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: What's wrong with Greedo shooting first? I agree changing it is pretty pointless, but what difference does it make? How does it affect the movie?

MikeH

Chosen answer: This has already been asked and answered on this site, in the past few weeks in fact. But again: It doesn't affect the movie, but it affects the character of Han Solo and how he is meant to be perceived by the audience. If he shoots first, he's an outlaw, a rogue, and, in the classic Western tradition, quicker on the draw than Greedo. If Greedo shoots first, Han is just killing in self-defense, which does nothing for his character and makes the whole scene superfluous, other than establish that people want to kill him.

Answer: Also, Han shooting first places doubts about his motives in the viewer's mind early on. It establishes Han as ruthless, willing to do whatever it takes to survive. Might he turn Luke and Ben over to the Empire if he decides it's in his best interests? But having Greedo shoot first turns Han in to just another generic good guy.

Answer: I mostly agree with the other answers about Han, but his shooting first is integral to the plot and not about showing any ruthlessness. Greedo cornered Han and intended to turn him over to Jabba the Hut to collect the bounty on Han's head. Greedo told Han, while holding him at gun point, that he wanted the money Obi Wan was paying Han, then implied he was going to kill Han before turning his body over to Jabba for the reward. Han's only option was to kill Greedo right then and there. He basically is shooting Greedo in self-defense (or for self-preservation). As well as establishing what his character is like, the scene also serves as exposition that shows Jabba had put a price on Han's head, Greedo was a deadly adversary, that Han leads a dangerous and illegal life, and he was desperate to resolve his dilemma of living under a death sentence.

raywest

As a child of the 70's, I grew up with the notion of Han shooting first. Never gave it much thought, to me he was in a situation of kill or being killed. The debate seemed over a moot point to me.

Chosen answer: No. But Jake's paranoia and possessiveness had consumed him to such a degree that he was convinced that he (Joey) had, based on Vickie's impulsive remarks.

Question: How does the crew find Jack if he's in Davy Jones' locker?

Answer: Davy Jones controlled the Kraken that pulled Jack and the Black Pearl underwater. The crew knew that the most likely place Jack would end up would be in Davy Jones' Locker. The crew then obtained the map to World's End from Sao Feng. The map led them to the Locker, and once there, they'd search for Jack. Fortunately, Jack found them, though it appears Tia Dalma had a guiding hand in bringing Jack and the ship to them.

raywest

Dr. Nobel - S1-E6

Question: If the death ray is about to go off and they are trying to restore the doctor's memory, why does Henry get dressed up for the ceremony, but then has time to change and get back in the hole he's digging to access the power source when no one else takes the time to change? If they have given up on the hole, why would he even change back? If they haven't, why would he waste time at the ceremony?

Answer: He did not change, he just put on some kind of gown over what he was wearing.

Bowling255

Question: If Jack Frost was able to change history simply by running over and putting the coat on, why couldn't Scott do the same thing, instead of holding Jack so his younger self had time to put it on?

JohnShel91

Chosen answer: Then it would have been the older Scott that became Santa, and also would have created a paradox since the younger Scott would never have become Santa.

Bowling255

IChristmas - S2-E6

Question: Carly became disappointed when Spencer built a magnetic tree instead of getting a real tree. She later gets angry about the tree burning the presents she wrapped, but she later says the tree is her favorite ever. Did Carly no longer care about the burnt gifts?

Answer: No she did not, she learned that presents are not what Christmas is about.

Bowling255

Answer: It's when she wished Spencer was normal it made her realise the true meaning of Christmas.

Question: Who put the cross under Regan's pillow? It couldn't be the demon. (01:12:35)

????

Chosen answer: Burke Dennings, that's why he was murdered.

According to William P. Blatty, it was Karl who put the crucifix under Regan's pillow.

Question: How come Harry Potter doesn't see the re-incarnation of the Cruciatus curse Voldermort used on a DeathEater that occured right after Cedric's death? Shouldn't it have came out of Voldermort's wand in some form?

Answer: He does hear them. The screams he hears are the screams of pain from the Cruciatus Curse.

Greg Dwyer

Answer: Carl did die of lung cancer, that's why she returned to her family.

Answer: Florida's husband, James Evans, Sr., appeared in a total of 61 episodes during Seasons 1-3 of the series. After creative differences with the show's creator, Norman Lear, mainly over the increasingly buffoonish characterization of oldest son, James "J.J." Evans, Jr., actor John Amos did not have his contract renewed. His character was killed off in an automobile accident in his home state of Mississippi while he was securing steady work in the hope of relocating his family there. Florida learned of his death via a phone call at the family's going away party. We don't know if her second husband, Carl, died or just stayed in Arizona, and it's debateable whether someone who remarries is still called a widow.

Michael Albert

Florida did not learn of James' death through a phone call. It was through a telegram sent in the mail that Florida read during the party.

Norman Lear didn't create Good Times. Eric Monte and Michael Evans did. Norman Lear simply developed it.

Question: Why did Sao Feng keep yelling for more steam in the beginning? Was he trying to smoke out the guys who were underground?

Answer: Sao Feng enjoys his luxury bathhouse and demands that hot steam continually be provided on his command. Barbossa's crew mates, meanwhile, have infiltrated the boiler room directly below and incapacitated the bathhouse workers. When Feng orders more steam, the crew scrambles to figure out how to operate the controls before being detected. Meanwhile, Feng becomes impatient when the steam he wanted has not been provided and angrily yells for more, which the crew is finally able to provide before arousing any suspicion.

raywest

Question: When Tapp drops Dr. Gordon off at home, he says "We arrested a dentist last week who liked to play with kids a bit too much. He lived two blocks from here. The sewer lines also run under this neighborhood, too, doctor." I'm assuming this was a subtle insinuation that he was still suspicious of Dr. Gordon. But what did he exactly mean by saying that?

Answer: Hes letting Dr Gordon know that even though he is "well to do" that people of the upper class also have dark secrets and are not always innocent or better than anyone else.

Question: In the beginning of the film, why are the workers putting the gold in tubs of some black liquid?

Answer: That's most likely oil, and they're doing that to smuggle it out. Carrying large amounts of gold over international borders would raise a lot of red flags with the authorities.

Friso94

Question: Why does Rusty tell Benedict "mini bar" after telling him he's staying at the Bellagio?

Answer: He was making a suggestion on how to improve the room.

MasterOfAll

Question: I suppose this is more a request for an educated guess than anything. Why can't anyone seem to produce a working Fantastic 4 movie franchise? The first two movies and the first reboot were awful, simply put, and the poor box office returns made future sequels or reboots even less likely. Why can no one seem to get a grip on what makes Fantastic 4 tick?

Charles Austin Miller

Chosen answer: In a nutshell, 20th Century Fox and the people that worked on the respective films simply don't understand the comics and why fans like the source material. It's also worth noting that the 2015 film was made so that Fox could retain the rights, as they would have gone back to Marvel had they not begun production on it by a certain date in 2014. They weren't exactly making the film with the intention of it being great, rather as a rights grab and a money grab, though the film ended up being a major box office flop, so the latter didn't exactly pan out in their favor. There are many fans that would like to see the rights to Fantastic 4 revert back to Marvel Studios, as they would more than likely do the films justice.

Phaneron

Question: I've watched all 7 Saw movies recently and there is something that I still don't understand. Dr. Gordon was supposed to kill Adam within 6 hours in order to win the game and therefore, maintain his life. However, he never did that. He shot Adam in his shoulder and, even though it didn't kill Adam, the 6 hours had already passed anyway. I know that Zepp was the one who had to kill Dr. Gordon, but the truth is that Dr. Gordon never really did what he was supposed to do in the game. So why does Jigsaw still save him and make him his new successor (as seen in Saw 3D)? If we are objective, he didn't follow the rules of the game, so he should have died like all the other ones who didn't pass their traps.

Answer: Jigsaw wants his victims to appreciate their lives. So while Dr. Gordon may not have completed his intended objective, by sawing off his own foot in order to escape, he won his game and earned Jigsaw's respect. The saws being provided to Adam and Dr. Gordon also demonstrated that they could escape if they were willing to saw off their own feet.

Phaneron

Answer: An idea could be that Lawrence was never supposed to kill Adam. Instead, John could have wanted Adam and Gordon to build a relationship with each other within the time that they're given. However, even without my idea, Gordon showed John that he would go to extreme heights to save his life and his families', which ultimately was something that Adam lacked, earning John's respect and trust in the process. We also find out in Saw 3D that Dr. Gordon has been alive this whole time and was now on John's side and was working for him now.

Question: After the blackout, why did the the patrons go through a panic of grabbing chips? Money's understandable, but wouldn't they still need to take the chips to get exchanged? Surely the people who exchange it would know that they were taken during the riot.

Answer: It would have to be proved that the chips were taken and not won. Customers could just hold onto them and cash them in later and over time, claiming they won them on different nights.

raywest

Question: At the end of the first segment, the one with Vic Morrow, has it ever been determined what his character's ultimate fate would have been if Vic had lived?

Answer: Morrow was supposed to return to his own time frame after redeeming himself by saving the two Vietnamese children from the raid on their village.

raywest

Question: Who or what exactly are Hancock and Mary and why does being in close proximity to each other cause them to weaken?

Answer: This is answered in the film. Mary and Hancock are a species that grew with humans and were worshipped as gods. Why they lose their power around each other is unknown.

MasterOfAll

Question: In the post-credits scene what was it under the bed?

Answer: In the post credits scene, a silhouette of Davy Jones is seen entering the bedroom and Will awakens, assuming it was a dream. What is under the bed is a small puddle of water and some barnacles that presumably fell off Davy Jones' body. The scene is trying to imply that Davy Jones is back.

Casual Person

Question: I just watched the movie and now I just have one question; wasn't it Tia Dalma who gave Jack the compass? In Dead Man's Chest she asks him if the compass he bought from her can't lead him to Davy Jones' chest. But in the newest movie a captain gives the compass to Jack.

Answer: Jack could've been sent by his former captain to obtain it from Tia Dalma.

Answer: Jack was quite young when he first come into possession of the compass. In the following years he could have lost it, bartered it, had it stolen or whatever before it came back into his possession by way of Tia Dalma.

raywest

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