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: In the sniper scene, the terrorists quickly took out one of the mercenaries on the Barrett. However, when Sergeant Sanborn took the same position, the opposing sides didn't even take a shot and hardly retaliated. Is there any reason why this is so? Including the guys on the roof, the guy to the far right, and the guys in the window not trying to move positions either.

Answer: The problem for the sniper was once he'd taken his shot, he was now pretty exposed. He didn't have a lot of cover and it wouldn't have taken the Americans long to figure out where the shot came from, hence why the enemy snipers made no attempt to move.

GalahadFairlight

Question: How does playing blackjack in casinos work? There is a scene where Clark gets a blackjack but the dealer keeps drawing cards for himself until he gets 21 and calls it a tie. I thought when you get blackjack you automatically win, unless the dealer also gets blackjack then it is a push. However someone told me that if the dealer gets blackjack the dealer automatically wins, even against a player who also has blackjack and it is not a push. Clarification please?

SAZOO1975

Chosen answer: There are numerous rule variations for blackjack, but most casinos will rule that blackjack beats any other hand, even one of 21, and if both player and dealer have blackjack, then a push is given. There are certain rulesets where a tie is awarded to the dealer, but these are rarely used except occasionally in charity events where dealer takings go to the nominated charity.

Tailkinker

Question: During the DADA class that Snape teaches, Hermione says that "werewolves only respond to a call from their own kind". Why, then, does the werewolf-Lupin go to Hermione's wolf call when she and Harry have gone back in time to save themselves? Does this mean that she is something other than a girl?

Answer: She is not something other than a girl. Hermione is just able to imitate a werewolf's howl to save Harry and the others.

raywest

Question: When David transforms, why do his eyes stay shut through most of the change except when his hand changes?

reven8

Chosen answer: David has his eyes closed because of the excruciating pain he's experiencing. His eyes open to see his hand change because it's cinematically and visually cool to see his own reaction to what's going on. That's how director John Landis directs!

CCARNI

Question: I get that people in the matrix, who have not been freed, are not ready to be freed, and I know at one point when Morpheus is explaining the matrix to Neo (I believe during the woman in the red dress test) he says something along the lines of: The matrix is a system, that system is our enemy. The matrix is filled with minds we are trying to save, but until we do they are still part of that system and that makes them our enemies. Many of them are so dependent on that system they will fight to defend it.- I am paraphrasing, but it is something like that. As I'm sure everyone knows he also says "The body cannot live without the mind." And therefore if you die in the matrix you die in the 'real' world. My question is, do they ever address the ethical questions that could arise from the fact that they kill mind after mind of police officers, SWAT teams, security guards, innocent humans just doing their jobs? I understand that sometimes it may be necessary, and that Neo doesn't have much choice but to fight agents and kill their hosts at times. But things like Mouse, knowing he is going to die so he grabs machine guns and takes out as many people as he can. Or when Neo and Trinity, on their way to save Morpheus, cover them selves in guns and take out that whole building of guards and pretty much end up with one gun each. The guards were completely prepared to let them enter the building freely if they passed the metal detector, could they not have went empty handed and just taken out two guards later, and used their weapons? It just seems like a pretty bad way to go about a mission to save people. Unless perhaps I missed a speech about sacrificing some minds for the cause or the needs of the many out weigh the needs of the few type deal. Just wondering if that is ever addressed.

six56

Chosen answer: No, they don't address it, other than Morpheus' speech during the test. It's not something that they have any realistic choice about, so they just have to accept it and do what they need to do. Mouse, yes, he chooses to defend himself when cornered, but who wouldn't? These may be innocent victims of the Matrix he's shooting at, but they're still there to kill him - he's hardly going to stand there and accept his fate meekly. There's also no indication that the guards were "completely prepared" to let Neo and Trinity into what's clearly a high security building, undoubtedly they would have been asked for identification, what their purpose was there and so forth and turned away if, as seems likely, their answers weren't satisfactory. Shooting their way in from the start is likely their only option. Yes, it's absolutely ethically unfortunate, but if they're going to resist the machines successfully, it's not something they have any choice about. A necessary evil.

Tailkinker

Question: Near the end of the movie, when Cobb is home, he gives his totem a spin and it shortly starts to decay in its spin. Then as the movie ends it pans to his totem still spinning smoothly but then it starts to wobble again. So, what are we suppose to conclude? Is it left intentionally ambiguous?

buchs

Chosen answer: Yes, it's an ambiguous ending, so we can conclude whatever we want, based on our reading of the film. There are plenty of theories around the internet, so feel free to have a read and decide which one works best for you. However, according to Christopher Nolan it is supposed to signify how Cobb is leaving the dreams behind and doesn't care.

Tailkinker

Question: Does anyone know if it is possible to get the Theatrical Version of the film? I bought the Director's Cut and it was completely different and I actually preferred the Theatrical one, so is there any way to get it? I can't find it anywhere and apparently it is non-existent.

Answer: http://www.amazon.com/Butterfly-Effect-Infinifilm-Ashton-Kutcher/dp/B0001Z52RU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1305987874&sr=8-2Has both versions in the set.

Question: It's clear that when Rapunzel's hair is cut it turns brown, hence the incident when Flynn cuts it off. It's also clear that when Rapunzel is a baby only the piece of her hair, which Gothel cuts off, turns brown while the rest remains golden since its only a small piece. But what if Flynn didn't cut it off near her head? What would have happened if anyone only cut portions of her hair - including the tip or half of it?

Answer: Once an individual strand is cut, at any point along its entire length, it turns brown completely and loses its power. The proximity to her head is not what caused her hair to turn all brown, it's the fact that Flynn cut *every* strand.

Phixius

Krusty Gets Busted - S1-E12

Question: Why does Sideshow Bob not want to pursue Lisa since, if it hadn't been for her pointing out to Bart all the major flaws in the CCTV footage that would show that it couldn't have been Krusty (in Krusty Gets Busted), he wouldn't have been found out by Bart and Lisa? He knows Lisa is smarter than Bart, so surely he would have realised that Lisa was the brains behind the detective work that got him caught.

Answer: Lisa often gets taken in with the others that Bob has reformed each time. Bart, on the other hand, always suspects him of evil right away. (And is generally right, making him good arch-foe material.)

Captain Defenestrator

Question: What is the sole purpose of a Death Eater?

Answer: Their sole purpose is to serve Lord Voldemort. They are his most trusted and faithful followers and do his bidding without question or hesitation. They also make up his inner council, acting as advisors and gathering information that will help the Dark Lord conquer the wizard world. Once someone has entered the Dark Lord's service, there is no leaving it alive.

raywest

Chosen answer: Uncle Al probably likes his nephew a lot. Wendy's hamburgers were named after the owner's daughter, so why not name a bowling alley after your nephew?

Captain Defenestrator

Chosen answer: Matt Groening thought very highly of Phil Hartman, (Philip J. Fry on Futurama was named after him as well) and had retired all of Hartman's characters upon his death. He probably thought that bringing them back for the movie just so audience members could have an "A-ha!" moment would have tarnished the memorial.

Captain Defenestrator

Chosen answer: They are spoofing a Nike commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBVqX2cmVtY.

Mortug

That and the music group known as "Stomp".

Chosen answer: Most likely, the Federation sent a ship to pick him up after the events of the movie. After all, some time passes between the destruction of Narada and the ceremony of Kirk's promotion.

Twotall

Question: Why didn't Casey ring the police, after the call when she realied he was taunting and making threats?

Answer: Landline phones like the one used in the movie cannot dial out a phone number while the line is active. Considering the killer is continuously calling her, she can't dial out on the phone line. This is referenced in the movie itself when her parents arrive home, attempt to dial 911, and can't due to the line still being active.

Answer: Characters in horror movies are notorious for not doing the most obvious things. It's most likely that she was scared and not thinking straight at receiving numerous threatening phone calls, particularly when she is threatened after hanging up on the killer.

Manky

Also, when she told the caller that she was "two seconds away from calling the police", his response was that they'd never make it in time. She also knew he was nearby as he made comments that indicated he could see her. She didn't know it was someone that knew her. She's a teenager and scared, so her judgement was clouded. She reached a point where she believed her only chance was to get away from him by either fighting him or getting out and hiding somewhere outside.

dewinela

Even in real life, people don't always think of something obvious when a situation is actually happening. I was a victim of armed robbery and almost died. No matter how much you read/hear about what to do in those situations, actually being in one is much different. It's easy for someone else to observe and say what a person should have done.

Azalea

Chosen answer: According to IMDb there were over a 1000 extras. I don't think you will find an exact number anywhere.

Mortug

Question: Is there any way of finding out how far the Bride had to walk to get back to Budd's trailer after she got out of the coffin?

Answer: She was buried in Barstow and Budd's trailer looks to be nestled in the Cady Mountains, about 30 miles east.

Answer: Sadly, it seems that this information is unknown, as there is no mention of it in the film, nor any interviews with Quentin Tarantino, as I presume it wasn't deemed important enough to mention.

Manky

Question: Tim Curry is said to appear as two different characters, Pennywise and Richie's boss, but I couldn't see him as the second. Where does he appear?

Answer: I fear you may have been misinformed. He only appears as Pennywise in the film.

Manky

Question: Why was Lisa Gerrard denied an Oscar nomination for Original Score?

Answer: Because she didn't actually compose any parts. I quote Hans Zimmer himself: "I gave Lisa Gerrard the co-credit because, even though she didn't write the main theme, her presence and contributions were very influential." Source: http://www.soundtrack.net/features/article/?id=210.

Mortug

Chosen answer: "You have the face of a donkey."

Captain Defenestrator

Answer: "You have a face like a donkey."

Answer: What he says is "You look like an ass."

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.