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: What was the name of the book McCall gives to the kid to read as part of the deal to paint his kitchen wall?

Answer: Native son.

Between the world and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Native Son is the book on the shelf that hides the button to the panic room, which also happens to have been adapted into a movie which the actor that plays Miles stars in.

Question: Why did General Donald McClintock want to keep the virus a secret and not let anyone know of its existence?

Trainman

Answer: He wanted to eventually use it as a biological weapon.

raywest

Answer: Is it because if anyone knew about it will spread information across the globe and will likely lead to his enemies and will no longer be a secret and his plans will be ruined?

Trainman

Show generally

Question: If Roper wouldn't rent to Jack unless he faked being gay then what made him not suspect the girls of being gay?

Rob245

Answer: Possibly because in the 70s/80s, no-one would bat an eye about two girls living together, or 2 guys living together.

Answer: Because they've had various boyfriends and dates over the years. How he never noticed Jack had a stream of women coming to The Apartment is another issue.

Brian Katcher

Answer: It's not uncommon in real life for spouses to be unhappy in their marriage and resort to extramarital affairs. I haven't seen every episode of this show yet, but the vibe I get is that it's not so much funny that she cheats on Dale, but how painfully oblivious Dale is to it, to the point where he can't even tell Joseph is obviously John Redcorn's son and not his.

Phaneron

The main joke is that Dale is so fascinated with mysteries, the paranormal, conspiracy theories, etc, he is too busy to notice his wife having an affair. He does not see the "conspiracy" of Nancy and John, happening right in his own home.

Answer: Nancy has stated that she loves Dale "in a 'lights-on' sort of way" (season three - "Peggy's Headache"), and other episodes make it clear she cares about him. It could be a case of her "having the cake and wanting to eat it, too." She can enjoy her affair with Redcorn while Dale takes care of Joseph, due to him not always working much. Perhaps she needs an escape from Dale's reckless adventures and conspiracy theories. An affair is not a good way to deal with this, in my opinion, but there are people who do it.

Question: What is the name of the necklace that Lupita gave Creasy? Some kind of angel like guadeloupe or something?

Answer: Saint Jude - Guardian of Lost Causes.

Answer: It's the Judas Apostle. The guardian of the hopeless.

Answer: He does eventually when Marie teaches Debra how to make her meatballs, but changes the spice label.

Answer: Unlikely. It's shown numerous times Ray is scared of upsetting his mother.

Ssiscool

Question: Wouldn't it have made sense ton purchase a new battery if Grant Taylor's car kept breaking down?

Answer: No. It might not been the battery.

Question: Where exactly is Whoville located? And what year is the movie meant to take place?

Answer: Then why does it appear as a tiny speck in Horton Hears A Who?

In "Horton Hears a Who", both the book and the animated film, the speck of dust lands on a clover. In the 2000 Grinch film, the speck of dust has now landed on a snowflake because it's winter time. It should be noted that it's only the 2000 Grinch film that has Whoville as a speck similar to Whoville in "Horton Hears a Who." In the book and other adaptations, Whoville and the Whos are normal sized and probably located somewhere in Massachusetts.

Bishop73

Where are you getting Massachusetts from?

Brian Katcher

Dr. Suess was born in Springfield, MA and there are some that claim the drawings in the book are similar to Easthampton, MA and Mt. Tom (although others say it's La Jolla and Mt. Soledad in California). Residence of Easthampton put on an annual "Whobalation" to celebrate the legend Whoville is based on them.

Bishop73

Answer: According to the introduction, Whoville is located on a snowflake. Therefore they don't keep time like we do.

Brian Katcher

Question: Why doesn't the Interceptor fight back against the Dutchman and the Pearl?

Answer: I'm assuming you're actually referring to Beckett's ship the Endeavour in the third film "At World's End." (The Interceptor was destroyed in the first film.) If that's the case, the ship is simply outgunned and the captain Beckett freezes and doesn't make any commands. He doesn't know what to do because there's no way he could win. The call is then made to abandon ship. Hence, they don't fight back.

TedStixon

And without an order to attack, they were simply not able to. Beckett had hoped the Dutchman would be on his side. And was simply gobsmacked at the turn of events.

Ssiscool

Answer: Yes, on the first episode of season 2, she is shown on the island, when another plane crash lands, she says, "They sound different from WW II". Later in the same episode a woman gathers background information on Wonder Woman. The woman says, "From 1942 to 1945, she helped the Allies win the war."

Question: Where was the final scene shot when they were having their picnic?

Answer: According to IMDB, the final scene was filmed at Figueroa Mountain Farmhouse, Los Olivos, Santa Barbara County, California.

Answer: Elizabeth lied because she knows that being the governor's daughter makes her a valuable hostage who would either be ransomed or used for leverage. A commoner girl is far less useful.

raywest

What would the pirates ransom Elizabeth for? Gold silver and jewels?

Possibly for gold but she was more valuable for obtaining her father's cooperation to give them whatever they wanted (i.e. a safe escape, finding the coin, etc.) in exchange for not harming her.

raywest

"Safe escape" they can't die. "Finding the coin" the coin was already on board their ship.

She doesn't know that.

lionhead

Answer: Because of her father. She knows 'Turner' is a pirate's surname. If she gave the name Swann they would associate her with her father and put the family at risk.

Ssiscool

Answer: According to Ms. Hannigan, they died in a fire.

Brian Katcher

Question: The armoured vehicle that gets sent in when the SWAT team are struggling to get in, before they're even attacked...what's that meant to actually achieve? If it's just meant to smash the doors, the men with guns could do that. And if not...will it just sit there?

Jon Sandys

Answer: I believe it is supposed to be that it was a precautionary measure and probably standard operating procedure to have it on site when dealing with a terrorist situation. To have it at the ready for if they needed it. Not only this, but a large armored vehicle like that could serve as physiological warfare to make the terrorist more fearful merely by it just being there. A show of strength. As for using it on the door, yes, guys with guns can smash those doors. But guys with guns are still targets to be shot at especially though glass doors. The armored vehicle can smash through it and get the men inside without exposing them to small arms fire.

Quantom X

But why send the armoured car into the lobby before being attacked? And why send it in in the first place? Once it's in the lobby it becomes a sitting duck. Easy pickings for when the occupants decide to disembark.

Ssiscool

In some cases, maybe. But the vehicle itself still provides cover for the men in it. They usually would exit from the back or the top, and have that as something to hide against or shoot from. Also, most armored SWAT vehicles like that usually have a very high powered water cannon on the top that has the pressure of a fire truck. This can quickly subdue any hostile forces and knock their defenses down, giving the SWAT ample time to make their move while the enemy is still recovering. Not only this, but the vehicle can have inside more equipment the SWAT members can use, like throwing out smoke and flash bang grenades, or have riot shields as the exit. But this at least gets them inside and up where they can do good. If they tried to walk up to the door without cover, they would be easy pickings from small arms fire and snipers.

Quantom X

Good answer. I would add that presumably, the SWAT vehicle could be put in reverse, and once the front entrance was breached, it would back up. Also, this being a movie, it's shown that the overall police and F.B.I. response is supposed to be somewhat bungled, with different egotistical characters vying for control. Plot wise, it shows how well armed the "terrorists" are supposed to be by blowing up the SWAT vehicle with a missile, and how they anticipate and outsmart the police's every move. This is not reality.

raywest

Question: They say the wires for the electromagnetic seal "can't be cut locally" - how is that possible? I mean at some point the electricity for them has to come into the building, surely?

Jon Sandys

Chosen answer: I took this to mean that cutting the lines themselves wouldn't open the safe. The safe is designed such that the physical locks could be destroyed but the electromagnetic lock wouldn't open unless the power to the entire building was shut off.

BaconIsMyBFF

But my point is they've got control of the building, including the basement/anywhere else. General power has to enter the building from the street somewhere, and I don't see how they wouldn't be able to just cut through a main power cable and achieve exactly the same result as a switch being flipped by a city engineer.

Jon Sandys

The city engineer shuts down an entire city grid. I think that has something to do with it. It's not as simple as cutting a power line or flipping a switch.

BaconIsMyBFF

I get that's the argument, I just don't see how. Because eventually it has to come down to the building being connected to the city grid via...something, and I don't see why the bad guys couldn't just interfere with that "something" themselves. There's either a technical reason or it's a plot hole, but I'm not really bothered about the mistake aspect, it's more just a query my brain can't let go of and I want the answer. :-).

Jon Sandys

Answer: There's no mention as to where the cables actually enter the building. They could come in via the basement, there could be a separate utility room that can only be accessed from outside or the cables could simply be inside a wall somewhere. They'd probably need to find the building blueprints to find out where the cables come into the building.

Question: Did coach Boone really treat his players the way he does in the movie?

Answer: There were some scenes in the movie that were exaggerated, but the real Coach Boone was a tough man, but treated all his players as equals.

Question: Did coach Haskins treat his players the way he does in the movie?

Answer: Yes. He really did integrate them to teach them to work as a team and give them guidance to help them off the field (such as with school work). His coaching method shown in the film is also accurate. Coaches screaming at the players, mocking them, and being what we would say is "harsh" with them was common coaching practice in the 70s that no-one would have batted an eye to. Especially in the south. Coach Boone would have especially been under pressure to show his players he meant business due to the concern that some of them might not take him seriously as a new black coach. If he had been seen as "easy", the team may not have been motivated to do as well as they did.

Question: In the flashbacks of Ransom storming out, it's different each time. The first time his Grandma speaks, the second time she's silent, and the third time she's holding cake, when she wasn't the other times. The flashbacks we see don't contradict each other, they're not really portrayed as coming from unreliable narrators, they're generally an honest portrayal of what happens, even when what they're telling the police isn't what we see happen. So why these minor, certainly deliberate, differences? Far as I'm aware it's the only time it happens too, not like there are lots of moments like this.

Jon Sandys

Chosen answer: She is holding cake all 3 times, actually, so the only difference is that the first time she speaks. It can be a case of unreliable narrator, but I'd write it down as a mistake (deliberate, probably, as the phrase is important for the plot and they didn't want to hammer it in), since as you said, the other times even when they tell things to the police in a different way from what happened, the details tend to stay consistent, except for parts that are obviously made up, such as who is putting down the birthday cake for Harlan Thrombey therefore appearing subservient and not as close (when Richard tells the story, it's Walt and his wife, when Walt tells the story it is Richard and his wife).

Sammo

Answer: Each time, it is being described by a different person. Maybe not all heard her speak.

Question: How does Ivy get Nora's snowflake necklace without getting her costume soaked in the cyro fluid or whatever it is?

Rob245

Answer: Maybe she drained the cryo-tube first? Maybe she did get wet but had dried off by the time we see her again? Maybe Bane did it for her? Pick whatever answer works best for you. It's a really small, insignificant detail in the film with plenty of potential answers.

TedStixon

Thanks though keep in mind she wouldn't have a clue as to how it works since she's a botanist not a scientist in cyro genetics.

Rob245

She pulled the plug on the thing so Nora died and the tank drained (either automatically or Ivy did it). She just took the necklace off the body.

lionhead

Answer: She most likely used her mind control potion on someone and had them do it for her.

Answer: Amy does not wear pants because Mayim Bialik does not wear them in her personal life. She is Jewish and observes the Judaic custom of modesty and only wears skirts. The Big Bang producers allowed her to incorporate this practice into her Amy character.

raywest

Thank you, I didn't know this. My apologies if I offended anyone.

Rob245

I don't think anyone is offended. I had to do a little research for the answer as I became curious about the reason for this.

raywest

Answer: Character choice.

Ssiscool

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.