Questions about specific movies, TV and more

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Question: Why exactly did the Viceroy of the Trade Federation want to kill Padme in the first place?

michaelmcbrd8

Chosen answer: Because in Episode I, she was the Queen of Naboo. Viceroy Gunray had blockaded the planet with a trade boycott and then tried to take over the planet at the order of the Sith Lord Sidious. But he failed, her forces prevailing and destroying his droid army and capturing him. So in the second movie, which takes place 10 years later, he wants revenge on her for his failure, blaming her.

Quantom X

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Question: When did Zola experiment on Barnes? Didn't Zola get captured by Captain Rogers on the same train as Barnes fell out of? I know he experimented on him before because he survived the fall. But in a short flashback, Zola is standing next to Barnes while he has his metal arm.

[email protected]

Chosen answer: Hydra was working with SHIELD since the 1940s. After he was taken into custody, Hydra would have eventually taken in Zola, where he experimented on Bucky, giving him the metal arm.

Casual Person

Man of Steel (2013)

Question: How can Superman breathe in space? On Krypton they needed spaceships to travel in space and needed spacesuits when going to other planets.

Chosen answer: Earth's yellow sun supercharges his body enough that he can hold his breath for extremely long periods of time.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

Question: I don't know if this was answered in the comic books, but here goes. Wolverine's claws were irregularly shaped before the bonding. So, how could they become perfectly razor shaped after the procedure all by themselves? I don't think that adamantium itself would perfect the shape of the claws all by himself, so how it is possible? And how come his teeth remained unchanged?

Domagoj Rimac

Chosen answer: The claws could have been "pre-installed" before the skeletal bonding process, as simply as Wolverine extending his bone claws into blade-shaped moulds of liquid adamantium. Teeth aren't actually made of bone but enamel, so the bonding process may have been specific to bone.

Sierra1

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

Question: Why are the apes so big?

Chosen answer: Because of the ALZ-113 drug. After they were infected by the drug, the apes practically mutated from it, which must have included their size.

Casual Person

Rio 2 (2014)

Question: The main villain of the movie goes a few scenes with you never seeing his face, until later on. And he just seems like the ordinary evil business man type of villain. Nothing special that I could tell. So what is the point of having his face hidden for so long in the film?

Quantom X

24 (2001)

Season 1 generally

Question: Kevin Carroll was impersonating Alan York, Janet York's father. When Janet is in the hospital and her "father" visits her, shouldn't Janet have been able to tell that that wasn't her real father?

Chosen answer: That's why he killed her. When he entered her hospital room she was drowsy and didn't realise straight away that he was not her real father - he suffocated her before she could tell anyone.

The_Iceman

Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

Question: Why exactly is the girl called The Full Metal Bitch by the other soldiers? I know she did a heroic battle before, but why that name?

Quantom X

Chosen answer: It's a nickname referencing her attitude, and the fact she is wearing a suit of metal, probably referencing the movie (or ammunition type) "Full Metal Jacket".

MasterOfAll

WarGames (1983)

Question: Can a general change the DefCon unilaterally?

Chosen answer: It's unlikely. To my understanding, the DefCon level, which ranges from 5 to 1, with level 1 indicating almost imminent nuclear war, is changed by orders of the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the U.S military joint chiefs of staff. In the film, it's probably safe to assume that General Beringer (Barry Corbin) was working under orders in consultation with higher-ups at the State Department, and had instructions as to what circumstances would warrant a change in the DefCon level, and given the authority to do so. In U.S History, our DefCon level has only been ordered to level 2 one time, during the Cuban Missile crisis. The 9/11/2001 attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon resulted in an order by then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to DefCon 3. (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DEFCON).

Michael Albert

WarGames (1983)

Question: When Joshua calls David back, why doesn't David just instruct Joshua to "end game"?

Chosen answer: The short answer to your question is that, had David instructed Joshua to "end game," and had it succeeded, there would be no movie. In context, at that juncture, he was just freaked out about being unable to lose the connection to Joshua. Further, he probably didn't try at that point because he did not yet realize the magnitude of what was transpiring. Recall it wasn't until later in the film that he even realized that Joshua didn't draw distinctions between fantasy and reality, or that the game was running to its logical conclusion with actual weapon systems. Had David even tried to end the game, it probably wouldn't have worked. Joshua had to learn the lesson of futility (playing tic-tac-toe) before abandoning the game's objective.

Michael Albert

The Nutcracker (1995)

Question: In this version of the story, why does the Mouse King have seven heads?

Quantom X

Answer: The original 1816 story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" by ETA Hoffmann features the seven-headed Mouse King. Since then there have been numerous adaptations and re-imaginings of that story in literature, on stage and screen in different forms. In the classic versions the Mouse King has seven heads wearing seven crowns, other versions he has only one head, and in a few versions three heads. In the original and other adaptations the number seven is specified several times: Marie Stahlbaum is seven yrs old; the seven-headed Mouse King; the seven steps backwards; seven little crowns. The makers of this animated movie chose to feature the classic Mouse King.

Super Grover

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Question: It is implied strongly in this movie that water makes witches melt, and this is spoofed in other media. I've only ever seen this referenced to wicked witches. Does water make good witches, such as Glinda, melt too?

Chosen answer: In all likelihood, probably not. Water is often depicted and represents purity, and cleansing. It flows smoothly, is beautiful, clear, and responsible for life on Earth. Everything the Wicked Witch is not. Where as the good Witch is pure and of a true heart. So it makes sense that something so evil and impure as the evil witch would be effected by the purest substance there is, yet not harm the good witch because she is good.

Quantom X

The Great Gatsby (2013)

Question: What sort of accent is Gatsby supposed to have? (00:29:55)

Casual Person

Chosen answer: This has been answered before. Gatsby grew up in a poor, mid-western family. He is a self-made millionaire (through illegal means) but pretends he comes from wealthy, upper-class society. He has adopted a fake posh accent to help support the illusion of his bogus background. It is how he believes well-bred people speak.

raywest

Jaws (1975)

Question: Who came up with the idea of calling the shark Bruce?

Chosen answer: Bruce Raymer, who has been Steven Spielberg's lawyer for over 40 years, has the distinctive honor of being the namesake of the mechanical shark models, which were all nicknamed Bruce by Steven Spielberg.

Super Grover

Men in Black III (2012)

Question: How did Zed die?

Quantom X

Chosen answer: It's never explained how Zed died. Rip Torn, who played Zed, may have been unexpectedly written out because at around the time of filming he had been arrested for breaking into a bank branch while intoxicated and carrying a firearm (he believed he was entering his own home). Rather than going into a detailed reason for Zed's death or incorporating it into the plot, it was simply stated that he had passed away.

raywest

Friends (1994)

Show generally

Question: I, and some other people, remember an episode in which Monica's obsessive-compulsive tendencies have so annoyed her employees in the restaurant that they lock her in a refrigerator. Some other people do not remember this, and my best efforts looking through plot summaries have not turned it up. Searching with Google on Monica and refrigerator has not helped. So does someone know where it is, or approximately where it is? Thank you.

Philip L King Jr

Chosen answer: This is season 4, episode 10, "The One With The Girl From Poughkeepsie". Everyone who works under Monica hates her after she got their old boss' job in an earlier episode. She hires Joey just so she can fire him to bring the others in line, but he's enjoying the money so doesn't play along. At one point they lock her in the walk-in freezer, where she gets covered in marinara sauce. This makes her so upset that Joey relents and lets her fire him.

Jon Sandys

Reservoir Dogs (1992)

Question: The scene when the three guys are all aiming guns at each other and then fire... Who shoots the "son," the guy in blue jacket?

Chosen answer: Mr. White does. The gunfire follows thus: Joe shoots Mr. Orange, Mr. White shoots Joe, Eddie shoots Mr. White, and Mr. White shoots Eddie as he is falling to the ground.

Cubs Fan

Answer: The truth is Mr White's squib went off too soon and he fell so the answer is nobody shot nice guy Eddie.

The squib may of gone off too soon sure, but I mean Mr Pink crawls out from underneath the ramp with a gun in his hand. It's hard to tell the angle but I think it could be assumed that Mr. Pink shot Nice Guy Eddie. It would help to separate himself from anyone who could potentially tie him to the whole ordeal and he could walk away with the diamonds.

Reservoir Dogs (1992)

Question: The scene when the three guys are all aiming guns at each other and then fire... Who shoots the "son," the guy in blue jacket?

Chosen answer: Mr. White does. The gunfire follows thus: Joe shoots Mr. Orange, Mr. White shoots Joe, Eddie shoots Mr. White, and Mr. White shoots Eddie as he is falling to the ground.

Cubs Fan

Answer: The truth is Mr White's squib went off too soon and he fell so the answer is nobody shot nice guy Eddie.

Batman Forever (1995)

Question: When Bruce decides to stop being Batman, he tells Dick that "he'd dedicated his life to helping strangers he never met, faces he never saw, and now the innocent aren't faceless anymore." What does he mean by this, and how did it make want to stop being Batman?

JohnShel91

Chosen answer: As Batman, he helped people and moved on, never getting to know them. Now he's rescued Dick, whose family were killed at least indirectly because of his role as Batman, he thinks it's time to hang up his cape.

The Cabin in the Woods (2012)

Question: Is there a reason, that a facility full of monsters would ever, under any circumstances have a System Purge button? Is it just to make satire of the fact that the antagonist is usually stupid?

Chosen answer: As you said, it is a satire of the common Deus Ex Machina trope you find in such films.

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