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Answer: The storyline was that Jessica was teaching classes in New York. However, after so many seasons and as ratings declined, it was probably to freshen up the series with a different locale, introduce new characters, and have a greater variety of situations in which Jessica could solve murders. It was already unbelievable that so many people could be murdered in the small town of Cabot Cove. Being in a large city like New York makes it a tiny bit more plausible.

raywest

Question: What was Lindsey referring to when she called Coffey "Roger Ramjet"?

Answer: Roger Ramjet was a 1960's American cartoon character who was extremely patriotic, but dimwitted.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: She's comparing the overzealous, gung-ho Coffey to the 1960s cartoon character, Roger Ramjet, a frenetic, extremely patriotic, though not particularly bright American-hero guy. He worked for the U.S. government and routinely saved the world, using energy pills that gave him brief increased strength.

raywest

Answer: Dudley Do-right, Inspector Clouseau or Maxwell Smart, only in a '50's space cartoon, that's Roger Ramjet (I imagine Buzz Lightyear is the nearest pop cultural successor).

dizzyd

Answer: It isn't said specifically, but Tommy does mention that "it's in here now" while pointing to his head. This suggests some sort of cancer has spread to his brain.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: It's implied to be a combination of brain damage (Johnny suggests this to Miguel earlier) and cancer that spread to the brain. In real life the actor suffered kidney and liver failure and died not long after.

Question: Why does the Chief fake being deaf for much of the film?

Answer: It's better explained in the novel, where the Chief is the narrator. Essentially, he played deaf and dumb, so he'd be left alone by the Nurse and the staff; seeing what they did to the other patients, he figured the less he was noticed, the better. In this way, he is privy to a lot of the seedier goings-on, since they don't think he can hear what they're saying or tell anyone what he's seen.

Answer: The Hulk is a giant brute who smashes everything in his path when he is angry. In Ang Lee's "Hulk," General Ross, played by Sam Elliot, explains it to his daughter.

Answer: Because he feels the Hulk is a threat to all life on Earth, and particularly his daughter's close relationship with Bruce Banner puts her at risk when Hulk enters the equation.

Phaneron

Why does Ross think the hulk is a threat?

Because the Hulk is nearly mindless and goes on destructive rampages with high risk of collateral damage.

Phaneron

If that's the case, what's the problem with the way general Ross judges the hulk?

It's nuanced. Ross is correct to recognize the potential danger the Hulk presents, but he's also too stubborn to realise that he usually exacerbates the Hulk's rampages by trying to engage him in combat instead of trying to calm him down.

Phaneron

Question: Why did Aslan briefly pause before he killed Jadis?

Question: How accurate is this film in relation to the actual Battle of Thermopylae?

Answer: It's based on Frank Miller's comic 300, rather than Herodotus' recounting of the actual battle. Almost nothing is accurate beyond Leonidas leading 300 Spartans to the Hot Gates and fending off Persians until Ephilates (not a hunchback) exposes the goat path. Xerxes is certainly not a tall Latino man, the Persians never used elephants, rhinos and explosives or mutants and Leonidas' former co-king actually sided with the Persians after getting kicked out of Sparta. In addition, 1000 Thespians also stood beside the Spartans and also died besides them. The Persians also did not have an 'inside man' in the Spartan government nor did they pay off the Ephors to tell Leonidas not to march; in reality it was a religious festival so the army had to stay home. Gorgo was also an accomplished wrestler and charioteer and would not have been raped so easily, especially by a politician.

Answer: Remember that even in the film, it's not really treated as a true story. It's Dilios telling a propaganda tale meant to boost the spirits of his fellow Greek warriors at Plataea.

LorgSkyegon

Answer: According to the director it is 90 percent accurate. But in reality there are many things going on in this movie that are totally fantastical. One of the biggest problems are the costumes, diplomacy and tactical situation of the actual battle (the 300 did not in fact stand alone). Also, the movie includes elephants, which the Persians did not use in that battle, and certainly not rhinoceros. Also, Xerxes' portayal is completely fictional.

lionhead

Question: How much material was added for Peter Jackson's Hobbit movies that wasn't in the original novel?

Answer: Quite a bit, though much of what was added was alluded to in the film as being done elsewhere, especially scenes with Gandalf. This was likely to pad the length, as the book is rather short (around a quarter the length of the Lord of the Rings). Galadriel, Radagast, Saruman, and the Necromancer are not seen in the books, though Radagast and the Necormancer mentioned. Azog is already dead by this time. Tauriel is a new character. Legolas is never mentioned, but as Mirkwood is his home, he was likely there. Dain Ironfoot is mentioned as there, but isn't seen doing anything except taking kingship after the death of Thorin. The White Council scene is also mentioned but not seen.

LorgSkyegon

Question: Why was Lex Luthor absent in this movie? Not only he didn't appear but wasn't even mentioned. Did Gene Hackman refuse to reprise the role in this movie?

Answer: There were rumors that Hackman was angry with the Salkind Brothers (the producers) for firing director Richard Donner, though Hackman later disputed saying that. His explanation, though he may have been downplaying the real reason, was that he had a number of other movie projects at the time, and he also did not wish to continually play the same villain in an ongoing movie series.

raywest

Question: How did Hannibal Lector get that pen in his mouth when his whole body was under restraints?

Answer: When the curator of the insane asylum was in his cell, he had a pen and contract for him to sign. When he was called away, he forgot about it. Hannibal was restrained, when the curator left, the restrains were most likely taken off. That's when he grabbed the pen. He had only the metal clip in his mouth, which he used to pick the lock on his cuffs.

Question: Given the Tasks are the main point of the Triwizard Tournament, they're pretty poor spectator sports - one is an hour underwater and another is in a dark maze. So all the overseas students spend most of a year at Hogwarts to watch three short rounds of a competition, two of which happen out of sight?

Answer: This is better understood in the book. The students were not invited there solely to watch the Triwizard Tournament. It was also a year-long educational and cultural experience. Dumbledore revived the tournament in its original form for a specific purpose - his secret goal was to build an international wizarding community to help fight Voldemort, who he was certain would return and spread his evil beyond the U.K. Bringing the Durmstrang and Beauxbaton students to Hogwarts for the school year was intended to build lasting friendships and alliances and for them to work cooperatively. Also, the original competition was never designed to entertain a crowd. It was a dangerous, life-threatening event that tested competitors' courage and abilities under extreme conditions, That is hardly boring and would likely keep spectators engaged long enough to see if the champions survived, even if some events weren't entirely visible.

raywest

Not sure where that is in the books, other than it being a genuinely good strategy, but the original question does seem to have a point - if you're going to collate three communities to watch a very spread-out version of the Olympic Games, why select two games where the action is entirely invisible to the audience other than who eventually emerges from the lake/maze first? It's like staging the Indy 500 when the crowd can only see the podium and not the track.

It is part of the book's overall plot, and, in the movie, Hermione mentions its purpose is about "magical cooperation." I don't recall that Dumbledore personally selected the events. He revived the original TriWizard Tournament, albeit with safety modifications. The real answer, however, is that this is a book/movie. J.K. Rowling crafted the plot to make it exciting and suspenseful and to allow for Voldemort's ultimate plan at the story's end to unfold, hidden from Dumbledore, the Hogwarts staff, and Ministry officials, who, naturally, would intervene. Otherwise, how could Harry be captured, Cedric killed, Harry be part of Voldemort's resurrection, and the climatic duel with the Dark Lord in the graveyard take place? Sometimes facts/reality/logic, etc. are suspended for the sake of the story.

raywest

Question: Given the Triwizard tasks are the Main Events and huge spectator stands are erected to watch them... why are two of the tasks set up so as to be largely invisible to any spectators? If I'm from Durmstrang and I've failed to get selected, I spend a year at Hogwarts for the purposes of watching a classmate disappear underwater for an hour and, months later, go into a maze. It would be like camping out at a Super Bowl stadium for a year to watch three matches, two of which are held in the dark.

Answer: The students were there for more than just to watch the competition. It was a year-long cultural and educational experience centered around the TriWizard Tournament. Dumbledore's true intent in reviving the competition, however, was to bring international wizarding students to Hogwarts as a means to build lasting friendships and alliances to help fight Voldemort. This was an ancient competition, which had been banned because it was so dangerous. It originally wasn't designed as a spectator sport but as an extreme test of courage and ability. There are many types of competitions that people follow where they cannot watch/see the entire event, such as car and bike rallies, equestrian cross-country jumping, marathons, etc.

raywest

Question: After Ramses finally agreed to let the slaves go, why did Dathan go with them? He wasn't a slave, so he could have said no and stayed in Egypt.

Answer: While Dathan was an overseer, he was still an Israelite (he was from the house of Jacob), so he was still a Hebrew slave. Ramses banished all the Hebrews out of Egypt.

Bishop73

Answer: He had blood on his doorway, only the followers of Moses had it. Therefore, the Egyptian guards assumed he was one of them.

Answer: It's been years since I've seen this movie. As I remember, on the night of the Plague of the Firstborns, those Hebrews who painted a symbol in lamb's blood on their doors were spared God's wrath (Passover). To punish his being a traitorous collaborator and cruelty to the slaves, Dathan's door was marked without his knowledge to identify him as a Hebrew. He was then exiled from Egypt with the others, despite being a loyal to Pharaoh Ramses and acting as his spy.

raywest

Winterfell - S8-E1

Question: As Qyburn gives a crossbow to Bronn to kill Cersei's two brothers, he says "The queen's brothers made promises to you and broke them. Her Grace wants to rectify their mistake." I remember Jaime promised Bronn a castle or more, but I don't know what Tyrion had promised to Bronn and broke it. From I can tell, it was Bronn who turned his back to Tyrion. So, what was Tyrion's promise to Bronn that wasn't kept?

Bunch Son

Answer: I believe Bronn had wanted Tyrion to give him High Garden, the Terrell's castle - which Tyrion was later unable to provide him. Jamie also offered Bronn a castle and also gave him a large amount of gold, but Bronn specifically wanted High Garden and would not consider any other as being grand enough. At the end of the series, High Garden has been given to Bronn.

raywest

Question: When McClane asks Barnes to 'break the code' on one of the baddies' Walkie Talkies, Barnes tells him it is impossible as it is a 10 button device with a 6 digit readout..."There could be a million combinations!" How can there be a million combinations? Surely the largest number on a 6 digit readout is 999,999.

Answer: You forgot 000000.

Jon Sandys

Answer: Totally agree with the other answer, but also, someone saying, "There could be a million combinations!" can also just be a deliberate hyperbole, and never meant to be taken literally. It's like saying, "I told you that a thousand times already."

raywest

Except that a 6-digit code literally has a million combinations. It's not hyperbole at all.

Bishop73

Oh really? No kidding? Never disputed that there was one million combinations. The character, however, could have intended his comment as a hyperbolized, off-the-cuff remark that was not meant to be an exact number count. He said, "There COULD be a million combinations!" He did not say, "There are precisely one million combinations." He could have meant it either way. There was more than one way to interpret what he said.

raywest

This is a strange situation because the wording suggests that Barnes is using hyperbole ("there COULD be a million combinations..."), but mathematically the number of possible combinations with a 0-9 keypad and a 6 digit readout is exactly 1 million (10x10x10x10x10x10 = 1,000,000). So he is technically not using hyperbole but that was his intent. So it's both hyperbole and not hyperbole at the same time. It's kind of fascinating, actually.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: Since Christopher Robin is his only human friend, Pooh naturally assumed it was him. True friends always find each other no matter how much time has passed.

The Broker - S5-E11

Question: Avery says that what he wants to talk to Julie about has nothing to do with his case. He tells her the reason why he lied about being home all night. By telling Julie the real reason he lied, isn't Avery actually discussing the case with her?

Question: When the roof of the car gets blown off and everybody loses their clothes, what was Sharon referring to when she said to Brother Tony that not all the snakes were driven out of Ireland?

Answer: She was referring to his penis, suggesting that it was larger than average.

Bishop73

Question: When Russell can't climb the hose from Carl's house in the sky, Carl turns to Russell and shouts out "Caw, caw! Raar! Caw, caw! Raar!" as he goes up the ladder on the airship. Why is he saying that? At the end, even the audience said this as that kids received the badges on the stage. What's the meaning behind the words?

Bunch Son

Chosen answer: Russell is part of a group called the Wilderness Explorers I think the whole "caw caw roar" thing might be something that the kids in the pack always do. Kind of like a special salute or signal.

Question: It is quite obvious that both Hans and Karl are Germans. So how is this possible that, when Hans ordered Karl to shoot the glass (Schieß dem Fenster) in German, Karl didn't understand it? He complied with this order only after Hans repeated it in English.

Answer: Karl understood what Hans was saying in German. He hesitated because he was puzzled by the request, probably unaware, unlike Hans, that John would have to run through shattered glass while barefooted. Hans repeating it in English is merely a plot device so that the audience understands what he's saying without subtitles being used and it emphasizes Hans' urgency.

raywest

My interpretation is that when Hans said it in German, he said it too quietly for Karl to hear. When Hans repeated his command in English, he said it louder.

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