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 it ever explained how Dobby found out about the Chambers of Secrets and how he believed Harry might be involved? I doubt Lucius or any of his peers would have discussed anything about this in front of Dobby.

Answer: The Malfoys would have had no concerns about discussing anything within earshot of their house elves. Dobby may very well have overheard the Malfoys' conversations. House elves are magically bound to guard everything about their masters' secrets. Breaking that would result in severe punishment or death. Dobby circumvented this restriction as much as he possibly could to warn and protect Harry.

raywest

Chosen answer: Much of Axel Foley's lines were improvised, including this scene, according to the commentary. But many other actors improvised their lines too, most notably Bronson Pinchot. The script was originally written with the intent of Sylvester Stallone playing Axel and as such, the issue of his race wasn't scripted and the director tried to avoid mentioning race in the film. It was Eddie Murphy that would bring it up in improvised lines.

Bishop73

Question: Why didn't they just tell Cochrane about the Borg? Why didn't Cochrane want to be famous?

Answer: Telling him about the Borg would violate the Prime Directive by giving too much information about the future. The Borg were not supposed to be in that timeline, unlike the Vulcans who, historically, made First Contact with humans at that time. Cochrane does not say why he doesn't want to be famous. There are many reasons people shun celebrity-some are shy and prefer privacy, others don't want to deal with the pressure of having to live up to a reputation that may be inaccurate, it interferes with the work they are trying to achieve, and so on.

raywest

Actually, they did tell him about the Borg. You can tell they told him about the Borg because he said a group of cybernetic creatures from the future have traveled back through time to enslave the human race.

They told him a general story about what's going on. They don't reveal their name, where they are from or their nature.

lionhead

What harm could telling Cochrane about the Borg possibly do?

That could potentially change the timeline too much. They want to preserve the timeline they came from.

lionhead

I'd care more about saving humans from being killed, or enslaved, than about preserving timelines.

It might set humanity on the wrong path, that will lead to more deaths. For example, it could prevent the federation alliance. One can only imagine how the Alpha quadrant will survive Romulan, Klingon and Dominion attacks without the alliance.

lionhead

"Telling him about the Borg would violate the prime directive by giving information about the future." Which is more important, obeying the prime directive, or stopping the Borg from enslaving the human race?

They are first attempting to give as little information as possible to anyone in the past in an attempt to follow the Temporal Prime Directive. Any small change could have larger changes in the future via the butterfly effect.

LorgSkyegon

Answer: When Riker and Cochrane are doing the pre-flight check in the ship, Riker is talking about the historical significance of this launch. Cochrance tells him to shut up, he is tired of everyone he meets telling him what a hero he is, and what this launch means to mankind. He says, "You want why I want I'm doing this. Money and women. I want to buy an island and be served drinks by native girls. I hate space travel. I take trains." However, once the Vulcans land, he truly realises what he's done.

Answer: Cochrane wanted to be famous but in order to get money and women. Cochrane didn't want the hero title and was sick of hearing about all the good he had done.

The Show Where Woody Shows Up - S6-E13

Question: Niles tells Frasier, "You would never make it in private practice" (after Frasier complains about discussing the same stories with Woody). If Frasier has never operated his own practice, how did he work as a psychiatrist before his radio show?

Answer: Like any doctor, not all psychiatrists have a private practice...some work on the staff in hospitals. When he was on Cheers, before moving to Seattle and his own show, Frasier worked at Boston General.

The One With Monica and Chandler's Wedding, Part 1 - S7-E23

Question: Chandler disappears and leaves a note. Monica doesn't know about this. In the same episode, it turns to morning. Phoebe and Rachel are sitting in their morning-robes, after Rachel tells Phoebe that Ross hasn't seen or heard from Chandler. Monica comes out of her bedroom and she says "I'm getting married today!", still not aware of the fact that Chandler hasn't come home. Ross also says later (in the next episode, I think) that he has been looking for him almost all night. So why hasn't Monica noticed that Chandler never came home?

Answer: It's traditional for the bride and groom not to see each other before their wedding day. Chandler and Monica did not intend to spend the night together.

raywest

Question: How did the principal characters end up on opposite sides of the metal fence after they initially escaped from the raptors?

Answer: Alan Grant became separated from the others after escaping the raptors. He was later rescued by Eric, who then took him to his hideout. When they went looking for the Kirbys and Billy, they took a route that put them on the opposite side of the fence.

raywest

Answer: Most likely because of possible broken fences that have either been taken down from being eroded by the elements for a long time, or just straight up an opening, since we don't necessarily know if they did or did not land in a pen when they crashed, but it's safe to assume that there was most likely an opening around them, and they must have gone through that way.

Star Wars: The Myths Strike Back - S13-E13

Question: When the Myth Busters were testing whether higher ground does give you a huge advantage in sword fighting. Adam and Jamie do the sword fighting themselves, then they ask a sword fighting expert to train them. Why didn't they ask skilled sword fighters to do the fighting instead? It would have been much to easier to determine whether higher ground gives you an advantage by asking experts to do the fighting. Did it actually make sense to ask an expert train them instead of asking experts to do the fighting? If so why?

Answer: Much of the show Adam and Jamie would do various tests themselves to see how much of an advantage something has. The idea being Jamie and Adam are not relying on skill but the advantage they are testing. Even though they do get some training, both their skill levels are essentially at 0. Plus, doing it themselves allows them the chance to talk about the experience. While the experts could have done the tests and discussed the results, some may wonder if the 2 experts were evenly matched to begin with.

Bishop73

Answer: Loons are aquatic birds that make a very unique sound. Early, when Peter and Louis are going up to the cabin, Peter stops and gets out of the car to listen to a loon. It's just showing how easily Peter gets distracted because he's suppose to be hurrying to prevent Quagmire and Meg having sex. "We heard a loon" is what Lois writes in the guest book, which indicates they had a pleasant trip up to the cabin when really they should still be mad at Quagmire. I haven't found any joke or movie reference to the line, but it fits Peter.

Answer: It's Lois who writes "we heard the loon" to the guest book.

Answer: Old people usually have poorly maintained butts for some reason. I work at a hospital, and it's the first place they check for sores.

Answer: He might've been on the show "Stabbed in the Butt", which was in a Family Guy cutaway.

Answer: Old people tend to be wrinkly. Stewie is a baby who doesn't understand that.

Question: Throughout the movie we rarely see Clayton reload his gun. It looks like a twin barrel shotgun. During the final fight between Tarzan and Clayton how could he have fired more than 2 rounds without reloading it?

Chris Thomson

Chosen answer: Simply put he couldn't. It's a clear mistake.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: Venice Fung (HK).

Answer: Nobody in particular. Just a random woman he slept with.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: Where did they get their training? I assume Christmas was SAS, but what about everyone else?

Answer: The back stories of the individual members of the team have never been elaborated upon. It is never stated where the members received training.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: Did the Morehead state game against Marshall in 1971 happen as shown in the movie? How did Morehead state score their touchdowns in the actual game?

Answer: According to Wikipedia: "For the season opener, the team visited the Morehead State Eagles for the I-64 Rivalry. Despite losing 29-6, the [Thundering] Herd (Marshall's team nickname) managed to score late in the game with Reggie Oliver's touchdown pass to Tom Smyth, prompting a standing ovation from the crowd." I have been unable to find a play-by-play account of the Morehead State touchdowns.

Michael Albert

Question: When Josh is in the further looking for Dalton, what is the deal with the family that looks like mannequins and has the creepy smiles? Why does the one girl shoot the family? Is there any back story on it?

Answer: It's implied that the girl went crazy and killed her family, but it's not really elaborated on. They're just some of the many spirits to be trapped in and haunt the Further, likely due to the violent nature of their deaths.

Answer: They are just people trapped in the further after their terrible death. It would be nice to later find out the back story on them in a future film.

Sarah Kotzbauer

Question: What was the main antagonist's name? And what are his motives for trying to kill the president?

Answer: Suarez is the name of the main antagonist. His motivations for the assassination attempt are never mentioned.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: What was Lokar hiding? And why did he want to keep it a secret?

Answer: Lokar was conducting a genocidal campaign against the Bosniak population, a severe war crime. The photos of the mass grave would have exposed him.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: When Channing Tatum fixes the chain on the gate in the time replay, why does he yank the West Virginia insignia off the gate? Where is it used? Does the film explain why this is important?

bikeloveny

Chosen answer: There was nothing wrong with the gate, he set the sign up to cover the laser sensor so the gate wouldn't open, this held them up and gave Logan time he needed to load the other bags. He yanked the chain to make it look like the chain was caught and causing the problem.

Question: Did Eric Stoltz dye his hair blonde for this film? His natural hair colour is red, but it looks lighter in this film.

EK8829

Chosen answer: His hair is not blonde in this film. It is the lighting that makes it appear so.

MasterOfAll

Chosen answer: When Andy is fighting Claude in the subway car, he looks at Claude's right shoulder and see a wound on it. He suddenly remembers back in the sewers of Paris how he took a part of a broken gate and stabbed a werewolf with it giving it the very same wound.

Question: What was with that scene when Sidney was going through her closet and a dramatic change in music occurred. Did something in the background occur that I didn't see? Was there nothing?

Answer: The dramatic change in music is a red herring and arguably an example of foreshadowing. Initially, the unsettling music was supposed to trick viewers into thinking Ghostface was in the closet when Sidney first opened it. Later on though, Ghostface hides in the same closet before attacking Sidney.

Answer: Later in this scene, we see Ghostface emerge from the closet to attack Sidney. The music was foreshadowing this event, as Ghostface must have already been hiding in that closet for him to be able to emerge later.

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.