Questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: If Mitch set up a custody battle for Gracie while Slim was hiding, then why doesn't he file a missing persons report for them as well? Surely he would have figured the law would be on his side as she would seem completely unreliable for "kidnapping" his child and disappearing, and that there would have been some kind of manhunt or tracking done to find her? So why waste his own time into searching when he could just have the authorities do the work for him?

Movielover1996

Answer: Mitch is trying to control the situation completely. Yes, he could have filed a missing persons report, but he would prefer to get Slim and Gracie back in his own way. He wants Slim to respect his dominance.

Question: Why were Harry and Lloyd walking home at the end? They said the hog broke down, but what about the car they bought? I know they used the money out of the briefcase to buy it, but surely Mary would've let them keep it as a reward since she was gonna give it away to the kidnappers anyway?

Answer: They explicitly say, "First Mary dumps us, then the cops take away our nest egg." So, Mary did not let them keep it (also, it's hard to imagine that she would have been pleased with them having blown all the money that was meant to save her husband). They would not have been able to keep any of the things they bought with the money since they stole the money to begin with (you could argue that they didn't steal it at first when Lloyd grabbed the briefcase, but once they knew it was money, it was certainly theft to spend it all and replace it with IOUs). It all would have been returned to the rightful owners.

Answer: I got the impression the money came from Mary's husband's family, who might not want to gift them a Lamborghini Diablo. Why she didn't buy them a bus ticket, on the other hand.

Brian Katcher

Question: Was any reason ever given as to why Bond's gadget-filled car was barely used in this film? It seems odd to give the series a fresh start in many ways, make a big deal about his car with missiles inside the lights, and then he drives it for 30 seconds and gives it away. Why bother giving him a car at all?

Jon Sandys

Chosen answer: There hadn't been a Bond film for seven years, and it was a new Bond. They wanted to get away from the gadgets and show him at his best. It was a way to let people accept Pierce Bronsan, watching what he can do. He put a lot of Sean Connery into it.

I can see that, but it just seems weird to highlight the features the car has and then not use them. Would have been simpler to omit it entirely, but presumably BMW wanted some product placement.

Jon Sandys

According to Wikipedia, the deal with BMW came at the last stage in production, so they were only able to put the car in the movie but not make scenes where the gadgets are actually used. I can imagine they'd have to rewrite parts of the script and take more time filming to do that.

lionhead

Question: Near the beginning, Ray is hearing voices in the cornfield. When the baseball field is "shown" to him, is it in a different orientation than what he ends up building. The field is rotated 180 degrees. I understand that the field could be built however he wants it, but why would he build it differently than his "dream"? Why not build it exactly as he saw it?

Answer: It's not that the field is shown to him; we're seeing a visual representation of the idea occurring to him. It's meant to convey the moment where he realizes that the voice is telling him to build a baseball field for "Shoeless" Joe Jackson. So it's not exactly a vision or an instruction, just a film convention to show what a character is thinking.

Question: What is the name of the superhero toy that Kevin carries around during the movie? My son desperately wants that toy, but I have no idea what it's called. It's a red superhero with a yellow cape.

Answer: The superhero action figure is named Galaktico (sp?), and the bottom of both of its feet open up to store Kevin's inhalers. Within the story, I got the impression that his mom (or both parents) had this toy custom made for asthmatic Kevin.

Super Grover

Question: It's so obvious that the cop's name tag says R. Olsen, but everyone calls him Winston in both films. Is there a reason for this that I'm missing, or is it a mistake?

Answer: It shows "W. Olsen" on the uniform name patch. If you really do see R. Olsen in a specific scene, please provide a timecode.

Super Grover

Wilson - S6-E9

Question: Why can't House be a doctor again after faking his death? I always assumed you can't be a doctor with a criminal record. And maybe you can't in real life, I'm not entirely sure. But in the House universe, it seems like you can, because House and Thirteen were still doctors after going to prison. So after Wilson dies, why can't House just go back to jail and then be a doctor again?

MikeH

Answer: He faked his death to avoid going back to prison. He chose to abandon medicine and his previous life for that reason. Considering House's past work history, conviction, and mental issues, it's doubtful a hospital would hire him.

raywest

Question: When Grandpa is walking his dogs, you can hear a boy say, "Keep your dogs off my lawn," then laughs. You hear his laugh again in the beauty salon. What was that about?

Answer: The laugh does seem out of place because it sounds more like kids than the ladies at the salon. But it didn't sound like the same laugh to me. But it does sound like the same person recorded both laughs. It also seems like the kid's line was added after filming the shot. So it wouldn't surprise me if an adult (perhaps one of the production sound mixers) recorded a couple different lines and laughs in a pretend kid's voice. Then one of those laughs was added.

Bishop73

Answer: I tried to find a clip of these scenes but didn't find exactly what you're referring to. If it was the exact same laugh that was heard, it may be a sound effect added to the film during the post-production editing. Foley artists add all types of sound effects to movies, including laughs, groans, coughs, etc. Sometimes one particular sound gets used more than once. One famous example of a repeated sound is the "Wilhelm" scream. This particular scream has become a tradition that many editors add to movies.

raywest

Answer: If you are talking about the tripod machines, I saw two kinds. One had a long tube that pierced the bodies and sucked up the insides, and the other captured the humans whole and put them in baskets for retrieval one at a time to the inside of the machine. I can only guess what processing they used, but it probably included a macerator to fluidize the "raw stock", and addition of the alien plant spores. The mixture was ejected in a fine red mist.

Question: In the first scene, Marty and Jennifer leave 1985 with Doc and arrive in 2015. How is it possible for their older selves to be present in the future when they left in 1985?

Answer: Relates to the "branching timeline" interpretation of time travel. Basically they jump forwards to a future version of the timeline where they never left. When they return they make different choices and that branch doesn't happen any more, taking them on a new path. Alternatively (additionally), given that they do eventually return, that's all that matters. If they left somewhere at 10:00am, had time travelling adventures, but then returned at precisely the moment they left, at any point later they're still there like they never went anywhere.

Answer: Over 4500 episodes of Sesame Street have been produced since its debut in 1969. Some of the earliest episodes have been lost for a variety of reasons, such as copies being misplaced or from some type of physical damage, though the amount is relatively small. Some segments were recycled into new episodes, while others were archived and are no longer available. HBO airs later Sesame Street episodes, though they recently decreased the number now shown by over 200. They needed to reduce the amount to free up space for other streaming programs.

raywest

Answer: Hank is portrayed as being somewhat stern and uncomfortable with expressing a lot of deep emotion. Maybe it's because of the way his father, Cotton, treats him: scolding him for acting too emotional and such. This is shown in some flashbacks. A recurring joke is that he has no problem being "lovey dovey" with the dog, Ladybird, and easily shows his affection to her.

Question: When Nada first puts the sunglasses on, when walking on the sidewalk, what did he see on the ground that made him realise something was wrong and different?

Movielover1996

Answer: The glasses use a filter that makes everything appear similar to black and white television. This was not immediately noticeable to Nada until he recognized that the grate on the sidewalk appeared a different color with the glasses on (dark gray instead of bronze).

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: When Mr. Brooks states that Sonny lied about being Kevin Gerrity to get custody of Julian, he says it's a big problem in this state. Why do so many people do that in New York (as opposed to other places)?

Answer: Maybe I'm misinterpreting the line, but I thought "big problem" in this context meant that the state would aggressively pursue criminal charges against Sonny for his actions, as in it's his big problem to deal with now.

Phaneron

But in that context, wouldn't it be a "big" / serious problem in any state? I can't imagine that most states would be easy-going about it. He seems to mean that it happens a lot in New York, but I might be wrong.

Other states would certainly be aggressive in that situation, but given that Mr. Brooks is an employee of the state of New York, he could just be emphasizing how much trouble Sonny is in.

Phaneron

Fair enough. Sonny might have thought that it was OK for him to pretend to be Kevin, since he is good friends with the real Kevin.

Mr. Brooks was being facetious by specifically saying "big problem in THIS STATE." Obviously Sonny knows what he did was very wrong and illegal. It would be like if you were driving in a different state and didn't stop at a stop sign. The cop might say "I know in your home state the stop signs are optional but here in Texas you're required to stop at the sign."

Vision Quest - S7-E12

Question: Obviously, the guys don't believe that Bill has a son named Trey. Hank points out that the name was Travis last week. But why is Bill pretending to have a son?

Answer: Bill lives in a state of denial. He hopes his wife will return any day. He escapes into elaborate fantasies, like having a son.

Captain Defenestrator

I've noticed that Bill often wants to copy what the other guys are doing, as part of his fantasies. So if Hank and Dale are talking about issues with their sons, he wants to talk about a son, too.

Question: Why was Qualen impressed by Crystal saying that they needed insulin?

Answer: He's praising her for how she spontaneously added an extra element of distress to further deceive the rescuers. Mostly, he was mocking his accomplice, Travers, by implying he couldn't have thought of something as clever.

raywest

Question: Why did Billy and Stu kill Sidney's mother, then wait almost one year to proceed with more killings?

Answer: One killing after another is too suspicious and would focus on those closest to her and would put authorities on guard, in case they believe the entire family was a target. Which it was, by waiting for the excitement to die down, it would give everyone a false sense of security.

Answer: I agree with the other response, and I want to add that Billy and Stu are trying to make their own "movie." In a lot of movies, the current events are connected to an incident that happened one year ago or longer.

Question: At the end of the film, Nate connects the Christmas lights and the house lights up. Why does this make the homing beacon turn green?

Question: Why did the bad guys go to 'Plan B' about 15 seconds after arming Matt's computer? He could've been sitting on the toilet for all they knew, so why such a short amount of time?

Answer: I'd say this is a matter of movie plotting and a "suspension of disbelief." Time and events often need to be compressed to move the story along, even if it's not entirely logical or realistic.

raywest

Answer: I don't think she's supposed to be anyone in particular. Just a person in town who has likely encountered Aladdin before and finds him attractive.

Phaneron

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