Question: At the beginning, Dolittle was scared because a boy broke in his territory, so he says to Chee-Chee, "Possum, play dead." Why does he call the gorilla possum? Chee-Chee is a gorilla, not a possum. Also Possum is not his name nor nickname.
Brian Katcher
3rd Feb 2022
Dolittle (2020)
Answer: Opossums will go into a state where they appear dead when threatened, thus the term "playing possum." Dolittle was just saying to act like a opossum and play dead.
2nd Jan 2022
The Princess Bride (1987)
Question: When Buttercup confronts a masked Westley, she says that she loved more deeply than a killer like him ever dreamed. Westley's response is to raise a hand as if to hit her, but he stops and says that was a warning and that where he comes from, there are penalties when a woman lies. In what way was Buttercup lying?
Answer: Westley comes back from the sea, only to find that his one true love is engaged to another man. He feels her love for him wasn't true if she could even think of getting married again, at least so soon.
31st Dec 2021
Home Alone (1990)
Question: How come Kevin never told his parents or his family about the Wet Bandits? He also never told them in the sequel either.
Answer: If your kid came to you and said he single handedly captured to two robbers, you'd believe him.
Answer: He never tells them onscreen, nor does the movie give any indication that they know, but realistically, Kevin was a witness to their crimes, and he would be called in to give statements and testimonies in order to put them away. So his parents would have to know about his encounters with them, otherwise it would be a major plot hole. Perhaps the film-makers thought it would be funnier and more in line with his character for Kevin to be secretive about it.
Not necessarily. The police caught them red-handed and one of the cops said their habit of flooding houses was proof as to which houses they hit. It's possible no-one knew Kevin's connection.
Answer: Adding to a previous answer, the cops arrested them at the site of a previous break-in. Even though Marley rescued Kevin, it's possible he didn't tell anyone about them either, so them breaking into the McCallister's house didn't matter. Not to mention, Marv blabbing about them having the calling card to the police didn't help their case either.
Answer: Why would he need to? The idea is that he outsmarted them alone, and his parents were none the wiser.
29th Dec 2021
Shrek 2 (2004)
Question: What was that stuff fairy godmother had Harold put in one of the teacups?
Answer: Love potion, to make Fiona fall for Prince Charming.
Uh, why wouldn't making Fiona take a love potion to make her fall for Prince Charming be interfering with Fiona's free will?
Answer: Love potion. If she drank it, she would fall in love with the first person she kisses.
23rd Dec 2021
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)
Answer: He's a chemist who develops food additives for a food company.
3rd Dec 2021
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2020)
Question: When Phoebe is on the phone with Ray, he mentions that the Ghostbusters fire house is now a Starbucks. In the post-credits scene, we see that Winston has purchased the fire house so the Ghostbusters can get back to business, but the fire house looks like it has been abandoned for several years and no other company ever took it over. Did I miss something here?
Answer: Ray was probably being sarcastic, and was simply making a general comment about gentrification in the area.
Answer: Perhaps nobody wanted to take over the place for a few reasons. Historical purpose, high cost... hauntings.?
Answer: It's been 40 years since the Ghostbusters disbanded, Ray mostly likely passed by the old place and saw a Starbucks there. It has since shut down.
But they left the ghost trap active? Not likely.
20th Nov 2021
Back to the Future Part II (1989)
Question: Did Needles know that Marty would get fired if he swiped his card? He seemed to have a huge smirk on his face as he hung up?
Answer: No, he was just happy that he'd goaded Marty into participating in his scheme.
Answer: When Marty is talking to Needles, he mentions that what Needles is asking from him is illegal and that he could get fired especially if the boss was monitoring. This causes Needles to call Marty a chicken, something he hates, and he swipes his card. Needle smirks because of how easy it was for him to push Marty.
Answer: I believe, it's because that Needles made the phone call from "The Jits'" Office and knew that he goaded Marty into doing something that would lead to his termination, which explains why Marty's boss called him immediately afterward and fired him for making the illegal transaction.
22nd Oct 2021
Addams Family Values (1993)
Question: I'm just curious but is it possible to actually kill a member of the Addams family? Fester survives both the bathtub electrocution and the bomb explosion, Pubert can stop the guillotine blade with his bare hand, and in the first film Pugsley willingly lets Wednesday electrocute him with no apparent ill-effects.
Answer: They can be killed. In the first movie, Morticia talks about several relatives who were murdered, and the whole family seems pretty scared when they're strapped in the electric chairs. They're hard core and lucky, but not immortal.
Answer: They originate as a cartoon (1938). So they are basically immortal cartoon characters like the Looney Tunes.
20th Oct 2021
Problem Child 2 (1991)
18th Oct 2021
Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)
Question: Why does Ed's Aunt Vesta throw candy at Evelyn? Why is she not shown?
Answer: She's a grouchy, hateful, possibly senile woman who doesn't like Evelyn, despite the gifts she brings her. As for not showing her, it's funnier to try to imagine what she looks like.
14th Oct 2021
Trading Places (1983)
Question: Louis is arrested for theft, and ultimately also booked for PCP possession. Penelope pays his bail and gets him out so the plot can carry on, but the theft and drug charges never come up again. Why is all of that dropped? Do the Dukes just drop the charges?
Answer: It's likely that the Dukes dropped the charges. They initially were planning on bringing Winthorpe back into the company after conducting their little experiment, and only changed their minds after Winthorpe threatened them at the Christmas party.
Answer: Petty theft and first time drug possession wouldn't be impossible to have the charges reduced or dismissed. If found guilty it would most likely be a heavy fine and probation. Also, after the scandal with the Duke brothers and Bryon Beaks, the plot against Louis would have been uncovered.
Answer: Louis became a millionaire again, and likely just hired a good attorney to get the charges dismissed.
24th Sep 2021
The King of Queens (1998)
Question: The elderly man in Carrie's overnight team, George, says that the firm is trying to force him to retire. Why don't they fire him?
Answer: Because he didn't do anything wrong. If they fired him simply for being older, he'd have excellent grounds for a wrongful termination suit. Much easier to 'convince' him to retire.
I know he didn't do anything wrong, but I thought New York was an "at-will employment" state, meaning that a company can simply terminate someone's employment at will.
Answer: To fire someone you need a reason and simply being older is not a reason. They could be sued for wrongful dismissal. If he retires the company doesn't get sued.
Yes, but New York is an "at-will employment" state, so a company can terminate employment at any time, without needing to give a good explanation. Unfair but it happens.
Even in at-will States, employers and employees can still enter into binding contracts that would protect an employee from being terminated without cause. These contracts may have retirement policies as well, should an employee want to retire with any benefits offered. And, what others were saying, barring any contract, terminating someone without reason is one thing, but for an illegal reasons (age discrimination) is another matter which could result in a lawsuit.
17th Sep 2021
Short Circuit 2 (1988)
Question: When Ben and Fred are trying to call people with the calculator, why does the calculator randomly start playing "Help me Rhonda"?
Answer: They could only communicate via musical tones. They were trying to give Sandy clues as to where they were being held (playing 'Downtown' to let her know they were downtown). 'Help Me Rhonda' was a clue that they were in trouble.
15th Sep 2021
Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995)
8th Sep 2021
Unbreakable (2000)
Question: David knew that the guy in the stadium queue had a gun and likely intended to cause disturbance, so why he just let him to walk away? As a security guard, shouldn't he report him at least?
Answer: He never saw the gun, only psychically sensed it, and, at that point, he didn't really believe in his powers. He's not going to the police with a vision.
21st May 2021
Django Unchained (2012)
Question: Do Django and his wife finally get free, or they have to hide from other bounty hunters?
Answer: Since the film ends with their riding off together after blowing up Candieland, any answer would be speculation. Obviously, it's meant to be a happy ending, our conquering hero triumphantly riding from the scene of his victory over Candie and all his racist minions. Realistically speaking, of course, there would obviously be a huge price on Django's head after the carnage at Candieland, and they are fugitive Black people in the pre-Civil War Deep South; every single bounty hunter and law enforcement officer, not to mention just everyday racist yokels who hear about a giant payday, would be looking for them. In the real world, they would likely be apprehended within days, if not hours. So, maybe it's best not to think too much about what happens next.
4th Sep 2021
Adventures in Babysitting (1987)
Question: When the kids were coming out of the hospital, Pruitt was there and said that Dawson was going to charge them $50 for the tire, which he knew they didn't have. Earlier in the movie when he saw them on the expressway, he said he would treat them to a tire as a nice gesture. He paid for the window because that was his fault, but why did he suddenly decide not to buy their tire for them when he knew they were flat broke?
Answer: He's on the lam after shooting at his wife's lover. He probably needs whatever cash he has on hand.
Answer: He didn't decide not to buy them the tire. He said Dawson wouldn't let him buy it for them.
31st Jul 2021
Twelve Monkeys (1995)
Question: My idea was that the plot is a time loop and Cole was sent back to find a pure sample of the virus, so they can make a cure in the future and then tried to stop the pandemic but fails. That's what I thought it was about. But I've heard this crazy theory however that the scientists that send Cole and the others back are in fact responsible for releasing it and are preventing Cole from trying to prevent the pandemic in the past by keeping an eye on him and force him to follow his orders. Is that it?
Answer: No, they really want to find a cure. Why else would that female scientist travel back to the hot zone at the very end? Why would they send people back if they wanted them to fail? It was the crazy 1990s lab assistant who released the virus.
19th Jul 2021
The Nanny (1993)
Question: This might be a stupid question, but why do all three of the children speak in typical American voices? Wouldn't their speech have a British influence because of their father, and also Niles?
Answer: Children's brains and language skills are still developing at that age and they adapt to the environment they live in. My former boss was born in England and moved to the US at about eight years old. She completely lost her British accent by her teens, even though her parents still spoke as typical English citizens. A Japanese co-worker and his wife, also Japanese, spoke English as their second language. Their two children learned both English and Japanese simultaneously while growing up and spoke each language with the appropriate accent.
Answer: Kids tend to take on the accident of where they live. I once had a British student who lost his accent after a couple of years in the US.
Not just where they live, but also after their peers (who live there, but you know what I mean).
Answer: Not necessarily. Their late mother being American would've probably made the most impact on their speech, considering most kids spend most of their early years more with their mothers than fathers.
Gracie is young enough that she doesn't remember her mother. The episode "I Don't Remember Mama" was about this.
23rd Jan 2017
National Treasure (2004)
Question: Who found the first treasure?
Answer: There was no treasure - it was a fake room in case anyone got that far, without a way to get into the real treasure room.
Then what was that stuff they found near the end of the movie if there was no treasure?
They were referring to the first empty room that looked looted. There was never anything there, it was a red herring.
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Answer: 'Playing possum' is slang for pretending to be dead, as possums sometimes do that to avoid predators.
Brian Katcher