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: Why does everyone say that using parts of the DeLorean that Doc had buried in the abandoned mine could create a time paradox? Firstly, that is never stated in the actual movie. Secondly, if say Marty and Doc use the part on the buried DeLorean to fix the DeLorean that broke due to the explosion caused by the extremely strong alcohol and then again try to run the DeLorean using alcohol that's not so strong, the 1955 Doc would be able to obtain the missing piece of the buried DeLorean. So, technically, there's a plot hole. Why then does everyone say that that's not possible?

Answer: If they dug up the buried DeLorean and stripped it for parts to repair the other one, then it would become non-functional. As such, with no replacement parts being available in 1955, Marty would not then be able to use it to come back in time to rescue Doc - which he's already done. There's your paradox.

Tailkinker

Answer: But it's not a paradox is it. They blew the fuel injection manifold which Doc says would take him a month to rebuild, that's using 1885 technology and parts. Simply swap out the manifold off the buried car, put the broken one on the seat, and 1955 Doc would inspect it and figure out that it needs repairing (which would take far less time using 1955 technology and parts). They could also go to Western Union and change the letter to read that the fuel injection manifold needs a repair as well. If they stole the DeLorean' engine then yes they'd be a paradox as the very earliest replacement wouldn't be available until 1974. But stealing parts that would be available in 1955 would not cause any paradox as they could simply replace them.

Question: Were all of the enchanted objects once people or are they just that, enchanted objects?

Answer: They were people, the staff of the castle, and are turned back to their human forms at the end of the film.

pinkwafer

Question: Who (among the story characters, not the creators) actually came up with the name "Hulk"? In the movie, nobody refers to the 'creature' in this manner.

Answer: In the first comic, the first time Bruce Banner changed, it was inside a military research facility, and one of the soldiers uttered the phrase, as in "What is that... Hulk thing?"

Twotall

Question: What exactly happened to Reaper's parents? I didn't get much from the flashback, and it's almost never mentioned.

Answer: They died in a cave in, in the archaeological dig area. Or at least that's what I got.

James King III

Question: Why does Voldemort call Peter Pettigrew Wormtail?

Answer: Voldemort was a legilliman, someone who could read other peoples' minds. That is how he learned of Peter Pettigrew's nickname for his animagus form of a rat. Voldemort likely calls Pettigrew that because the name is rather demeaning, and he considers Peter one of his most lowly and cowardly servants.

raywest

Answer: They call him that because it reminds them of how traitorous and cowardly he is.

Answer: That was the nickname he had been given at Hogwarts. He and his three friends, who could transform into animals (James Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin), all gave each other nicknames relating to their animal forms. Peter becomes a rat, and since rats have hairless tails, they chose to call him "Wormtail."

Twotall

But that does not answer why Voldemort of all people calls him by the name given him - in secret, mind you - by his closest friends.

Pettigrew could easily have told Voldemort about the nickname himself, and Voldemort chose to use it to imply that he was as close a friend to Peter as the others had been.

Twotall

Except that Voldemort doesn't see anybody as his friend. Only as his followers to follow out his commands.

Question: I believe they mentioned it in the movie, but I missed it. How was it decided who is Tutsi and who is Hutu?

Answer: Generally there were two methods, one they had identification badges that mentioned whether they were Tutsi or Hutu. This is evident when Don Cheadle goes to buy supplies and they want to see some ID. The other was simply that people knew each other. Some people would say who was Tutsi and who was Hutu.

Lummie

Answer: The ID indicated ethnicity.

Question: In one of the extras, Tim Burton says that he got the idea for Corpse Bride from a story. He said just that it was just a few paragraphs, but what is the story that he is talking about?

Answer: It's a 19th century Russian Jewish folk-tale - the story starts quite similarly, with the lead character saying his vows while putting the ring on what he believes to be a stick. The tale generally finishes with the rabbis annulling the marriage and the living bride vowing to honour the memory of the corpse bride throughout her marriage - which ties into the Jewish tradition of honouring the dead through the lives of the living.

Tailkinker

Question: At the end of the movie, the Voice is credited as Himself. Who was really responsible for doing the voice that sent Ray on his journey?

Answer: It was actually his own voice (Kevin Costner) that sent him on the journey. At the end of the movie there's even the part where Ray is recalling the voices he heard and turned to Shoeless Joe Jackson and says, "It was you". At which point Joe Jackson turns around and says, "No Ray. It was you".

Question: Is Nola really pregnant? She's taking medicine and the police say nothing about a pregnancy to Chris, when they show him Nola's diary.

Answer: No, she's not pregnant.

Wasn't their a clip of her with a positive pregnancy test? but in saying that surely she would have wrote about it in her diary and it would have shown up on her autopsy also.

Point of View - S3-E6

Question: I have a question about the correction about the Asgard not beaming Teal'c because they knew about him helping SG-1. This happened in the alternate reality. Would the alternate Asgard know about Teal'c turning against Apophis?

Answer: The Alternate Samantha Carter has travelled to enlist the Asgard's help. It stands to reason that she would have explained the situation to them fully before they arrive.

roboc

Question: When Bridget and Daniel are in bed at the hotel, she says "that thing you just did is actually illegal in several countries". Anyone know what she was talking about? I assume it's a sex thing and I'm dying to know.

Answer: I'm pretty sure you can assume she's talking about anal sex, which is still technically illegal in a number of countries.

Question: I saw Frank Oz's name listed in the credits, does anyone know who he does the voice of?

Answer: He voices Fungus, Randall's assistant.

Andreas[DK]

Answer: According to both IMDb and Answers.com, just to name a few, Col. Flagg's first name is Samuel.

OneHappyHusky

Question: I am sure I've heard some of the T-Rex sound effects before, particularly the growling noise it makes when Tim shuts the door of the Ford Explorer in the first big T-Rex scene. I thought perhaps they were stock sound effects but was told they were all created for the movie. Can anyone tell me where else they might have been used? I get the feeling some might have been used in one of the Doom games.

Answer: The sound effects were created specifically for the movie and Spielberg has a very strict policy against letting his material be used for stock (because of an incident in which footage from his movie "Duel" was recycled into the Incredible Hulk TV show). Therefore, you could not have heard this particular growl anywhere else. Perhaps it was just very similar. One place you may have heard it was on the software program GoZilla. That used the Rex roar when a download completed.

Answer: I always thought it sounded like the predator. The little clicking growling noises that is, not the roar.

Show generally

Question: In the episode where Leon gets married, Dan says at the end that Leon and Scott are "having it out" or something like that. Roseanne says that they're just "two people of the same gender going at it". Then a woman sits down behind her and Roseanne says "Hi there". Then the audience roars in laughter and applause. I don't get it. What's the joke?

Answer: The woman who sits down is Sharon, who was Nancy's girlfriend in "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (season 6) and is played by Mariel Hemingway. In that infamous episode, Sharon kissed Roseanne on the mouth. She returns in "December Bride" (season 8) and makes a brief, but very funny, appearance at Leon and Scott's wedding. You may also be interested in Milton Berle's "drag" cameo, as he catches the bouquet. On Berle's TV show, back in the 40's and 50's, his skits in drag became his trademark.

Super Grover

Show generally

Question: Which episode is it where Bart and Lisa are arguing, saying "You're gay for Moleman." "No you're gay for Moleman." And Moleman says "Nobody's gay for Moleman." Is it the one where Frink shpws them their future?

Answer: Yes it is. The episode is called Future-Drama - Season 16, Episode 15.

Andreas[DK]

Answer: Its been said that Harry Morgan or Gary Burghoff actualy did the pictures, from a M*A*S*H special.

Show generally

Question: How come Briscoe and Greene and every other cop that works in the precinct can wear suits at the scene of a crime but when other cops from other precincts are also at the crime scene they are wearing uniforms?

Answer: An example of this might be easier to give a reason, but the most likely explanation is that those in police uniform are just regular police while Briscoe, Green are detectives. As for the precinct, the area that they work in is where other detectives work so that would be why so many are dressed in suits as well.

Lummie

Question: If Hannibal Lecter knew all along who Buffalo Bill really was, then why didn't he just come right out and say it?

Answer: Because that would be boring for the doctor. He gets the opportunity to play his twisted mind-games with agent Starling, and manipulate her into revealing her own secrets to him, so he draws the game out for as long as he can.

Twotall

Lector probably has a crush on Clarice (the flattering sketch) he might be trying to see her as much as possible because he likes her.

Answer: He tells Clarice he knows he'll never be let out of that cell while he's alive and that he wants to be relocated away from Dr. Chiltern. He's using his knowledge of Buffalo Bill to secure better living conditions for himself and/or get to a situation where it's possible for him to escape.

Answer: Sociopaths are egocentric and focus on getting what they want; they are not likely to provide information or be helpful to others unless there is some benefit to be derived. The information that Lecter had would be used as a means to an end, not for the purposes of assisting the authorities in capturing someone. Lecter reveals tidbits - the minimal amount deemed necessary at a particular time - and saves as much information as possible for future manipulations and/or self-satisfaction.

KeyZOid

Question: In the scene near the end of the movie, when Isabel confronts Rusty at the airplane and he tells her that her father is still alive, He also says "There's nothing back there but a forged 1077." How does he know she forged it? Even if we can assume they were bluffing when Linus' mother showed up at the prison indicating an irregularity with the paperwork (as previously contributed by another viewer), that doesn't explain how Rusty knew it was forged.

Answer: Because he knows her and what lengths she would go to. He also could have gotten inside information.

shortdanzr

Answer: Before they left the police station, Molly (Linus' mom) states that there seems to be a problem with the paperwork. Rusty could have informed her ahead of time.

Answer: LeMarque had a contact that informed him of the movements of the real egg so it seems possible that he also had contacts within Interpol that told him she had forged the papers (which he probably anticipated).

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.