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: In the second film, the T-800 stated that Skynet launched the nuclear missiles in response to the government trying to shut it down. This is not the case here (as John states that Skynet has little-to-no-chance of being destroyed by conventional means). It just preps launching them as soon as it becomes active. It is not longer motivated by any clear threat to its existence. What, then, causes Skynet to identify humans as the enemy and initiate Judgement Day?

Answer: In this reality (which is subtly altered from the "original" Terminator timeline due to the changes made in T1 and T2) SkyNet became conscious quite a bit before T3 and eventually determined that it should be in control of the world. To pursue that goal, it launched the virus discussed throughout the film which was intended to trick the government into launching SkyNet world-wide. In other words, its new motivation was paternalism/global domination, and humanity (in its current form, anyway) gets in the way.

Question: When Aunt Marge starts to inflate, Uncle Vernon starts kind of whining. He's supposed to be really tough, why doesn't he growl or yell instead? Or at least try to save his sister?

Answer: He is a big bully. He isn't tough at all, he just acts that way to Harry. When confronted by something scary, he wusses out!

Grumpy Scot

Question: In the bathtub sex scene with Alotta Fagina and Austin, why does Fagina kick her leg up into the air when Austin strips?

Answer: Cuz it's sexy. She's showing off her assets for him!

Grumpy Scot

Question: After the bathroom scene, when Diaz is putting eye drops in her eye, Applegate says that she had just witnessed a "glory hole", or something sounding like that. What is a glory hole?

Answer: Without needing an "X" rating: A glory hole is most commonly found in men's restrooms, used for sexual purposes. A quick web search might provide more (yet too much) information.

Ral0618

Question: In the movie "Batman", we discover that a young Jack Napier murdered Bruce's' parents and later became the Joker. So why in this movie did they change the killer to some low-life thug?

Answer: This is actually true to the comics, where a regular thug named Joe Chill was the killer of Mr. and Mrs. Wayne. There is no connection between this movie/series and Burton's "Batman"; they are separate takes on the same story, which is why things can be radically different. Burton chose to alter the storyline to give Batman an even greater reason to go after the Joker, that's his decision. Nolan chose otherwise in his presentation of the Batman legend, sticking to the original story.

Twotall

Question: If Det. Graham had already identified his brother's body at the crime scene, why would it have been necessary for his mother to have to do so at the morgue, especially since it was very traumatic for her?

Macalou

Chosen answer: Since he was directly involved with the investigation, to identify the body would have been a conflict of interest. Therefore he had to notify the next of kin beyond himself.

Chosen answer: I'm guessing it is because he bought a new car. At the end of the first Bean, he crashed the mini. You hear the crash and see his wheel bouncing down the road. Safe to assume it was a write-off.

Soylent Purple

Answer: Yeah he had a red Mini at the beginning but it ends up getting crashed at the end of the episode. And then in other episodes he has a green Mini.

Dan23

Answer: I think it is because in the last episode his green car got smashed in the ceremony and he bought a red mini until he got a new green mini.

Question: What was the real rock band Cameron Crowe based the fictional group Stillwater on?

raywest

Chosen answer: The film was loosely based on Cameron Crowe's experiences with The Allman Brothers Band.

Damian Torres

Answer: The film is based on Crowe's experiences touring with rock bands Poco, The Allman Brothers Band, Led Zeppelin, Eagles and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

lizzylou

Chosen answer: It's a shortened version of the Latin phrase 'Semper Fidelis', which means 'always faithful'.

Tailkinker

Chosen answer: I think we can safely assume that "The Man" kills Becky in the elevator, yes. But unlike the first woman, Becky had done something to piss off a lot of people (basically betraying all the girls working in Old Town), and they sent him to eliminate her.

Twotall

Question: Is it my imagination, or does the opening theme sound similar to the classical piece "The Planets - Mars" by Holst?

StevenJ

Chosen answer: There are certain similarities, yes. Whether any specific aspects of the piece were deliberately incorporated into the film's opening theme is an open question, but the overall feel is undoubtedly very similar.

Tailkinker

Answer: At one point Nicholas Meyer did indeed have the idea to incorporate "The Planets" into the score, but apparently the rights proved too expensive. I have no doubt Meyer asked composer Cliff Eidelmann to give the score a similar sound.

TonyPH

Question: This applies to all three movies and also Zorro and Batman. When Indy uses his whip to swing from one place to another, how does he free the whip from whatever it was attached to? A flick of the wrist wouldn't do it, it seems like he'd have to climb to the end of the whip and separate it from the object by hand.

Answer: There are two answers - a short one and a longer one. The short one -- it's a movie and the director can pretty much do what he wants. The longer one -- assuming that the ends of the whip loop around the log, etc., the parts of the whip further back from the end can cover the end. Then, as long as there is weight applied to the whip (i.e., a person swinging), the whip could stay attached to the log, etc. As soon as the weight is release, there is no pressure on the ends of the whip and it shouldn't be too hard to flick the handle and have the whip release.

Zwn Annwn

Question: Why does Stone shoot at the water after he jumps from the train?

Answer: To break the surface of the water making an easier penetration. Hitting water at high speeds can be like hitting concrete. By stirring up the water it "softens" the impact.

EMTurbo

Question: This seemed like a couple of mistakes, but I'm not a technology expert: First of all, if the aliens are interfering with Earth's satellites, how are cellphones able to work [so well]? Secondly, how is Dave able to triangulate Connie's position? He sticks some kind of device on his roof, and presumably uses a satellite. Regardless of the satellite problem, I thought triangulation (as the name implies) needed at least three points for determining location.

Answer: Cell phones do not use satellites, they use towers on the ground in each area and land lines to link each area. So as long as the towers and lan lines are still there the cell phones will work. He triangulates her position using a signal from the cell towers on earth, and you do need 3 points, but those points are just 3 towers on earth, no satellites involved.

pross79

Show generally

Question: When Nanny G says that she has played the same character for twenty years it gets a big laugh. What is the joke? Am I missing something here?

Answer: Nanny G (Nanette Guzman - played by Laurie Metcaf) has been a children's entertainer for twenty years, and tells Frasier, "Do you know what it's like to play the same character for 20 years?!" The joke is that Kelsey Grammer has been playing Frasier Crane since 1984, when the character first appeared on "Cheers", so Kelsey in real life has been doing just that!

Super Grover

Answer: The initial number is 0101100101 = 357. When reflected in a mirror, however, it reads 1010011010 = 666 (the number of the Beast). It is a parody of The Shining, where the words Red Rum are seen as the word murder in the mirror.

Sierra1

Question: Does anyone know what happened at the Bell household, after the Bride disposed of Vernita? I'm also curious as to what happened to Sophie, after her rough night.

Answer: For years there's been a rumor of a third movie with Sophie and blind Elle teaming up for revenge on the Bride.

Answer: It's never been stated what happened to be Bell household. Re Sophie, towards the end of Vol. 1 we see Sophie talking with Bill and if you listen to what Bill is saying and how he is articulating his speech you could make the assumption that he is really angry at Sophie for giving the bride the information rather than dying. My assumption would be that after Sophie told Bill everything about the Bride he would have killed her.

DJKostya

Question: Who threw the evidence in the fireplace?

Answer: It depends on which ending you subscribe to. It could have been Scarlet to hide evidence of her brothel. It could have been Mustard to hide evidence of his affair with Yvette. Or it could have been White who wanted to destroy pictures of Yvette "in flagrante delicto" with other men (reminding her of her husband's infidelity).

Macalou

Show generally

Question: While the series finale was inventive for its epilogue (telling us Roseanne's life for some time has been a written work of fiction), there are some things that were never made clear. For example, Roseanne (in voiceover) tells us she switched Becky and Darlene's boyfriend's, then husband's, because she thought it seemed better that way. Which brings me to my questions, does that mean Roseanne's life has been fiction from the point when Dan builds her the room in the basement to write or did it start when Mark, her future son-in-law, showed up in the show? Also, do we have any clue (or has Roseanne said in any interview or other source) what her character has REALLY been doing when she began writing?

Answer: A definitive explanation was never given. Roseanne Barr had hoped to keep the show going after the departure of John Goodman, who would not do another season. That is why his character, Dan, died. The rather preposperous epilogue was a feeble attempt to erase the previous season's ridiculous plot line about the Conners winning the lottery. The change in the characters (Jackie was now gay and Bev was not, switching the daughters' husbands, etc.) seems to have been a misguided effort to give the show a new dimension.

raywest

Question: Why are the bullet holes that appear behind Vincent and Jules, in the "The Bonnie Situation" chapter, regarded as a "Mistake" on this website? I thought they are there to show it wasn't really a miracle at all.

Answer: The mistake is that in the shot before the guy comes out of the bathroom firing his gun you can see the same bullet holes in the wall as after he finishes firing his gun. Those bullet holes were not meant to be there already as you can see before this is completely clear of any holes.

Lummie

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