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 does the fake case have wet paint if the swap was planned?

Answer: It's a while since I've seen the movie but if I'm remembering correctly, the meet was at short notice. Gregor had the case prepped for the swap but didn't have a chance to paint it in enough time for the paint to dry properly.

The_Iceman

Question: There's a scene where Al Pacino gets called away from dinner with friends to investigate a girl's murder... who is she? And what's the importance of that part of the story? She doesn't have the same hair as the prostitute Waingrow kills.

Answer: Waingrow is a serial killer. He is kills several young, black prostitutes in LA. Showing Waingrow attacking one and then the body of another is a clever trick to explain to the audience that there is more than one victim without having exposition directly stating this fact. Vincent is coincidentally asked to cover the homicide because his team is available that night and there are apparently no other detectives free.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: At the end after the dinosaurs had escaped it was stated that it would become a 'Jurassic world'. There were no more dinosaurs than the US military could handle. So why so dramatic?

Answer: The dinosaurs were scattering all over the country and could nest a dozen eggs at a time. They're not dumb they know how to fight, hide and protect themselves. "Life finds a way."

The relatively small number of escaped dinosaurs could not scatter all over the country quickly, if at all. Dinosaurs have small brains and are incapable of understanding the modern world. Their size makes it impossible to hide while roaming. The military could easily find and destroy them. They are also females, and many are only one individual of their own species, and unable to breed. Although in 'Jurassic Park' it showed one species had supposedly changed sex and laid fertile eggs, that was an exception, was spurious science, would be rare, and it would take time to produce any significant numbers. There is also the lysine contingency plan. In Jurassic Park it was explained the dinos were genetically engineered to lack the enzyme lysine. If not added to their diet, they die. Actually, the dinos left on the other island should all be dead.

raywest

Answer: It's strictly to set up as excitement and anticipation for the movie's sequel. You're right that it's overly dramatic, deliberately so, and that there were not enough escaped dinos to pose a permanent threat. The military could indeed hunt them down and eradicate them.

raywest

Question: Why did Palpatine ever want an apprentice? If I am correct, he always intended to dispose of Darth Maul, Count Dooku, and Darth Vader when they were no longer useful to him. And probably Luke, if Luke had accepted his offer. Why not work alone?

Answer: Because an Apprentice does the emperor's bidding, dispatches orders, acts as an emissary, intimidates enemies, is a spy, and so on. Having minions at one's disposal is a show of power, and supreme leaders would not do those things themselves. It dilutes their authority, and they would look weak and ineffective. As you pointed out, when the current apprentice is no longer as useful or obedient or becomes too powerful and poses a threat, they are replaced.

raywest

That's the rule of two for the Sith, there's always a Master and an Apprentice. No more, no less. In order to remain a Sith Master, Sidious must have an apprentice.

Answer: Succumbing to the dark side comes with it a megalomania that has you wanting to display proof of your omnipotence by training a skilled and powerful apprentice who starts out THINKING he's going to kill you and take your place someday but in the end is forever your obedient slave (or so you think.) Likewise, Sith apprentices all have an unspoken desire to eventually pull the ultimate power move by killing their master and taking their place as head honcho when they least expect it (or so they think). This of course results in Sith relationships always becoming weird and twisted, vaguely BDSM-like mind games.

TonyPH

Question: Does anyone else wonder why Winifred decided to chase Max, Alison and Dani instead of brewing more potion for the kids that came to the house? She would have had plenty of time for revenge that way.

Answer: They didn't have time. They had until sunrise, brewing a potion and rounding up a town full of children takes a lot of effort. Besides, they hated that these kids managed to outsmart a trio of centuries old witches.

They had enough for a single child. Had they used that instead of flying after the others, they could've got revenge at a later date.

Question: Phil asks the landlady at the hotel if there is any hot water, and she laughs and says there wouldn't be any today. Why wouldn't there be any hot water? Wouldn't the hotel have boilers?

Answer: In a lot of old hotels those days used water heaters instead of boilers. A water heater has a limited amount of water heated, stored in a tank. So at the end of the week and every guest showering and using hot water during that week, the hot water will be gone before they refill the water heater at a specific day.

lionhead

That's not how hot water heaters work. The water temperature is maintained by a thermostat. Once empty, it would take time to heat the refilled tank-but it's not heated on a specific day. The other answer is more correct.

kayelbe

Answer: Her laughter seems to imply that the rooms never have hot water when it's as cold as it was that day; maybe the pipes freeze, or her boiler just isn't very good. This isn't a five-star hotel, it's a small B&B run, it seems, solely by Mrs. Lancaster. Maybe she hasn't gotten around to fixing/arranging to fix whatever is wrong with the hot water, or it's just not something she sees as a big problem.

D-Girl - S2-E7

Question: After Christopher and Amy have been to bed together he shakes the water on her back and asks "hey you ever been with another Skinny Guinea?" What does that mean and why does Amy get upset?

Answer: "Guinea" is a derogatory or slur word for Italians, or Italian-Americans. So he was jokingly asking if she slept with (shagged) another Italian guy. Amy is Greg's fiancé and Greg is Christopher's cousin. So Greg would be Italian. Amy is cheating on Greg with Christopher and it just made her feel guilty. He wasn't thinking about that fact when he made the comment, which is why he immediately apologizes.

Bishop73

Question: At the very end we see several surfers and in the wave is a dinosaur (mosasaurus?) about to attack. How did it get there? Was it a foreshadowing?

Answer: It's the same mosasaurus from the Jurassic World park. The mercenaries in the mini-sub that collected the Indoraptor bone at the bottom of the mosasaurus tank, entered through an underwater gate connected to the ocean. The sub team, who were killed, had left the gate open and the mososaurus just swam through, free to roam wherever it wanted.

raywest

Question: I know that in the original script Aragorn was supposed to fight against Sauron at the Black Gate. Why was this idea abandoned? Why were filmmakers against this idea?

Answer: Jackson and his team wanted Frodo and Sam's scene in Mt. Doom to be the emotional/dramatic climax, and ultimately decided that an epic battle between the Dark Lord and Aragorn would have drawn too much script (and audience) attention and weakened that moment.

Question: Why the fear of extinction because of the volcanic eruption? Weren't there still dinosaurs on Isla Sorna?

Answer: It wasn't about saving species from extinction as there was the technology to create more dinosaurs. It was a humanitarian effort to save the animals' lives. However, there were divided opinions on whether it was morally right to expend the money and resources to save and house animals that nature had already selected to become extinct and no longer had a place in the modern world.

raywest

Question: When Georges is being deported back to France, why didn't Brontë go with him? They realised they were in love with each other plus there was nothing stopping her from going to France with him.

Answer: It's implied she will be coming with him when George says he will write to ask 'when are you coming cherie?' and the way they laugh and exchange rings. She just has to wrap up loose ends in NY then she'll be on her way to him.

Question: Why is Wybie hanging from the top of Mr. B's pole thingy toward the end?

Answer: Cause the other mother probably killed him.

Question: Why does Angelique curse Barnabas and kill his parents and Josette?

Answer: In the 1700s, Angelique, a witch, was romantically spurned by Barnabas. Out of jealousy, spite, and revenge, Angelique cursed him, killed his parents, and caused Barnabas' betrothed, Josette, to fall off a cliff to her death.

raywest

Question: When Malcolm leaves the bathroom after Big Momma gets in the shower, does the toilet or the shower make that weird noise? Also, what is he looking at that makes him vomit?

Answer: I think it's the toilet unclogging. Also, he was probably looking at the diarrhoea she left behind in the toilet bowl.

Question: A tape recorded by John directed toward agent Perez states that her partner would soon take the life of an innocent man. How did John know that agent Strahm would kill Jeff? For all he knows, Strahm could have followed Rigg through the factory rather than Jeff. The "if you're good at anticipating the human mind, it leaves nothing to chance" excuse doesn't work here. The only reason Strahm followed Jeff was because he heard Jeff hit a ceiling light with a crowbar.

Answer: Realistically there is no way he could have known. The writers were just working backwards from the plot point on this one.

Phaneron

Question: Why is there is such an absence of love in this film? Two birthdays are observed. Dr. Haywood Floyd calls his little 5-year-old daughter on Earth, wishes her happy birthday, but never once says "I love you," which seems only a natural thing for a father to tell his child. Later, astronaut Frank Poole's parents wish him happy birthday, but never once say "I love you"; rather, his father says, "Give our love to Dave (Bowman). " Nobody ever says "I love you," despite the dire circumstances.

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: I love this question, and I think the answer will vary, perhaps wildly, depending on who answers it. Here's mine: one of the themes of the film is that, despite these amazing leaps in technology, colonising the moon, and manned travel to distant planets, humanity has gradually become more and more like the machines we create: cold, emotionless, unfeeling. In other words, we've lost our capacity for human connection. This is why Kubrick shoots these scenes you mention in such a cold, distant way. It asks us to consider the cost that comes with technological advances that outpace our emotional development.

Good reply. Yeah, all the human dialogue in this film seems purely information-driven, if not outright expository. Cold, humorless, oddly devoid of emotion. Especially the dialogue and character of Frank Poole (played by Gary Lockwood); he shows no emotion or affection for his parents, as if only just tolerating their birthday greetings. For me, this made it difficult to feel any sense of loss when Frank Poole was later murdered by HAL. Maybe most oddly, the computer HAL seems to speak with the most emotion (desperation and fear) when Dave Bowman finally disconnects HAL's higher brain functions. I mean, that's the most poignant dialogue in the film, when the computer pleads for its life.

Charles Austin Miller

The Mouse - S4-E20

Question: The old man that comes in with his wife that can't breathe, the one that the head nurse tries to counsel and tempts him with a cup of coffee. I believe he is Alfred Hitchcock, though his name is not listed anywhere. Alfred Hitchcock is known for his cameo appearances in his own shows and in other shows. Can someone confirm that this is him? This is driving me nuts... It is toward the end of the episode, but I cannot give you times.

Answer: I believe you are speaking of the old man, Mr. Wilson. He's played by J. Pat O'Malley.

Bishop73

Correct, it was J. Pat O'Malley...he also played the grandfather with his grandson when their rocket exploded, and also played "Old Bill" in the episode with Ann Prentiss, where Gage saves the little girl from the burning tree house, and her mother falls in love with him.

Question: Why can't Mr Potato Head just bring back Woody anyway Instead of leaving him at Sid's when he refuses after what he did to Buzz? Didn't he even notice that Andy was upset and wanted Woody back too?

Trainman

Answer: When Buzz was given to Andy, this made Woody jealous as at the time he was Andy's favorite toy. Then Buzz shows up with pop out wings, karate action, a helmet that opens while making a whoosh sound and a light that made a noise like a laser going off and Andy was spending more time with him and even redecorating his room with Buzz Lightyear stuff. Even the other toys grew to like Buzz quickly. After pushing Buzz out the window in a jealous rage, the others got angry at Woody. When Mr. Potato Head saw Woody over at Sid's house, he felt that Woody deserved it for his horrible treatment of Buzz and hoped that Sid would do something evil to Woody as he does to all toys. At that point, we don't know if we ever see Mr. Potato Head realizing how upset Andy is over losing Woody. The only one who recognizes this is Bo Peep when she sees Andy's mom giving Andy the cowboy hat he always wears.

But Woody also DIDN'T push Buzz out the window; it was an accident and nobody believed him. He's not evil.

Question: Why did the driver flip the hillbillies off after saying "Nice wheels"?

Trainman

Answer: He was being sarcastic. A beat up, broken down old truck driving through Beverly Hills. The guy considered it an insult.

Question: After the inevitable disaster had begun, Owen, Claire and Maisie became hunted by the indoraptor. Why did Owen turn off all the lights when making their escape?

Answer: It makes it harder for the Indoraptor to navigate and to see them as they attempt to hide and escape.

raywest

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