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: Why doesn't Ron get off the knight on the last move of chess before getting attacked by the queen? Does he have to stay on it?

Joel Sheffield

Chosen answer: Unfortunately, he has to stay on. By the rules of the game, he IS the knight, he's not just riding it, so, when he allows himself to get taken in a sacrifice play, he has to take the consequences.

Tailkinker

Question: When it first shows the orcs carrying Pippin and Merry, Pippin shows evident concern for Merry and asks, "What about your heart?" To which Merry replies, "It was just an act. See? Fooled you too." I'm just curious as to what makes Pippin think that anything is wrong with Merry's heart. It never stated or showed anything about Pippin or Merry until this scene, and the last we see of them in FOTR is of them being carried away by the orcs, completely conscious and unharmed. However, while I have the extended version of TTT and ROTK, I only have the theatrical version of FOTR, so I was wondering if this was ever mentioned in a scene during it.

Zinka17

Chosen answer: You misheard, I'm afraid. Pippin says "You're hurt" not "Your heart".

Tailkinker

Question: This has confused me ever since I heard who Balin was in the movie. While Gimli doesn't necessarily look young in Lord of the Rings, his cousin Balin in the Hobbit looks much much older than he does, and not to mention the Hobbit was 60 years prior to the events in Lord of the Rings. There must be a huge age gap between the two or perhaps Balin's white hair has no significance on his age? And for that matter, what are the life expectancies on dwarves, they are pretty much the only races in Tolkien's creations that I've never really heard. Judging from their contrasting age appearances in the movies he would seem to be about 100 years older than Gimli?

ofordgabings

Chosen answer: While the most common usage of the word cousin is to describe the children of siblings, known as "first cousins" who would be of the same generation, "cousin" actually covers quite a wide range of relationships, which can readily cross generations. In this case, Gimli's father Glóin is Balin's first cousin as their fathers, Gróin and Fundin, were brothers. Gimli is therefore Balin's first cousin once removed, making the age difference between them (113 years, to be specific) quite reasonable. Dwarves in the Tolkien stories generally live to around 250 years old, with correspondingly longer generations than humans.

Tailkinker

Question: How does the mob (from the past), know exactly when a Looper has let his target run? A Looper wouldn't turn himself in, so how does the mob know almost instantly when a target hasn't been killed?

Answer: I saw no indication that the mob knew "almost instantly". The whole day had passed before they came looking for Seth. What likely triggers their suspicions is the Looper failing to show up to turn his bars in for cash.

Phixius

Answer: If you watch the movie he only saves half the bars. you see there are 4 bars on the body, but he only turns in 2.

Answer: But Joe doesn't cash in, he stacks up all his money.

Question: During the Tango de Roxanne scene, it seems that there is a lot of tension between Nini and the Argentinean. Also, when he yells at Christian for falling in love with Satine, it is almost as if he is speaking from experience. Is this because he is actually in love with Nini or is it just a part of the song itself?

Answer: It's just part of the song.

Phixius

Question: Throughout the whole movie, why does Jasmine have such hostility toward Jafar? The scene where Aladdin was captured by the guards on Jafar's orders, she seems angry that Jafar had a stranger taken from the market place. In the scene of Jasmine's and Jafar's first appearance together, she confronts him angrily asking Jafar about the arrest. When his reply was justifiable she is still upset with him. And in the scene where the Sultan, Jafar, and Jasmine are all in the room discussing the incident, Jasmine says she wants to get rid of Jafar. (00:23:20 - 00:41:15)

Answer: Because Jasmine sees Jafar for what he is; a lying, manipulative, power-hungry villain.

Phixius

Answer: Also, Jasmine reveals in that first scene that Aladdin's arrest wasn't justifiable. Jafar told her he had him arrested for kidnapping her, to which Jasmine reveals that he didn't kidnap her; she ran away. Then Jafar reveals that he had Aladdin executed, which can seemingly only be done upon approval from the sultan. Jasmine loathes him so much because he allowed for the death of an innocent boy without checking with anyone first.

Jafar didn't have to check with the sultan to execute someone before. The sultan came up with that rule to avoid future confusion.

lionhead

Question: Some people think Ginger is Sarah's sister, but I have always thought she was just her close friend and roommate. Who's right?

Gavin Jackson

Answer: Ginger is Sarah's roommate and best friend.

Chosen answer: No mention is made of her being Sarah's sister. If she was, at some point in the other films, it would have been mentioned.

Captain Defenestrator

Question: At the apartment, Tintin can't find his magnifying glass and Snowy finds it for him. He says "Thank you" like he's annoyed at him. If he is annoyed at him, why is this?

Chosen answer: He must have thought that Snowy had found the magnifying glass and was playing with it. Like most dogs would do with a toy.

Question: What would happened if Gordon failed to reach the gun and shoot Adam and Zep killed Gordon's wife and daughter? Would they be both set free, just Gordon, or just Adam? And what would Zep do if he found Gordon and Adam both alive in the bathroom (they were, but he thought that Adam was dead). Would he kill just Gordon because he failed to kill his wife and daughter, or he would kill both of them?

Answer: Gordon's game was to kill Adam. Adam's game was to survive. There was never an option, in Jigsaw's mind, for both Gordon and Adam to win. If Gordon hadn't shot Adam, Zep would have killed Gordon and his family and received the antidote from Jigsaw. Adam would have been set free.

virtual-toast

Answer: He would have been left to die in the bathroom, as that what it said in his tape, Adam most likely would have been set free and John would have given Zep the antidote to the poison in his blood.

Question: There are numerous instances where animals seem to like or be attracted to Theo, the dogs at the farm being the most prominent. Is this supposed to show or imply anything to us? Or is there any reason given for this phenomenon in the film?

Answer: Alfonso Cuaron compared the character of Theo to biblical characters like Moses, so I would assume that the animals' attraction to Theo is a reference to Noah and the Ark, which represents several themes in the film.

Brad

Question: Why did M send Bond back out into the field if he didn't pass all the tests? She stated he wasn't allowed unless he passed every test, so why did she say he could when the tests stated he's not fit enough?

Heather Benton

Chosen answer: Because she believes that people are more than just the sum of their test results. Regardless of what the tests show, she still believes that Bond is the best person for the task ahead, that his skill, experience and tenacity will allow him to rise above a few bad test scores and get the job done anyway.

Tailkinker

Question: Each film in this trilogy had its own theme. According to Christopher Nolan, Batman Begins was "Fear," The Dark Knight was "Chaos" and "Escalation." Did he ever say what the theme for The Dark Knight Rises is? I've heard it could be "Redemption" or "Pain."

Answer: Yes, the theme for The Dark Knight Rises is pain.

Question: Who was responsible for Lester's murder? Many of his family and friends had a motive but at the time he was killed, they were all somewhere else.

Answer: Frank, Ricky's father, killed Lester. He thought Lester was gay, a secret he's been keeping about himself for a long time. When Lester spurned his kiss, he was humiliated and enraged.

Phixius

Question: How exactly does Batman acquire the "Clean Slate" that Catwoman has been looking for the whole movie, and from whom? Daggett suggests that it's a little too good to be true, so is it even real?

Answer: Daggett suggests that it's too good to be true because he believes that it doesn't exist; that it was in development, but it never worked. From what we see in the movie, however, it seems that that's a cover, that Bruce obtained the "Clean Slate" in order to keep it out of the wrong hands. Exactly how he did that is unclear - most likely he covertly bought up the company developing it, Rykin Data, moved all the project materials to somewhere secure, paid the developers handsomely to sign strict confidentiality agreements, then let Daggett buy the company to find that the "Clean Slate" wasn't there, leading him to believe that it was simply a gangland myth.

Tailkinker

Question: How does Bane kill Daggett? Did he break his neck? That doesn't seem likely though due to the screaming that can be heard. Did he suffocate him?

Answer: He did break his neck. You can actually hear a cracking sound when it happens. As for the screaming, you can actually still be alive for a few seconds, the screaming only lasts for a couple of seconds as well.

Casual Person

Chosen answer: This is an instance of the Doctor interfering, albeit indirectly, with his own timestream. He sends the invites to his younger self, Rory, Amy, River and the older Canton because he knows, from his memories of those events occurring, that they are the ones who get invited. It's a somewhat circular situation, but that's time travel for you.

Tailkinker

Question: Why was CPL Upham treated so badly by the other soldiers? they were only Privates (E-2), but a Corporal is E-4. They should've seen him as a superior and respected him, shouldn't they?

wolf8265

Chosen answer: Upham isn't a soldier, he's a clerk, recruited from another unit because of his linguistic skills. His rank is irrelevant; untested in combat, he would not receive any respect from the other soldiers until he proved himself worthy of it.

Tailkinker

Question: What relationship does Silva have with M? M claims he was a former agent, whilst Silva refers to M as "mother" or something along this lines.

Jaffacake

Chosen answer: He's an agent who worked for her when she was section chief in Hong Kong. They are not related - Silva refers to her as "mother" or "mummy" as a nod to the fact that recruited agents are frequently orphans and thus their superiors often take on something of a parental role - a noted theme in this particular movie.

Tailkinker

Question: At the end of the movie Colin Farrel checks his arm and sees that the mark they put when he was sitting in the "recall" chair was gone. Does this mean this was all a dream? I mean, the "spy recall" that he wanted?

Answer: The absence of the tattoo on Quaid's arm hints that the whole scenario could have been a memory, brought on by Rekall.

THGhost

Question: In the car racing scene between Stuntman Mike, Kim, Zoe, and Abby, I am confused as to why the car chase lasted so long. Couldn't Kim have simply slowed down gradually and shot Stuntman Mike? I mean, we hear her in an earlier scene talking about her gun and we see her shoot him after stopping. Why keep driving fast with your friend in danger and mess up the car that isn't yours?

sunfox35

Chosen answer: Because there wouldn't be a car chase if she stopped. It's all part of the fun.

THGhost

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