes were smart, but they were not scientists or engineers to work out the complex inner workings of a vehicle.

Question: In the last scene a neighbor gets Terri settled on the couch and goes to leave. Why was there not a wheelchair or crutches available for Teri's use once the woman left?

Answer: As Terry is paralyzed, crutches would be useless. She would also be unable to get into a wheelchair by herself. The real reason is that this is a rather flimsy plot device. When Cary Grant arrives and sees Terrie on the couch, he is unaware of her condition. The whole point of the scene is that he is resentful and hurt because he mistakenly believed she rejected him six months earlier by not showing up at the Empire State Building. She hid her condition, not wanting his pity or for him to feel obligated to be with her. If a wheelchair was visible, he would have immediately known the truth, and that would have spoiled the way he finds out, his reaction to it, and the overly-sentimental ending.

raywest

Question: Besides being played for comedic effect, would getting the coin toss wrong have really mattered?

Answer: It really would have mattered. This was over time and the winner of the coin toss gets the ball first. In 2001, NFL overtime was sudden death where a field goal wins the game. So having the ball first is a huge advantage. The messed up coin toss seems to be a joke about the 1998 Thanksgiving game between the Lions and Steelers where the ref messed up the coin toss in overtime because he heard the Steeler's player's call wrong. The Lions ended up getting the ball and winning. Not to mention that many people who bet on football games also bet on the coin toss.

Bishop73

Question: During the beginning of the dance off, Jan is crying (while Vince Fontaine is doing the announcement). Why?

Answer: While Vince is talking mere moments before going live on the air, Jan's getting nervous, keyed-up, and emotional, so she begins to stare and sob, much to the chagrin of Putzie. Then before the 10-second countdown she excitedly tries to get Frenchie's attention.

Super Grover

Kevin Goes Nuts - S2-E3

Question: Kevin is wearing a T-shirt that says "Long Island" with some sort of mascot on it. At first I thought it was Dumbo with the big ears, but it looks like a mouse with a hat on (I'm assuming those are whiskers and not 6 legs of an insect.) What is this animal suppose to be? A character or mascot from some show, team, restaurant, etc? Or just a silly shirt with a random silly animal? Has anyone seen it sold anywhere?

Bishop73

Question: If the aliens cut the power in the complex, why were the lights on whilst Hudson was cutting through the floor to rescue Newt and why was the elevator working? Is this a plot hole or is there a deleted scene where they power up a backup generator or something?

Answer: He used a portable cutter to rescue Newt. The elevators could have been connected to a separate generator. Plus the power was cut off to the lights, they never said that everything was down, only the lights.

Answer: I think they just went to a different part of the complex which was on a separate generator - there probably wouldn't have been just one power source/single point of failure for the whole colony complex, and the aliens probably only cut a cable or destroyed a breaker in the lab area the marines were in.

Sierra1

Question: When Anna got back from Georgia, Christian seems so dark and brooding. What made him act like this right before he beat Anna with the belt. Was the phone call he got in Georgia after they went gliding that upset him?

Answer: He was upset that Anna was nagging him to be more open about his feelings and to try for a serious relationship. He was so upset he went to a dark place and gave her what she wanted. A true demonstration of his resolve, hoping it would convince her to accept the terms of the contract and become an obedient sub, like all the others. She was different from the others and making him feel vulnerable. It scared him, that's why he maintained a cold distance.

Question: Was any of the movie shot on film? IMDb has Arri and RED digital cameras listed, but there are couple scenes (especially early on) that seem to have noticeable graininess that looks much more like traditional film grain than the digital "noise" you sometimes get in modern movies.

TedStixon

Question: When Johnny takes Baby up to do the final dance, Baby's dad is obviously pretty angry about it and tries to stop him. However, after the dance all is forgiven? All just from the magic of their beautiful dancing?

Answer: It would be improper to cause a scene, plus Robbie admitted to getting Penny pregnant and insulting her, especially it's what made get an abortion and medical complications.

Answer: While he probably was still angry with Johnny for sleeping with Baby, he can see how hard she must have worked to dance so well. Anger is often hard to release. Being a loving father, he is proud of Baby "in the moment" and was more disappointed with her than mad. He likely also grudgingly admires Johnny for having the courage to stand up for her.

raywest

A Normal Amount of Rage - S1-E1

Question: Jen has concerns about Steve Rogers dying a virgin, and Bruce eventually caves in the credits sequence and says he lost his virginity in 1943 on the USO tour. But why doesn't he tell Jen that Steve had many happy years with Peggy Carter, courtesy of their timeline-jumping? Presumably that involved sex too. Does Bruce not know, or is that meant to be kept secret?

Answer: He probably knew and kept Steve's secret.

Rob245

Answer: 1. David probably lied to get Jen off his back. 2. She wanted to know if Steve ever had sex, not about his true love. 3. If he told her about Steve's time travel, it would open a can of worms. She would probably be curious and seek him out, the government might want him back for disobeying orders and not resuming his Captain America duties. 4. The government would want the secrets of time travel to change history or to go back and forced him to resume his Captain America duties to prevent the infiltration of Hydra into S.H.I.E.L.D.

Answer: It's not his story to tell.

DetectiveGadget85

Question: How did Jo and her mercenaries know what cove to go to in the Philippines if Drake had just discovered it using the crosses that Chloe had brought with her from the helicopter? If Chloe didn't know about using the crosses and was faked out by the false coordinates then wouldn't we assume the mercenaries hadn't found the location yet either?

Answer: Jo and her mercenaries were at the wrong island, It's when they saw Drake go past them in a speed boat, and not to the island they were on, that's when they realised they had been tricked.

A Normal Amount of Rage - S1-E1

Question: When talking about "geniuses in the family" at the start, Bruce says "there's also Ched", at least according to the subtitles. Is this another Banner cousin with Marvel ties, or just a random throwaway line?

Jon Sandys

Answer: This is answered in the second episode, where we meet Ched who's clearly not a genius. Given this first episode was originally written as the penultimate one of the series, and tweaked as the premiere later, it makes more sense why that line might be a throwaway by Bruce, given if it was episode 8 as intended the audience would already have met Ched and understand how he's not being remotely serious.

Chosen answer: According to Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ched is a relative of Bruce Banner and Jennifer Walters. There is a character profile but with no additional information provided yet, nor is there much info online available elsewhere. This appears to be a new character that has yet to appear.

raywest

Question: How could Ethan really trust Luther to hold on to the NOC list, as Stickell was a disavowed agent himself?

Ethan Hunt

Answer: Frankly, in working with him over the prior few days he just got to know him well enough to make that judgement. That and he could hear Luther react audibly over the earpiece when he saw what it was that they were downloading. He was surprised and had clear fear in his voice. Yes he could have been putting on an act, but this is where getting to know him over the prior days comes into play. As a secret agent himself, frequently sent under cover and surrounded by hostile or unknown players, he would have to become a good judge of character to identify threats and allies.

Garlonuss

Question: What phone was used by Nicolas Cage while in the car towards the end? (01:47:10 - 01:49:31)

Answer: According to Internet sources, Ultimate Spider-Man was cancelled after three seasons to make room for the new series, Marvel's Spider-Man.

raywest

Question: Did Sonny and Marty become a couple at the end? You see them both dancing together during the finale but for the rest of the film, there's no suggestion that they are a couple, so I was a bit confused.

Gavin Jackson

Answer: It's hinted throughout the movie that they were dating already. The Pink Ladies are the T-Birds counterparts and therefore they date within the groups. Putzie/Jan, Doody/Frenchy, Kenickie/Rizzo, Sonny/Marty. Zuko is the only one not with a Pink Lady.

Question: What exactly is the crowd chanting at the fighting match? It's sounds like "Go Rumba" or something but I can't make it out.

Gavin Jackson

Answer: In the comics he was a tall, thin man with a large hook nose, sort of like "Sherlock Holmes." When the movie was cast, they thought of altering Alec Baldwin's face for the role, but decided that all those prosthetics would make him unrecognizable, so it was decided he would morph into the original character, when using his "Shadow" power. The same thing was decided when Warren Beatty was cast as "Dick Tracy."

Answer: Unlike most comic book superheroes, the Shadow character evolved from a series of pulp novels, and later a radio program, starting in the 1930s. The Shadow's true identity was initially unknown, and he had multiple aliases and many alter egos. Only later was he permanently known as rich playboy Lamont Cranston. As the Shadow, he used different disguises when combating villains. While in Asia, Lamont learned how to read minds and use hypnosis to cloud peoples' vision. The movie reflected his ability to alter his appearance when transforming into the crime-fighting Shadow.

raywest

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.