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: How was there a thunderstorm and rain inside the ship while traveling through space?

Answer: That wasn't a "thunderstorm and rain" inside the Nostromo. It was condensation dripping down from the ship's ventilation/cooling system. When searching for the cat, Brett (played by Harry Dean Stanton) removes his cap and stands beneath a cooling shaft, allowing the condensation to splatter like rain on his head and face.

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: What scene are you referring to?

Chosen answer: A single layer sleeveless top like Billy wears after his possession by the Mind Flayer would probably not make a big difference to his body temperature, but even if it did, it's possible he deliberately wore it to fight or hurt the creature invading his mind as he does later demonstrate some ability to keep it at bay.

Sierra1

Billy did wear long-sleeved top after his possession. It was unlike him. I know he used to wear sleeveless top or didn't wear top at the pool before his possession. Your second answer makes sense, though. Thanks.

Bunch Son

Answer: Doris was being possessed by the mind flayer, and like the rats, they craved fertilizer.

Chapter Six: The Spy - S2-E6

Question: With the doctors, Will points to one point on the map, and he says, "That's it. I just know he doesn't want me to see there. I think it's important." What exactly does he refer to that he thinks is important?

Bunch Son

Chosen answer: The spot Will points out on the map is an an area he feels the shadow monster (Mind Flayer) is attempting to hide from him, so he thinks it is important. He later admits that the creature coerced or influenced him into indicating that point, and sure enough the soldiers the government sends in there are massacred by demodogs, so it was a deliberate trap where the mind flayer used Will to eliminate a perceived threat.

Sierra1

Chosen answer: The point they are demonstrating is that if they heat the samples in one flask, it has the same effect on the samples in the other beakers even though they are not being heated - basically that they react as if they are part of a hive mind or controlled by a single organism.

Sierra1

Question: Why would Heywood start chanting "fresh fish"? Betting on who will break down is pretty bad, but I understand they probably have nothing better to do. But what was the point of starting the chant? He seems to feel bad when Fatass is beaten to death, but what was he expecting to happen?

MikeH

Answer: They were betting on who would break first out of the new inmates and the chant was meant to incite an emotional outburst from them. Most times, someone will just cry or break down. Heywood wasn't expecting Fatass to completely lose it and felt guilty because of his actions. This is one the first indicators in the film that some of the long term inmates like Heywood still have their humanity.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: The ratings had declined in its last few seasons, and the series was cancelled.

raywest

Question: The clips shown in the credits of the movie; is the child featured in their now happy lives Witherspoon's real daughter Ava?

Question: How can Logan cut through heavy steel door, rotor of the helicopter, train and big metal robot, but can't cut through Shingen's katana? Was it also adamantium?

Answer: Likely it was. At one point in the movie they mention that Yashida was stockpiling adamantium.

Phaneron

Question: What was Dirty Steve's horse's name? Was he calling it Dog because that's its name or because he was high on peyote?

Answer: When Billy shoots McCloskey, and they are all skinning out. Steve says real quietly "Common Dog."

Answer: His horse was called dog, there are other scenes in the movie when he talks to his horse, but otherwise, he seems like the sort of guy to do it.

Answer: Most likely it was the horse's name. Dirty Steve just seemed like the kind of guy who would name a horse "Dog."

kayelbe

Question: Dalton Russel hides behind a fake wall in the supplies room. This would make the room smaller and items on shelves wouldn't fit the same way anymore. How wouldn't any of the staff notice this change in room size?

Answer: The hiding space was narrow and the change was unnoticeable to staff. Also, this is a large office supplies room that few people access, spend little time in, or take much notice. Therefore, its unlikely the altered space would be immediately detected. Everything was carefully planned, so the fake wall and the arrangement of the boxes and other supplies would have been considered. I have to add that it's a bit of a plot hole considering the tall, heavy metal shelving on the three sides that are loaded with supplies would take considerable time and labor to move and rearrange to accommodate building the wall and in the relatively short amount of time the robbers are in the bank. Realistically, perhaps it could be done, but probably not that quickly by one or two people.

raywest

Answer: The movie was completely finished over a year ago. It was the pandemic that delayed it. So it was the finished product that was released.

Question: At the end of the movie, Johnny Rico praises Zim who caught Brain Bug by saying "Good job, Sergeant." Then Zim answers "Thank you, sir. That would be private, sir." What does he mean? Sergeant is a higher rank than private, right?

Bunch Son

Answer: While Zim was a sergeant, he had to be demoted to private in order to fight on the front line.

Bishop73

Question: The trivia page on IMDB says Nicolas Cage's hairpiece took three hours to apply every day. If this is true, why would it take three hours to apply a hairpiece? Don't they just use adhesive to bond it to the skin? And why would they apply it everyday instead of having him wear it for the duration of the shoot and adjusting it as needed?

Phaneron

Answer: You are right to question the unattributed trivia blurbs on IMDB. The truth is more likely that the hair took 3 hours to apply only on the first day. After that, about 20 minutes max to reapply and touch up as part of the overall makeup process. The goal is optimize the actor's appearance for that day's scenes and lighting, given that the post production colorization will also hide a lot. The hairpiece would be attached with a temporary glue and it's unlikely that the actor would wear the hairpiece home because it's uncomfortable and looks fake.

Question: Harry Crumb thinks it is the tennis pro that is having sex with Helen Downing in the photos, implying that he never looked at the photos or saw the actual sex taking place. But this is contradicted by the fact that Harry Crumb says the "tennis pro's" male organ was small, proving that he saw the sex taking place. Is the answer that he only saw the man's male organ, but not his face?

Rollie55

Chosen answer: Yes, like Inspector Clouseau, he doesn't see the obvious.

Thanks.

Rollie55

Question: Does Fletcher also have the ability to know everything? Just think about this dialogue: Fletcher : Your honor, would the court be willing to grant me a short bathroom break? Judge : Can't it wait? Fletcher : Yes it can. But I've heard that if you hold it you could damage the prostate gland, making it very difficult to get an erection, or even become aroused! Judge : Is that true? Fletcher : It has to be! That dialogue implies that he had never heard that fact, but he still knew it.

MikeH

Answer: There's a lot of things people hear that aren't true (myths, old wives tales, etc), Fletcher only HEARD that it could damage the prostate, but it's not a real fact. Since Fletcher did hear the myth, he technically wasn't lying, even though he was wrong. While holding in your urine for extended periods of time can lead to some issues, like an infection, enlarging the prostate isn't one of them.

Bishop73

And, just to expand: Fletcher says it has to be true, but this is just due to his own imperfect understanding of what is happening to him. As the answer says, he says he HEARD it, which allows him to say it even if it's not a true fact. The important thing about the curse is HIS OWN perception of what he says. If he believes it himself, he can say it.

Question: When the guy tackled Sonny, why wouldn't the police arrest him then?

MikeH

Answer: Because Sal was in the bank with his gun.

Question: Did Chains kill Nancy because he knew that Stone confided in her that he was a cop, and she agreed to testify against the brotherhood? If so, how did he know that? Also, how did he know that Stone's real name was Joe Huff? Did Nancy tell him, or did the "sister" that was working with the police tell him? Also, how did the Bolivian know that Stone had infiltrated a biker gang so that he could rat on him, and how did he know which biker gang he infiltrated?

Rollie55

Question: In a real life situation, would Blankes and Copeland have any disciplinary actions against them when their guns were taken from them and used to hold Harris hostage and shoot at Mahoney?

Answer: With no witnesses to say HOW their guns were taken, they could have said they were taken by surprise and overpowered. Knowing their characters, this is likely what happened. No one would know the truth, that they simply froze and allowed the man to take their guns away.

Question: During the scenes with the Apaches what language are they speaking?

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