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 kept the police from going into the sewers to retrieve Oswald?

Answer: Nothing was stopping them. After Penguin's true nature was revealed, they most likely started searching the entire sewer system but couldn't find where his lair actually was so they had no choice but to give up.

Question: When Ben starts flipping through the book about the history of Derry, he begins seeing the same page being repeated several times. While this is happening, some children's voices can be heard singing. What exactly were they saying?

Answer: They are singing a little rhyme called Oranges and Lemons.

Question: Sirius was only dragging Ron by his trouser sleeve and not his leg, so how was his leg broken?

Answer: The tunnel was small and irregular. Ron's leg likely got caught on an exposed root or snagged on a rock, injuring it as he was being dragged through it.

raywest

Answer: Cap couldn't risk landing the plane without the weapons on board detonating. He crashed it into the Arctic so that no-one but himself would be killed or injured if the weapons did go off.

Bishop73

Question: When the guy on bath salts realises the food is alive, what are the two white lumps that are out of focus that were used by him?

Answer: The two unfocused white lumps in the foreground were part of the toilet paper's eyes (as seen from behind). When the camera angle changes, we see the roll of toilet paper, bent in half. But if you're talking about what the 2 white things hanging off the toilet paper holder (next to the 2 blackish things hanging off the holder) it looks like empty balloons (but that's a guess and they weren't alive).

Bishop73

Question: When Carrie begins using her power to get revenge on everybody, a quick shot shows Sue on her phone. Who was she calling? The screams of the students made it impossible to hear.

Answer: After seeing Carrie get soaked in blood and Tommy get killed by being hit with the bucket, Sue leaves the building. Sue returns while talking on the phone just in time to see Heather crash into the gym window due to Carrie's shock-wave. As Sue rushes away, still on the phone, we hear her say, "There's been an explosion!" Sue was most likely calling the police to tell them about the prank that Chris and Billy pulled, so she could get some help for Carrie. She then gave them more information upon witnessing Carrie's rage.

Question: What's the name of the city where this movie takes place? I know it was obviously shot in Sydney, Australia but it's never said that it takes place there and everyone has American accents.

Answer: As in the TV series, The film takes place in the fictional town of Angel Grove, California.

Ssiscool

Chosen answer: Since there is no way any of them could have opened the curtain I would say it is a mistake.

Bowling255

I think it's the monkey! Maybe they cut them out of that episode and forgot about the curtain part.

Question: The mechanic tells Biff the price of Biff's car is $300. Does that include the damage Biff caused to the truck he hit if the first film and also the price of the horse manure that had to be hauled away? I know Biff goes into a store across the street for a few seconds so we don't hear part of the argument. Wouldn't Biff have to pay more than $300, or was the $300 just for the car itself?

Answer: It was the cost of the damage to his car. Later on in the film, Biff tells Marty "you caused 300 bucks in damage to my car, and I'm gonna take it out of your ass".

Answer: Remember that Biff's car was going very slowly and hit side on to the back of a much larger truck. It didn't damage the truck, it only caused the manure to come out.

LorgSkyegon

Answer: The mechanic does mention the horse manure in the dialog of the $300 but truck is not mentioned so it's unknown.

Question: The warden tells Frank Morris he is not permitted to have newspapers, or magazines carrying news. Why not?

Answer: In part, to break inmates. Alcatraz was notoriously tough on inmates, psychologically (although they did relax some of the strict rules by the 50s). In general, inmates had very little contact with the outside world, and many even had little contact with other inmates. In the film, the warden tells Frank the only news inmates get is what the warden tells them is the news.

Bishop73

Question: Doc Brown's workshop at the beginning of the movie strikes me as highly reminiscent of the one belonging to Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, right down to the elaborate food-dispensing mechanisms. Potts also had a dog named Edison in that movie, just as Doc has one named Einstein. Were these similarities intended as a deliberate homage, or are they just similar expressions of the "mad scientist" trope?

Answer: It's definitely a deliberate homage. The similarities between the two characters don't end there...in fact, both share the line "I've finally invented something that works!"

Answer: Not to mention in both movies there is a flying car :).

Question: Are we ever given any suggestion as to what offence Lorraine's brother was incarcerated for?

Answer: Not in any official, canon source. In the Back to the Future comic books published by IDW he is an aspiring member of Biff's gang and gets arrested breaking into the home of Doc Brown's mother in an attempt to steal a large sum of money. It must be reiterated that the comics are non-canon and this should be taken with a grain of salt.

BaconIsMyBFF

The comic books are so skewed from the movie events, they cannot be considered canon. "Jailbird Joey" was only a baby in a playpen when Biff and his gang were seniors in highschool. Unless Biff and his highschool buddies were still recruiting gang members into their mid-30s, there is no way Jailbird Joey would be trying to join their gang.

Charles Austin Miller

While the answer does state the comics aren't cannon, it's the only place that really delves into Uncle Joey's criminal history since the film's didn't need to spend time discussing the exact nature of his crimes. However, it would not be unreasonable (or even unheard of) for Biff to be recruiting members for his "gang" at 35. Plus, Joey wanting to be part of Biff's gang wouldn't necessarily require Biff or his high school buddies to be personally involved in recruiting young Joey.

Bishop73

Question: Given that the entire McFly family's circumstances have changed at the end of the movie due to Marty altering the past, shouldn't Marty's whole life have gone down a completely different path from childhood on? What are the odds that he even still knows Doc and Jennifer in the revised 1985 (let alone has the exact same date planned with Jennifer for the very same evening), given that everything else has changed?

Answer: The suggestion is given that he was the only "normal" person in the family and when he changed the past his parents and siblings became more "normal" people as well whilst he stayed as he was, despitegrowingup with different parents and siblings, since he was "normal" anyway. This totally ignores the linear timeline idea given during the entire movie, but it's obvious that was the idea.

lionhead

You're absolutely right about Marty being the only "normal" one in the family, but that doesn't ignore the linear timeline idea. There are two different Marty McFly's by the end of this movie. There's the one we follow, who grew up with unhappy parents, and then there's the other Marty McFly who grew up with cool parents. We see the 2nd Marty go back to 1955 when Marty gets back to the Twin Pines mall. The idea isn't to ignore the linear timeline idea, but rather to imply that unhappy parents or not Marty will still always be Marty.

BaconIsMyBFF

Except for the fact Marty kept being in danger of disappearing if his parents wouldn't get together. If his old self would disappear from his parents not getting together then so he should if his entire life is different and he would be a different Marty just like his siblings. Even if it's only memories rather than an entire personality.

lionhead

Answer: It's definitely a paradox. Marty actually goes back to the life of 2nd Marty, but if that's the case then original Marty should have still faded away since he created a new timeline when he gave George confidence. Original Marty shouldn't exist anymore at all, he should have faded completely away on the stage. I've said it before and I'll say it again: time travel movies are a mess.

BaconIsMyBFF

The new Marty isn't a different person entirely; he's just the same guy who was raised in a slightly different environment to the original timeline. Marty's actions in 1955 have ensured that his parents will have three children, and he will be one of them. His existence is completely secured in the timeline.

Question: Kreese told Bobby to put Daniel out of commission for their semi final match but why didn't he have Johnny put his semi final opponent out of commission?

Answer: Because Kreese has a personal vendetta with Daniel and Mr. Miyagi. He likely wouldn't stoop to that level for a random competitor, but he will to keep Daniel from winning.

Oh, he would definitely stoop against any competitor. He simply had confidence in Johnny's ability to win. However, he did have a personal vendetta and wanted to humiliate Miyagi. Remember that Kreese was a Vietnam veteran, so he had personal animosity towards all Asians. Daniel was barely on his radar, but Kreese despised Miyagi.

Question: If the Kaiju are artificially created clones, why do they have parasites?

Answer: Presumably the parasites are simply creatures that exist on the other side of the breach. We see very little of the world in which the kaiju live, we only ever see the facility that is directly on the other side of the breach. The kaiju homeworld could be infested with these parasites, we just never actually see any up close.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: Were there scenes in the movie that were shot but deleted? There is evidence in the movie that at least two scenes were cut. (1) Near the beginning of the movie, there is a scene outside Big Kay's Burgers in which Packard is bullying Billy Hankins to make him race his Triumph. While that's going on, the Turbo shows up and revs its engine. Packard asks Rughead what kind of car that was and Rughead answers that he didn't know but would find out after they had added the Turbo to their "collection." Oggie Fisher then asks Packard "come on, let me take him this time." This suggests that the gang had encountered the Turbo earlier in the movie and had not been able to catch it. Also, when Oggie lines up with the Turbo to just before the race, Packard tells Oggie "I want you to rip this guy a new asshole." Why was Packard so angry at the Turbo's driver if he had never seen him before and didn't know how fast the Turbo was? There must have been an earlier scene involving the Turbo and Packard's gang. (2) In the scene in the warehouse, just before the Wraith shows up with the shotgun, there is an odd conversation between Packard and Minty. Packard starts to ask Minty something but Minty interrupts, saying "yeah, don't worry, I got those elbow joints sold to the Dallas boys for $2900." Packard then smiles and says "yeah, that old man was pretty pissed off." There must have been an earlier scene where the gang rips off the "old man" and steals a bunch of elbow joint to resell and raise money. That would explain how they got the elbow joints, why Minty sold them and why Packard said what he did. Anyone know about deleted scenes?

paktype

Answer: No - as stated in the film, timelines/realities are independent from each other. Thanos/Nebula coming to "our" timeline means a new timeline is created where they don't exist any more, but we don't follow that one. "Our" Nebula isn't affected by the actions of the "alternate", because "our" Nebula's history is unchanged.

Answer: Yes, it is the same actress, Diora Baird. The character's name is Shannon.

Bishop73

Show generally

Question: Between season 2 and season 6 we periodically meet a serial killer called The Grave Digger who's actual name is Heather Taffet. Having watched the complete series a while ago, one thing was never made clear (or I might have missed it) How did Taffet physically bury the containers her victims were in? The twins were buried in a park in a submerged beer vat that is stated as being 6ft high. Bones and Hodgins are buried around 4ft underground in a car. How does she manage to bury them without being seen or interrupted?

Ssiscool

Answer: Answering my own question here but, having contacted various people involved in the production of Bones including Kathy Reichs, Hart Hanson, Eric Milligan, and Deirdre Lovegood who portrayed Taffet onscreen I finally have the answer. No-one know how she did it due to her constantly working alone. And she never revealed this information before her death.

Ssiscool

Answer: This is right out of the comics. When Steve Rogers retires as Captain America in All-New Captain America #1, he passes the mantle to Sam Wilson.

wizard_of_gore

Answer: Steve Rogers didn't have super strength when he was chosen to be Cap. His demeanor, personality, and selflessness earned him the mantle. The abilities came with it.

DetectiveGadget85

His character earned him the slot in the super soldier program - his abilities are a direct result of the now-unavailable super soldier serum. Falcon is highly skilled and trained, doesn't mean he can't do a good job as a "new" Captain America with a different skillset, but he won't have the same strength and speed.

Answer: As shown throughout the events of the "Captain America" and "Avengers" sequels, Cap and Sam are very much kindred spirits with a great deal in common. Cap thus saw him as the perfect person to pass the mantle onto.

TedStixon

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.