Answered questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Answer: The Vatican is aware of the birth, somewhere in the world, of Christine (though not knowing her identity at the time), and the Satanists are present at her birth and know that she is "the one." It's safe to assume that the Vatican, and the Catholic Church in general, has spies/informants in the Satanists' society, and were able, in the intervening 20 years between Christine's birth and the events of the film, to track her down to New York and send Aquinas there (the fact that he was sent by the Vatican is established).

Answer: Clarice, as a professional law enforcement officer tracking a serial killer, will make the date so she can get whatever information from Lecter she can get. She also knows from Dr. Lecter's criminal profile that he is a stickler at setting/honoring appointments, to the point he would kill and eat his tardy patients. Not that he would kill and eat her, but she also has established respect and rapport with him, so under those conditions she will make the date.

Scott215

Answer: No doubt the Addams house had one of many secret, confusing passageways to get to the higher floors (and other parts of the house) from the vault that the viewer obviously is not privy to.

Scott215

It made me confused that if there's another secret way up to the house other than the slides or the bookshelf even though Fester had trouble finding which chains to pull but couldn't find the right one, If there was another way into or out of the vault and that means Fester had to know there was if Gomez was with him than Fester would have try the other one too instead of the bookshelf.

Trainman

Question: Why was Merry's hand burned when he stabbed the back of the witch king's leg?

Answer: It's what is known as the Black Breath.

Phaneron

That's caused by his breath and I don't think he breathes from his leg.

lionhead

It could be wrong, but the reference page I read specified that despite its name, the Black Breath is not actual breath, but an aura that the Nazgul project.

Phaneron

How was Merry even able to stab the witch king's leg anyway? It's been said that no man can kill the witch king.

Merry doesn't kill the witch king, but he hurts him. His power has grown, giving him more of a presence in the real world, a presence that can be hurt.

lionhead

Going back to the books for more explanation: First: it wasn't a protection. It was a prophecy/prediction by Glorfindel a millennium earlier. Second: the weapon Merry had in the books was a barrow-blade recovered by Tom Bombadil while saving the Hobbits from the barrow wights and had been enchanted directly against the Witch King. Since the scene (and Tom) were not in the film, they went with a more specific interpretation. The Witch King was not killed by a man, but by a Hobbit and a woman.

LorgSkyegon

Answer: Because of what the Witch King is made of, his blood (or whatever) burns the skin of a mortal. Maybe even being too close will cause burns.

lionhead

Question: So how exactly did Max Cady slip past Kersec's security system and get into the house? Did he kill the maid outside and then just walk in disguised as her?

Phaneron

Answer: He snuck in during the day and hid, before Kersec's teddy bear security system was set up. Sam Bowden realises this when he wakes from a nightmare. Its how he was able to poison the dog which hadnt been let outside. Max Cady killed the maid in the pantry with the same piano wire he later attacks Kersec with.

Answer: Kersec suspected that Cady might attempt to break into the Bowden house if he thought it was empty. His plan was for Cady to break in and then be shot dead as an intruder. He likely lessened the security to allow Cady to break in. Cady killed and then impersonated the housekeeper to get in.

raywest

I like your answer but I'm a little confused by the "lessened the security" part. If I'm not mistaken, every possible point of entry into the house at least from the ground floor was connected to the bear via the fishing line, so Kersec would know if a point of entry was disturbed by the bear moving. Where would Kersec lessen the security from that standpoint, especially since his setup was supposed to be foolproof?

Phaneron

Kersec wanted Cady to be able to break in so that there would be a plausible reason to shoot him dead. The idea is to make it look like his death was a result of self defense. I'm only speculating that Kersec made it easier for Cady to break in into the house. Being as it was his security system, he would know how to make it possible for Cady to get in.

raywest

Question: When Peter and Harry were fighting while Peter was wearing the black suit and threw a pumpkin bomb at Harry's face, how did Peter know that pumpkin bomb wouldn't kill Harry? I know Harry had enhanced powers and all. But what if the pumpkin bomb was strong enough to kill Harry? would Peter will be willing to kill him if he was giving the chance due to the influence of the black suit?

Answer: The symbiote had clouded his judgement to the point he no longer worried about killing. He wouldn't likely directly kill Harry, but didn't hesitate to throw the lethal weapon back toward Harry, viewing it as self defense.

Answer: Most likely Bob was receiving cash payments from his new "employer" and depositing the money into their bank account himself. Back in those days, wages were given directly to the workers from the employers, then the workers would deposit their wages into the bank during lunch break or after work. If the workers were married, the only evidence their spouses saw of a bank transaction would be whatever record the working spouse brought home.

Scott215

Answer: I wouldn't say so - he's loyal to Palpatine regardless. He saves him from Mace Windu, then kills Dooku/Tyranus on Palpatine's orders. I don't see the hypocrisy.

Jon Sandys

You're missing the point, Anakin saves Palpatine because he viewed him as a Father. The point of saying Anakin a hypocrite is fairly clear. Because when he was asked to kill Tyranus he did it without mercy. But he even mentioned that "It's not the Jedi way" to Palpatine. But later in the film, he saved Sidious from Mace Windu. What a hypocrite.

DFirst1

Answer: This is an interesting question. Early on in Episode II and III he always talks about wanting to be a better Jedi, but breaking the rules by killing Tyrannus in cold blood, killing the sand people, distrusting his mentor and friend. Being a hypocrite though, that means he judges people for breaking the rules whilst doing it himself, he doesn't do that. Nor does he pretend to say he is the most powerful or knows more than others, not while he was still an apprentice. But Anakin is so lost and confused, the fear inside him clouded his mind tremendously, being corrupted by Palpatine without seeing it, up to the point he aids Palpatine in killing Mace Windu and thus completely and permanently turning his back from the light side. He does realise this right then and there though, doesn't go on pretending he is more than just a Sith or still a Jedi, he fully gives in to the Sith ways. Although some parts of his old self creep back when he talks to Obi-Wan later on, about how he will overthrow the Chancellor and rule the galaxy as Emperor himself. At that point he becomes a hypocrite, talking to Obi-Wan like he's the one confused, talking about his powers like he is the strongest. After being beaten by Obi-Wan and thinking he killed Padme though, that all disappears and he is the silent and deadly servant of Sidious we know in IV and on.

lionhead

Question: In the Canyon, when Immortal Joe tells Nux to kill Furiosa and return his treasures, what does he mean that he'll personally carry Nux to the Valhalla gates?

Answer: Immortal Joe is trying to inspire Nux to complete the mission, and that he would be honored to deliver Nux's soul to Valhalla, the ultimate heaven for the warriors working for Immortal Joe.Everybody in the film fears and reveres Immortal Joe, to the point he is almost a god and some of his warriors are excited when Immortal Joe even glances at them. For Immortal Joe to tell Nux this is the highest honor and recognition that Nux could receive from Joe.

Scott215

Question: Why did Mary get angry when the boy in the audience said that he could see her mouth moving? When a close-up of Mary is shown, she's moving her mouth.

Answer: Because he is heckling her and belittling her performance.

Phaneron

Question: Did people actually care about figure skating? I wasn't alive when this happened, but apparently it was one of the biggest sporting controversies of all time. Well I find that quite hard to believe, since before this movie came out, I'd never heard anyone talk about figure skating, I barely even knew what it was. Was figure skating ever actually a big thing, or do people just like controversy?

MikeH

Answer: It used to be a lot more popular. The Harding/Kerrigan Winter Olympic figure skating competition was the 6th highest rated program in TV history as of 1994, with 48.5 million viewers, no doubt helped by the controversy. It's slowly declined over time - from 1998 to 2018 viewing figures for the US championships declined by 1/3. Opinions about its loss of appeal range from a change in the scoring (used to be judges rating out of 6.0, now it's a more complicated points system), to a lack of "star power", with recognisable names grabbing people's attention. In the UK at least, skater team Torville and Dean were household names for a long time, but I'd imagine a lot of people would struggle to think of skaters with that level of popular recognition nowadays. That said, viewing figures for the 2018 US championships were 60% up on 2017, and membership of the US figure skating organization has risen for the last four years - these things wax and wane like any other.

Jon Sandys

Question: Why would Sam and his friends go to the library?

Answer: Possibly because it was the closest building with height to it as they are about to be hit by a gigantic wave of water. There was no snow yet, so I don't believe burning books or snow was on anybody's mind yet. It turned out to be a great idea as snow soon starts to fall and those books were literally a life saver.

Susan D. Santos

Answer: It was the closest building they could access. While the smarter move would have been to just go back to JD's apartment (which Brian and Laura suggest) it may have been too far a walk to get out of the flooding streets.

Answer: Big building with lots of space and lots of books to burn for heat.

Ssiscool

Why did they burn the books and not the wooden shelves that the books were on?

As for burning books rather than shelves, it was just easier. They would have had to expend more energy to break down the shelves into manageable size.

Answer: According to the 2017 book Star Wars: The Visual Encyclopedia, Luke Skywalker gave Lor San Tekka the map fragment to his location before he went into hiding on Ahch-To.

Sierra1

Why? Didn't he want to stay hidden?

Question: Would Rick have regenerated that quickly (overnight) after the blood loss from the giant mosquito and tick that he suffered?

Answer: It would depend on how much blood he lost and his general constitution. Of course, this is a movie, and reality is often fudged in order to tell the story. Having a character take days to recover would unnecessarily slow the plot.

raywest

Question: Right before Frank dies and turn into a zombie, he said to Kenneth, "You want every single second." What does he mean by that? (00:55:35)

Bunch Son

Chosen answer: I interpreted it as a reflection on his life and the lives of all those around him as his life drained from him. And that reflection is that as people we are always chasing something - goals, desires, a nice new car, a better job, a family with kids - but we are always left wanting something more. It's what keeps us alive and moving forward. As he dies, everything becomes illuminated and he realises this truth. I think it could also mean that he wanted to live every single second to experience as much as he could in life. But I prefer my first interpretation, so that's how I picture it.

Answer: I interpreted it as meaning a person wants every possible second to remain as a human.

raywest

Didn't it sound weird? He could put it in another way. A natural way.

Bunch Son

I'd agree that is sounds weird, but this is written by a screenwriter, and they often use embellished and unrealistic dialogue for a more dramatic or emotional effect.

raywest

Answer: I assume this is a very old question, but I always thought it meant with your kids. He wanted to wait to be killed until after he turned because he was all his daughter had left. So he wanted every single second with her, but it could just mean as human as mentioned here.

Question: I was wondering how the buffalo hunt was actually done. Were the buffalo actually shot (for meat or to cull the herd) or was there some computer graphics involved (I can see a truck running along side next to the cameraman with a tranquilizer gun to make the animal fall)?

Answer: While the fallen buffalo were furry dummies on wires (there were only a couple, filmed from several different angles), the buffalo stampede was real. A private herd of 3,500 buffalo in South Dakota was prompted to stampede five times, as seven cameras captured the action over eight days of filming. The illusion of arrows piercing the animals' sides was accomplished with simple special effects (including arrow shafts attached to body straps). The massive bull charging the little boy was a docile animal that was tempted with Oreo cookies. No animals were injured or traumatized in filming the scene; in fact, the only near-injury occurred when Kevin Costner himself (who did his own stunt riding) fell off his horse during the shoot. Https://ew.com/article/1991/03/08/filming-dances-wolves-stampede/.

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: I did a little Internet research. It does not appear that any bison were killed for the hunting scene. Dummy bison were mounted on moving dollies and yanked off by attached straps to look like they'd fallen. Two live domesticated bison were used for certain shots. I can remember watching one of those, "Making of..." TV documentaries on this movie. They showed realistic-looking bison dummies lying on the ground and compressed air being used to simulate the "wounded" animals' breathing. A tranquilizer gun could not have been used on live bison for this purpose. It's a misconception that animals immediately fall unconscious when darted because it takes time for the drugs to have an effect. Films in the past have actually killed animals for films, but they were often ones selected to cull a herd.

raywest

Question: When Harry finds Eliot tied up, he removes the tape and tells him that the kidnappers have been caught. Why did Eliot confess to being the actual mastermind behind the kidnapping? Harry had no idea it was Eliot behind it all so he could have gotten away with it if he didn't say anything.

Answer: Eliot mistakenly believed that Harry had figured out what his part was in the kidnapping, and, exasperated by Harry's dumb luck, Eliot stupidly confessed. He was then arrested.

raywest

Question: Can the Djinn only give bad wishes according to his interpretation of them or does he just do it because he is pure evil and "enjoys" giving people exactly what they asked for, just not what they actually meant? For example could he, if he wanted, have given the shop assistant a lifetime of beauty without turning her into a mannequin?

The_Iceman

Answer: The Djinn is a demon, it only knows how to hurt people. The wish he offers a person is just a way for the demon to buy the soul of that person, making use of the emotions inside someone to have them wish something. The wish works how the Djinn wants it to work, not what the victim wants it to do, that's irrelevant to him. Yes, he has the powers to give people what they actually want, but he doesn't as he doesn't care about people.

lionhead

Question: Why are Ali's friends with Johnny, Dutch, and Tommy at Golf and stuff? Surely they'd stay away from them out of respect for Ali?

THE GAMER NEXT DOOR

Answer: Ali and Daniel are really the only ones that seem to have a problem with Johnny and his friends. Other than that, Johnny is well liked and popular. Even Ali's parents are fond of Johnny. Also, to be fair Johnny does seem to be genuine when he invites Ali to come along with the group and even invites Daniel along as well, though he does make a rude comment about Daniel while doing so. The Cobras have stopped harassing Daniel and only Daniel and Ali know the real reason why. Johnny and his group are still friendly with Ali's friends so they see no reason not to hang out with him. Ali's friends also unfairly dislike Daniel from the beginning because he lives in Reseda, so they are not the best judges of character to begin with.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: They are in the same friend group and Johnny and Ali's break up doesn't really affect any of them. In the Cobra Kai series, Johnny said that they got into a fight before his senior year and figured things would blow over. So it sounds like them fighting was a regular thing and their friends were probably used to it.

Question: Wouldn't Kharlamov have been penalized for knocking the USA goalie Jim Craig down?

Answer: Not necessarily. Hockey was a much more physically bruising game in 1980, and this kind of aggression (intentional or not) was rarely cause for a penalty. And, since he wasn't penalized in real life, he is not penalized in the film, either.

That doesn't mean knocking goalies was legal. Players can only knock players besides the goalie down. Knocking a goalie down is a goaltender interference penalty. This kind of aggression was rarely a cause for a penalty because it rarely happened.

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