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: I am a huge fan of the movie Predator but I always have thought that the writers should've done more with the characters of Poncho and Hawkins. Were they supposed to be friends like Blain and Mac?

Answer: Blain and Mac are extremely badass action hero characters. Poncho and Hawkins are less so. It seems that Poncho and Hawkins are there for the Predator to kill, so us as an audience knows what sort of danger the characters face and also show the big guys do some action.

Dra9onBorn117

Question: Just out of curiosity, but in the scene where the nuns are singing the Holy Mary song, what were they singing in Latin?

Answer: The "Holy Mary song" is formally titled "Hail, Holy Queen" or "Salve Regina." Most of the lyrics in Latin are actually borrowed from another liturgical piece titled "O Sanctissima" and inserted into the musical piece as featured in "Sister Act" as follows: (1) "Salve, salve, salve Regina" is part of the original song and translates to "Hail, hail, hail [holy.] queen." (2) "Mater amata, intemerata (sanctus, sanctus dominus) " translates to "Beloved Mother, undefiled/pure/chaste (holy, holy Lord) " (3) "Virgo, respice, Mater, aspice (sanctus, sanctus dominus) " means "Virgin, watch over us, Mother, care for us (holy, holy Lord) " and (4) "Alleluia, " of course, is simply the Latin variant of the anglicized "Hallelujah". Other notes: "Cherubim" and "Seraphim" are orders of heavenly angels, Seraphim being of a higher order, possessing six wings.

Michael Albert

Question: When Joy is in the dump of forgotten memories, she sees a probe containing the sad memory of when Riley lost a hockey game after missing the winning shot. The probe shows that after Riley felt sad and has been cheered up by her parents, she is cheered on by her old team mates. Joy knows that since that probe is blue, it was a memory represented by Sadness. She begins to realize that Sadness helped Riley to ease her conscience. How come Joy didn't see that before when she would have been at the control panel in headquarters just when the event occurred?

John Ohman

Chosen answer: Joy must have seen the event. Since Joy was so focused on Riley's happiness and thought Sadness brought nothing to the table, she didn't realize that Riley needs to be sad at times to help her cope and move on to get to the happy times.

Question: What did Sister Mary Patrick mean when she said "you don't have to bite the donut to know it's sweet"? I believe this was in the scene when she was teaching her class when Deloris was looking for hers.

Answer: Sister Mary Patrick is being challenged by Sondra, one of her students, who says, "you can't answer any questions about... Sex." The sister's reply is, "oh, don't be so sure - you don't have to bite the donut to know it's sweet." She offers this as an analogy, in order to posit that one doesn't have to have engaged in sex acts to know what sex is all about, or that it may be enjoyable even when it isn't necessarily good for you.

Michael Albert

Answer: You don't need to learn about sex to know what it is about.

Question: I am curious why Helen was killed when the doctor was the target. Harrison Ford (the doctor) said he found out why Helen was killed - he said on the phone and stated the reason was "they were after me." So - someone goes to kill him and kills his wife instead? Was it to frame him and if so, wouldn't it have been easier to kill him instead?

Answer: The one-armed man was there to kill Richard, but Helen was the one at home. Sending him to prison would have discredited him enough to satisfy the pharmaceutical company.

Captain Defenestrator

And don't forget, Kimble wasn't just sentenced to prison - he was sentenced to death. Nichols probably thought he'd seen the last of him.

Chosen answer: The script of The Bourne Supremacy actually calls Martin Marshall the "Deputy Vice-Director" of the CIA, although in the same script and film dialog, Landy refers to him as "Director Marshall". So it appears Kramer is CIA Director in all the Bourne films, but Marshall is either acting Director in Kramer's absence or is just referred to as a Director.

Sierra1

Question: When the father was leaving the house of ill-repute, how did he recognize Benjamin as his son?

Answer: Thomas Button knew the house where he had abandoned Benjamin as a child, and while we the viewers are never shown or explicitly told so, the film gives us the impression that Thomas had been watching Benjamin over the years, as he was watching Benjamin the evening the two first meet.

Answer: He was watching him the day he met Daisy.

Chosen answer: Lapdance by N.E.R.D.

Question: In the beginning, Thomas wakes up in the Box which is moving up. He discovers an animal in the cage. It looks like a black pig. The pig apparently isn't shown anymore in the rest of the movie. Why the hell is the black pig in the Box?

Bunch

Chosen answer: It is just part of the supplies that is sent up each month, along with a new boy. Everything the maze residents have has been supplied to them. That includes rudimentary tools, vegetable seeds, food, and various other supplies and equipment. The pig is just livestock that will likely be butchered for meat.

raywest

Question: After the Stabbington Brothers escape the royal guards, they enter the same tunnel in the pub that Rapunzel and Flynn escape through. Here's what I don't get: Rapunzel and Flynn are high on a cliff when they come out of the tunnel at the dam and the Stabbington Brothers come out of another tunnel which leads them to the bottom of the dam. How come the Stabbington Brothers didn't end up in the same place as Rapunzel, Flynn, and the guards pursuing when exiting the tunnel? How did the twin thieves end up in another tunnel?

John Ohman

Chosen answer: There were two separate tunnels. The Stabbington brothers just came out of the other one. That's why they ended up in a different place.

Question: Why did Stuart continue trusting the Canary when she lied to him and the whole family?

Answer: Probably because he could see that she was hurt at what she did and also because earlier in the movie, he said "When you're friends with Stuart Little, you're friends for life". Also if you wanna look at it another way, him helping her could be payback for her saving him from the sink. It's just a long term friendship they have.

Answer: Because she wanted to be safe from the evil Falcon.

Question: In the ending scene when flashbacks of all the "Saw" movies are seen, I've slow motioned it many times, but I never see Dr. Gordon. Can anyone else find him?

Answer: At the time, Cary Elwes was unhappy with Lionsgate because he felt that he was entitled to more money for his role in the first saw film. Because of this, he does not appear in any other Saw films until Saw 3D.

Dra9onBorn117

Answer: Only Saw 3D shows what happens to Dr. Gordon, in which he cauterises his wound, is found by John and congratulated on his survival. The reason Dr. Gordon didn't show up until said film was because the actor of him Cary Elwes filed a lawsuit against the production company of the first Saw film, Evolution Entertainment, as they payed him insufficient funds which he was promised.

Answer: The psychiatrist is scared of him and afraid that if the chair isn't secure, that Kryten will pick it up and beat him with it.

Captain Defenestrator

Question: The scenes with Zeb and Lou have always puzzled me. Lou is trying to stop Zeb for going after outlaw Gant and the two have a last scene arguing where Zeb says basically that he will use the Law to put away Gant, but that he'll need Gant's help. The next scene is the two on the train to protect the gold from Gant's gang, and Zeb and Lou are working together now. But Lou's got a bandage on his forehead! I think the previous scene might have had a fight scene between the two in which Zeb finally convinces Lou to help him, hence the head injury. There's no other explanation for it. Anyone have any ideas?

Answer: This type of inconsistency is common in film making. More scenes are often filmed and/or they are much longer, but after editing, large portions are often cut out. Although the editing may improve the film's story line and pacing, it leaves small errors behind. This appears to be the case in this movie where a scene was completely deleted, but it left an unexplained detail behind.

raywest

Answer: A scene in with Zeb knocks Lou out in a stable was deleted.

Question: Could the police really put the Lincoln back together perfectly and that quickly?

Answer: It's a different car of the same make and model that they swapped for the one they tore apart, and in which they hid the drugs in the same place as the original.

Question: Where Lecter did find the flag to swathe the policeman's corpse?

Answer: It's not a flag - it's a red, white and blue banner which is high up on the walls of the room where Lecter is being held. You see it when Starling visits him and looks around the room.

Sierra1

Question: What exactly was it about the vending machine that made Mulder realize it was actually the bomb that he and Scully were looking for?

Answer: The drink selection buttons were unresponsive after he deposited his coins, and then he noticed that the machine was illuminated despite being unplugged.

Phaneron

Question: Horton crossed the bridge to get to Mount Nool and destroyed it. How did everyone else get across?

Answer: There is a possibility that that bridge wasn't the only one to lead to Mount Nool, just the closest one.

bobthedancingdonut

Question: Why didn't the gangbangers kill Alonzo at the end? Did he just get away with no trouble? I thought they were going to kill him, because he was hated in the neighbourhood.

Answer: They grew sick and tired of Alonzo's arrogance and probably decided he wasn't worth the effort. Alonzo was however killed by the Russian Mafia because Jake was told that Alonzo killed one of their couriers and had to pay them one million dollars by midnight or he would be killed himself.

Question: When Tom Cruise is battling to get free of the tentacle pulling him into the ship from the cage, there is alien (presumably) writing visible on the underside of the tripod just beyond his arm and above the lights. Can someone shed light on what this may say (theories, previously suggested writer/director thoughts)?

scodoc

Chosen answer: My guess is that it could be a manufacturing symbol or name like you would see on today's construction machines. It could also be a warning like, "Caution: Hot Vent", or something along those lines. To my knowledge it is never clarified by anyone. Also could have been the number/name of the unit the tripod belonged to.

Answer: Like it stated in the movie these tripods were buried years upon years ago, and if you slow don't the movie it appears to be Egyptian writing.

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