Answered questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: When and where was Mystique captured by the army?

Answer: Mystique was captured trying to break into the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), presumably the HQ in Maryland, disguised as Secretary Trask - presumably recently.

Sierra1

Question: If none of the cops knew about Trinity's abilities, why did they send so many cops to smash her door and hold her at gunpoint like she was a terrorist? To them she was just a hacker, which doesn't put anyone in physical danger, so wouldn't just one officer have been enough?

MikeH

Chosen answer: Trinity was a known associate of Morpheus, considered "the most dangerous man alive", so the police would have taken some precautions - even a hacker could be armed in any case. At least four units would be sensible for any kind of raid, regardless of how harmless they assumed the suspect was. However, the lieutenant only sent two units into the hotel to detain her so he didn't think it was that big a deal, and there were two more outside.

Sierra1

Question: Sirius receives a serious wound from Lupin when he's a werewolf. According to legend, if you're bitten by a werewolf, you become one. Why doesn't Sirius? I watched this scene several times, and Padfoot (Sirius) was bit by Lupin.

Answer: In the book Lupin says to Harry, "Werewolf bites are only fatal to humans." Sirius Black does not become infected with lycanthropy because he was in his animagus form of the dog, "the grim", at the time of the bite.

The One With The Donor - S9-E22

Question: Chandler and Monica are told that aside from adoption there are two ways for them to have a baby, either using a surrogate or a sperm donor. But if Monica would be able to carry the child of the sperm donor, and a surrogate would be able to carry Monica and Chandler's child, wouldn't Monica be able to carry Chandler's child using the same process as used with a surrogate?

Answer: If (just) surrogacy is an option, that means that IVF using Chandler's sperm and Monica's egg must be possible. If (just) a sperm donor is an option, that means that Monica must be capable of carrying a child. So, yes, with the situation as presented by the doctor, Monica could have carried Chandler's child after IVF. The only rational explanation would be that the doctor misspoke, and should have said that they would need both a sperm donor -and- a surrogate (because Chandler's sperm couldn't be used in IVF and Monica couldn't carry a child at all). This was simply a mistake made by the writers.

Question: In the final scene, Jules calls Pumpkin "Ringo", but nobody ever said his name. How did Jules know that his name was "Ringo"? Actually, nobody says his name in the entire film, including Amanda Plummer's character, Hunnybunny/"Yolanda" or Pumpkin/"Ringo". Then Jules miraculously refers to him as "Ringo" when Pumpkin counts to three.

chikid

Chosen answer: Jules just gave him the nickname "Ringo" on the spot because he is English like Ringo Starr from The Beatles. In America, "Ringo" is somewhat of a common nickname Americans give British/English guys since The Beatles are the most famous thing to come out of Britain. It's not his real name. We never learn what his real name is. Why "Ringo"? Because John, George and Paul are regular names that you wouldn't necessarily associate with The Beatles if said individually on their own whereas "Ringo" immediately makes you think "British guy and the drummer of 'The Beatles'."

Answer: In 1964, Lorne Greene (of "Bonanza" fame) had a hit record "Ringo" about a gunslinger in the Old West. This could also be why Jules called the gunman "Ringo"

Question: Why did the king and queen disappear when the king signed the contract? The deal was that Fiona will be saved from the curse if he did - but Fiona wasn't saved at all. Was the contract void from something?

Answer: Rumpelstiltskin used a contract that 'made all their problems disappear'. He didn't reference any specific problem and the king and queen assumed it would cure the curse. However, it just makes the king and queen disappear, and since they have disappeared, they will no longer have any problems.

Question: After Mufasa's death, how does Simba get it into his head that it's his fault? If anything, it would've seemed to be Scar's, because he was the one that told Simba to wait on the rock. Can someone please explain this to me?

Answer: Simba sees the stones on the ground skitter - a sign of the impending stampede - immediately after his roar echoes around the gorge. This was very good timing on Scar's part. Simba believed that his roar had startled the wildebeest into stampeding. (Of course, Scar was the one who goaded him into practising roaring in a gorge in the first place, but it's easy to forget these things in the traumatic aftermath of your father's death). Moreover, Simba was a child. Scar was an adult he trusted, and actually told Simba it was his fault.

I think it was more to the fact that his dad died whilst trying to rescue him. If he didn't need rescuing, his dad would still be alive. Thats why he thought it was his fault.

lionhead

Question: Why did Merope use her father's name as her son's middle name, after the way he treated her?

Answer: There's no explanation. I thought it was more an act of defiance to prove that no matter how badly her family treat her, young Tom Riddle will always be related to his mother's clan.

raywest

This is an interesting interpretation. Maybe she did.

Answer: Merope did not seem to know many people outside of her home and the nearby village. Apparently, she never went to Hogwarts. Perhaps she had no better ideas for a middle name. She may have also felt obligated to use her father's name, regardless of how she was treated. I've actually known a few parents who selected a name because they felt pressured by family expectations.

Question: I could not figure out why Red borrowed $20.00. Could someone fill me in?

Answer: Red asked for $10 because he needed to see a dentist, and Howard gave him $20.

Chosen answer: No, the picture is never seen throughout the movie.

Question: What is the white powder made out of that they throw on them at the beginning of the movie? I mean, I know it is a delousing agent, but what specifically is it? What is it made out of?

rstill

Chosen answer: It's an insecticide (probably DDT, which was in wide use in the late 1940's) to rid the body of lice before prisoners are admitted into the prison. With all the bodily contact in a prison, a lice infestation would not only affect the inmates but the guards as well. It's also a health hazard.

Question: When Velkan turned into a werewolf it was at the night of a full moon. The exact same thing happened to Van Helsing. Why is it that when Velkan was attacked by a werewolf it happened in the morning? Werewolves only appear on the night of a full moon.

Answer: In the movie it is explained that after the first full moon a person will remain a werewolf forever. They can never return to human form.

Question: In the first scene of NORAD where the technicians first notice the incoming missiles, some of the people start saying sentences with the word "confidence" in it. What does "confidence" mean (in relataion to the military)? Does it mean like how sure they are of something?

Answer: The term "confidence" in this case is referring to a statistical element such as confidence interval and confidence level. The discussion of this element is beyond the scope of this answer. Suffice to say, the term "confidence is high" is a terse way of stating that the confidence level as a percentage is 95% or higher and the data sampled (in this case, computing a probability that the attack is real) is accurate.

Question: Mel Gibson spends 50 years frozen inside a machine that his friend Harry built. After Mel awakes, he is still the same age, but he slowly starts to age back into what he would been at the time that he awoke. Later on He discovers that Harry knew this would happen. If Harry knew, why did he build the machine in the first place?. It seems to serve no purpose other than to waste years of someone's life.

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: Harry Findlay only discovered the ageing would irreversible after Daniel had been frozen; don't forget this was the first time he'd tried it on a human. Plus he only ever intended to freeze Daniel for a year, so this may not have been the main focus of the experiment anyway.

Answer: He only wanted to be frozen because his girlfriend was in a coma. Harry said, he only tried it on animals and wasn't to keen on the idea. Mel said to wake him when his girlfriend woke up. He figured it would only be for a few weeks or months. Joe Morton, the scientist, read a file on the experiment, stating that Harry died when a fire broke out in the lab and ran in to save him.

Question: Not a very important detail, but how old is Virginia? At first I thought she is 20, because Tony mentions that he raised her for 20 years (when they are arguing after he drops the mirror off the roof of the building). However, at the beginning of the movie, she makes a comment about how it is pathetic that she still lives with her dad. It doesn't seem like such a big deal for a 20-year-old to still live at home.

Answer: Virginia says in the beginning to her grandmother that her mother has been away for 14 years. She also says later that her mother left her when she was 7. That would make her 21. And I believe Tony was just rounding when he said he raised her for 20 years.

Rounding up to 20, from 14 (the years that Virginia's mother has been gone), is a bit of a stretch, though. It's not like rounding up from 18 or 19. He is probably referring to all the years that he has been Virginia's father, with and without her mother around.

Question: In the end credits, the very last character in the cast is someone called Reader (Les Bubb). Who is that character and when did he appear? Note: The cast is listed in order of appearance, so he would be the last character to appear in the movie.

Casual Person

Chosen answer: Les Bubb worked on the Harry Potter films as a voice actor for minor characters. There's no exact indication who he played, but it's likely he was the voice of various portraits, background characters, and other characters who were either unseen or represented by special effects.

Question: In the scene where Tom Cruise and co. are in the tripod's 'basket', a man is sucked up into the tripod and no-one does anything, but as soon as its Cruise's turn everyone grabs him to try and help, why?

Answer: When Tom covered his daughter he noticed a grenade belt dangling from the cage. He grabbed it as he was being pulled into the tripod. When the soldier noticed Tom had the grenades he immediately grabbed Tom to pull him out, and ordered everyone to pull as well.

Answer: You can see someone try to help the first guy, presumably the same soldier as when Tom gets caught.

General Gigan

Answer: Everyone in the basket realised he had a child with him so they decided to save him. Only after they pull him out did they realise the grenade pins were pulled and then the army guy told everyone to brace themselves.

Question: Did The Jackal let Koslova die slowly in punishment for trying to kill him at the pier?

Answer: He wants her to pass a taunting message to Declan. So much so, that he even helps her to slow the bleeding down before she dies too soon.

Answer: Actually, the one in TOW the Prom Video is Tim Bohn. Markus Flanagan is solely Robert.

Question: Several people have mentioned that the film makes a point of showing how Belle is the only literate person in her village. If that's the case then how does the village bookseller manage to stay in business? He couldn't possibly afford his shop and the collection of books he has if Belle is his only customer.

Answer: There is no definite proof she is the only literate person in her town, but the people we do see are not as interested in books as Belle. There is no information as to how he keeps his book shop open, especially if he is willing to lend books to other people in the town.

kristenlouise3

It's not a "bookshop", it's a library. And it doesn't seem like he only lends books.

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