Answered questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: Why are the audience members at Don Juan shocked at the "provocative" nature of the performance? I get people were more conservative during those times, but didn't the audience members choose to go to that play? Were people just excited to see a new play and did not expect to the performance to be provocative?

lala831

Answer: I do not think that the audience was shocked by the 'provocative' performance but the music being played. (I think that because of the conductor's reaction and whatever) But I do have an answer for as to why the audience reacted in a certain way.I suppose they are used to the kind of music that the Opera performed. I think that The Phantom purposely wrote the music in with that specific vibe and whatnot and it might be because he wanted Christine (and perhaps himself as well) to be the only performers with beautiful lyrics and music.

debbi.ee

Question: Who laced the cookies that were given to the children with arsenic? It's never shown who applies it, only who takes the cookies to them.

Answer: When the children discover the cookies had been poisoned (revealed by the death of their pet mouse which ate part of one of the cookies), they suspect their grandmother. After all, she was the one who had been cruel to them all along. But eventually, they realise that it was in fact, their mother, Corinne, who was lacing the cookies with poison. She was doing so with the hope that the children would eventually die, seemingly from disease. In doing so, she would secure the family inheritance which was contingent upon her never having had children from her first marriage. They eventually confront their mother on the day of her second wedding, and a struggle ensues which ultimately leads to Corinne falling to her death from a balcony.

Michael Albert

Question: Can someone be shot through the side and just duct tape the entry and exit holes? (Wouldn't the bullet have mushroomed in the body and not exited anyway?) If there were a real gunshot wound like that, how long until he bleeds out?

Answer: Duct taping the wounds may seal the injury and hold the bleeding, but it may not be effective. If something along the lines of this would happen in real life, it would be best to tend to the wounds properly in case of infection. Whether or not the bullet would get stuck inside the body depends on if whether or not the bullet hits something, that would cause it to get stuck inside the body. How long until someone would bleed out in real life depends on the severity of the gunshot wound and whether or not something major was hit.

Casual Person

Question: It was discovered that Chucky was able to transfer his soul into Andy's Good Guy in the first movie by not only saying a chant but also using a magic amulet. So why, in the other three movies, when he is starting the chant does he not need the amulet to transfer his soul out of the doll into someone else, but in this movie, he needs to use it if he wants to return to his own body?

Answer: There's two possible explanations. First, and the most likely, is that this is simply what's referred to as a "retcon." (Short for "Retroactive Continuity") A term to describe new information/rules/backstory/etc. that are introduced in order to alter the path of a story, or impose new ideas into a narrative. In this case, the series creator and writer Don Mancini needed a reason for the characters to go on a road-trip, hence he created this new idea for an amulet that Chucky need to obtain. And basically, Mancini himself has admitted that he will often change the rules for the series as needed from film to film based on the story he wants to tell, which makes this the more plausible explanation. The second possible explanation is that you could argue that the amulet will allow Chucky to transfer his soul regardless of how long he's been in the doll's body, surpassing the time limit imposed in previous films. But in all seriousness, the former is the more likely explanation. They just needed a new story-element to justify the road-trip aspect of the story.

TedStixon

Both answers work for me. Thank you.

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 created 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.

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