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: Is there anything Dewey could have done to change the switch other than getting out of the cab?

Answer: No.

Question: How did Verona know Carl and why did she cry out his name after going after the decoy carriage with the stake bomb?

Answer: There is a lot of backstory to the Van Helsing film, because they intended to do sequels and prequels (if this film was successful, which was not the case). Carl was a well-known agent for the Vatican who supplied Van Helsing with numerous and ingenious weapons for fighting werewolves, vampires, et cetera. When Verona screams Carl's name, she's acknowledging that Carl bested her.

Charles Austin Miller

If Van Helsing was James Bond, then Carl would be "Q "Carl made the devices and tricks that made Van Helsing physically invincible.

Charles Austin Miller

I just watched that clip because I didn't know she said his name but I'm pretty sure she says "no" not "Carl".

Answer: It appears to be just baked beans, likely without meat or spices. Nuns will often eat a very bland diet, especially a poor order dedicated to contemplation.

Answer: It looked to me like a stew of some sort.

Michael Albert

Folks, the food is visible. It's literally just beans.

Answer: Possibly gruel.

Alan Keddie

As I said above, the food is visible and there is no ambiguity. It's literally just beans.

Question: When Matt bounces, and Ryan doesn't bounce, they make the rope snap. Aren't tether ropes very difficult to snap in real life?

Answer: Space tethers (both synthetic fiber and metallic cable) are incredibly strong and can withstand hundreds of pounds of force. Like everything else in "Gravity," the tether snapping is pure fiction.

Charles Austin Miller

Question: How was Stanley Kubrick able to ensure that Danny Lloyd never found out that he was really in a horror movie? In the scene when Wendy accuses Jack of hurting Danny, she holds onto Danny and calls Jack a "son of a bitch." And what about when Danny sees the twin sisters? He looked terrified after seeing them.

Answer: Obviously, Danny Lloyd did eventually learn that "The Shining" was a horror film. During production, however, Stanley Kubrick only told Danny that the movie was a drama about a family living in a hotel. The single shot with Danny and the twin sisters in the corridor never showed anything particularly horrifying; Danny was simply looking straight into the camera and reacting to Kubrick's instructions.

Charles Austin Miller

Question: What is the white drink the bartender makes on the train?

Answer: It looks like a frozen daiquiri, a drink made with rum, lime juice, light syrup, and ice that is mixed in a blender to make it slushy.

raywest

Answer: Orders a Malt just after Mary orders a lemonade.

Answer: Vanilla-rum malted milkshake.

Answer: Definitely not a daiquiri. This looks like a shaken drink. Blended daiquiris were not a thing in the 50s.

The frozen daiquiri was invented sometime between the late 1920s and early 1930s by a Cuban bartender in Havana, using shaved ice and an electric blender. It was a favorite of Ernest Hemingway and became popular in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s, along with other tropical cocktails. Cuba and Cuban culture were fashionable during this era, at least until the Communist takeover. To clarify: the foursome have various beverages on their table (coffee, lemonade, a malted milkshake, and two other drinks). In the foreground, the bartender is pouring the slushy white drink mixture into four cocktail glasses sitting on the bar. That is when they sing, "Snow," and is what looks like frozen daiquiris. The scene is on YouTube.

raywest

Answer: They're best friends (and Lisa and Ali are Sophie's bridesmaids). Or are you asking how did they first meet and become friends?

Bishop73

Answer: They were once in a band together. They probably met hanging around the same clubs and being part of the local music scene.

raywest

Answer: One is wearing a Duke T-shirt. They could have met and become friends as well in a band together while in college.

Question: What did Lisa turn Chet into? Every time I've seen this movie, I could never figure it out.

Answer: According to the Wikipedia page for this movie, Lisa transforms Chet into a giant, talking turd.

Casual Person

Answer: A steaming pile of poo.

Answer: I was actually under the impression that Lisa turns Chet into a Toad, since he has bumpy like skin. He also eats a fly which is something that Toads do.

Question: In the movie at the 93 minute mark there is a white frame for a few seconds. What is the significance of that?

Answer: When David's life flashes before his eyes.

Question: During the scene when Roberta is reading the newspaper about her mother's death, the printed article mentions that the truck driver who killed her mom was named Peter. Are we to believe that this is "Crazy Pete"?

Answer: There are two different men named Peter. In the shot of the newspaper while Roberta is reading the article, it states that the driver of the pickup truck was Peter Norris (00:41:35). Then Sam finds the article about 12 year old Jonathan Simms and his mother, Beverly Ann, so we know that "Crazy Pete" is Peter Simms (00:43:00).

Super Grover

Answer: We are never even told that Crazy Pete is even the old mans real name. It was probably just a random person who killed Roberta's mother.

Question: Why was the name Max used for the helmet? Does it connect to one of the other 6 movies?

Answer: Yes the third movie Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo there is a character in the movie named Max.

Yes, but that Max didn't have two X's in his name, plus he was a thief trying to steal Herbie, not race him with a big racing suit.

Answer: Maybe Meg hadn't hugged her mom in a really long time so the mom must be thinking that she is dreaming that Meg is hugging her.

Question: Who is the actor with the scarred face Constantine sees when he first enters Papa Midnight's bar?

Answer: There are numerous uncredited actors in "Constantine," filling numerous generic roles such as "nightclub patron" or "demon," et cetera. The big scar-faced guy who passes John Constantine at the doorway in the club seems to be one of these uncredited, generic characters. There is no special mention of the character's name or his significance to the story, and no listed actor in the cast resembles him. However, having re-watched this scene many times, I'm starting to think the scar-faced man was an uncredited cameo by athletic 1970s actor John Beck (who would've been about 62 when "Constantine" was made). The facial proportions and mustache are right for Beck, his profile looks like a match, and Beck is slightly taller than Keanu Reeves, as depicted in the film.

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: I was thinking it was Jonah Hex...a DC character with the scarred face and all that. Maybe an Easter egg?

The original post specifically inquires about the actor rather than the character in the scene. The actor appears to be John Beck, an athletic actor who gained some stardom in the 1970s and 1980s. Beck was still active in film during the early-to-mid 2000s, when "Constantine" was produced, although he is uncredited in this movie (as many "Constantine" actors were uncredited).

Charles Austin Miller

Question: Nurse Wilkins is a named character in the film, but the entirety of her role seems to be her saying that her castor oil was stolen in the scene where Sandy was at a reception. Did she appear again (eg. at the gym), and was the castor oil significant in any way?

Answer: Nurse Wilkins, played by Fannie Flagg, only appeared on camera once during "Grease." It was, as you point out, during the scene in the office when Sandy first arrives to register at Rydell High School. She may have been present in other scenes, but never appeared on camera. She may also have had other speaking parts which were sacrificed to the cutting room floor. There is no way of knowing that. Castor oil was used, historically, for a variety of medicinal purposes - most notably as a laxative and remedy for minor digestive problems. It has a distinctly unpleasant taste. Therefore, stealing it would probably be just a minor prank, without any other apparent significance. I suppose one could draw conclusions about other uses adolescent boys could find for an unctuous substance like castor oil, but that would probably be reading far too much into a throw-away line.

Michael Albert

Nurse Wilkins is mentioned a classroom cut scene (available for flu jabs). Speculation, but maybe originally Sandy was originally going to be sick for the dance competition like the stage play (with Nurse Wilkins playing a role), but when ONJ's role got enhanced during filming, this scene was dropped.

Question: Marlon mentions having been very sick and hospitalized for a long time when he was a boy. Is this supposed to be when they switched a child actor for someone who was willing to commit to the show indefinitely?

Brian Katcher

Answer: Yes and no. Yes because they could have found someone who looked remarkably similar to the child actor that played him and if he had been "sick" for a long time (depending on the illness he "had") it would have explained why he looked slightly different. No because of him being Truman's best friend. Unless the studio found an actor who did look almost identical to the child actor, Truman would have been able to figure out his best friend was a different person.

Answer: It's probably a way of giving characters a break from the show, a way of writing them off-screen for a short while.

Question: What happened to Todd? Did Margo kick him out?

Answer: It wouldn't be much of a surprise to kick him out. Obviously he has no idea what happened to her when she comes back and asks her. She also believes the police knocking at her door is actually Todd and says if he want to come in, he'll have to break the door down. So logically, she did kick him out.

Question: Wasn't Jack chopping down the doors trying to kill Wendy? Why did he stop and suddenly only go after Danny when Dick pulled in?

Answer: My assumption is that he probably wasn't thinking rationally and used poor judgment. He could have killed Wendy when he had the perfect opportunity, but he probably assumed Halloran's presence would be a threat to his goal. He would obviously chase Danny since he was trying to get away.

Answer: Danny is the one Jack wanted to kill since he possess supernatural abilities. When Jack was chopping down the door, he was preying for Danny more than Wendy. Later he realises that Danny has escaped and leaves the place.

In the movie, Danny's parents don't know about his supernatural ability but in the book they do. It is explained more in the book but since Holloran has the shining as well, they are linked. So where Holloran is, Danny is sure to be near. So when he shows up, Jack goes after him knowing this fact instead of going after his wife.

Season 9 generally

Question: Does anyone know if the reason most of the main cast didn't return for season 9 is due to the actors' decision or was it a show makers' choice?

The_Iceman

Answer: A lot had to do with the direction Season 9 went, and some of ABC's influence. Show creator, Bill Lawrence, was approached by ABC to continue the show and he wanted to more or less do a spin off and call it "Med School" since he felt Season 8 was the last season for "Scrubs" (even Zach Braff thought that and joked about it on Twitter a few times). However, ABC rejected the idea of a spinoff, and I think ABC felt the actors didn't need to be brought back because they would be working on other projects. It should be noted, while only John McGinley and Donald Faison signed on to be regulars for Season 9, Judy Reyes was the only regular not to return. She wanted to sign on as a regular, but her character did not fit in with the show's new direction and wasn't offered a contract. When she was offered a guest spot, she turned it down. The other regulars only returned to help transition the show into something new, which because of ABC was still considered to be "Scrubs." Most of the writers also did not return.

Bishop73

Question: When on the rooftop, Noah's dad mentions his mother was a good listener. Are we to assume that she left them but still has an amicable relationship with the father or she passed away?

Answer: It's assumed that the mother has passed away.

raywest

Question: During the masquerade scene, Ana walks down the stairs and passes by Jack before he takes a photo of Christian and his family. My question is, how did he get there at all? Is it possible he had that information, meaning where Christian's parents were and when the masquerade would be, from the files he got in Fifty Shades Freed? Did he even have those files before starting the fire because that's when they first came into focus for the story?

Answer: The ball was an annual charity event the Grey family held that Jack probably knew about. Certainly it is no secret where the Grey family estate is located, so Jack could easily find it and slip into the party, appearing as a guest and even using a fake name. As the event was to raise money, attendees would not necessarily be restricted only to invitees. Often, people can buy a ticket for such an event.

raywest

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