Answered questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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The One with the Boobies - S1-E13

Question: After Joey says to his father "Now go to my room," it transitions to a new scene, and the music that plays sounds very similar to the song "Found Out About You" by Gin Blossoms, which was a popular song around the same time this show began airing. Is this meant to be an homage to that song, or is it just coincidental?

Phaneron

Chosen answer: The music definitely sounds like it's from that song, though very little is played. Its use would not be coincidental. 'Friends' frequently incorporated popular songs into episodes to reflect the storyline. In one episode, when Joey got brushed off by an attractive woman after she saw his "VD" poster in the subway, the song, "Don't Stand So Close to Me," by the Police, started playing. In another, after Joey moved into his own apartment and was feeling lonely, the episode ended with Eric Carmen's "All By Myself." The Gin Blossoms' song certainly fits with Joey discovering his father's affair.

raywest

Question: When Donnagon is about to fire the transmooker on Juni, Carmen and Ingrid. Did Carmen try to grab Juni and protect him?

THE GAMER NEXT DOOR

Answer: Yes.

Question: I'm not a huge fan of DC, so I don't know much about any characters outside of Batman and his rogue's gallery. All the pictures I've seen of Steppenwolf from the comics show him to have a human appearance, with a goatee. Was his monstrous appearance in this film, and to a lesser extent the theatrical version, taken from the comics at all? If not, why drastically change the way the character looks?

Phaneron

Chosen answer: In the comics Steppenwolf traditionally has a very human appearance. He is tall and muscular with tan skin, black hair, and a moustache and goatee. Some of Steppenwolf's animated appearances show him essentially the same but with grayish/green skin, giving him an appearance somewhat similar to the 2017 Justice League version. According to Zack Snyder, the version of Steppenwolf in the 2021 version of Justice League was purposefully designed way back during the filming of Batman vs. Superman as not just a threat to the Justice League, but to the entire planet, hence the monstrous appearance. Warner Brothers made Snyder tone down the design because, according to him, they felt it was too frightening and intense for a PG-13 film. The version of Steppenwolf in Snyder's film has a very alien appearance, with the character's signature horns being part of his physiology rather than a part of his battle helmet, an immensely muscled physique, and covered in spiked armor.

BaconIsMyBFF

Mr. Monk Goes to Jail - S2-E16

Question: I think this is a mistake, but I'm asking as a question because I don't know enough about the TV in question. In the prison library, the inmates are looking for the remote, which the librarian had hidden. But the TV looks like one where the channels can only be changed by turning the dial. It appears to be a TV with VHF and UHF dials. Can a remote be used with that type of TV?

Bishop73

Answer: Normally no but it could have a cable box that we can't see.

Kevin l Habershaw

Question: What was Lindsey referring to when she called Coffey "Roger Ramjet"?

Answer: Roger Ramjet was a 1960's American cartoon character who was extremely patriotic, but dimwitted.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: She's comparing the overzealous, gung-ho Coffey to the 1960s cartoon character, Roger Ramjet, a frenetic, extremely patriotic, though not particularly bright American-hero guy. He worked for the U.S. government and routinely saved the world, using energy pills that gave him brief increased strength.

raywest

Answer: Dudley Do-right, Inspector Clouseau or Maxwell Smart, only in a '50's space cartoon, that's Roger Ramjet (I imagine Buzz Lightyear is the nearest pop cultural successor).

dizzyd

Question: This question is about all four Superman films and Supergirl. When Clark and Linda become Superman and Supergirl, their civilian clothes immediately disappear. Has anybody who worked on the movies ever given any insight to what happens to the clothes they wear before they switch to their suits?

Answer: I'm saying what happens to their clothes in the comics, is what happens to it in the movies. Special Effects were not as sophisticated as today's, so you never saw where the clothes went.

Answer: In the original comics, they folded their clothes into small pieces and put them in pouches concealed in their capes. There was no CGI back then.

This question is about what happens to their clothes in the movies, not the comics. Their clothes just vanish.

The point is that given that's what happens in the comics, that may well be what happens in the films too, just either not shown or else they do it at super-speed so we can't see it happen.

Chosen answer: The sleeve probably would have been ripped to shreds in battle anyway. He was just saving time by ripping it himself. Also, gunfighters would take off their coats in a duel or an arm wrestler rolling up his sleeve.

Answer: Aside from visual aesthetics and it being nice to see the metal arm. In world/practically I think (and I believe this is the reason why he tends to not have a left sleeve in most action we've seen him in prior films) it's also to assist with mobility during fights. The metal arm likely behaves a little differently than a human/bone and flesh arm does - and restricting that in a sleeve during a fight (especially in a thicker jacket sleeve) might mess with his reflexes. So removing the sleeve probably assists with the mobility of that arm.

Answer: That's the impression I got. Plus, he was expecting to go into battle, so perhaps he thought it would make him look more intimidating.

Phaneron

Question: At the end of the movie, they flag down a passing truck, how is a truck passing by Laurie's house when at the beginning the podcasters had to be buzzed in through an electronic gate?

Ritualowlny

Answer: True, they had to be buzzed in to get access to Laurie's driveway/house, but her driveway is still technically connected to a public street. The truck was passing by on the public street.

TedStixon

Question: Miller, and his men meet a guy named Mendelson who has bad hearing because a German grenade went off right by his head. Realistically, wouldn't Mendelson be dead?

Answer: When he says "right by my head," I'm sure he doesn't mean it literally...if it had, of course he'd be dead. There could have been something blocking him from the shrapnel, but the sound wave could still severely damage his hearing.

If he doesn't mean it literally when he said a German grenade went off right by his head, then how do you explain that wound on the side of his head?

Debris?

Ssiscool

Ruptured eardrum.

kayelbe

Answer: He may have put too much into his line. It's possible the shockwave damaged his hearing. If the grenade went off right by him he would have much more severe injuries than loss of hearing. His injury on his face is probably from shrapnel caused by the blast.

Tony

Question: So when the guys first walk into Porky's - and they're confronted by Porky (at the request of Mickey who wanted to see him), Porky makes the comment that they're "Five Angel Beach pussies" - how did he know they're from Angel Beach? I am assuming that the guy at the door who checked the ID's was looking at the ages, but why and how did he relay it to Porky that that's where they're from?

ckbyers

Answer: They also dressed differently, more proper than the regulars at Porky's.

lartaker1975

Answer: Porky's place is supposed to be in the middle of nowhere, the closes town is Angel Beach.

Doesn't make it that they had to be from there - I've driven several miles for things and passed through several towns to get to it, doesn't make it so that I'm from the neighbouring town.

ckbyers

Answer: Okay but my question was/is - the guy at the door never conveyed it to Porky that they had Angel Beach people there - given that Porky's pen was upstairs when summoned. Seems to me movies actually show would show that part to keep the fluidity of the movie going to have it makes sense.

ckbyers

Answer: The guy at the door would need to check their IDs to confirm that they were 21 or over, which they weren't because Porky could get into big trouble with the law if it was ever found out that some underage students got into his bar. That, and when making the fake ID's, they would need the name of the town of where they're from to make them look genuine which is how Porky knew where they're from.

Question: How was Jason able to find out where Alice Hardy (the girl who killed his mother) lives?

Answer: It's possible that there was a media blitz of her being the sole survivor of the massacre, including where she was residing. Jason may have been a psycho, but he might have enough intelligence to figure it out.

Question: How did Mar-vell get the tesseract?

Answer: Howard Stark relinquished custody of it to her. For a full history of the Tesseract see here: https://marvelcinematicuniverse.fandom.com/wiki/Tesseract.

ctown28

Question: How much material was added for Peter Jackson's Hobbit movies that wasn't in the original novel?

Answer: Quite a bit, though much of what was added was alluded to in the film as being done elsewhere, especially scenes with Gandalf. This was likely to pad the length, as the book is rather short (around a quarter the length of the Lord of the Rings). Galadriel, Radagast, Saruman, and the Necromancer are not seen in the books, though Radagast and the Necormancer mentioned. Azog is already dead by this time. Tauriel is a new character. Legolas is never mentioned, but as Mirkwood is his home, he was likely there. Dain Ironfoot is mentioned as there, but isn't seen doing anything except taking kingship after the death of Thorin. The White Council scene is also mentioned but not seen.

LorgSkyegon

Question: Is Chop Top the same character as the deranged hitchhiker from the first film?

Answer: No, the hitchhiker was killed in the first movie when he's hit by a truck. His corpse is the body that Leatherface uses as a puppet during the opening scene. (He's nicknamed "Nubbins.") Chop-Top is supposed to be one of Leatherface's other brothers. According to director Tobe Hooper, Chop-Top was away in Vietnam during the events of the first movie.

TedStixon

Answer: It isn't said specifically, but Tommy does mention that "it's in here now" while pointing to his head. This suggests some sort of cancer has spread to his brain.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: It's implied to be a combination of brain damage (Johnny suggests this to Miguel earlier) and cancer that spread to the brain. In real life the actor suffered kidney and liver failure and died not long after.

Question: When the shark attacks the helicopter why isn't the shark sliced in half when the rotor blades hit the water?

Answer: The rotors break as soon as they hit the water.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: Back in the 50's and early 60's it was a law that you had to get into and out of your car from the sidewalk side, so I assume they were following that procedure.

Answer: I found this online, as apparently others wondered the same thing. It is only one explanation but it seems plausible: (paraphrased) It could be equipment-related. Getting in on the passenger side can be shot as a locked-down tripod shot. Getting in on the driver side means the guy has to walk around the car, requiring at minimum a pan/tilt/zoom and probably a dolly shot to make it look good (they didn't have Steadicams back then, so any time the camera had to move, a dolly track had to built for it to roll on). That would add expense and time to what was really just an establishing shot. This was a low-budget TV show, and it was cheaper to shoot it that way.

raywest

Question: Would Cadets Woliger and Fox have actually been able to attend a military academy, considering that Woliger has heart problems and Fox is deaf?

Answer: Madison is not a military academy. It is a boarding school and Major Payne has been put in charge of their JROTC program. It is, however unlikely that those cadets, or the blind cadet at the end of the film, would be admitted into a JROTC program. The Code of Federal Regulations states that the JROTC program is designed for "physically fit" students. Tiger is also much too young to be allowed to participate, you must be in at least the 7th grade to participate. Madison is apparently making exceptions to allow basically anyone that wants to participate and that would not be allowed in real life.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: Was there any reason why the subway ghost was angry at Sam for being in the same train with him?

Answer: For one, he was mostly insane, with periodic lucid periods. He saw the subway area as his personal property and did not want another ghost moving into and challenging his established territory.

raywest

Answer: The storyline was that Jessica was teaching classes in New York. However, after so many seasons and as ratings declined, it was probably to freshen up the series with a different locale, introduce new characters, and have a greater variety of situations in which Jessica could solve murders. It was already unbelievable that so many people could be murdered in the small town of Cabot Cove. Being in a large city like New York makes it a tiny bit more plausible.

raywest

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