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.

Season 7 generally

Question: How did Sean and Erica know that wiping the servers would erase the files Chloe was downloading off the memory card? How did they know it was a self deleting (which doesn't exist) card and not just an SD card or similar that doesn't self delete?

Answer: Believe it or not, self-deleting drives do exist, but they're only used by agencies and governments. That means that Shaun and Erica would know that the only drive that Dubaku would have access to would be a self-deleting one.

Question: Why did the guy in the engine room turn that big wheel before throwing the engines into reverse?

Answer: In order to reverse the engines, they have to be completely stopped first. So first they shut the dampers so that the engines slow and turn the wheel to release pent up steam. Then they go into reverse.

LorgSkyegon

Question: Why would Aunt May realise she was wrong about Spider-Man just because he saved her? She always knew he saved people.

MikeH

Answer: I'd say this is typical of many people who disbelieve or discount something that does not personally affect them, but have a radical change of thinking when they personally experience it.

raywest

Answer: Because she was like this in the comic books for years until he said he wanted to help her in Amazing Spider Man issue 200 when she'd been held hostage by Mysterio then The Burglar. They merely did this as a nod to the likes of stories like that one.

Rob245

Question: Why would Shrek all of a sudden want to be scary, when in the original, he hated everyone treating him like a monster?

MikeH

Answer: He felt his life had become too complicated and thought he wanted to go back to a simpler time.

LorgSkyegon

Question: Why would Matilda interfere with the FBI investigation? Wouldn't she want her father to go to jail?

MikeH

Answer: At the end of the day, he's still her father, and she's a young child. It would be difficult for her to give the FBI the smoking gun.

Answer: No. She didn't get along with her family, but she was a basically kind girl who still looked out for her father.

Brian Katcher

Answer: Kids generally like to see the best in the people closest to them, and while Harry and Zinnia were mean and neglectful, Matilda still had a little bit of love for them (and/or sympathy for how stupid they actually were) and didn't want to see them go to jail. Part of it might have also been because she knew they wouldn't survive very long in prison. And besides, she got what she wanted. To be with Miss Honey.

And besides, she already got what she wanted. A life with Miss Honey. An actual loving family/relationship.

Question: After Buckbeak's execution and Scabbers bites Ron and escapes, why is Ron more shocked and upset about Scabbers biting him instead of running away?

THE GAMER NEXT DOOR

Answer: He is his pet rat, he probably runs away all the time but always comes back.

lionhead

Answer: Ron is shocked that his beloved pet would bite him, something Scabbers (Pettigrew) had never done before and was out of character.

raywest

Question: What happened to the car radio when Truman was going to work and accidentally discovered someone was narrating his whole movements in advance?

Answer: The radio caught the radio chatter of the director giving instructions to the actors. They have to do that constantly as they follow Truman so they can react and improvise in time and prepare the coming situations.

lionhead

Question: One thing doesn't make sense about the line-up: Benicio del Toro spoke that way for the entire movie. So what did he do in the line-up that was funny?

MikeH

Answer: Basically, the actors were improvising their answers, and their inflection, and kept trying to make each other laugh. Director Bryan Singer was angry at first, but eventually decided it fit their characters and their disregard/disdain for authority, and so used the takes in which they were cracking up. In this particular moment, they were laughing at the beginning of del Toro's part because, apparently, he had just broken wind.

Question: Up to this point in the series (and even in the next film), Michael is portrayed as a remorseless killer with no emotions. However, in this one, he takes his mask off at Jamie's request and even sheds a tear. He becomes enraged when Jamie tries to touch him, reverting back to the remorseless personality. What was the point of this sudden, and brief, display of emotion?

dewinela

Answer: Director Dominique Othenin-Girard made the puzzling decision to try and humanize Michael in this film by showing he still had some traces of emotion that could be momentarily reached. Thus when Jamie talks to him, he briefly recovers his humanity, takes off his mask and sheds a single tear. Othenin-Girard felt that this made Michael more frightening, because his evil was so great that even if he still had regular emotions that occasionally emerged, the evil inside of him would eventually take over. But it does kind of come out of nowhere and contradict the other films... hence this idea was more-or-less ignored in future sequels.

TedStixon

Question: When Rambo put his hands up, why did Teasle give him orders like he was going to arrest him, only to then try to shoot him? Wouldn't it make sense to just do one or the other?

MikeH

Answer: It wasn't Teasle that shot, it was one of the other police. Teasle even shouts at them to stop shooting.

Answer: Possibly to lull him into a false sense of security and then shoot him when his guard was down.

raywest

Question: When Zuri disarmed Killmonger, why didn't he kill him? That would've been a lot smarter than letting him kill him. He easily could've done it.

MikeH

Answer: Zuri feels guilty for his role in the death of Killmonger's father, which is why he tells Killmonger to kill him instead of T'Challa. While Zuri himself probably doesn't actually want to die, I don't think he wants Killmonger dead either, which is why he wouldn't kill him. Also, as a royal advisor, it would probably be looked down upon by the other tribes if he violated the rules of the ritual combat. After all, one combatant has to defeat the other in order to rightfully claim the throne.

Phaneron

Zuri may not want Killmonger to die, but he knew that the duel would only end once one of the contestants would either surrender or die, meaning Killmonger would stil win or kill T'Challa. It seems a rather low price to be looked down upon or fired if it means your country doesn't go to war. At least, that would be a small price to pay for keeping the peace.

Show generally

Question: Can someone please explain the swearing rules? I'm not American, so I don't know which channels have to follow the FCC rules. But I heard AMC said they could only use one F word per season. Why would they make that rule? If they have to follow the FCC rules, they can't say it at all. If they don't, they can say it as much as they want. And aside from Season 2, they all had more than one. How did they get away with it?

MikeH

Answer: The FCC actually only regulates local broadcast channels. Cable channels - even basic ones - are free to depict as much violence, profanity, and sexual content (as long as it's not pornographic) as they want. However, they choose to scale back on that so as not to offend viewers and potentially drive away sponsors.

Phaneron

Season 1 generally

Question: In Season 1, Episode 23 "Skin of Evil", Tasha Yar was killed. But in the three following episodes, in the opening credits, Denise Crosby (Lt. Tasha Yar) is still listed. Am I correct in thinking that the producers decided to use the original opening credits for the remaining three episodes of the season, and changed them after Gates McFadden left the series for Season Two?

Movie Nut

Answer: The producers would not change the credits so near the end of the season, nor was there any reason to. She was a cast member for Season One, even if she did not appear in all episodes, and therefore is credited. It would also be expensive to redo the opening cast credits.

raywest

Question: What does Annie whisper to Tom in the kiss scene?

Answer: "There's something I need to know." To this day I'm still not sure what she is referring to.

Answer: Because he stole a chemical from his lab.

But Batman knew that with it, Clayface could permanently retain his shape and Clayface desperately wanted to be Matt Hagen again. In a sense, Batman stopped Clayface from becoming human.

Question: What did Hart say when she spoke In Russian?

Answer: The same as anyone else. The Cullens live like normal humans. They have fake birth certificates, social security numbers, passports, and all other necessary I.D. All of the younger Cullens attend high school (again and again) like any other teenager. Carlisle Cullen is a doctor, and therefore would have fake medical credentials. Carlisle is immensely wealthy, having accumulated a fortune over the centuries. He has the means to provide whatever they need to maintain their human identities. That would allow Edward, and any of the others, to apply for a driver's license.

raywest

Answer: Several reasons. Dobby was once owned by the Malfoy family until Harry freed him, which Bellatrix would consider a betrayal. She knows Harry is close to Dobby and killing the elf will hurt Harry. Dobby, as an elf, is magically powerful and a strong ally to Harry's cause. Having once been owned by the Malfoy family, Dobby has much inner knowledge about them and Voldemort. She was also making one last strike before Harry and the others escaped.

raywest

Thank you.

Rob245

Show generally

Question: Is there any particular reason the TV and radio stations on this show begin with a W, when they would geographically begin with a K? The creators of this show are from Colorado, so it seems unlikely that they wouldn't know that W-prefixes are for stations east of the Mississippi River.

Phaneron

Question: Is it just me or does Poe seem a bit more strict and tense in this movie? I understand it was a war but I just wanted to check?

THE GAMER NEXT DOOR

Answer: He seems a little more tense than the last two movies, but I think it's in keeping with the story. A lot was happening - Palpatine was back, there was an invasion in the planning, etc. It'd make sense for him to be tenser than usual.

TedStixon

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