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: When Patton visits the battlefield he says he was there when the battle happened. What did he mean? He wasn't born yet.

Answer: George S. Patton was not speaking figuratively. In real life, Patton very much believed in reincarnation, and he believed he had been reincarnated as a warrior many times, going back thousands of years. His poetry described his real-life belief in reincarnation.

Answer: In real life, George Patton wrote a poem called "Through a Glass, Darkly." This scene is a way to tie that poem into the film. Depending on how you interpret the poem (I suggest reading it and drawing your own conclusion) he's talking about his past lives, where he has been reincarnated as a soldier, or warrior, etc each time. In the poem he suggest he remembers each life and the battles he's fought. So in the scene he's saying he fought in the Punic Wars. If you think he's speaking figuratively, then through his studies of past wars, he's able to vividly image himself there and it feels as if he was there.

Bishop73

Question: Why did Barty run away, letting Harry go at the world cup? I know he heard the voices of Hermione and Ron but he's smart enough to know that he could've killed them and then just taken Harry. After all, isn't that why he was there in the first place?

Answer: Taking Harry and killing Ron and Hermione at that time would have made it too obvious that Voldemort was behind it. Voldemort's plot hinged on abducting Harry in a way that no one would immediately know what had happened to him. The TriWizard Tournament was traditionally extremely dangerous, resulting in students in past events being killed while competing. Harry's disappearance in the maze would initially be attributed to some tragic mishap, giving Voldemort time to complete his resurrection.

raywest

Yeah, the ritual needed to be made ready too I think, for Voldemort's revival.

lionhead

Question: Why didn't he use his crazy super intelligence, or his telekinesis, to either find a cure for his tumor or at the very least slide the tumor out of his own brain?

Answer: 1. After losing consciousness a second time, George wakes up in the hospital and is told by Dr. Brunder that instead of the tumor destroying brain function, it has been stimulating it not only making George hallucinate seeing a bright light, but, was also responsible for giving him his abilities. Unfortunately, by the time the tumor was detected, it had grown out of control meaning that George had only a short time to live making a search for a cure impossible, especially since he was told there was a very slim chance of survival if he had it removed. 2. If George had tried to use telekinesis to remove the tumor, he would probably have ended up killing himself in the process.

Answer: George saw the alien light flash twice. The implication was that the first alien light flash actually created the "tumor" in George's brain, and it was the tumor that gave him his superhuman abilities. There's no way George could telekinetically remove the tumor or send it into remission because it was the source of his powers. If he started tampering with it, he would instantly lose his powers.

Charles Austin Miller

Ah yes.

Question: Why didn't Joaquin's father appear in the movie when he was remembered by the townsfolk? Shouldn't he be in the land of the remembered as well?

Answer: I believe the reason is that his dad isnt dead but wants the town to believe he is. I believe Chakal is his dad many things in movie suggest so.

Jorge R. Gutierrez has already confirmed that Chakal is not Joaquin's father, but might actually be his uncle.

Answer: According to Jorge R. Gutierrez, Joaquin's father is not in The Land of the Remembered but in The Land of the Unknown due to another one of Xibalba's bets.

Question: Why did anyone believe Sam killed Alan? Nobody saw it happen and everybody knew Sam loved him. What made anyone believe that Sam killed his own son?

adamtrainman@aol.com

Answer: People believe the craziest things. I don't think it was widely believed Sam killed Alan, but that he ran away from home. Through the passed time stories pop up about murder and hiding Alan behind the walls of the house. It was just a rumour.

lionhead

Answer: The only mention of the rumor we hear is from the exterminator in 1995. Maybe he just made it up to try to spook Judy and Peter, or he heard a rumor that got distorted over time and didn't question it himself.

Actually Sarah also mentions the same rumor.

Answer: I think it was a way to solve the mystery of the town. All kinds of theories are created.

Even though Sarah Whittle was the only witness to Alan's disappearance.

Trainman

Ship in a Bottle - S6-E12

Question: Posting this as a question, rather than a mistake, as there may be a logical explanation. After Captain Picard, Barklay, and Data become tracked in the simulation of the Enterprise, several times we see them separate to different parts of the ship (Data going to Engineering while Captain Picard remains on the bridge, etc.) Since they are physically in the holodeck, close to each other, they're being tricked by the holodeck. Why, then, when Data throws his comm badge toward the warp core (to prove they're in the holodeck) does the holodeck not continue "tricking" them? If the simulation can cope with two people visibly walking further apart than the actual room, why wouldn't it use similar techniques to make it appear Data's badge just landed where he threw it?

Answer: The holodeck simulates walking away by making "treadmills" out of forcefields. If the badge was thrown near a real wall, it would not be able to allow it to actually pass through the wall. The physical barrier would still exist, even if a simulation of the badge was shown to go further. This would mean that it would still hit it and land on the ground.

Ship in a Bottle - S6-E12

Question: How is Moriarty's simulation able to fool Data? Throughout the show Data is shown to have vastly superior senses to humans. Additionally, spatial tricks and forced perspective would be ineffective on him since he doesn't see the same way humans see. In another episode, Data is able to discern the incredibly slow movement of an object caught in time. It seems unlikely he would be unable to tell his surroundings were computer generated.

Answer: The programme was specifically written to be able to fool Data. As such, additional processing power may have been given to the holodeck projectors to ensure that even Data's more advanced senses were fooled. Additionally, it was never suggested that Data could tell the difference between holograms on the holodeck and real life.

Question: Two questions: One, wouldn't Hades had been able to figure out that Hercules wasn't a mortal, not only by his obvious strength, but also by not dying immediately from every monster he faced? Wasn't the point of Hercules turning mortal was so his strength would be gone? Second, when Hercules makes the deal with Hades towards the end, all Hades had to do to take away his strength was basically just to touch him with the handshake. If it was that easy to take away his strength, why didn't he try this years ago?

Answer: Just because Herc still had his godly strength doesn't mean he wasn't mortal, he was still able to be killed, which is why he started to die when he went to rescue Megs soul. Hades thought that his monsters were strong enough to kill him but he was wrong. Herc had to give is strength up willingly with Hades deal in order to lose it.

Answer: Other heroes of Greek mythology have beaten monsters and not been divine. Doesn't mean that it's always a god. As for the second point, Hercules willingly gave up his strength as part of a bargain.

Greg Dwyer

Answer: According to the novel, it sleeps the entire time.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: Sleep for 27 years.

Question: Who is the guy sitting alone on a picnic table in the school courtyard while the girls are singing "Summer Nights"?

Answer: This man is the high school's kitchen staff. He's wearing a blue shirt, beige trousers, and a white apron. All during this lunch scene we can see him in the background in a few shots, while he's collecting students' trays, etc., even before they start singing "Summer Nights." (00:11:15).

Super Grover

Thank you SO much for this answer! I have recently gone back and looked at the scene, and sure enough - he's a cafeteria worker. What he's doing sitting on the table in the "thinker" pose at the end of "Summer Nights" is another question, altogether. But at least you've answered my question as to who the heck is.

Michael Albert

The Summer Nights scene shows the progression of their lunch - at the end everyone has gone except the pink ladies + classmates. He's probably waiting for them to go so he can clear up, you see him resume work as the girls leave.

Answer: The guy on the table that was just at looking out at the end of "Summer Nights" was John Travolta's brother he was just an extra.

Travolta has 2 older brothers, Sam and Joey, who are also actors and have been involved in the industry. The guy sitting on the table near the end of the song is neither Sam nor Joey.

Answer: I think a school teacher.

Answer: Danny.

Can't be Danny since he was also singing the same song on the bleachers with the guys.

lartaker1975

It was John Travolta's brother he was just an extra.

Question: Wouldn't 7000 songs in a 32 gigabyte iPod be really short songs?

Answer: It depends on the format of the songs. MP3's would take more space, so 7,000 MP3's would be roughly 2.5 mins on average. However, the specs for the 32GB 3G iPod were "Holds up to 7,000 songs in 128-Kbps AAC format."

Bishop73

Question: During "The Phantom of The Opera", when the Phantom takes Christine to his lair using the mirror passageway to his lair, it was well lit up with candles but when Meg discovers the passageway, it is dark and filled with rats. Were the candlabras just in Christine's imagination or were they real?

Answer: Almost assuredly real. The candelabras were in the Phantom's control to make appear or disappear. He brought them forward to light their entrance into the lair. However, it was generally in his best interests to keep the passageway dark and shadowy. The rats were always there, regardless. But, as rats are won't to do, scurried away from light and human movement.

Michael Albert

Question: In the original musical of West Side Story, the song "Officer Krupke" is sung some time after the rumble when Riff was killed. Why was it changed to before the rumble?

Answer: Actually there were a number of changes made in the movie adaptation compared to the original stage version. There were cuts, new additions, and changes to music, lyrics, dialogue, and characters. A few of the musical numbers were switched around because it was felt the storyline flowed better on screen, for different reasons. Some examples are "Gee, Officer Krupke" and "I Feel Pretty" which are cheerful, light-hearted songs and were moved to before "The Rumble", and "Cool" was moved to after "The Rumble" which gives that song's lyrics gravitas.

Super Grover

Question: Why would Kiddo sneak up, ninja-style, on Budd when she had confronted all the other opponents face-to-face? He seemed the least formidable and it didn't seem to match with her other warrior battles.

pambula88

Answer: She approached each foe in a manner appropriate to the situation. Budd was in a trailer surrounded by open land and total visibility, and he also knew she was coming, so sneaking up, quietly and unobtrusively, made sense. The real question is why, after taking so many precautions and being so quiet, she flung the door open and charged in as noisily and vulnerably as possible.

Question: After leaving the cave (1st time - Jack's on the Pearl bargaining with Barbossa), why does the Pearl attack the ship which Will and Elizabeth are on? Okay they were after the medallion but why did Will and Elizabeth escape from them? Why not go back, lift the curse and everyone could go home happily...? I understand that they couldn't trust the pirates, but why? This time there was no reason of mistrust. What else could they want from him and her except the medallion? And why do they hold it back? It'd be much easier to give it to them and go home. Of course, Jack is an exception because he wants the Pearl from them. But Will and Elizabeth?

Answer: Because they still need Will's blood to lift the curse, and at that point, he doesn't know that yet. He only realises it when he is talking to Elizabeth aboard the Interceptor, and on the island, he is just concerned with saving her. As for why he wouldn't just give in, well, it's still likely the pirates would kill Will, because he now knows the location of the island where they store all their treasure.

Friso94

Question: Why does Mrs. Weasley buy some dress robes for Harry and get old ones for Ron? If she's buying clothes for Harry (a famous child) over someone from her own family, couldn't that give Ron the impression that she cares more for Harry than her own family?

THE GAMER NEXT DOOR

Answer: Keep in mind that when his parents died, Harry was left a moderately large inheritance. If memory serves, Mrs. Weasley mentions stopping at his Gringotts vault to get some money on his behalf for school supplies. So while Ron's dress robes may be a little shabby and secondhand, given how tight his family's expenses are, Harry's are nicer because his wealth allows him more wiggle room. Who Molly cares about more, or Ron's inference thereof, has got nothing to do with it.

Cubs Fan

Answer: I agree with what Cubs Fan said, and I want to point out that Mrs. Weasley knows what Harry's life with the Dursleys is like. She probably wanted to buy him dress robes because he is treated badly at home. Ron almost never gets new clothes because his family is poor. Harry almost never gets them because the Dursleys choose to make him wear Dudley's old clothes. They deliberately spoil Dudley and neglect Harry.

Question: When they are driving to the pub, in the overcrowded car, Shaun's stepfather comments that the speed limit is "20 miles per hour." Shouldn't it be kilometers per hour. I'm American but the United Kingdom obviously uses the metric system.

Greggpath

Answer: The UK doesn't "obviously" use metric. We still uses miles for all road signs, but metric for most weights and measures. You buy pints in a pub, not a half litre. It's an odd mish-mash. Car speedometers have kph on them, but in a smaller font - mph is dominant.

You learn something new everyday! Thanks for the information.

Answer: They never mention what ultimately happens to his parents. However it's mentioned they "searched high and low" for George and never found him. The animation even shows all the passengers calling out for George, to suggest they also aided in the search.

Bishop73

Question: Why does Darth Vader's mask need to alter his vision (there are digital symbols and a red shade to the lenses)? I had a classmate who had been burned in a fire, including his face, but he could see normally.

Answer: Anakin Skywalker's eyes were fine, the mask visor just gives him extras probably like heat vision and a HUD. Since he was wearing the mask, he might as well wear a visor with technology that enhances his vision.

lionhead

He had become Darth Vader before the fight with Obi-Wan on Mustafar. He is no longer Anakin Skywalker when he first receives the mask.

Question: How did Schultz know Big Daddy was coming after them? Why kill them instead of just hiding in the trees where they already were?

Answer: Django and Schultz killed some of Big Daddy's farmhands, and he wasn't going to let a freed slave kill some of his workers. Schultz knew Big Daddy would come after them for what they did. Plus Django would never let go of a chance to kill a slave owner who was trying to kill him.

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