Answered 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'm looking for the name of an actor - near the end of the film his character brings Dirk and Dirk's friend to the house of a drug dealer who he tries to rob and gets killed in the process.

Answer: If you mean "Todd Parker", it's Thomas Jane (The Punisher). If it's "Reed Rothchild", John C. Reilly (Chicago).

It's Todd - Reed gets away with his life and later on is in some racy magic act.

Harry and the Madam - S2-E8

Question: At the end of the episode, the military shows up and asks for all the evidence as it was a matter of national security. It's quite obvious that Harry called the military and was stalling for time until they could show up and get the evidence. Why did Harry call the military? I seriously doubt that it had anything to do with national security. I believe it was because he was actually trying to let Irene off the hook.

Answer: It's possible when Harry called the military, he implied that the book contained sensitive information, seeing as how many government and military officials were part of the client list.

I thought it was because he developed feelings for the madam and couldn't bring himself to turn her in.

Answer: He wasn't necessarily trying to let Irene off the hook. He still found her guilty. He was trying to get the diary out of evidence, but he had no legal standing to do so. It had nothing to do with military officials listed, but the fact that at least one of them talked about the military's equipment (the bombers). Harry called the military in hopes they could remove the diary from evidence. The major briefly reviewed the diary and classified it temporarily as "Secret", meaning that the court could no longer introduce the diary as evidence, which would have made the contents public (since there's no confidentiality laws between prostitutes and their clients).

Bishop73

Star-Crossed - June 15, 1972 - S1-E3

Question: Al tells Sam that he's there to prevent the professor and his undergraduate student from having a shotgun wedding and ruining both their lives. That implies she got pregnant. Sam succeeds in keeping them apart. Um, does that mean he prevented someone from being born?

Brian Katcher

Answer: He means he's there to prevent there ever being the need for a shotgun wedding-that is, to stop the affair before there is a possibility of the girl getting pregnant.

raywest

Which would erase the child from history. That's my point.

Brian Katcher

Not if there was never any pregnancy to begin with. There was only the chance of one.

raywest

Answer: Not necessarily; it could also mean that someone such as Jamie Lee's (the student) father discovered that the professor was having a sexual relationship with her and coerced the two into getting married.

zendaddy621

This doesn't answer the question. You just described what a shotgun wedding is.

Bishop73

I think their point is that the "shotgun" aspect might not be due to a pregnancy, simply a forced attempt to legitimise an otherwise scandalous relationship.

My point was that a "shotgun wedding" doesn't always happen because an unmarried girl becomes pregnant; it can also happen because someone "stole her virtue", i.e had sex with her without being married or at least engaged to her. There's no reason to believe that Jamie Lee was, or would become, pregnant as a result of the affair or subsequent marriage.

zendaddy621

The term "shotgun wedding" means a forced marriage due to unexpected pregnancy. It's sometimes even used when the woman is pregnant but it's planned or the wedding isn't "forced." In common colloquialism (especially in the 80's when the script was written), it doesn't refer to a force marriage just because of premarital sex (which the term "make an honest woman" is used for).

Bishop73

No, in the 1926 Sinclair Lewis novel 'Elmer Gantry', they talk about shotgun weddings, when a groom is forced to marry a woman because he took her virginity. Obviously, the term usually refers to a pregnant bride, but I see zendaddys point.

Brian Katcher

Question: When you see the shot of Milo peeing on the long-haired thug, what are the other things sticking out Milo's body? It's in the first shot when he's peeing, but they're gone when the thug shoots at him, and he runs off.

Answer: I've looked at this scene very closely, and I don't see anything different about Milo between shots. Nothing is sticking out of him. He has a collar on with spikes on and maybe you are confusing the background with something that is coming out of him, but that is no different from the next shot.

lionhead

Question: When Gordon and his mother are in Tulley's office, how does Tulley see a resemblance between Gordon and Fester? I thought he had not been seen for 25 years.

Answer: He's seen pictures and paintings of young Fester and notices a resemblance. Like you said, no-one had seen him in 25 years, so all that was required was a passing similarity.

Brian Katcher

Question: As usual, Tokyo being destroyed - this time by the Neptune Men in their flying saucers. Buildings exploding...but one particular building has a large picture of Adolf Hitler giving the Nazi salute and with the wrong wording of Mine Kampf (instead of the correct Mein Kampf)...why was this particular building model constructed? (01:03:27)

Loves Old Movies

Answer: Your question was intriguing, so I did a little Internet research. While there's plenty of conjecture, nobody seems to know what this is about. There is some reference to Hitler's "Mein Kampf" being published in Japan for the first time in the early 1960s, around the time the film was made. Some speculate it was some type of advertising for the book (early product placement?) while others believe it could be a symbolic act of blowing up Hitler's ideals and could explain why it was misspelled.

raywest

Answer: Mr. Sheffield needed someone to manage the kids, not necessarily babysit them. Brighton was a Bart Simpson type, Maggie was shy and awkward and Gracie had personality issues.

Answer: It's a bit of a stretch plot wise, but she is supposed to be more than just a "nanny." She oversees the kid's activities, manages the household, and generally keeps the family running smoothly in the absence of a mother. She is more like a family member rather than an employee.

raywest

Answer: Most likely to kill Shredder and make sure that there would be no way to come back but, as seen in the sequel, Shredder does return.

Question: How did Dudley get out of the snake exhibit after falling in?

Answer: Petunia or Vernon would have ran to a zoo employee and told them what happened. The employee would then open the door to the snake exhibit letting Dudley out.

Answer: Yes he did. I think principal filming was finished in November of 2007. However, it should be noted he did not finish filming all his scenes for "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" (2009).

Bishop73

Answer: Yes, he died a few months after principal photography ended.

Answer: I've known people who are influenced by a "leader" friend. They don't make many decisions for themselves. Stu seems to have latched onto Billy at some point, and is willing to join him in the murders. There are real-life cases in which murderers had associates who obeyed them.

Chosen answer: Billy told Stu they were going to be famous as the sole survivors of the massacre. He believed Billy and went along with it, wanting fame.

Question: Marty shows Doc in 1885 the image of the tombstone, and he says that he wished he'd paid Buford off. Why can't he just round up 80 dollars to give to Buford and apologise for not doing that in the first place?

Answer: Adjusting for inflation, $80 back in 1885 is equivalent to about $2,143.65 today. Not something you can just conjure up easily, least of all back then. And Marty couldn't just take 1985 money back to 1885 and expect people to accept it.

Quantom X

Except that Doc was in 1885 and could have just gone to the bank and withdrew the $80's.

How? He arrives in 1885 and magically has the equivalent of $2,100 already in a bank account? He presumably borrowed it from Buford in the first place precisely because he didn't have that much cash available.

Doc didn't borrow money from Buford. He time-traveled with a briefcase filled with currencies from different time periods, including the 1800s. Doc had shoed Buford's horse for $5, for which Buford never paid him. When one shoe later came off later, causing Buford to be thrown, Buford shot the horse and demanded Doc pay him $75 for it and $5 for a broken bottle of whiskey.

raywest

Where would have get the $80 from? You're assuming he had the $80 available to him. The bank wouldn't just give out the money for free.

You can't take out $80 in 1985 money, and give it to someone in 1885. It would look like play money to them. U.S. currency looked a lot different back then.

Ray

Well he could technically get that amount worth in gold or silver.

lionhead

And, as stated, since Doc was in 1885, more specifically, eight months in 1885, he could have just taken the money out of the bank considering he had a job as a blacksmith.

In Back to the Future 2, Doc shows Marty a briefcase full of money from different time periods, including various mid-1800 currencies, that he carried with him in the DeLorean. (There are online screen shots of the contents.) Doc refused to pay Tannen the $80 because he never owed it to him. Tannen was extorting him.

raywest

Answer: Buford was a crazed gunfighter, even if they paid off the $80 that wouldn't have satisfied him. He loved to shoot and kill. He wanted a showdown to show people he is to be feared and not messed with.

Question: Assuming anyone saw this deleted scene on the DVD special features. Why would Lacy even go to Smallville?

Rob245

Answer: Lacy had gotten tired of her dad's newspaper, big-city life and decided to move to Smallville because she wanted to experience life at a much slower pace and even decided to live on a farm.

Answer: It was Frank James, brother of Jesse. He didn't stand up as she approached. She was offended by his lack of manners.

Answer: Rooster Cogburn. She considered him a legendary lawman, like Wyatt Earp. She felt bad that he was reduced to being a sideshow attraction in a circus.

Question: In order for the game to end, the player has to lose his or her last life. As such, the closing screen shouldn't end with Ralph being thrown off the roof, but rather with Fix-it Felix doing the lie down holding a lily, with Ralph standing at the top of the ruined building in triumph. So why does the end of a successful day show the aftermath of Ralph being thrown off the roof of the building?

quinnnmallory

Answer: If Fix it Felix, Jr. is an "endless" game, then yes the Game Over screen should only come up when the player loses. If Fix it Felix, Jr. has a final level then it's perfectly normal for a Game Over screen to pop up at the end of the last level, after Ralph has been thrown from the roof.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: She left to pursue other TV, movie, and commercial opportunities. It's a typical scenario where a breakout star on a hit series leverages their popularity for better roles and more money.

raywest

Answer: I read that Pamela departed the show because she had become pregnant with her second child.

ChristmasJonesfan

Question: Did August's dad know he had a son? And did August figure out who his parents were at the end and did he see them at the concert?

Answer: The answers, in order, are: "No", not initially but "yes" later; "Yes" and "yes." Their plan to meet the next day didn't work out, so August's parents ended up having a "one-night stand." When August's father - as well as his mother -heard the music that August was conducting, they were drawn to it like magnets. With his back turned against the spectators, August got the feeling that his parents were there. When he turned around to look, he saw his mother and father. The mother and father instantly knew that August was their son and August knew they were his parents.

KeyZOid

Answer: Brand didn't know specifically where the Goonies went, but he got on the bike and went searching. Viewers didn't get to see how many places Brand looked before he found them at the restaurant or how much time it took him, but he probably biked down the one road in town until he spotted their bikes and then looked nearby. The fact that Brand apparently found the Goonies within a short amount of time suggests that there were relatively few places that they could have gone, probably because they lived in a small town that was at least semi-rural. Other than old houses, there were only a few landmarks (including the restaurant and lighthouse). There may have been spots that kids tended to gravitate toward and Brand might have had a good idea as to where they most likely went.

KeyZOid

Question: The first "Friday the 13th" movie gave me the impression that Jason drowned while trying to swim alone at night. However, this movie shows that a group of campers pushed him into the lake during daytime. Which scene portrays his actual death?

Answer: Jason drowned in the lake and wasn't a very good swimmer. Maybe the kids pushed him in as a "joke" and the counselors weren't watching him. Hence how he "died" because nobody was there to save him, as two counselors were making love.

Answer: Jason didn't drown at night. I just watched a YouTube clip of Mrs. Voorhees talking to Alice (in the first movie). She says that she working the "day" that it happened. There are visions of Jason in the water. They appear dark in tone, but show enough light for a daytime setting.

Answer: It was the original Friday the 13th. Nobody anticipated there'd be a crossover. I think director Ronny Yu did this change for the sake of making Jason sympathetic.

Rob245

Question: If Eli was blind, why did he get startled by the hanging dead body?

Answer: As he opens the doors one of the doors falls off, that startled him. Next to that the body probably smells extremely bad.

lionhead

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.