Answered questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: When John Q and his wife were in the meeting discussing the surgery, Rebecca Payne mentions that they had a little over $1,000 in savings. At the beginning of the movie, his wife's car was repossessed because he couldn't make the payments. Why didn't they use the money in the savings to pay for the car loan to avoid repossession?

Answer: Using the $1000 would only delay their car being repossessed, and they may be much further behind than that in their payments. In that case, their savings would be completely depleted and they'd still have no car.

raywest

Question: When Jo and Bill are in the car with Melissa in the back, Melissa is confused as to why they're chasing another storm given Jo and Bill nearly got killed in the previous tornado. Yet wouldn't Melissa already know they were chasing another tornado given they were driving as part of a 'pack' and there was another Dorothy in back of the truck? (00:34:45)

Answer: She's confused, scared, and her thinking is unclear. She wrongly assumes she knows how Bill will react. She does not really know the person Bill is, as he had put his storm chasing life behind him. Once he is thrown back in his old environment with Jo, which is where he really wants to be, Bill reverts to his old self.

raywest

Question: Why wouldn't the self-destruct system have a stop button? Presumably if you wanted to abort the procedure it should be instant and not have to go through all the rigmarole of trying to shut it down.

Answer: The Nostromo is powered by a nuclear reactor. The self-destruct system simply shuts down the cooling towers, causing the reactor to gradually rise in temperature until it reaches critical mass. The cooling system can be turned back on within the first 5 minutes but after that, the reactor is so hot the cooling liquid will evaporate once it comes into contact with the system. Ripley tries turning the cooling towers back on, and she does so right before the 5 minute failsafe timer is up, but the system was still too hot to cool the reactor. This is why Ripley curses at MUTHUR, she made it back in time but a meltdown is still inevitable. Apparently the 5 minute failsafe timer is not exact to the second and Ripley actually had slightly less than 5 minutes.

BaconIsMyBFF

I believe she just barely misses the cutoff, rather than making it but still having it be ineffective. She curses Mother out of frustration, and perhaps fury at the computer's cold indifference to her fate.

Answer: It's pretty typical in movies that in a self-destruct situation, once it's started, it is impossible to stop, for whatever reason. It's about plotting and maintaining the tension to keep the audience on the edge of their seats to see if the hero can survive. Considering how corrupt the company was, they'd expend little effort into proper safety procedures.

raywest

Question: Andy overhears Hadley saying he got thirty-five thousand dollars from his brother, but has to pay taxes on it. Andy suggests that Hadley give the money to his wife if he wants to keep all of it. Andy says the IRS allows a one time gift only to your spouses for up to sixty thousand dollars without having to pay taxes. Is that actually true?

Answer: Nope...maybe in-universe it's true, but in our real world, it's just a bunch of fancy-sounding razzle-dazzle that Andy uses to dupe Hadley. Hadley would never have had to pay taxes on the money to begin with. Go to this website for a pretty detailed breakdown of just HOW untrue it actually is: https://hauntedcoconut.com/2019/04/16/the-shawshank-redemption-andy-dufresnes-questionable-tax-advice/.

Answer: Later in the film it's said B32 is a catalog code for the book "The Scarlet Letter", page 156. On that page was an underlined passage "No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true..."

Bishop73

Question: Near the end of the movie, the grand duke calls the footman to bring him the glass slipper, so he can try it on Cinderella. But Lady Tremaine trips the footman, causing the slipper to fly and shatter. Then Cinderella reveals she has the other slipper. The grand duke tries it on her, and find that it fits. I have a problem with that because how did he know the glass slipper Cinderella had was the same size as the one that broke?

Answer: Cinderella's entire outfit was magically created by the Fairy Godmother. Not only was the spare shoe Cinderella had in her possession identical to the other one, it likely would be charmed so that she is the only one who can wear it. It's similar to young Arthur being the only person who could pull Excalibur from the stone because he was the true king. No other woman who attended the ball wore glass slippers. If they had, they'd be able to also produce the spare shoe as proof.

raywest

Answer: Add in that how many possible glass slippers could there possibly be? It would be an incredibly uncommon type of shoe that would be amazingly difficult to make.

LorgSkyegon

Answer: Probably because it looked the same to him, and he had been handling it a lot for all the trying-ons, plus how many people have glass slippers in their closet? But you are right it heavily suggests she is the person, not proves it. But then again how many women's feet would it have already fit? He should have found many matches long before getting to Cinderella. Cinderella can't be the only woman in the kingdom with her size foot.

jimba

Question: Why do Adam and Barbara always hide when Otho, Charles and Delia enter the attic? The only person who can see them is Lydia.

Answer: Probably a combination of habit and uncertainty. They don't know what the rules are of being seen since at least one person can see them, so to be cautious in case something changes they still hide.

jimba

Question: When Casey's parents are coming up the front walkway, they talk about how great the plants look. Then Casey's mother says, "I said you could send it back." What is she talking about?

Answer: When they were talking about the flowers, Casey's dad said they had a strong smell. He probably complained about the smell (or something else) when they bought/planted them and she's just reminding him she told him they could take the flowers back to wherever they bought them from.

Bishop73

Question: At the end, the audience were all naked in the "Yes" seminar. Why did they attend it undressed?

Bunch Son

Answer: They had donated all their clothes to the clothing drive for the homeless. After all, they couldn't say no.

Brian Katcher

Answer: Because Nuclear Man is made from pure radioactivity, he only used Superman's DNA as a construct into a human form. Like a horse and a donkey mating and creating a mule.

Question: When Doc comes back at the end, it's to say goodbye to Marty, but what's stopping him from just staying in 1985 with Clara and their two sons? I mean, before Clara turned up at the train in 1885, Doc was all set to go to 1985 with Marty, and then when Clara showed up, Doc said that they'd have to bring her too because there wasn't much time left before the train ran out of track, and he couldn't just let her perish. So why doesn't he just stay in 1985 - that's where he was going to go before Clara turned up, and now that he has her, and a family, why not just settle down in 1985?

Heather Benton

Answer: Because like Doc Brown, Clara has a thirst for adventure. An Old West lady being offered the chance to go back and forth in time. Also, to go to the final frontier, outer space. Besides traveling for them is like a vacation. They could settle in 1985 anytime they wanted.

Answer: Doc was never content living in the modern world. Once he met Clara, he'd found a time and place where he fit in. Also, Clara and the two boys do not belong in the 1980s. They are people of the 19th century and likely want to stay there.

raywest

Answer: Doc actually explains in Back to the Future: The Game. I recommend playing that as it continues where part 3 left off. Doc actually tells Marty that he wanted him to live his life without the complications of time travel. So he left and moved to another time period. I don't want to spoil the rest of the game if you haven't played it but it gets into most of your question in the game definitely should give it a playthrough.

Question: Why is Jennings drunk and worried about the situation? Is he just upset? I can't understand why the other maid said she would do anything he asked.

dannydandan8888

Answer: Jennings' drinking problem stems from his having been a World War I conscientious objector, for which he was imprisoned. He has kept this secret and is worried the police investigation will uncover his past and jeopardize his job. The maid, Dorothy, is secretly in love with Jennings and wants to protect him.

raywest

Question: What does the bad guy mean when he says "How the hell do they know that I've got gas"?

Answer: The idiots left a note for the 'gas man', explaining why they were running out on their delinquent heating bill. The hit man, who suffers from chronic stomach gas, thinks the note is for him, and that Lloyd and Harry are highly skilled professionals who have him under surveillance and know even minute details about his health.

Brian Katcher

Answer: It was one of the hoses connected to the engine, nothing specific, but to indicate that Al tampered with the vehicle.

Question: What are Toxel and Toxtricity based off?

Answer: They look kind of like lizards.

Question: What happened at the end of the movie to the man who had been shot in the leg by the private detective?

Answer: When Mitch McDeere gets off the elevated train, when he's leaving Mud Island, a guy with a limp, wearing an overcoat (with faux fur), follows him. That's the guy. Mitch had never seen him before, so he gives him a weird look when he accidentally bumps into him. The guy with the limp was likely in the hospital while the security staff were doing their shakedown of Mitch.

pizzaazzip

Answer: It's not shown, but presumably he received medical attention and recovered from his injuries.

raywest

Answer: Jackie Vernon, the voice actor, known for "Frosty The Snowman." He started out as a comedian, appearing on Ed Sullivan and Jack Parr Shows. That line was written by Arnie Kogen, who wrote most of his material.

Answer: "I seemed to have lost my Congressional Medal of Honor." It was an inept attempt at a pick-up line.

There was a comedian in the 1960's did that line.

Question: Stu asks Randy, "What are you saying, that I killed her?", referring to Casey. Randy says, "It would certainly improve your high school Q." What is a "high school Q"? (I Googled this but did not find an answer).

Answer: I don't know if the letter "Q" was used or if you just heard what sounded like "Q", but "Queue" - pronounced like "Q" - is British for "line." People can be said to stand in queue [line], meaning in a row. Where one falls on the queue, in this case, would indicate his/her ranking in terms of popularity.

KeyZOid

Answer: He means his status, Stu is considered the outcast. The school weirdo.

Was Stu really an outcast? He had a girlfriend, Tatum, and he hung out with Billy, Sidney, and Randy. He also hosted a party, and I got the impression that it was not the first party at his house. I think he was the "cool slacker dude" type, before being revealed as a killer.

Answer: I believe it's a reference to "Q scores," which is a marketing industry term used to measure the familiarity and general appeal of a subject. The higher the Q score, the more familiar people are with it and have a positive opinion of it. It was a catch-all term that could be used for individuals (such as celebrities), brands, products, movies/shows, etc. The term "Q score" seems to be used less now than it was in the 90's, so I understand it being confusing.

TedStixon

Question: I'm looking for the name of an actor - near the end of the film his character brings Dirk and Dirk's friend to the house of a drug dealer who he tries to rob and gets killed in the process.

Answer: If you mean "Todd Parker", it's Thomas Jane (The Punisher). If it's "Reed Rothchild", John C. Reilly (Chicago).

It's Todd - Reed gets away with his life and later on is in some racy magic act.

Harry and the Madam - S2-E8

Question: At the end of the episode, the military shows up and asks for all the evidence as it was a matter of national security. It's quite obvious that Harry called the military and was stalling for time until they could show up and get the evidence. Why did Harry call the military? I seriously doubt that it had anything to do with national security. I believe it was because he was actually trying to let Irene off the hook.

Answer: It's possible when Harry called the military, he implied that the book contained sensitive information, seeing as how many government and military officials were part of the client list.

I thought it was because he developed feelings for the madam and couldn't bring himself to turn her in.

Answer: He wasn't necessarily trying to let Irene off the hook. He still found her guilty. He was trying to get the diary out of evidence, but he had no legal standing to do so. It had nothing to do with military officials listed, but the fact that at least one of them talked about the military's equipment (the bombers). Harry called the military in hopes they could remove the diary from evidence. The major briefly reviewed the diary and classified it temporarily as "Secret", meaning that the court could no longer introduce the diary as evidence, which would have made the contents public (since there's no confidentiality laws between prostitutes and their clients).

Bishop73

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