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: During Gordie's story, what was Boss Man saying? He was talking so fast I couldn't catch it all.

Answer: "Hey! From the racks and stacks, it's the best on wax! How 'bout another golden-oldie twin spin sound sandwich from klam in Portland?!"

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: Considering how powerful and dangerous the Ark is, why would Indy hand it over to the United States government, instead of putting it back where it was found and to ensure it's never located, lie to them and say him or the Nazis never found it?

Answer: Indy and Marcus Brody believed that the Ark needed to be studied. They certainly didn't want to put it back where it was found. They believed that the U.S. government would find the best archaeologists, researchers, and scientists in the world to study the Ark. They are both upset that instead, the government has decided to simply lock the Ark away. This is why Indy says, "Fools. They don't know what they've got there," as he is leaving the building.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: To add to the previous answer, there is no way that the ark could have been secretly returned to where it was found and then conveniently forgotten. Too many people already knew of its existence and location. It would only be a matter of time before someone more sinister would retrieve it.

raywest

Question: What does "Spider" pull out of the stream bed? I really don't think it's gold. Gold isn't porous, and I don't think he'd be able to hold it with one hand.

Answer: It's a gold nugget. It is not real gold, of course, but is a movie prop. That is why it looks like some other type of substance.

raywest

Or it's a piece of quartz with a lot of gold in it.

Answer: Lava.

Question: If Thurman knows that Willie isn't Santa, why does he ask him questions as if he is Santa? (Ex: The many questions he asks while Willie's in the tub).

Answer: Thurman unfortunately isn't the smartest kid. He doesn't accept that Willie isn't Santa. He thinks Willie is trying to cover his identity as it's always a secret.

Ssiscool

Question: Kyle Reese finds Sarah before the Terminator - why does he need to wait hours, until the Terminator has his laser sighting on Sarah, before approaching her?

Answer: Kyle didn't know what the Terminator looked like so he waited for him to make a move on Sarah so he could identify him in future.

Answer: By saving her life he shows that he means no harm. The terminator on the other hand is out to kill her. By saving her, he's given her a reason to trust him.

Ssiscool

Question: What was that black liquid that filled up the courtyard, and how did Mitchell die?

Answer: The liquid acts like tar leaving residue when it goes. It's toxic and or acidic as it destroys everything it touches. Mitchell I believe is the person who gets caught up the massive snare trap. So He could have been killed by the snare, the black liquid or just died from drowning in the liquid.

Ssiscool

Answer: In regard to the black liquid, it is some type of a (fictional) toxic, tar-like substance that kills instantly upon touching living organisms. Mitchell is killed during the assault on the capital. When Peeta experiences a flashback, he attempts to kill Katniss. Mitchell pounces on Peeta to protect her, but Peeta throws him off, and Mitchell gets caught up in netting from a pod. The others are unable to free Mitchell, and he dies as the black tar washes over him.

raywest

Question: We were made to believe that they would be helpless without the holo device to spot the pods. Weren't all of the pods triggered by movement? Couldn't they just throw rubble ahead of them as they progressed? They would have to anyway as there could be additional pods that weren't shown by the holo device.

Answer: Knowing where the pods are exactly gives them a major advantage over throwing rubble. We are shown a pod that triggers machine guns. They know the pod is ahead of them so they take cover behind the stone structures. If they just randomly threw rubble and the pod was to the side of them, they would have been hit by the machine guns.

Ssiscool

Answer: It saves time, energy, and is safer and more efficient if they can specifically pinpoint where the pods are located rather than randomly throwing rubble in an attempt to find them.

raywest

Question: If Jack thinks the room is the whole world and that space surrounds the room, where does he think Old Nick is coming from when he walks in the door?

Answer: He's a five-year-old child and lives in a very structured, controlled, and unnatural environment. He isn't capable at that age to really begin questioning how and why something should or shouldn't be. He believes what he is told.

raywest

Well, except when Joy tells him that something outside Room exists and he doesn't believe what she tells him and immediately questions how that could be possible.

And that is certainly a starting age point of where a child will begin to have an ability to analyze and interpret their environment and question what they are told. They begin asking "why" to whatever they are told.

raywest

Question: What does V compare the people of England to during his TV broadcast?

Answer: Either to himself ("I, like many of you, enjoy the comfort of the everyday routine,") or saying that the people of England voted the dictatorial Suttler into power and that they are responsible for the state that the country is now in. ("Then again, truth be told, if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror.").

Friso94

Answer: Most likely because Jane convinced him to.

Friso94

Also Selvig and Jane want to understand the Einstein Rosen bridge. They think Thor might be helpful and they don't trust SHIELD. And Selvig is starting to think there is a connection between the weird science stuff and the Norse tales from his childhood.

I don't think so.

Jane convinced Erik that Thor likely had some knowledge of the phenomenon they had seen. The photos they recorded showed him within the Bifrost anomaly.

Question: At the Jedi Temple, why does Commander Appo aim his gun at Senator Organa and try to kill him?

Answer: When Organa is trying to investigate what's going on at the Temple, he's simply just stopped by the troopers at first. They don't want him to witness what they are doing. At first he is just going to be turned away and threatened. When the Padawan attacks them and they kill the boy, Organa is now a first hand witness to the Troopers slaughtering the Jedi children. So then he becomes an enemy and they have to try and dispose of him. It would not have been good for them to just to out right kill a Senator on their own so that's why there were just going to turn him away.

Quantom X

Question: During the big fight scene near the end, one of the henchman Will Smith fights lifts a wrench to strike, only to randomly die for seemingly no reason. He screams, some sparks shoot out of his ears, and he's dead. What killed him? I've seen some people say he electrocuted himself on the equipment around him, but that's not true - the wrench is nowhere near hitting anything. Did he just... randomly blow a fuse or something?

TedStixon

Answer: He's some sort of robot or cyborg, and he's shorted out from the damage he received in the brawl.

Brian Katcher

Answer: In the original script, Jim West simply sidestepped the menacing MetalHead henchman, who plunged through the doorway, falling to his death. Apparently, this wasn't a spectacular enough way to end the brawl, so the scene was revised to add the huge machine wrench and electrical sparking effects. West intentionally hands the wrench to MetalHead, who grabs it with both hands and raises it to strike; he then shorts-out with electrical sparking effects before falling out the door. I believe the implication is that, when MetalHead grabbed the wrench with both hands, it completed an exposed electrical circuit that caused him to quickly short-out.

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: Volstagg: If you even think about betraying him... Loki: You'll kill me? Evidently there will be a line.

Question: Why do we never see Sarah or Henry in school?

Answer: Film makers have to make choices about what can be shown in a movie. They are limited by the running time of the film, what best serves the overall continuity of the plot, and also the logistics of setting up and filming many different scenes. Sometimes scenes are filmed, but later are cut out entirely. If showing Sarah or Henry in school does not directly serve the storyline, then there is no reason to have it in the film.

raywest

Question: How come Connie knew Michael killed Carlo, but she believed Fredo drowned?

MikeH

Answer: When Connie says the part about "Poor Fredo, drowned, but it was God's will...Michael, I love you. I'll always help you," she is really telling Michael that she knows he had Fredo killed, but she forgives him.

Answer: Fredo lived for a long time after his betrayal of the family, plus when their Mother died Michael hugged Fredo in front of everyone after Connie talked to him about forgiving Fredo. I believe that Connie believed that Michael had forgiven Fredo that day and it was an accident. Anthony was supposed to go with them that day and she is the one that stopped Anthony from going, so I also think that plays into why Connie believes it was an accident as well.

Answer: It's less that she believes it than that she chooses to believe it. In the first film, she's naive about Michael, her father, etc., and so doesn't understand the realpolitik behind Michael's killing of Carlo. By the third film she's become much more inured to the family business (as well as more cynical and world weary), and so accepts the "official" explanation for Fredo's death even though she knows, deep down, it isn't true.

I'd add that by the time of Fredo's death, Connie knew Michael had grown more powerful and was becoming more dehumanized. She feared him enough to know to never confront him directly. After her husband's execution, she knew that any disloyalty to the family would be severely punished. She was also totally dependent on him for money and would not risk losing that.

raywest

Question: How old are Peter, Lulu, Seth and Zoe?

Answer: Peter - 3. Lulu - 10. Seth - 13. Zoe - 16. Although the children actors were 2-3 years older than the characters they were playing (which isn't uncommon, but more noticeable at these younger ages).

Bishop73

Question: Did they ever look at the hole in his pocket that the knife supposedly slipped out of?

Answer: If you're referring to the jurors, no. We see the entirety of their deliberations. If you're referring to the prosecution or defense, that is unknown. Given, however, that none of the jurors brought up the question, it's likely there was at least a check of his clothes to verify he had a hole in his pocket.

Given how easy it would be to simply tear a hole as an excuse, even if it was there, it wouldn't be much in the way of corroboration.

LorgSkyegon

Question: In the scenes where Rick lights a match to use on a stick of dynamite, he does so by striking the match against either his own ear or the ear of Ardeth Bay. Is there an explanation to how he does this?

Josh West

Answer: He's lighting the match on his beard-stubble by raking it down his face. He's not striking the matches on his ear. It's not practical at all (and in fact, it's basically impossible unless you have beard-stubble like sandpaper), but it's just a cute way for the movie to show how much of a bad-a** he is. In reality behind the scenes, they actually had a strip of matchbox taped to the actor's faces that they were striking the matches on to light them. But with the right camera placement, it looks like they're lighting them on their faces.

TedStixon

Answer: Matches in those days were friction matches, with added red phosphorous so you could light them on basically any surface, as long as you generated enough heat. Some prefer the bottom of their boots, or a wall, but others light them on their own body, or someone else's.

lionhead

Bare skin does not provide the necessary friction to light a match. It's possible to light one using one's fingernail by flicking it hard against the match head, but not with skin. There has to be a hard textured surface to create a spark.

raywest

Rough stubble?

Those matches are known as 'strike anywhere matches', because of the phosphorous coating on the matchhead they can be used on any suitably frictional surface. That's why Rick used Ardeth's stubble beard to strike the matchhead against.

Answer: I don't think he was rubbing the match on bare skin, more likely the edge of where the beard grows. The rough hairs would make the area of skin able to produce enough friction to light the match as long as it was rubbed fast enough.

scaryterri

That is very unlikely, and even if it was possible, it would cause deep pain and injury to the skin.

raywest

Don't be ridiculous. It's not a sanding stone you are rubbing with, it's just a match.

lionhead

Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btTR7-HfM-k.

lionhead

Answer: There's no explanation, but really, this is just a movie invention.

raywest

Question: When they get chased by the other kids Charlie asks Jack (the living snowman) to turn them to ice to which Jack replies he "doesn't even got pickets". Was this some sort of joke? Could someone enlighten me?

Answer: He says "I don't even have pockets." He's just saying he doesn't have the power to zap them into ice.

Bishop73

Question: Can anyone explain the dates in the first movie? I am very confused. The Terminator arrives on Thursday May 12 at 1:52 AM. The first killing is on Friday (although there is no indication that more than a full day has passed. Lastly, Sarah's timecard says it is 5/19. This would also be a Thursday (although we know it is a Friday). Has a week really passed? Makes no sense.

Answer: It takes the terminator time to gather weapons and find each victim so yes, time has passed. Easily several days.

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