Question: Who was Fletcher's dad in the movie? It intrigues me that it wasn't mentioned that Rachel had an ex-boyfriend or ex-husband cause it's normal protocol to suspect a former partner in case there's bad blood.
Brian Katcher
24th Sep 2022
The Bodyguard (1992)
25th Sep 2022
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Question: Why did Lily never accept Snape's apology for calling her a mudblood? He never meant it as it was said in the heat of the moment.
Answer: I think it was Hermione who said "it's the worst thing you can say. It means dirty blood" Lily is deeply hurt by Snape saying it. It's similar to a modern day argument. Some things just can't be taken aback.
Answer: Remember how enraged Ron got when someone called Hermione that? I get the impression 'mudblood' is the wizarding equivalent of the N word, and there are just some things you can't take back.
This is a good answer. It also should be noted Snape was already on thin ice with Lily as he was into dark arts, showed signs of intent to become a death eater, not to mention according to Lily he had been calling others of her birth the same name. This was the straw that broke the camel's back for her.
Answer: Rather than "heat of the moment", it was more like "the straw that broke the camel's back." Snape was friends with other pure-blood supremacists, who would later become Death Eaters. They bullied Muggle-borns. In the book, she asks him: "But you call everyone of my birth 'Mudblood', Severus. Why should I be any different?" Essentially, Snape had chosen his supremacist friends over her. He refused to stop joining in their behavior.
12th Sep 2022
Red Dwarf (1988)
Out Of Time - S6-E6
Question: Kryten states that their future selves can only travel forwards in time, how are they able to go back to send the message? (00:17:02)
Answer: They must have been visiting an era earlier than the 1600s (when the Dwarfers were) when their time machine broke.
9th Feb 2004
The West Wing (1999)
Question: How did they find Zoe and who kidnapped her? At first they said that the Bahii were taking responsibility for it, then Leo tells Will that they never found the Bahii sleepers. Also, the man on the helicopter tells the President and the First Lady that Zoe was dropped off on the side of a road and she called 911 on her cell phone, then, later, on the ground, another man tells the Bartletts that they found her tied up in a closet. What really happened?
Answer: One of the kidnappers was having an argument with his girlfriend and dumped her. She called 911 about Zoe.
No, some woman had an argument with her boyfriend, and he kicked her out of the car in the rain. She tried to take shelter in an abandoned farmhouse and noticed the kidnappers holed up in there, and called 911.
28th Aug 2022
Secondhand Lions (2003)
Question: Was the ending a suicide or just an accident?
Answer: An accident. They were inexperienced pilots trying dangerous barnstorming stunts. A fitting end for two adventurers afraid of nothing.
9th Aug 2022
Married... with Children (1987)
The House That Peg Lost - S3-E16
Question: After Al and Peggy snoop through the Rhoades' safe, Al wonders if Steve knows that the house is only in Marcy's name. If Steve thinks the house is also in his name, wouldn't he have signed mortgage paperwork at some point?
Answer: If you recall, Marcy worked in a bank. Perhaps she told Steve she'd taken care of all the paperwork. And the Rhodes were somewhat well-to-do, maybe they paid cash for their home or borrowed money from family.
14th Jul 2022
Frasier (1993)
Question: There is a laugh track sound about the mention of Julia's book, "Day-Trade Your Way Out of Debt." I've heard of day-trading but don't really understand it. What is funny about the book title?
Answer: Day trading is a risky form of speculation where one can lose a lot of money, and is not a good plan to get out of debt.
19th Jul 2022
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
Question: When Eddie is around the human characters, there are quite a few of them who make fun of his brother's death. Even some of the cops think it's funny too. The only one that seems sympathetic and to be concerned about is his girlfriend. Why do they think it's funny that a human died from a falling piano?
Answer: When did a human, let alone a cop, make fun of his brother's death? They made fun of Eddie for becoming a drunk, but not for losing his brother.
19th Jul 2022
Forrest Gump (1994)
Question: In regards to the Black Panthers meeting, why were Jenny and her boyfriend (at the time) hanging around with them? Also, why didn't they (the Black Panthers at the meeting) step in when she was getting hit and abused by him?
Answer: Jenny and her boyfriend were radical, anti-government activists, whose goals were aligned with the Panthers'. As to why they didn't intervene, Forrest reacted before anyone else could, and sadly, people tend to look away when they see a woman being abused.
14th Jul 2022
Cast Away (2000)
Question: Why did Chuck stand up and then spend ages looking at the part of the toilet that had washed up?
Answer: By that time, Chuck had been on the island for four years and was becoming somewhat mentally unstable. When he first sees the toilet wall section washed up against the rocks, he approaches defensively, spear in hand, as if it's something dangerous. He seems to snap back to reality and gradually surmises it is not only benign, but potentially useful. His mind then begins working out he can adapt it as a sail to escape the island.
Answer: He couldn't believe it, of all the things to wash ashore it was a toilet. So far everything else he found could be used in a certain way, but a toilet. I didn't see the movie at the theaters but I bet the audiences were roaring with laughter.
I saw it in the theater and no-one laughed...it wasn't funny. Chuck is seeing the first man-made object he's seen in years, and he's stunned...and maybe he's getting the idea of using it as a sail.
10th Jul 2022
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Question: Why did Freddy create only one glove for his right hand instead of both?
Answer: He would have been completely helpless with knives on all his fingers, unable do anything other than slash. How would he even strap on a second knife glove?
23rd Jun 2022
The Firm (1993)
Question: Why did Mitch tell his firm about being contacted by the FBI in D.C.? What purpose does it serve him? It probably only attracted more attention to him.
Answer: He's not sure if he believes the FBI, and if they're telling the truth he doesn't want the Mafia discovering he'd been talking to law enforcement behind their back. This way he can avoid taking sides just yet.
Answer: He knew the Firm was watching him and would probably learn about the meeting. To head off suspicion that he may be cooperating with the FBI, he voluntarily tells his superiors about it, all while acting naive and showing he has nothing to hide. He may also be displaying a (false) willingness to be drawn into any nefarious Firm activities, allowing him to learn more about it.
23rd Jun 2022
Three's Company (1977)
Question: I never understand why the bully backs off from Jack suddenly once he thinks Jack has a steel plate in his head from Vietnam. What does a steel plate in the head mean and how did it fend off the bully?
Answer: Jack never said he had a steel plate in his head... Janet told that to the bartender who in turn questioned Jack about it.
Answer: Jack is saying that part of his skull has been replaced with a metal prosthetic, due to having been wounded in Vietnam. The bully now sees Jack as a wounded veteran who could suffer severe health problems if punched.
23rd Jun 2022
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
Question: What does the log mean that they carried Homer Stokes on out of the building?
Answer: Per Wikipedia: Riding the rail (also called being "run out of town on a rail") was a punishment most prevalent in the United States in the 18th and 19th centuries in which an offender was made to straddle a fence rail held on the shoulders of two or more bearers. The subject was then paraded around town or taken to the city limits and dumped by the roadside.
3rd Jun 2022
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)
15th May 2022
Seven (1995)
Question: When Mills and Somerset are investigating John Doe's apartment Somerset comes across the hand of the Sloth victim in a jar. I'm wondering how exactly John Doe was able to use that hand to place fingerprints on the wall behind the painting. He either cut it off recently, or cut it off a year ago and kept it until he needed it. The second is highly unlikely, but even if the first case is true, is that hand capable of giving clean, traceable fingerprints? Because the hand is decayed pretty badly.
Answer: We don't know that John Doe left the fingerprints at the same time as he murdered the Greed victim. He's put a lot of work into each killing, and has meticulously planned each victim and detail, so it's possible he left the fingerprints behind the painting long ago, when the Sloth victim's hand was still, for lack of a better word, fresh.
But long before he killed the greed guy? That doesn't make sense.
28th Apr 2022
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
Question: Has it ever been explained what would have happened if the Sorting Hat couldn't decide what students should be placed into what house?
Answer: If the Sorting Hat experienced a "Hatstall" where, after a certain amount of time passes, it was unable to decide where to place a student based on their being suited to more than one House, then the student's personal preference would be considered. There were a handful of "hatstalls" over the centuries, but the Sorting Hat eventually placed the students.
Where are you getting this?
From the Harry Potter "Wizarding World" web site. The supplemental material was written by J.K. Rowling and originally published on "Pottermore." According to Rowling, Minerva McGonagall was a Hatstall student. The Sorting Hat had difficulty placing her between either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, finally settling on Gryffindor.
The term Hatstall was created by JK Rowling. It can be found here: https://www.wizardingworld.com/writing-by-jk-rowling/hatstall.
11th Apr 2022
General questions
Trying to remember where I saw this scene from - a guy is telling a story about where a racing dog caught the mechanical rabbit it was chasing and got electrocuted in the process.
Answer: Actually I saw it again earlier tonight - it was the criminal minds episode To a Better Place.
Answer: Except for the man and the dog, There is a Bugs Bunny cartoon, "The Grey Hounded Hare," Bugs believes the mechanical rabbit is real and tries to stop the dogs from chasing it, after disposing of them, he kisses the rabbit and gets electricuted.
3rd Mar 2022
Groundhog Day (1993)
Question: At the end of the film, Phil finally wakes up in bed with Rita on the day after Groundhog Day (meaning he's finally broken out of the time-loop and temporal continuity is restored). Doesn't this necessarily imply that everything he did the day before will have repercussions for him? I mean, as far as everyone knows, Phil Connors just suddenly became a local sensation in one day, flashing a lot of money on the same day as the armored car robbery. Wouldn't Phil naturally fall under suspicion?
Answer: On that particular previous day, he didn't rob the armored car. All he did was spend the day doing good deeds and the only repercussions will be people thinking highly of him.
A huge part of his "good deeds," no doubt, was his flashing a lot of money around town, buying a full insurance package from Ned, paying the piano teacher a significant wad of cash, gifting the newlyweds tickets for their honeymoon, etc. That's a big part of how Phil became so beloved by so many townspeople in one day. Plus, he bought the ice-carving chainsaw and who knows what else. He wasn't just pulling all that cash out of thin air. I think robbing the armored car every morning had become second-nature to Phil.
Phil seemed to be trying to do everything just right to break the cycle. It's unlikely he would choose to rob the armor truck. And it's unlikely the truck was robbed that day. However, Phil was a professional with a good paying job. Rita herself had almost $400 in cash on her. If Phil didn't have that much cash on him, he could easily get it from the bank and then write checks (or use a credit card) for everything else.
19th Feb 2022
The Fugitive (1993)
Question: Where does Richard come up with the "Atlas of Limb Prostheses" that he's studying at the Polish woman's house? You don't just go to the library and find that, and you need a library card if they had it. Probably an expensive book and his funds are limited.
Answer: In addition, if it was outdated he could have found it at a used book store for nothing. Medical libraries and college bookstores only keep the most updated books on hand and sell old versions cheap.
Answer: He may not have a library card, but he could have smuggled the book out of a library. Being that Richard is a doctor, he'd know where to find medical books, including used ones, that he could access. There are several medical schools in Chicago which would naturally have extensive libraries. There would also be bookstores near those universities that sell new and used textbooks. Richard could have taken the book from one of those.
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Answer: It's never stated. He could be dead, completely estranged, or have a rock solid alibi.
Brian Katcher