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: How is it this takes place after Avengers, yet Tony's home can get blown up on national TV after which he is then presumed dead, yet not a peep from not only the Avengers but S.H.I.E.L.D. either? Something that big happening should warrant a very strong response, but...nothing.

Answer: Nothing that's shown. Just because the reaction isn't mentioned in the films doesn't mean it didn't happen.

Question: All 3 boys have their last names mentioned in the movie at some point, but the 2 girls do not have their last names mentioned at all. In the credits at the end of the film, it mentions the full names of the girls... Claire Standish and Allison Reynolds. Why would these last names be created just for the credits if they were never used? Was there a relevance for doing this?

Answer: This happens frequently in films. It's likely there were deleted scenes mentioning the girls' last names, or showing them on screen (i.e. on a form, in a yearbook, etc).

Question: How did Joker rig the hospital and the ferries with explosives? And how did no one notice them in either situation?

Kwjduff

Answer: We aren't shown exactly how the Joker pulls off any of his stunts, it's part of the mystery of his character. In order to pull off the two that you mentioned, the Joker would need meticulous planning and impeccable timing. It seems impossible to pull off either crime without anyone noticing but that's kind of the point. The Joker is apparently prepared for any contingency.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: What is the story behind the strange makeup blunders in Justice League? Early in the film, both Henry Cavill's and Ben Affleck's facial features seem oddly, almost creepily unrecognizable (in the smartphone sequence of Superman and in the private jet sequence with Bruce Wayne and Alfred). Also, Bruce Wayne's hair color seems to randomly change throughout the movie. As I understand it, between the directing upheaval and editing, many old scenes were deleted and new scenes added, requiring a lot of re-shooting. Is that the reason for the sloppy makeup continuity?

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: I don't know about the Ben Affleck portion of your question, but when the film was going back for reshoots, Henry Cavill had grown a mustache for his upcoming role in "Mission: Impossible Fallout" which he was contractually obligated to keep. The special effects crew had no choice but to digitally erase his mustache in post-production, which is why his mouth area looks so odd in some scenes (if you have seen the trailer for "Deadpool 2," Deadpool makes reference to this when he notes that the special effects for Cable's metal arm are not finished, and remarks that it's not like they are trying to remove a mustache). Interestingly, a person on YouTube posted a video of them removing Henry Cavill's mustache using a $500 computer, and it looks remarkably better than what this film did with a $300 million budget.

Phaneron

Answer: Juan Ortodoncia - he's the one who gets to cross over to the Land of the Living because he's remembered by his dentist. It seems like he also still has braces on his teeth.

Bishop73

Question: What is the dance Dr. Evil does when he first meets Scott to try to show he was "hip"?

Answer: The "Macarena" by Los Del Rio.

Phaneron

Question: When JP is taking a bath in the jail, his leg is propped up out of the water. It reveals a significant ankle injury. From what?

Answer: Earlier in the movie, Colt and Mississippi are doing a nighttime patrol of the town, when men on horses charge at them. There is a shoot out and JP comes running to help. He gets shot in the leg.

That did not address the ankle injury. It looks badly bruised not a gun shot. Can you tell what happened?

Show generally

Question: Why was Magic School never brought up before season 6? Did the writers just not come up with the idea until then? The amount of times they used it for refuge you'd think Leo would have mentioned it earlier.

Answer: There are several reasons. One, Magic School was a new concept, that only been active for a few years. Two, like any private school, it accepts only the truly gifted ones. Those who will become real fighters in the battle between good and evil. Third, Leo had to prove he and Piper are truly good parents in raising Wyatt. The future king of the magical realm and not hide every time trouble occurs. Fourth, once Wyatt was drawn to magic school, they knew it was his destiny to be there.

Answer: Nicholas offers to split the bill with Conrad, in fact expressing shock at the total amount. We are never told how Conrad earned his wealth: inheritance from their late father seems the most plausible guess, along with possible investments, income from interest etc.

Answer: He didn't, at the party where the everything is explained, Michael Douglas is signing receipts, one after another. Sean Penn says, this is payment for this and for that.

Chosen answer: For two reasons, one to be polite and not act suspiciously, if he acted nervous or uncomfortable, the sheriff would be wary of him. Second, so the sheriff would leave quickly in case he had no cash or wanted to pay with a credit card. There were no slide cards back in the 1970's.

Question: What is the background music playing when the kids first enter the Mullins house?

Answer: It's an original piece called 'A New Home' by Benjamin Wallfisch.

Ssiscool

Question: Why was Tom bringing the football team to his house?

Answer: Because he needed a way to coach the team while also watching his kids.

Show generally

Question: In one episode in season 10, Phoebe asks Joey to help her get Mike to do something in bed. Does anyone know what it was she wanted Mike to do?

Answer: It wasn't specified. It's left to the viewer's imagination.

raywest

The One Where Ross Hugs Rachel - S6-E2

Question: Right after the lawyer says to Ross, "of course you did," the camera cuts to Ross. If you look closely, you can see something waving in front of the lawyer's mouth. It is either his tongue or finger. It looks funny, like the actor did it on purpose. Also, the hair looks different, like a chunk has been cut out. It is most likely a different actor for that section of the scene. Why was something waiving in front of his mouth?

Answer: While it does look funny, there's no chunk missing, it's just the way his forehead curves and his hair sticks out on top. It's just more noticeable at that one angle. And, it's the same actor. The thing waving is his finger that he's wagging, and it does seem to be because of a continuity error. Shortly after, when Ross says he'll look into the therapy, the lawyer then points his finger and shakes it (as if to non-verbally say "yes, do that"). It is this action that we see the lawyer doing, from behind, even though he doesn't wag his finger until later.

Bishop73

Question: What's the name of the actress that plays Nick's secretary? The only with the Ivy League education and a boyfriend in Israel. Her character's name is never mentioned so I can't use IMDb. She has a passing resemblance to Piper Perabo. I know it's not her.

Answer: The actress is Sarah Paulson who played Annie.

raywest

Thanks very much.

Answer: In Alien 3, Ripley discovers there was an Alien queen embryo growing inside her, so she chose to kill herself. By cloning her, scientist were hoping the Alien queen embryo she had in her at the time of her death would also become cloned, which finally happen after the 8th try. This is also why the Alien queen they extracted from Ripley has some human traits.

Bishop73

Question: If Davy Jones was part of the Brethren Court once, then why did he not know the location of Shipwreck Cove?

Answer: Davy Jones was not one of the nine Pirate Lords who made up the Brethren Court.

raywest

Question: Why did Abby and Marcella hold hands for just 2 seconds before walking up to Barney at the end to hug him?

Answer: To show the strength of their friendship and show how much they loved each other, which is what that whole song was about.

Question: While a number of cigarettes show up in the silver streak, none appear to be lit. Am I wrong or was this subtle comedy, or production preference?

Answer: Most likely it was a production decision. Having multiple extra actors continually smoking during multiple takes and over hours of filming would make for a smokey set, affect breathing and burn peoples' eyes, be a fire hazard, and create consistency problems with cigarettes being in various stages of use (freshly lit or almost down to a stub).

raywest

Question: Towards the end, we see V say he wants Credie to bring Sutler to him. Before that, he has Finch spy on Credie...why? Just so Credie becomes suspicious of his own party spying on him? Also, why would Credie uphold his end of the bargain and bring Sutler to V? We are given the reason by V that that's the only way he'll be caught but V has no way to verify that Credie would do that and has a lot of reason to doubt it.

savedsynner

Answer: Credie is shown throughout the film to be maneuvering to replace Sutler, and when V gives him (Credie) a seemingly gift-wrapped opportunity to get rid of him (Sutler), he takes it because A) V has convinced him that Sutler is who V really wants dead, not Credie; and B) Credie is confident that whatever V has planned, he and his men with their guns (and their bullets) will be able to kill V after Sutler is dead. V tells Finch to watch Credie because he knows Finch is a good man, and wants to lead him to evidence of how deep the government's corruption goes.

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.