Answered questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: Does Bill know that Elle poisoned Pei Mai? Pei Mai was Bill's master, and I highly doubt he would have approved of him being murdered in such a disrespectful way, but Elle was still on good terms with Bill which is evident from their phone conversation.

Answer: Since the film itself does not answer this question, any answer would be speculation at best. It is highly unlikely that Elle would tell Bill about it-she also murdered his brother, and lied about that, too-and since she was the only witness, he couldn't have heard it from anyone else.

Question: When Iris is driving to Amanda's house from the airport, they are driving southeast along the shore. But LAX is east of Santa Monica, which is where the cab turns to head inland. Am I the only person thinking this is wrong?

Answer: This is typical in many movies where a commute to a specific location is deliberately inaccurate. I live in Seattle and have seen movies that were filmed here showing someone driving to a real location in a direction that in no way would get them there. There are logistical considerations in filming, such as what locations are more scenic, physical barriers for film crews, obtaining permits, traffic considerations, and so on.

raywest

Question: After the Reliant ambushes the Enterprise, Kirk tricks Khan and hammers the Reliant into retreat. As Kirk turns to assess damage to the Enterprise, Scotty inexplicably appears on the bridge, carrying the charred body of Midshipman Peter Preston. Why on earth would Scotty bring the dying Preston to the bridge, rather than to SickBay with all the other injured? He had to deliberately bypass SickBay just to make an unnecessary appearance on the bridge.

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: At the time of the attack, most of Scotty's crew were attempting to flee a coolant leak caused by the damage. Cadet Preston (Scotty's nephew) remained at his post in the confusion, and was the reason the Enterprise was able to maintain minimal power with the energizers knocked out. Although he was wounded from the assault while rescuing another crew member, the coolant leak is what led to his ultimate demise, as the coolant was highly toxic. When Scotty brought him to the Bridge, he was himself quite disorientated from the events and was also devastated by his nephew's condition. Agreed it makes little to no sense, but Scotty didn't know what he was doing. His nephew was going to die, regardless of where he took him to. Going to sickbay would not have prevented it at this point. It seems like it was used as a mood breaker for the scene, crews celebrating their escape from death only to be confronted by it again in another form.

Answer: I believe Preston was already dead at that point. An earlier scene was edited out of the film that explained Preston was Scotty's nephew (his sister's son), and which may account for Scotty's rather odd reaction of first bringing him to the bridge.

raywest

Yet Preston is shown alive (still dying) in the SickBay moments later. Preston shares last words with Captain Kirk before he actually dies. So, this is a case of bad editing?

Charles Austin Miller

What was edited out of the film was an earlier explanation that Preston was Scotty's nephew-this was way before the Enterprise was attacked.

raywest

These scenes, which include several of Preston's lines which were cut, were restored in the 2002 Director's Edition. Curiously, when the film is aired on TV they still run the original video cut which has the scenes removed. The editing is really sloppy with the scenes cut out and the scenes establishing that Preston is Scotty's nephew add another emotional layer to the film. It makes Scotty's actions make so much more sense, he's overcome with grief over his nephew and anger at Khan. With the scenes cut what Scotty does makes very little sense.

BaconIsMyBFF

In the novelization, I believe it is explained that the ship is badly damaged enough that Scotty reached the bridge while attempting to get to sickbay because the computer glitched.

Answer: First, an 87% on a test would be a "B." But Drake says that test bumps his overall class grade to a 66, which is the "D-" they're talking about (before the test Drake was failing, so his overall grade was a 59 or lower). Although a "D-"is typically a 60-62 and a 66 would be just a plain "D."

Bishop73

Answer: Stottlemeyer was already upset after the phone call. He was trying to get "Kevin" (who would have to be a judge, but no further character information is given) to issue a restraining order with no evidence of needing one, except that Adrian Monk said she needs one. Kevin said he would need to "sleep on it." So it's clear they've been trying to provide protection and unable to get the results they need, which seems to be based on no one trusting Monk the way Stottlemeyer does. He's just angry that they failed to protect Linda despite all their work. Although it does feel like a scene was cut, or altered, from the show that shows the futile attempts to protect Linda which built up to his outrage.

Bishop73

Answer: While walking upstairs in the victims house randy starts messing with his out of place tennis shoes. When he gets upstairs to monks he has on other shoes. Could have to do with the expensive rug.

Question: How does the cop end up in the alternate Silent Hill? Alissa doesn't need her, and she shows up after Rose has already explored a little. I wouldn't expect Alissa to leave the opening to The dark Silent Hill open (not how you trap someone). Furthermore when it shifts from them and the spitting monster to the father and police, the police are already there, how did they not end up in the dark hill?

Answer: It's never explained in the film, but in all likelihood, it's feasible that Alessa brought her into the "fog world" in order to help Rose with her goal. Especially as she likely senses that Cybill is protective of children, and thus would want to help find Sharon. Or she simply was pulled in somehow when she was pursuing Rose. It's difficult to say, since the "rules" for how the town works in the film adaptation are not as clear as the rules from the original video-game, and there are plenty of changes.

Answer: All three died in the wreck. This is how they were able to enter the purgatory version of Silent Hill and why Alessa and Rose returned to their own home to find it similarly deserted.

Phixius

Nobody died in the car-wreck. This is a fan-theory that got out of control and contradicts not only the sequel (where it's blatantly shown they are alive), but this film's internal logic (which operates on the idea of there being multiple realities/dimensions) and the logic of the video-game source material. (Which similarly operates on the idea of there being multiple realities).

Any word on why Alessa and Rose returned to a home that was shrouded in fog just like Silent Hill, and why they and Christopher could not see one another? They left Silent Hill but remained in the alternate dimension? I'm genuinely curious because this is the first I've heard that their deaths were just a fan theory. I know Alessa was in the sequel, but I just chalked that up to the sequel being a really, really bad film.

Phixius

The implication at the end of the movie seems to be that Sharon and Dark Alessa merged back together into one person, and she is purposely keeping herself and Rose in the fog-world. While the movie itself isn't clear about why, a common interpretation is that Alessa wants to be together with Rose forever, perhaps to have a mother figure. (Which is definitely keeping with the film's themes of motherhood and the repeated mantra about mother being god in the eyes of a child.) The sequel is admittedly really bad and ret-cons this. But neither film indicates that they died.

TedStixon

Question: How would the United States charge Lokar for his crimes even if he was exposed? He's not an American citizen.

Answer: He would be charged as an International War Criminal. Bosnian war criminals were charged by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, a body of the United Nations.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: Yes, he is.

Bishop73

Answer: S04e15, "The Kids Rob a Train."

Bishop73

Question: When Luke surrenders to the Imperials on Endor, Darth Vader gives the Commander permission to search for other Rebels. Why does he say "Bring his companions to me" if he and Luke are about to leave for the Death Star?

Answer: Presumably, Luke's companions would be transported to the Death Star or wherever Lord Vader happened to be once they were captured.

raywest

Question: In real movie time how long did each dream last? The hotel dream time, the city dream, and the snow mountains dream. I don't buy it that they spent 8 years hiking in those mountains.

Answer: The dream is stated to last about 20 times as long as time in the real world, with the flight taking 10 hours. This means that the first level would be 200 hours (just over a week), the second level would be around 20 weeks (about 5 months), and the third level about 100 months (just over 8 years). However, that is the length of time for the entire dream, start to finish. That is not how long each person stays in the dream. They were not hiking in the mountains for 8 years, just a few minutes or an hour at the most. However, if they were to miss a kick on any level, they would either have to stay in that mountain base for the full 8 years or get kicked down to limbo for even longer, potentially.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: Why does Flynn say, "If you do this, you will die?" Why does he think Rapunzel will die if she heals him?

Answer: Because she will lose her freedoms being trapped in the tower. So essentially she will die.

Answer: I came to this forum specifically to find that out. Your answer totally makes sense, however him saying that was very distracting and at that moment you want to be caught up in the drama and not taken back by going " hey what was that about? what does he mean?" I think it's just poor judgment on the writer's part. But now I know...thanks.

Question: Since Lentz was really the mastermind behind the entire thing, why did Nichols have him killed?

Answer: Lentz was not the mastermind, Nichols was. Nichols had Lentz killed to tie up a loose end.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: Here's something I don't understand. When Zack and Gray are in the Gyrosphere, they go to a territory that is not part of the ride, leading to the Indominus attack. My question is, how is this even possible? The ride was shut down, they heard a voice in the sphere tell them to return back to where the ride began, and they could be seen visually on a map with other Gyrospheres, so wouldn't someone know where they were heading and basically forbid it? It's one thing for Claire to go exactly where they last were, but surely the guy operating the ride, or anyone else associated with it, would notice one that didn't come back?

Answer: The Gyrosphere does not have any limitations as to where it can go. It also does not shut down and return to base automatically when the ride is closed. It appears to operate like a normal vehicle would, in that the driver has full control over where it goes. Under normal circumstances, the vehicle would be more closely monitored but the film makes a point to show the ride operator being a young, unenthusiastic kid who is flabbergasted during the emergency. He seems to be more concerned with the angry visitors yelling at him than in making sure all the Gyrospheres return.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: Why does Sonny write the time that Solozzo calls him at his home to tell him that he has Tom Hagen? He writes "8:30" on the cabinet. I think it's explained in the book, but there is some significance to it.

Answer: Because Solozzo says Hagen will be released in three hours with Solozzo's proposition, i.e., the new terms in the wake of Don Corleone's death (at this point, Solozzo believes he is dead). Sonny writes down the time so he knows exactly when to expect Hagen to be released, and he writes it on the cabinet because he has no paper nearby (he quickly looks around for some before writing on the cabinet).

Question: Why did Bryan risk his and Kim's life by forcing Kim to drive through the shooting soldiers into the courtyard of the U.S. Embassy in Istanbul? They just could've stopped in front of the guarding American soldiers and gotten help. The Albanian mafias who were pursuing after Bryan and Kim were even not behind them because they got already killed by the train. Why?

Bunch Son

Answer: I'd say there is no reason other than because it's a movie. Logic and reality are often supplanted in favor of more dramatic and exciting action scenes.

raywest

Question: How did Lupin know that they were staying at Grimmauld place? Arthur said do not reply as they're being watched so how did Remus find out? Did he just guess?

THE GAMER NEXT DOOR

Answer: It was an educated guess. Grimmauld Place not only belonged to Harry, having inherited it from Sirius Black, but it was the former headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix. Only a few Order members knew its secret location and how to enter. It was one of the safest and most secure places Harry could be at, and Lupin would likely check to see if he and the others were hiding there.

raywest

Question: Why did it take so long for the police to arrive at the Murphy's House since Kevin called 911? Since he called them we went through the Spider Scene, Kevin cutting the rope, Marley rescuing Kevin and then after he returned Kevin home the cops finally arrived. Why did it take them so long to arrive?

Answer: A lot of things come into play during a police call and it's not all cut and dry. Proximity of units to the call, other calls happening at the same time, severity of other calls, location of backup units, etc. Realistically, anything under 10 minutes is considered a fast response time. I've personally waited in upwards of 40 minutes for police response at my job.

Answer: A lot of things happened after Kevin called the police but all of these things took place pretty quickly. And the movie is set in a suburban area so it took the police more time to get there that it would've taken, say, downtown.

Lol, suburban police respond in minutes. Big city police, even downtown precincts, can take 30 minutes or more.

This depends on where you live, and what the police department is like - i.e, being understaffed. I've heard of my local police taking three hours to respond. I live in a suburban area.

Answer: This is just one of many inconsistent and/or unrealistic details in this movie. Police would normally respond to an emergency call much sooner. If the movie were more realistic however, the plot could not play out in the funny way that it does.

raywest

What's unrealistic about it? There's a caller claiming to be in the house which is a possible hostage situation. In that case, you would want as many officers as you could get on scene, emergency call or not.

Answer: There had been a hoax call that evening already so perhaps this is actually much more accurate than initially thought.

Answer: Suburban cops usually do not respond quickly.

TommyS.

Question: As Duncan prepares to kill Doc Shabbit, it sounds like Doc says it's hard to kill a man looking him in the eye, isn't it Bill? His name is Duncan not Bill, or am I mis-hearing it?

Answer: He says "ain't it, pilgrim?"

Bishop73

Question: How did Alan's parents die? On their gravestone it says they died in the same year.

Answer: They never say how they died. It seems to be grief related, but anything would be speculation. They spent all their money and time into searching for Alan, and Sam dies when he's 70, which is below the national average, but still a fairly old age. And if he spent his time and money, he may have disregarded his own health (speculation). Even though Carol is only 61 when she passes, she may have realised she'll never see her son and then he husband has now passed away and she couldn't bear it and passes away (speculation).

Bishop73

If that was always sad, I wonder if he blamed himself for the fight before it disappeared.

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