Question: Is this true that Mary Steenburgen was initially supposed to play Susan?
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: Why were the elves happy to see Scott and Charlie on their return to the North Pole? Their presence obviously meant that the old Santa was dead.
Answer: Unbeknownst to Scott, Charlie, and the viewer, Scott became the new Santa the moment he put on the Santa suit on his roof. Because of this, the elves don't even see him as Scott, but as Santa. His arrival also meant another successful toy delivery and the continuation of Christmas itself.
Answer: As the various Santas periodically are killed or die by other means, the elves appear unsurprised and are happy and relieved that they don't have to worry about having a replacement. They also seem pleased to see young Charlie, who wasn't expected. I haven't seen the movie in years, but I seem to recall that the previous Santa wasn't particularly liked or was somewhat incompetent.
Question: When Tuvia executed Arkady for his defiant mutiny, why did Tuvia have to turn his body to pull his weapon, instead of just drawing his gun and shooting him dead on the spot right there?
Answer: For two reasons: one, to let him think Tuvia was going and let down Arkady's defenses; and second, Tuvia was quickly and truly debating whether or not to shoot.
Question: Why did Jack Nicholson quit acting after appearing in this movie?
Question: Why is this movie parodied online?
Answer: The "Hitler in the bunker" scene is iconic for historical reasons, being something most people understand the significance of. Being subtitled in the film means it's very easy for people to keep the original excellent acting while simply replacing the words onscreen to change the context entirely. It also ends up being a bit self-reinforcing, once people get wind of it as a "template", they then start getting their own ideas. And there's the arguable "Streisand Effect", when the film company issued a wave of copyright takedowns in 2010, a lot of people "retaliated" by making and uploading even more.
Answer: Presumably, due to its popularity.
Question: Once her zealousness is uncovered, why isn't Judge Karlin reprimanded for this and disbarred? And her cases looked into to see if any more had ridiculous sentences passed down.
Answer: Who says she wasn't? She's only in this episode. Her whole future couldn't have been covered in 40 minutes.
Question: When the Linden County units are chasing the bank robbers, and the car crashes, why does Rick leave the safety of cover to approach the car? Why can't they just order all suspects out of the car via the PA system on one of the cars? The bank robbers are armed and dangerous, and Rick should remember that they are most likely going to come out heavy - despite being injured in the crash.
Answer: The car had just crashed, and there was no movement. There was no way to know whether the suspects were alive or dead.
Question: After the judge disallowed the testimony of Kaitlin Costello, who claimed that Dr. Towler ordered her to change the admittance form, wouldn't it have made sense for Frank Galvin to recall Towler and ask him directly, and possibly face a perjury charge?
Answer: He couldn't do that. Since the judge ordered her testimony stricken, it was basically like it never happened. Therefore, there was no testimony on which to recall a previous witness.
If Towler were recalled, Galvin could have asked a general question such as "Have you ever asked or ordered anyone to change or alter an admittance form?"
Recalling a witness is something the court (i.e. the judge) has to approve, and given that a) the judge is already biased/bought against Galvin, and b) there is, again, no official testimony upon which to predicate recalling a witness, it is extremely unlikely the judge would permit the doctor to be recalled.
Question: When Akeem tells the taxi to halt at the airport, there's something red on the hood. What is it? It looks like something to mount a camera on that was left on, but I'm not sure. Is it something taxi/NYC related?
Answer: That is the taxi medallion, a license for the driver to operate the yellow cab. All NYC yellow taxi cabs must have one of these metal plates (there are different types) affixed to the hood of their NYC yellow taxi. This particular type is the red apple medallion.
Question: Why do Rose, Cal, and Ruth seem to get special treatment concerning being able to interact with Ismay and Andrews by dining with them and getting a special tour of the ship? Even though Ismay was really treated like a passenger, he obviously had an important role as being the one who came up with the idea for Titanic and Andrews, of course, took part in building the ship. The trio have a brief interaction with Captain Smith as well.
Answer: In the movie it is mentioned that the ship was built using Hockley steel. Cal's father was a steel tycoon, therefore got special privileges as in a way his family helped build the ship.
Where in the movie do they say that unless it's a deleted scene.
It's mentioned during a conversation with Old Rose and Lovett. Nathan Hockley was making an insurance claim on behalf of his son Cal in regards to the Necklace claiming it went down with the ship. It was his steel that went into building the ship Lovett: I tracked it down through insurance records. An old claim that was settled under terms of absolute secrecy. Can you tell me who the claimant was, Rose? Old Rose: I should imagine someone named Hockley. Lovett: Nathan Hockley, that's right. Pittsburgh steel tycoon.
It's in the scene where Jack joins them for dinner. While Cal and Ruth are walking down the staircase, he mentions that Hockley steel was used in some parts of the ship. She asks which parts, and he replies, "The best parts." She then quips, "Well, I know who to hold responsible if there's a problem."
Answer: First class passengers, some of the richest people existing back in 1912, mingled with persons of elite positions just as they do nowadays, for eg: celebrities mingle with politicians, etc.
Question: In this movie, the Death Star is barely completed. Until now, what motivated people, on multiple planets, to obey and fear the Empire? What stopped everyone from simply not accepting the Emperor and his organization? Similar to how Tattooine did not acknowledge the Republic during Anakin's childhood.
Answer: One simple answer is that even before the Death Star the Empire still had vast amounts of firepower at its disposal, Star Destroyers, Storm Troopers, TIE Fighters/Bombers. A longer answer is that like a lot of fascist governments it wasn't an overnight thing - he invokes emergency powers, makes the Republic population feel threatened and like he's the only solution, etc. He doesn't announce to everyone at once "I'm secretly evil and you are my subjects". I suspect also a great many people didn't notice a huge amount of change in their day to day lives - if they felt they had nothing to fear from any government they wouldn't object to the rise of the Empire until it was too late.
Question: What did Colleen mean when she told Graham to "see"?
Answer: She meant for him to see, when the moment came, that he would see and understand swinging his bat at the glasses of water would affect the aliens and save their lives.
Answer: In the context of the film and its message, it could be interpreted as her exhorting Graham to "see" how her death and what follows is all part of God's plan, which he rejects at first but then comes to believe is borne out by subsequent events and the film's conclusion.
Question: Because Collins stated that the gunmen screamed "in a foreign accent," and because the police might have thought the robbers were terrorist in nature, why wasn't the FBI called in to help resolve the issue?
Answer: From a movie standpoint, it would complicate the storyline and take focus away from Det. Frazier and his interaction with Dalton, which is a big part of the plot. Also, someone having a foreign accent does not prove it was something other than a bank robbery/hostage situation. The police know that calling in the F.B.I. immediately complicates matters, as once the Feds are on the scene, they take over the operation, relegating the police to a minor role. That can lead to conflict and resentment. I would say there was some artistic license being employed in how the operation was shown to be handled.
Question: At the beginning, what were the cops looking at in the basement that was so bad? As far as I recall, there was just the dead guy chained to the wall, and possibly Jenna Ortega's body. Neither of which seem any more messed up than the bodies the cops already covered up.
Question: What was the reason that several major American cities were attacked with nuclear weapons?
Answer: According to Wikipedia: "It was a cross-section of 'domestic militia, anarchists, and religious fanatics' – terrorist groups that would never ordinarily collaborate, ideologically or politically. The only thing that connected them was the desire to take down the federal government of the United States. The entire plan was orchestrated by someone with deep resources, an ability to coordinate diverse groups, and by all indications, an American. After someone (believed to be Thomas Valente) tipped off the terrorists about the government's knowledge of the plot, they moved up the timetable for the attacks."
Question: What's the name and race of the alien with six arms in one episode? They were a bartender on an alien world.
Answer: That sounds like it's from a Farscape episode.
Answer: Supplementing the other answer, in Farscape S3 "Suns and Lovers" there's Moordil, the bartender, who has multiple arms.
Question: Baby's dad comes by to check on Penny after her botched abortion and confirms she can still have kids in the future... Wouldn't further tests have been needed to establish this? Not just a house doctor examination?
Answer: It seems unlikely that the doctor could confirm that Penny could have children without her having a complete medical exam to ensure there was no internal injury, infection, complications, etc. I think this was merely a plot device known as "suspension of disbelief." It's meant to tie up that part of the story so the audience isn't left wondering what happens to Penny. The movie can then focus back on Baby and Johnny and the rest of the story.
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.
Answer: Yes. She had to drop out when production was delayed, and she was no longer available.