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 didn't the teacher get fired after being caught sleeping with a student? In most cases a teacher wouldn't be able to be at that school whether he is of age or not, I don't think parents would like the thought of a teacher sleeping with students is still teaching at that same school and her husband is a teacher as well.

Answer: I don't believe she was ever officially caught seducing a student, her husband found but never told. He wants a divorce, and he knew she would agree to any settlement to keep it quiet.

Question: Why does Owen visit Nicky at the hotel where he stays with Jess? And why does Nicky get tensed as though they are strangers?

Answer: Because Owen is really Nicky's father, Owen. He was making sure he stayed focused on the con job, not his girlfriend. That's why Nicky was tense, like a stage play you're supposed to remain in character not matter the situation.

Question: How were the visual effects for the scary images in the tunnel accomplished?

Answer: Simple, movie projectors screened on the walls, all around them like a kaleidoscope.

Answer: He repeatedly warns him against using the universal remote for bad purposes. However, Seth, blinded by remote's abilities, completely ignores and disregards Tony's warnings and uses the remote when and how he pleases, which eventually turns against him.

Question: Where specifically on Mars did the crew land?

Answer: It's never really specified, upon entering the atmosphere they suffer a mechanical failure which throws them off course.

Question: In the ant-attack scene, why did the Russians decide to back their truck up to the edge of the cliff and then use ropes to escape over the cliff to an uncertain fate? This defies logic. They still had at least one working vehicle (the truck) that had just engaged in a high-speed chase - they could have easily jumped aboard the truck and quickly driven out of the danger zone.

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: The Ants could crawl over anything and everything at rapid speed. They knew it would be a long shot to drive past them without getting consumed.

Question: After the fight scene when Blade is talking to the Wild Hogs, Tim Allen appears to have some type of business card in his hand. As Blade walks away, he looks at the card. Where did the card come from?

Answer: Most likely one of Tim's jacket pockets.

Answer: A nod to the original show.

Show generally

Question: Looking for the episode where Johnny Fever says he thinks God hates mobile homes because "tornadoes always attack them first - they get very mobile."

Answer: "Tornado", s01e12.

Bishop73

Question: When Smeagol first sees the ring, its power drives him insane almost instantly, leading him to kill his own friend and not feel any guilt afterwards. Later it changes him physically as well, turning him into the shrivelled up creature Gollum. When Bilbo Baggins however acquires the ring it doesn't cause him to go insane or commit murder, even after he's had it for some 60 years. Frodo Baggins also holds onto the ring for a good amount of time without ever losing his mind to it. Why the difference?

Answer: The Ring's power affects everyone, but not the same way or at the same pace. We really don't know much about Smeagol or what he was like before he found the Ring, so his personality/character may have been more immediately susceptible to its influence. We do know Bilbo and Frodo are, in general, kindhearted and innocent, so they "hold out" longer before succumbing to the Ring...they both DO lose their minds to it at certain points, albeit briefly (Bilbo transforms into a monster in front of Frodo, and Frodo, spoiler alert, later claims the Ring as his own in Mt. Doom).

Answer: Smeagol was greedy for the fish that Daegol his cousin caught which had the ring in its belly. The Ring influenced him to kill Daegol and run from his home into the caves. He was the guardian of the ring for almost 600 years, so he is quite crazy when Bilbo meets him, with even the Ring warning Gollum not to touch it. Bilbo on the other hand was wholly ignorant of the Ring's influence and kept it in his pocket and only using it to hide from his relatives. Bilbo, being a bit wealthy and a Hobbit didn't have greed in him so the Ring had very little to work with. Frodo, being raised by Bilbo was the same, being more interested in smoking, food and other Hobbit activities. He was chosen by Elrond to bear the ring because it had no real effect on him or his people, given their innocence and lack of desire for power. The Ring kept Bilbo alive for over 130 years with no issues. Frodo is only overcome at the forge in Mt Doom, as Sauron's power is literally everywhere in that place.

Most of this is completely made up.

lionhead

Question: Why was Vlad's title only Prince? Since he ruled Transylvania, his dad dead as he's never seen, shouldn't Vlad have been called a King instead?

Answer: The way things worked back then a ruler of a principality would normally be subject to a larger empire, like the Holy Roman Empire or the Ottoman Empire. Wallachia in its time was allied under both. Hence, he is a prince in the court of the Holy Roman, Russian or Ottoman Empire depending on what time period but never a king. Prussia and Bohemia did similar things, having their own kings but subject to the Holy Roman Emperor, being forced to call themselves "the King IN Prussia" rather than the king OF Prussia.

Answer: Vlad was Prince of Wallachia and Transylvania. The simple answer is Wallachia was a Principality, not a Kingdom. Principalities are ruled by Princes whereas Kingdoms are ruled by Kings (or Queens). Transylvania would have been a Voivodeship at the time, but Vlad ruled both.

Bishop73

The One With The Ride-Along - S5-E20

Question: What is the joke supposed to be when Ross says "Want me to grab the berry for you?" to Gary in the car, and he says that it's called the cherry, and Ross goes, "Chandler!". I never understood that joke, can someone please explain?

Answer: Chandler deliberately told Ross the wrong name for the red light, knowing that Ross would try and look "cool" to Gary by using the correct slang, but instead end up making himself look stupid.

Question: Why does the narrator have to move to new hiding places?

Answer: In the first hideout, neighbors discovered Szpilman, forcing him to flee. His next hiding place was damaged in a bombing. He then moved from location to location finding shelter and scavenging food wherever he could until the sympathetic German officer hid him in the attic.

raywest

Question: Why is Fritz the hunchback so openly hostile to the Monster?

Answer: He is an abuser because death and living has no significance to him.

Answer: Likely many reasons. It's a monster that is terrifying and dangerous. Bringing a stitched-together dead body brought back to life is probably an abomination to him, and he loathes and fears it.

raywest

Question: So when we see Cheetah again she's sitting there seemingly human once more. Does she still have her other powers?

Rob245

Answer: She feels sad for letting her personal fears and greed for power consume her. As for getting home, like Robert Shaw said at the end of Force Ten from Navarone, "We have a very long walk back home."

Answer: The way I interpreted the ending (which is up for debate obviously in a different forum) was it was the act of Max Lord renouncing his wish which caused Barbara to lose her cheetah powers. It also caused every other unrenounced wish to be lost. Barbara wouldn't have been able to hear the broadcast or Wonder Woman telling the world to renounce their wish (it would also explains how all the wishes were rescinded without everyone having to be listening to Max). It's unclear if she lost her initial wish though (to be more like Diana). It's possible we'll find out what happened to her in a follow up Wonder Woman/Justice League film, but I highly doubt it.

Bishop73

Answer: No. When everyone in the world all renounced their wish, Barbara renouncing her wish would have resulted in her losing both her Cheetah powers and the ability to be more like Diana.

Casual Person

Well then why does she look sad for having done the right thing and how's she going to get home?

Rob245

Sad because she's lost her powers, her getting home is her problem and not plot-relevant.

Question: I know that this was the only movie directed by Joe Alves. Did Alves decide to never direct any movie again due to Jaws 3's failure?

Answer: You are correct that he never directed another movie because Jaws 3-D underperformed financially and was a critical failure. Alves' directing style was particularly panned. As a further humiliation, Alves was nominated as 'worst director' for the 1983 Golden Raspberry Awards.

raywest

Answer: Jaws 3-D is the only theatrical movie he has ever directed but has gone on to be art director for TV movies.

Answer: True, though the rats comment was deliberate hyperbole. Kinski suffered from mental illness much of his life. He was often volatile, erratic, disruptive, and sometimes violent on movie sets. Kinski and Herzog had a long professional collaboration but also a friendship pre-dating Herzog's directing career. Otherwise, though Herzog admired Kinski's talent, he probably would never have tolerated working with him; he is the only director who worked with him more than once. Herzog did a documentary about Kinski after his death, which included footage of his on-set rants. Clips are on YouTube.

raywest

Moreover, Herzog was initially reluctant to hire Kinski in Fitzcarraldo movie because he was afraid that Kinski would go "totally bonkers" if trapped in the Amazon for any length of time, and his fears proved to be well-founded.

To correct a slight factual error in the answer: Director Alfred Vohrer worked on more movies with Kinski than Herzog did.

lionhead

Question: Why does Rufus send Bill and Ted off on their own, instead of going with them and helping them?

Answer: The adventure wasn't just about helping Bill and Ted with their essay. It was also about helping Bill and Ted achieve independence, which would later contribute to their reputations in the future. If Rufus just told them exactly what to do, they likely wouldn't have learned to achieve their independence in the same way. They needed to learn it for themselves.

Casual Person

Red Dawn - S2-E4

Question: Does anyone know what the Russian writing says on the wall behind Omega Red when he is standing at the podium and talking about the return of the Soviet Union? (00:15:08)

Phaneron

Chosen answer: It says MPO "First Exemplary Printing House" which is a real printing company in Russia founded by Ivan Dmitrievich Sytin in 1889. There seems to be something about "named after..." as well.

Sierra1

Question: Who are the 6 people that died?

Answer: The three men in the boat, at the beginning of the movie, the local radio weatherman Dan, the babysitter Mrs. Kobritz and Father Malone.

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.