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: Was Arnold Epstein drafted into the army?

Answer: No.

Question: What exactly did 9 accomplish by getting 1, 2, 5, 6, and 8 out of the beast? I didn't understand the ending, as they would still be dead whether or not they were inside the beast.

Answer: So glad you asked this! He releases their spirits because they are life. Life from the scientist. Preserved life. Small bacteria probably. So the world can start over. Yes, it's sad that they won't get to interact with the physical bodies of their friends, but in a way, 1,2,5,6 and 8 will always be with them. They are the fathers of the world's new organisms. The beast was corrupt so it was trying to prevent life from happening. It hated the humans because it was turned into a war machine. It captured them but could not kill them. The reason the dolls were created, their sole purpose, was to release the life that they were preserving into the sky and across the world. So, that in time and very slowly, things could begin again. they AREN'T dead and they never were. Life was just trapped. And now it is free.

YellowBird

This was beautifully explained and I can see your love for this movie in it. I have loved this movie so much, it is nice to see others enjoy it as well. Really wish we got a sequel.

Answer: He needs to retrieve their bodies from the beast so he can release their sprits with the talisman.

raywest

Question: How, after tearing apart the Lincoln while looking for drugs, are they able to get it back together with no damage and hand it back to the Frenchman, including welding in the door panels towards the end of the movie? (02:00:00 - 02:45:00)

Answer: This has been asked and answered before. It's not the same car, it's a replacement of the same make, mark, and color.

Question: Who kills Nick and shoots at Patrick when they invade that crack house with Remy? (01:02:50 - 01:03:45)

Answer: It is not actually shown who shoots at and hits Nick, so it is necessary to make a deduction based on what is known. The shooter was behind the front door and shot at Patrick when Patrick was trying to aid Nick. Patrick retreated to the side of the house and returned fire. When Patrick entered the house, "Bubba" was seen lying facedown on the floor with a gunshot to his shoulder, apparently dead from Patrick's blind shots. No one else was in the front room, so it seems safe to conclude that Bubba killed Nick and shot at Patrick. "Fat Lady" Roberta emerged from a back room and Corwin Earle was in the upstairs hallway, so - even though they were in the house at the time - neither was likely to have been the shooter behind the front door.

That's not Bubba laying on the floor, that's the old man who resides at the house - Leon Trett. Bubba was Patrick's good-guy kingpin buddy, played by the rapper Slaine.

Show generally

Question: In different episodes a mug can be seen in the ice machine section on the outside of the fridge, which changes colors and patterns from episode to episode. Is there any significance to it?

Answer: Ice makers were a new invention, advertisement purposes.

Question: What was the message that Dr. Thurman was trying to say to Rose? She said she needs to talk to Rose for some reason. Why?

Answer: I think I can recall enough to answer. Dr. Thurman's most recent therapy session with Donnie resulted in her assessment that Donnie's condition had quickly deteriorated and he was (or might be) in imminent danger of hurting himself or engaging in some type of dangerous or violent or self-destructive behavior (or doing something bizarre, such as attempting time travel). Under hypnosis, Donnie admitted to Dr. Thurman that he "did it again" (flooded the school), burned down Cunningham's house because he had "kiddy porn", that "Frank" was going to kill someone, and the "sky was going to open up"; Donnie was also crying. Dr. Thurman wanted Rose to be aware and, undoubtedly, keep a close eye on Donnie and inform her immediately of any changes or behaviors of concern. Why Dr. Thurman would leave a telephone message under these circumstances and fail to immediately intervene or take preventive measures does not speak highly of her competence. I think showing the party before Dr. Thurman leaving the message left some viewers in the dark.

KeyZOid

Question: In the scene where the pilots are receiving their initial briefing, the officer in charge is a Lt Colonel, but in a later scene where the alien ship is approaching area 51, he is a captain. Is this the same officer or is this a mistake?

Answer: This is indeed a mistake. The character is played by Bill Smitrovich and is listed as playing Captain Watson, but in the briefing scene he is wearing collar insignia for a Lt. Colonel.

lionhead

Question: Roughly 12 minutes in during the sidewalk gunfight a person is whacked with a gun after the fight. There is white text that flashes on screen shortly after. What does the text say?

Atestmonkey

Answer: I think the scene you're referring to happens about and hour and nine minutes in. An Indian is knocked off the horse by a union soldier. I couldn't see any text flash on the screen. There are white signs with black letters in the background that belong to the general stores. Maybe you saw the flash of a horse or saddle?

Bishop73

You're right on the time mark. My mistake. I watched an HD version and it wasn't there. Is the one that TCM aired maybe different than the hd version? I wasn't the only one watching who saw it. There were others.

Atestmonkey

You probably just saw the name of the station airing the film. The sidewalk scene with 4 soldiers takes place in the middle of the movie. When you rewind a non-recorded show on a DVR, the minute mark is often how many minutes past the hour it is or how long you've been on that channel. 12 minutes into the movie is when they're turning themselves over to the Union before being slaughtered, a little prior to that is the opening credits and fighting montage scene, but no sidewalks around. Most DVR remotes allow frame by frame and slow motion playback (pause then use the fast forward or rewind button).

Bishop73

It wasn't the name of the station. The text was several lines long from top to bottom in the middle of the screen. You're time mark is right. No text on screen in the HD version I watched. TCM aired the one with the text, don't know if it's different in some way.

Atestmonkey

If you're watching it on a cable channel, it could be their logo that they're flashing on the screen, rather than something that was part of the movie. I see this all the time on movies and other programs I watch on cable.

raywest

I screen captured it! Could not get it all. Reads at bottom LEFT RIGHT CH 7,8 - English. (?) LBY EDIT 342. 1/23/ (?) TMC.

Question: Is it Rudy's friend Jim who makes the catch on the halfback pass thrown by Vince Vaughn, Jamie near the end of the Georgia Tech game?

Answer: No.

Question: In the scene where Elliot signs the contract, there is a magnificent red fountain pen on top of the papers. Does anybody know what the pen is, or if it is even a real commercial pen?

Answer: It definitely is a Montegrappa Oriental Zodiac pen, this brand has been making pens in Italy since 1912. I am not sure which of the three red pens in that collection (Oriental Zodiac) is the one seen in the movie, but given its association with the devil, my guess will be it is the Ox fountain pen.

Answer: The book says that some couples would move away because they were upset when the children turned back into dogs permanently. Not necessarily because they didn't want dogs. It was too difficult for them to own the dogs that had served as their children for years.

Why can't they tell their friends that they're moving? Without telling them it made them confused.

Trainman

The "parents" probably want to leave in a hurry and be done with the town. Even if the "children's" friends are confused. And they know that the other children could turn back into dogs soon, anyway.

Answer: They were couples who couldn't have children and were part of an experiment where dogs were turned into humans. Once Lily and Manny turned back into dogs they left the project because they didn't want dogs.

According to the book, they didn't necessarily leave because they didn't want dogs. They were too upset when the children turned back into dogs.

Question: In the bowling alley who are the two nuns played by?

Answer: I don't think it is ever mentioned as to who played the two nuns. I think they're just extras.

Question: I don't quite get how the Hoffa killing plays out. His son is there in the car, Frank and Jimmy go into the house, Frank shoots him, apparently not heard, then leaves the house...doesn't Chuckie Hoffa have questions? Like where his dad is for a start, let alone the gunshots he must have heard?

Jon Sandys

Chosen answer: First off his name was Chuckie O'Brian. Jimmy Hoffa wasn't his biological father, he was more in the nature of a foster father. Second, he probably knew what happened. What was Chuckie going to do? It was a sanctioned hit. And if he went to the police he would have ended up the same as Jimmy Hoffa. They put him in the middle of it to keep him quiet. If he goes after the people who did it, he's as good as dead. If he talks he could end up in jail with them, and the mafia will probably kill him anyway.

Question: Was the scene where Gargamel is being held in jail filmed in an actual jail?

Answer: Yes.

Answer: You would need to be more specific as to which inmate to get an answer as to who possibly belongs in the mental ward. In general; usually the only mentally ill prisoners who go to the mental ward are inmates who show obvious psychotic breaks like Loli and crazy eyes as, with the conditions of prison, it's often difficult to tell who is mentally ill and whose frustrated from the conditions. Many of them are also only there temporarily. Crazy Eyes, first example, was in the mental ward. Her mother fought and won to get her out.

Question: How did Karen know there was a game on if the players hadn't yet come out of the corn?

Answer: As was demonstrated throughout the movie, different people had different perceptions of what was happening in the magical field. Ray Kinsella, for example, heard a disembodied voice urging him to take action before (and after) the ghosts made their first appearance; Terence Mann, also, heard a disembodied voice half-way across the country and long before he ever arrived at the field; meanwhile, Ray's cynical and skeptical brother-in-law couldn't see or hear any players, even when a full ghost-game was in progress right in front of him. Apparently, whatever supernatural things you perceived were dependent on your level of belief. It's most likely that Ray's young daughter, Karin, received her own private disembodied message or precognition telling her the game was about to begin.

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: The players could have emerged and begun playing and Karen saw them, and then went and told her father. We may have been shown the events out of order for theatrical/dramatic effect which directors sometimes do in movies.

That could be. But within the movie as it's given, the players were just coming onto the field from the corn. So it's a good question.

Question: Why did Erle try to kill himself?

Answer: He hated the way they were living. Acting human, hiding who they truly were, integrating into "normal" society. He wanted to be wild and free. When they were feared and worshiped.

Answer: It usually just means seeing something weird or unusual, perhaps something someone wouldn't believe you saw without proof. The phrase is usually "haven't got your gun", although some people replace "gun" with "camera." Basically think about a hunter spending all week in the woods looking for the biggest [fill in the blank] and the one day he goes out into the woods without his gun and then finally sees it.

Bishop73

Answer: I would also interpret it (metaphorically speaking) as when someone has a gun in hand, there is a specific target or intent they are so fixated on, that they block out everything else around them. Without a gun, one would see their environment more comprehensively, noticing details they would otherwise overlook. To clarify, someone who has too narrow or fixated a focus or perspective, misses other important things going on around them that might affect their opinions or conclusions.

raywest

Question: What was that stuff that Swagger used to treat gunshot wounds?

Answer: QuikClot dressing, which has blood thickening agent (coagulant) in it. I've treated more than a few wounds with them.

stiiggy

Answer: It's a bit complicated, so here's some online info on how the gunshot wound in the movie was treated. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME! https://screenagekicks.wordpress.com/category/screen-surgery-film-first-aid/.

raywest

I'm not asking how he treated his gunshot wounds, I'm asking what he used to treat his gunshot wounds?

The link I gave you lists the materials used to treat the wound. Please check it.

raywest

I've looked at the sources. He used quick clot to treat his wounds. I have a problem with that because he opens the quick clot bag with his mouth. Wouldn't he risk getting cotton mouth if he opened the bag with his mouth since he was risk quick clot getting in his mouth?

That's why someone put this in as a mistake (listed as factual but should be a character mistake). Some say the way he handles the quick clot is wrong and/or dangerous.

Bishop73

Answer: I watched the YouTube clip. The closed captions interpret it as, "Hey, Ricky, get this limo out of your yard." Listening to it, however, it sounds like he says, "lame-o" (as in a lame person) rather than "limo."

raywest

The closed-caption setting on YouTube is voice-activated, and it often displays typos and "approximate" words when it doesn't recognize the audio output (especially slang terms). In that scene, Rumsfield yells, "Hey, Ricky, get this lame-o out of your yard!" In response, Ricky puts his arm around his friend's shoulders and laughs, "Get out of my yard, Lame-o!"

Charles Austin Miller

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