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 is the bacteria they sprinkled on the Five Diamond guy's stuff that gave him the rash? (00:56:00)

Answer: It wasn't bacteria - they seeded his belongings with bedbugs. The "rash" is the bites/scratches of the insects. Very nasty, hence all the PPE they wore throughout the process.

Question: Why do both Henry Shaw Sr. and Jr. treat Langdon Shaw like garbage? Also, after Henry Jr.'s death, does Langdon finally get his father's approval?

Answer: I think part of it had to with Langdon believing in witchcraft and that witches and wizards were real. They don't reveal if he ever gets his father's approval.

Question: Where were they fighting? Towards the end where they were fighting between the silos you can see Chicago's Willis (Sears) Tower between them. After that, Optimus grabs everyone, blasts off to get them out of there, and almost immediately lands in what looks like Japan.

Answer: I think they are in Hong Kong.

Question: In the opening scene in the bedroom, after Doug wakes up, there's a poster over the bed. Where is it from? Or what does it mean? It looks like 160+ eggs with small markings on them, and some with no markings.

Bishop73

Answer: It's not a poster. It looks to be an original abstract piece of sculptural art. I tried to find out who the artist was, but couldn't find any online information. The piece may have been created for the movie. Artists usually convey some theme or concept in their work, but whatever it is in this piece is unknown. Of course, non-objective abstract art is also subjective to the viewer's own interpretation. I'm going to keep looking for more info, as I'm curious.

raywest

Answer: You remembered that episode incorrectly. Stan asks the guys who Sally Struthers is, as they watch her in a TV commercial. Kyle tells him "Sally Struthers, dude. She used to be on Full House." I think it's a joke about her no longer being successful and popular - the kids are totally unfamiliar with her work.

Answer: No she wasn't. Either it was a joke or a mistake. If it was a joke, I never figured it out or read an explanation about it.

Bishop73

It's probably the show's private "in-joke" rather than one the audience is supposed to understand.

raywest

Question: What happened to Nightcrawler? Why isn't he in this film?

Answer: Short answer, the actor, Alan Cumming didn't want to reprise his role as the process of transforming him into Kurt/Nightcrawler was long and tedious, uncomfortable and unpleasant. His role would have been a minor one, and then with Bryan Singer not returning as director, it made it easy for Cummings not to do it. In a later video game, Nightcrawler is a playable character, which Cummings voiced, and he says he didn't want to be an X-Men anymore, because of the violent nature of their lives, and he left to live in Germany.

Bishop73

Answer: She considered it to be a badly written and poorly made movie, stating that it was "dreadful." Critics panned the movie as being "predictable," though its special effects were praised. The movie received a 12% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and was a huge commercial flop that made about half of its production costs. Curtis said she tried to get director John Bruno fired during the filming because she thought the movie was so bad.

raywest

Question: What is the highest note Maria sings? I'm auditioning for this musical on Friday.

Answer: According to this website (https://singingcarrots.com/artist-range?artist=The%20Sound%20of%20Music), the song with the highest pitch is "The Lonely Goatherd", with a range between C4-A5. All those yodels, I suspect. Good luck with the audition.

Question: I see this in nearly all post apocalyptic movies, and in spades in the Book of Eli. The dystopian world they live in is so devoid of necessities that things like chapstick and even water are extremely valuable. OK, fair enough. 30 years ago a nuclear war destroyed society. So how is it that in this world of extreme scarcity, that they are able to keep multiple vehicles running? Beyond gasoline, a car requires a working battery and multiple other fluids, not to mention parts.

applejackson

Answer: Like you said, society collapsed so the survivors scrounge for food, water, basic needs. Vehicles, their parts, and oil are not basic needs however and are only required when new, primitive, societies start up again. Sure individuals might use a vehicle, but plenty of cars lying around to use until they rust and then you go on to the next. But, these societies can, though crudely, create parts and collect fluids, based on their needs, from whatever they can scavenge. The technology and knowledge is still there, as is the skill to keep cars running. They'd go great lengths to keep them operational, sometimes moreso than food production.

lionhead

I can appreciate your answer, but 30-year-old gasoline? It just doesn't work. But then it dawned on me that an engine can run on other substances, like grain alcohol. Probably still hard to come by, but nowhere as difficult to create as gasoline would be. So, yep, you're right. Thanks.

applejackson

Answer: Scavenge and cannibalize from all the derelict cars, and loot abandoned stores?

dizzyd

Question: At first, was Mandy serious about committing suicide with Emmett, or did she want him to die and be solely blamed for the murders?

Answer: The way I look at it is Mandy was all for suicide with Emmett but then once she met Garth all of that changed, and she wanted to be with him. It was at this point that Emmett became expendable if you will and had to die. He became the scapegoat/sacrificial lamb. This is just my opinion.

ChristmasJonesfan

Question: Troops were sent to check out the mysterious toxic stuff in the centre of the space city but none returned (as mentioned by Clive Owen). Later it is discovered there is no toxicity. It seems extremely out of character for the pearls to have killed a whole unit of soldiers. This plot point was never explained. Were they killed by the pearls?

Answer: It is never answered, but it's safe to assume the commander has been killing the teams with his guard robots.

Thats nonsense because the commander didn't know the pearls were there so no reason to kill the teams. It was classified toxic because nobody returned, possibly incapacitated by the pearls to avoid discovery but not killed.

lionhead

Answer: I've never seen a scene with Jack and Danny in the real world at a video rental store. The video rental store scene takes places in the Jack Slater movie world. Since Slater is Schwarzenegger, Schwarzenegger doesn't exist in the movie world. So the Terminator is played by Stallone, who does exist in the movie world.

Bishop73

Answer: It's not the real world. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6PBhdM9Ftg. Danny's in Slater's world and trying to find evidence of Arnold Schwarzenegger existing, but instead finds that Stallone has taken that role in this version of reality.

Question: How is it that Old Buzz doesn't know who Izzy is? Since Buzz knows everything and everyone, shouldn't Old Buzz also have the same knowledge?

Answer: While he would have been "introduced" to her prior to the last voyage, it was the same way that the current Buzz was introduced to her. Through the video that Hawthorne left him. Old Buzz didn't get to know Izzy the same way current Buzz did. Because of that, he just wanted to complete his original mission. He didn't care that his best friend was able to move on and have a family, he just wanted to get everyone home even though they had all moved on.

Answer: As Reacher had arrived in town just after the murder occurred and being a stranger, he became a suspect (or at least a person of interest) and taken into custody for questioning by the police. He was released fairly quickly. It was coincidental timing of an outsider arriving at the same time as the crime occurred.

raywest

Question: The fang of the basilisk has been shown in the other movies to be able to destroy a horcrux. Since Harry was a horcrux himself, when the basilisk bit him, why didn't it kill him or at the least destroy the piece of Voldemort's soul that was inside of him?

Answer: Because he is alive and the piece of Voldemort inside him is too. He had to die to kill the horcrux inside him, but Fawkes the phoenix healed him before that could happen.

lionhead

Good answer. Would add that if Fawkes had not healed Harry with his tears when he did, then the basilisk venom would have quickly killed Harry and the horcrux.

raywest

Answer: As the other answer says, Harry has to die for that part to be killed. Since he doesn't die, that part of Voldemort doesn't die and so is still inside him.

Ssiscool

Question: What did Philby mean when he told George to destroy his time machine before it destroyed him?

Answer: He was worried about George's obsession with it and where he could end up and the unknown dangers in the future that could possibly be fatal.

raywest

The Disease - S5-E17

Question: Why would Kim be in trouble for being in a relationship with Derran Tal? In many episodes of other Star Trek series, Starfleet officers have been in relationships with species of other planets but are never reprimanded for it.

Answer: Voyager is in a completely unknown region of space and they have little contact with or knowledge of other alien species and their cultures, potentially leading to deadly conflicts. There were particular diplomatic concerns with the Varro race because they were extremely xenophobic. Janeway ordered the crew to have minimal personal contact with them as a safety precaution, which Harry Kim inevitably ignored.

raywest

Question: If Carl is so terrified of being killed by the drug dealers after losing their money, why can't he simply leave the city?

Answer: Large sums of laundered money were involved, and the drug dealers are not "small-time crooks." They would relentlessly hunt Carl, eventually finding him. It would be, "he can run, but he can't hide."

raywest

Question: Kind of a silly question, but why do the rebels kidnap children and train them to fight in the war? Wouldn't it make more sense to take the adults since they are stronger and more skilled?

Answer: Adults may be physically stronger and more skilled, but that makes them harder to capture and more dangerous to their captors as they would resist and attempt to escape. Children can be indoctrinated to their cause and are more easily intimidated into being compliant. If they're killed, it's easier to kidnap more.

raywest

Question: When Harry and Hermione go to rescue Sirius from the tower, why did Hermione cast Bombarda instead of Alohamora? Using Bombarda caused a very loud sound to erupt and destroyed the door which could have got all three caught. Using Alohamora would have been easier since there's hardly any sound and the door would have simply been unlocked instead of being blown practically to pieces.

Answer: For one, Sirius is being held in an isolated area, high up in the tower, so any sound would be muted or not heard at all. Also, he is not in an ordinary room, but a cell with fortified locks. Hermione used a powerful charm to blast open the iron gate. Alohamora simply unlocks ordinary doors. Bombarda blows things up. It also made the scene more dramatic and climatic.

raywest

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