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: If the opening scene was staged to get 007 to surrender, then it seems it was a terrible plan. Look how many Russians got killed by Bond and 006. It seems very awkward that the whole thing was staged. Why did Bond need to surrender? Why couldn't 006 just shoot him (besides the usual reason that 007 must be executed through an overly involved and escape-riddled plan) What would they do with him once he was captured? Too many questions and a weird scenario.

Answer: The plan was not to capture 007, it was to stage 006's death. Trevelyan's long-term goal was to steal money from the Bank of England and cover it up using the GoldenEye satellite - he presumably did not have time to run the Janus Syndicate and implement this very elaborate plan whilst serving as a full-time MI6 officer. In fact, it was probably the intention that Bond should escape and tell the British government that 006 had died a hero's death.

Sierra1

Question: At the dance competition the camera dwells on a random drunk guy with his tie round his neck for several seconds. He also partly invades the dance floor to dance with Cha Cha during the routine with JT. Who is he or what is his purpose / role?

Brett Crawley

Chosen answer: He is just an extra. They show him once, looking momentarily concerned, as Sandy brushes past him when she storms out of the gym. They show him in the center of the frame again a short time later hamming it up and enjoying himself. And he does partly invade the dance floor and dance in front of Cha Cha, for no apparent reason other than a moment of being noticed. But he has no actual purpose other than adding his ebullience to the background of the scene.

Michael Albert

Answer: It was Sonny or one of the T-birds did that because he was drunk.

Question: What is the significance of the red markings on the doors of some of the buildings after the monster visit? Are they specific to the people that live inside these buildings? Are they on all doors or specifically selected doors?

Answer: The markings on the doors were to scare the young villagers. No other reason is mentioned.

MasterOfAll

M. Knight used red in sixth sense too. Must signify something. Maybe bc the monsters robes were red and the villagers were to bury all red objects.

Question: Why are the dates on the tombstone near the start of the film over 100 years in the past of the time the film was set? Presumably, due to the remote nature of the village, the young inhabitants would have no concept of time in relation to modern technology, so why bother making up a date at all?

Answer: There would have to be some sort of progressive timeline if the elders wished to continue fooling the younger villagers, who have no clue about the modern world. Most likely, the elders chose the time period that they wanted to replicate and kept the same dates. Also Edward Walker, being a history professor would be teaching the younger ones about the past and if there were history books, it would be difficult to explain why there was a time gap of over a century.

raywest

I like this answer. Just wish to add that by adding ground rules to the fantasy world, i.e., a specific year, the elders are more able to work toward a singular vision. In other words, using a specific year helps them to all keep their story straight.

Question: What did the little town have that the mayor wished to preserve?

Answer: The mayor is resistant to any change and tries to subvert any influence that threatens its traditions.

raywest

Question: Why does the TV repairman chastise Bud's date for taking an apple off the tree to give to Bud? Even though it's a humorous biblical reference, it doesn't make sense that giving a fresh piece of fruit to someone would be inappropriate in Pleasantville.

Matty Blast

Chosen answer: The repairman wanted things to stay the same in Pleasantville, and Bud's date was supposed to be dating Whitey, not Bud. The repairman doesn't like that Bud is changing Pleasantville.

Jaime Natasha Roberts

Question: In several mistakes on this page, there is a reference to a Predator dubbed Celtic. Which one is Celtic, anyway?

Answer: Celtic is the second predator to die in the big fight. His death comes at the hands of "Nethead" (aka Grid) when he attempts to kill the alien with some sort of ceremonial knife while it was subdued with the net. He can be described as having an unusual mask because it displays some additional protrusions around the mouth, possibly as a re-breather of some sort. Celtic also has a scratch on his mask which he got when fighting the alien.

Question: How did Elsa and her subjects find out about the duke's intention to kill her, giving Elsa the reason to banish him?

Answer: The duke was the strongest opponent of Elsa from the start, calling her a monster and noting how dangerous she was the second he saw her ice powers. Later, his guards (who Elsa had already seen at the ball and were dressed in his colors) showed up at her ice castle and actively attacked her, trying to kill her even as their own lives were in danger. She could naturally assume they were following his orders and that he wanted her dead.

Season 1 generally

Question: Is it ever explained why the assassin who attempts to kill Bran (he finds Catelyn Stark and tries to kill her as well, only to be killed by Bran's direwolf) uses Tyrion's blade in his attack, as identified by Littlefinger? Tyrion claims he's innocent, despite the damning evidence. And really, it makes little sense that anyone other than Jamie and Cersei Lannister would be the culprits. So why and how does the assassin end up using Tyrion's blade?

Answer: SPOILER: It is revealed in the season seven finale, The Dragon and the Wolf, that the blade did not belong to Tyrion, but in fact belonged to Littlefinger and that he hired the assassin to kill Bran, and gave the assassin the blade so that he could claim that the blade belonged to Tyrion and create a conflict between the Starks and the Lannisters.

Casual Person

Answer: This has been revealed in the books but it doesn't appear that the show will ever address it. In the books Jaime Lannister deduces that it was actually Joffrey who hired and supplied the would-be assassin with the dagger in an attempt to impress his "father" King Robert after Robert states that it would have been more merciful for Bran to die rather than live as a cripple.

Phaneron

Answer: SPOILER ALERT: In the season seven finale, The Dragon and the Wolf, it is revealed that Littlefinger was the one who hired the assassin and handed him the Valyrian steel dagger to kill Bran. He did this to create a conflict between the Starks and the Lannisters, by claiming that the dagger belonged to Tyrion, so that the Starks would believe that Tyrion attempted to have Bran killed, in addition to having Lysa Arryn accuse the Lannisters of poisoning Jon Arryn, when in actuality it was he and Lysa who poisoned him. The dagger belonged to Littlefinger and it was him who hired the assassin to kill Bran.

Show generally

Question: I know the Big Bang Theory has hired scientists and physicists to write the technical science parts of the scripts and the white board equations. Since Mayim Bialik has a doctorate in neuroscience, does she collaborate with the writers to write those parts of the script?

Answer: She has helped them out when she can, but this is not part of her formal contract with the show.

kristenlouise3

Question: When Vito Corleone visits Sicily with his family, he is received by an old woman and a man. These people are the ones who helped Vito to escape when he was a child. However, when they are having lunch together, Vito refers to her as "grandmother". Are the old woman and the man members of the family? What are their names?

Luiz Iervolino

Chosen answer: They were not his actual grandparents, just people that knew his family and who helped Vito after his mother, father, and brother were killed. Vito refers to her as "grandmother" because they treated him like family. Their names are unknown.

raywest

Question: How on earth did agent O'Reilly manage to survive the gas explosion? He is in the crowd at the end of the movie.

Answer: When it is revealed two years later that he is alive, there is no explanation given as to how he survived the blast. Any answer would be speculation.

raywest

Question: In the scene when Celie is first brought home with Mister there are three kids waiting outside. Harpo and two sisters. No one ever says their names and after the hair combing you never see them again. What happened to them?

Answer: It is never explained what happened to them in the movie, but in the book they marry and move away from home. Neither character is ever mentioned by their name in the book or the film.

raywest

Question: Do the sewers of New York really fill up with toxic waste every night as stated in the movie, or was this just for the purpose of the plot?

lartaker1975

Chosen answer: No they do not. This is only for the purpose of the film's plot.

raywest

Question: How come Trudi sometimes needs an oxygen mask but mostly doesn't - I can understand her not needing one (apparently, there is a glass partition between her and the rest of the helicopter; so whoever is with her has to wear masks, as they are behind the glass partition. But at one stage, Trudi and Norm are up front and Jake and Grace are behind them, and none of them are wearing masks - is the glass partition movable? And during the battle scene, you can see a bullet hole in Trudi's helicopter glass - shouldn't she need a mask now, as the outside air is getting in? Finally, how come Trudi needs a mask just after the home tree is destroyed and she and Norm and Jake and Grace (who was shot and is dying) escape and head for the Tree of Souls? What makes this time so special?

kh1616

Chosen answer: The cabin on the Aerospatiale SA-2 Samson is pressurised, and there are two sealed doors with windows separating it from the open cargo area. There are actually four seats in the cabin which is why Jake and Grace don't need masks. The cabin pressure is slightly higher than the atmosphere (+0.3 psi) which means that if there is a small rupture in the hull or canopy (such as a bullet hole) the oxygen will leak out rather than toxic gas leaking in.

Sierra1

Answer: Modern tempered glass was developed and patented in the early 1900s and was in general use by the 1940s. It would have been routinely used by businesses at the time Irving was breaking out store windows when he was a boy.

raywest

Question: When the man who was looking for the cat, before he was killed, there is water dripping from somewhere, where is it coming from?

Answer: The water is condensation coming from the cooling towers of the ship. The ship is seemingly powered by a nuclear reactor, and the towers above Brett are the ship's equivalent of the large hyperboloid towers seen in traditional power plants. Following this scene Ripley remarks about Brett's abduction "...then it disappeared into one of the cooling towers." This is furthered by the end sequence - Ripley shuts off the cooling system ("Mother; I turned the cooling unit back on!") - which coincides with her action of raising the 4 towers, which would presumably cut off access to the cooling water which serves to keep the core from melting down. This is also supported by her not being able to stop it after a certain point - when the imminent temperature for meltdown is reached coolant can not be returned, because it will flash boil from convective heat before reaching the core, which prevents the required conductive cooling.

Question: Does anybody know what Calypso's yelling when she's finally being freed?

Answer: She says "Malfaiteur en tombeau, crochir l'esplanade, dans l'fond d'l'eau!" which is an incantation in French that translates roughly to "Across all the seas, find the path to he who wrongfully entombed me!"

Question: In the final scene, Wilee is doing a narration whilst he rides his bike. In the background a song is playing. What is this song? The song also continues to play as the end credits go along. (01:20:30 - 01:21:00)

Chosen answer: The song is "Baba O'Riley" by The Who.

Question: During the chase scene at the impound lot, Wilee is chased by a cop onto a high platform and another cop climbs on top of the platform. To avoid the other cop, Wilee jumps off the platform with his bike. In a sudden close-up of Wilee, a slash sound is heard. What is this slash sound I am hearing? (01:11:40)

Chosen answer: I think that sound is the front wheel giving way. If you look closely, you can see that his front wheel is wobbling a little as he escapes. This may be why he ditches his bike and steals the cop's bike soon after.

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