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: Whenever the detective watches the surveillance tape from Susan's work, why does Kayako say "I know something about Peter"?

Answer: Because she was in love with him.

Question: How did the sad core memory end up in the memory dump?

Answer: Joy made her drop it.

Answer: The four of them had just returned from a three month expedition in the North Pole. They were exhausted, they haven't had a proper wash or shave, they had loads of scientific equipment with them in addition to their own personal luggage. They probably just needed a place to go to in order to cool down, sit and have a rest, put down the equipment used for the expedition and sort through which of their belongings were which. And since Sheldon was the one in charge of the expedition and the apartment is home to half the people there, it was likely the most suitable place to settle down in. Once they had some time to rest and get back up on their feet, they would have gotten their belongings and gone home.

Casual Person

Question: Did Bruce Lee manage to film all his scenes before he died?

Answer: Yes, he filmed all of his scenes before he died. He died on July 20, 1973 - only six days before the film debuted in Hong Kong, and only a month before the film's US debut.

TedStixon

Question: What was the red sports car Will Smith was driving - the one that was smashed? Perhaps a Ferrari California?

Answer: It was a 2013 Peugeot RCZ.

Bishop73

Question: How did Jack know Greg was in the bathroom to give him the truth serum? Jack was outside and we simply heard Bernie call out "Gay Gay", but still he could have been anywhere?

Answer: It's not exactly hard to find someone in a small/mid-sized establishment like they one they were in. There's only so many places Greg could be. Jack probably just correctly presumed he was in the bathroom since he wasn't outside.

TedStixon

Blood - S2-E3

Question: When people are affected by the pesticide, they are experiencing their worst fears and receive messages to kill. Mulder receives two messages. "DO IT NOW" and at The End of the episode, "ALL DONE. BYE BYE." What do these messages that Mulder received have to do with his fear?

Answer: His fear of a conspiracy, that someone was control the entire experiment, like the Cigarette Smoking Man.The messages were part of his fear of being controlled. DO IT NOW. When he stopped the shooter in the tower, he knew the experiment was over, hence the message. ALL DONE.BYE.BYE. But it being the X-Files, was the last message real or an hallucination.

Question: How would they have gained access to the command ring from the main ship? The main ship arms are spinning anti clockwise and the command ring is spinning clockwise, so they're out of sync. The command ring also appears to be spinning faster.

Answer: With difficulty is the answer! Question is why are command ring and engine room spinning in different directions, to make this an issue?

Answer: To spin the ship on its axis, you have to spin it against something. You can use side rockets to push it against the thrust of the rockets, or you could push it against a core rotating in the opposite direction. The conservation of momentum, with the right balance of mass between the inner core and the outer spirals, will make the two parts rotate one against the other, without carrying fuel for the rockets.

tsahi

Question: How could Belloq know/believe that the Ark is a powerful artifact, but also be completely oblivious to the Bible specifically mentioning that some Bethshemites were smitten for gazing into it and Uzzah was smitten for touching it?

Phaneron

Answer: There were probably many reasons. Propelled by greed, he may simply have chosen to filter out certain aspects of the biblical text, believing what he wanted to believe. He may have misinterpreted or had not bothered with the details of what was written in the bible.

raywest

Add in that he was hired by the Nazis to do the job of finding and utilizing the Ark. He had to make sure it worked so he could present it to Hitler.

Question: Why did Ace punch out the Monopoly guy? Is there a reason why he did such a thing?

Trainman

Answer: The woman told him to try and "enjoy the fruits of nature", meaning wearing an animal as a piece of clothing. So he punches the monopoly guy out cold and puts him over his shoulder to try out wearing an animal.

lionhead

Question: How come Malcolm could realise he was dead, but none of the other ghosts could?

MikeH

Answer: Ghosts can't move on until they've completed some unfinished business. Malcolm felt guilty for not helping the kid who shot him. By helping Cole control his powers, he was finally at peace and realised the true state of things.

Brian Katcher

To add: the little girl Cole helped uncover her murder definitely knew she was dead.

lionhead

Why do you say she knew? I didn't see any evidence. Cole says ghosts don't know they're dead. The girl wasn't after revenge, but to protect her younger sister, who the mother had started poisoning.

Brian Katcher

She is one of the few ghosts aware that she can use Cole to help her out. Leading him to the evidence of her murder shows to me she knew she was too late for herself. At the end of the movie it is even revealed that these ghosts probably unconsciously approach Cole for help, so they can move on. They can't do that unless they are aware, or if Cole makes them aware of it. For Malcolm it was even necessary for him to know he was dead before he could say his goodbye. Cole just needs to tell them.

lionhead

Answer: On top of it, Malcolm only realised he was dead when we saw his wedding ring drop from his wife's hand (he would have had it on him except if he were gone) and he saw her cold breath; these two things together helped him put all the pieces together (that we are shown in the movie) to show that she was grieving and mourning from his death and not that they were growing apart because he was wrapped up in a case (or to put it differently, he was so wrapped up in Cole that he did not notice that he hadn't had a conversation with his wife or even another human being for goodness knows how long - dead people see what they want to see).

Answer: Malcolm didn't realise he was dead until much later in the movie. By then he had a strong relationship with Cole, and being a psychiatrist, wanted to help him understand and cope with his ability and no longer fear it. Being a psychiatrist helped Malcolm analyse his own situation and work out that he had died. Once Cole was comfortable with his ability, Malcolm was able to move on. Also, as Cole noted, ghosts only saw what they wanted to see. Some were unable to come to terms with their deaths and therefore remained among the living.

raywest

Answer: The fire made the authorities discover the abused patients they'd locked in the basement.

Brian Katcher

Answer: Zorro was the one person he feared, and wanted to make sure that he was dead or broken and hadn't escaped during his exile.

Brian Katcher

Question: I don't understand why Lady Van Tassel had to cut her hand during her sexual encounter with the reverend?

Answer: She was using blood magic to keep him under her spell... this is why later in the film the reverend kills the magistrate just as the magistrate's about to betray their secret about Lady Van Tassel to Ichabod.

Answer: She needed to slice her hand open as part of her plot to fake her own death and make the townspeople think the decapitated body of Sarah was actually her.

Phaneron

Question: When turbo keeps glitching how come he doesn't stay in one form but kept switching between forms? (01:04:05 - 04:45:15)

Answer: His original code is showing through the code he's imposed to look like King Candy. His King Candy "disguise" is failing, but not completely.

Question: Why do the humans in "Planet Of The Apes" all wear clothes? I am fully aware that the film was made in 1968, for a general release, permitting it to be shown in cinemas or on television, and 20th Century Fox would never have been allowed to make a movie in which humans all ran around naked. But, since the film is supposed to be set in a post-apocalyptic world, where humans have regressed back to being wild creatures, without language, lacking the skills to make or create anything, where do they get their clothes from? (And their clothes fit, too.) Did anybody ever come up with an answer to this, apart from the obvious reply that they wanted to get the film past the censor?

Rob Halliday

Answer: Unlike other primates, humans walk upright which exposes their genitals. They would instinctively cover them for protection. Humans also have very little body hair, so would cover themselves against the elements. Finally (spoiler alert) as these humans devolved from actual humans, it's likely something they did because their ancestors did it and it's been continued through the generations.

Answer: The humans have become mute, but not regressed to being "wild animals." The apes are the superior species but humans still have a high-level of intelligence, live in a complex, interactive social group, communicate non-verbally, and would have the ability to make simple tools and protective clothing. At the very least they would be equal to Neanderthals, but seem more advanced. The real answer is, of course, it's a 1968 movie when there were more stringent rules regarding nudity in films. If there was any, it likely would have been "X" rated, therefore limiting its audience and in which theaters it could have been shown in.

raywest

Question: At the meeting in Atlantic City, what's with the dons passing around and taking from the platter of jewelry?

Answer: It shows you how greedy they are even as they've made it to the zenith of their criminal careers. That's why you see Michael pass it on disgustedly and stare blankly into the ether. Michael's goal was never to be the boss or capo di tutti capi, he only did it to protect his father and then his family, his main goal. And at that moment he realises he's never getting out. He's a business man in a world of criminals (which he is himself).

Question: The heroes manage to get the core spinning again by detonating 5 200 megaton nuclear bombs. In real life, wouldn't it take hundreds of 200 nuclear bombs to get the core spinning again?

Answer: No number of nuclear weapons would have an effect on the movement of the Earth's core. The bombs in the movie are just there as part of the plot. The Core is a hysterically unscientific movie. It's still great fun though.

Question: What exactly are the spirits that emerge from the Ark? I get that they are malevolent ghosts, but what is the purpose of them first emerging from the Ark as beautiful women? Are they supposed to be the ghosts of women from Babylonia, or Jerusalem, or any other significant location from Biblical times?

Phaneron

Answer: They are angels. They are initially beautiful, but become terrifying when they destroy those who look at them. That's why Indy and Marion are spared, as they keep their eyes shut.

Question: After Darth Vader betrays the Empire and kills the Emperor, who, for the very brief period of time that the Empire was still around, would have risen to the top of the chain of command?

Phaneron

Chosen answer: The Empire splintered a bit after the death of the Emperor. Some members of the Imperial Council attempted to grab territories in order to maintain some form of power. Others attempted to carry on as if nothing had happened and told the people that the Emperor had escaped the destruction of the Death Star. Officially, the new leader of the Empire was Grand Admiral Sloane, who commanded the Imperial Navy. She enacted the Emperor's contingency plan, called Operation Cinder, which was essentially destroying everything because of the Emperor's death.

Sloane was one of three potential leaders when the Emperor died: the other two were Gallius Rax and Mas Amedda. In the end, Rax sidelined the others and became the leader of the Empire, although Sloane was the public face of the leadership.

Sierra1

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