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: I don't think this is ever answered in the movie, so could someone tell me approximately how much time has elapsed since Andy's escape, until he meets up with Red on the beach in Mexico? Or until Red gets paroled?

Answer: Andy escapes from Shawshank in August 1966, as evidenced by the date on the paper that Norton reads shortly before his suicide. Red's parole comes up the following year, 1967, exact date unknown. He then works at the store for an unspecified but short period of time before fulfilling his promise to Andy to go and find the box buried in the field - from the greenery visible, most likely in the mid-to-late summer - and he then heads to Mexico. In all likelihood, the total time between Andy's escape and he and Red being united is about a year, give or take a couple of months either way.

Tailkinker

Plausible, but the question asked if the real time frame/date was addressed in the movie. I believe the answer is No. The date of escape was stated as 1966, but Red's release date was not formally indicated.

Answer: It is a reference to the Brady bunch.

Answer: Lisa (the character, not the voice-actress) refused to take part in the show, since it is terrible. So the family re-cast her part.

Gary O'Reilly

Question: Why did Marie take baths with a nightgown on?

Answer: That was just the custom then. Total nudity was considered inappropriate, if not immoral, even when bathing, which people did infrequently or not at all because it was thought to be unhealthy.

raywest

Chosen answer: "By your side" by Sade.

amimon

Question: I read that Mace Windu was originally going to be in this movie. Does anyone know if this is true?

Answer: Sort of. The name "Mace Windu" dates back to the very first story treatment that George Lucas wrote in 1973, however the character bears no resemblence to the distinguished Jedi Master of the prequel trilogy. In the rough draft, the name is given to a brother of Leia's, while a later draft has the character as a friend of Luke's. The name was ultimately dropped from the script entirely, only to be reintroduced when choosing names for the Jedi council members decades later for the prequels.

Tailkinker

Question: Is there a song that plays before the deaths like in the first three films? I've seen the movie and I do recall about two songs, but I'm not sure.

Answer: No.

Answer: Nope not in this one.

Answer: Technically, it was Dixieland (I'm sorry, I don't know the artist(s)). The racist was whistling it in the beginning, then it played again at the ending.

Question: Obviously the film is fictitious but surely the melting of the ice caps would not start the evolution of sea monsters, would it? Also, most smaller species would die off so there would be no food for the monsters to survive.

Answer: Judging from the missile sub with empty missile silos we see underwater, WWIII seems to have caused the rising water. I guess the idea is that radiation has mutated sharks and other animals (including the Mariner).

Grumpy Scot

Question: On different websites I have found tonnes of information about Irina, like where she was born and what she did in her life. Where do people find this information? I know it's not in the film.

msmall724

Chosen answer: It is common for information about characters and plotlines to exist outside a movie. Oftentimes the screenwriters have created a back story about the characters that does not appear in the movie. This information may be disseminated to fans through the movie studio's official web site, in interviews, through DVD commentary, and so on. Also, with popular series like Star Wars, Star Trek, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc., the accompanying novels provide additional information about the characters and plot that does not appear in the movies. Of course, fans also create their own backstories and myths about favorite characters which often gets passed around on various web sites and other sources as verified fact.

raywest

Question: Where and why did Gregor go? If he was going in search of dry land, why has he not gone earlier? Why did the mariner not try to find him, as he could have been a useful person to have on the boat and was a friend of the females? Why did the smoker's plane not shoot down Gregor?

Answer: Lot of questions here. 1) Gregor was building the airship to find Dryland and he left to get away from the Smokers. 2) He didn't go earlier because he wanted to be able to figure out the map on Enola's back first. 3) When they left, the Mariner didn't care about Gregor, Helen, or Enola and he couldn't catch Gregor anyway with his boat torn up. 4) The Smokers did try to shoot the airship down with the gunship, but they got distracted shooting one of their own people down, giving Gregor time to escape. The plane may not have had a gunner in at the moment. It was being used to tow the skiers.

LorgSkyegon

Answer: No.

Tailkinker

Answer: Per the dialogue, Rose is 17 (and about to turn 101 in the present). Jack's age is never stated.

JC Fernandez

Answer: Jack's age is not mentioned in the film, but in other contexts James Cameron has described the character as being 20 years old.

Question: I'm confused about how Snow White is Wendell's grandmother. The queen mentions her wedding, but Wolf says that dwarves brought her body to the hill in Kissingtown, in case a prince can wake her. She must have gotten married and had a child if Wendell is her grandson, so why is her body still at the hill?

Answer: The dwarves brought her to Kissingtown after she ate the poisoned apple the queen gave her to wait for a prince to come and save her. It's only after she is kissed that she awakens, marries the prince and then has her children. The scene with Virginia in the cave is a vision and not real. Snow White (or her ghost in fairy godmother form as she called it) is there to help Virginia stay strong and complete her journey by giving her advice and help.

Shannon Jackson

Chosen answer: It's unknown. Presumably they dismantled the campsite and left.

raywest

Question: In the bar scene, after Marty asks for a Pepsi Free, the barman tells him that "You want a Pepsi, pal, you're going to pay for it". I know there is a reason for it, but isn't it obvious that if Marty wants a Pepsi he must pay for it?

Isaac.BTTF

Chosen answer: The counterman had never heard of Pepsi Free as it didn't exist yet. He therefore assumed that Marty was asking for a Pepsi Cola free of charge. Also, Biff and his cronies frequent this bar. The counterman might have assumed that Marty was some snot nosed punk that thought he could bluff his way into free drinks.

Grumpy Scot

Question: Why did the Kraken die (or was it killed)? Does it have anything to do with Jack Sparrow walking into it with the cutlass in the 2nd movie? Or Beckett's conquering Davy Jones?

Yerzhan

Chosen answer: Beckett ordered Jones to kill the Kraken. No exact reason is ever specified, although it's suggested that it was, at least in part, to teach Jones a lesson about obedience. It also seems fair to say that Beckett was thinking ahead, depriving Jones of his most powerful weapon in case Jones ever managed to break free of his control.

Tailkinker

Chosen answer: 'Radio Wars' - Season 7 episode 3.

Question: Is there any factual basis for the story of the little girl General Jackson befriended? I can't find anything about her, or anything saying she is fictional.

Answer: Yes, she did exist. Through books.google.com, I found a book "Cemeteries of Caroline County, Virginia: Private Cemeteries" by Herbert Ridgeway Collins, that confirms Jane did live, that she and Jackson were close, and that he arranged for her burial after her death.

Question: Why wasn't it acceptable for Marie to breastfeed her daughter?

Answer: It was typical for royalty and the aristocracy to remain extremely "hands off" regarding child rearing. Nannies, wet nurses, and tutors tended to all their offsprings' needs, and parents usually spent relatively little time with their children. It would be considered extremely odd for a queen to engage in something so personal and common as breastfeeding her child.

raywest

Question: It takes Galloway's chute a full 5 seconds to deploy from the time he pulls the cord, until he is swept out of the military plane. Do parachutes usually take so long to deploy?

Answer: The average time for a parachute to deploy is 3-5 seconds. depending on how it is folded in the pack.

MasterOfAll

Question: Is it true that Keira Knightly almost played Padme in this movie and Episode III, because Natalie Portman didn't want to do it anymore?

Answer: No. All the main actors were contractually obliged to do all three prequel movies.

GalahadFairlight

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