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: Could Truman file a lawsuit against the people who turned his life into a TV show?

Answer: Anyone can file a lawsuit if they choose. The question is whether he would win. That would be questionable, given he was legally adopted by the studio. He was well cared for, so it would come down to the question of whether hiding the truth from someone and manipulating their entire life constitutes abuse.

Answer: I'm 100% sure he could sue and get financial compensation for his time, face, and name being used. They make a ton of money off him, he would be rich.

Answer: Yes.

Brian Katcher

Question: When a flashback of Truman's youth was shown, it shows him with the first girl he ever loved. During a date, why did she put grass in his hand and what was she telling him?

Answer: She tells him that everything is fake and was built for him. So she grabs the sand because it's the only fake thing she's got in hand to show him what she means when she says "everything." She's saying "even the sand is fake, all the world has been built for you."

Question: Why is Colonel Sharp so intent on following the President's order to remote detonate the nuke? He knows the mission won't be successful unless they drill the hole first. Does he really think being court martialed for defying an executive order will be worse than an extinction-level event?

Phaneron

Answer: Given his choices, what he views as certain failure of the drilling or trying to detonate the bomb on the surface, he decides to follow orders rather than wait for the drilling to fail.

Question: Anyone know the story behind why the MPAA rated this movie PG instead of PG-13? From Sectumsepra to the Horcrux cave with the Inferi to Dumbledore's death, there seems to be just as much stuff a young child might find scary/traumatizing in this movie as in the others in the series that actually were rated PG-13.

Answer: Half-blood Prince was certainly darker and edgier than the previous HP films, but still within the PG guidelines. Also, audiences had grown use to the more sophisticated and mature content building over the entire series, so it was not completely unexpected. Filmmakers dislike having a PG-13 rating imposed on their movies as that can limit the audience and lower profits. No doubt the Warner Bros. Studio was careful not to exceed the PG rating guidelines in order to protect their bottom line.

raywest

Question: When Kitty and Bobby were walking down to the fountain where are her shoes? She wouldn't wear skates obviously but I couldn't see her shoes on the bench when they were skating. I also knew she couldn't be wearing skates on her way down cause we see her putting them on her feet when she was sitting on the bench.

THE GAMER NEXT DOOR

Answer: Bobby is carrying them (visible as they're walking to where they skate). Remember, he doesn't need skates because he makes ice blades on his shoes, so the pair he's carrying are for her.

Are you saying he's carrying her skates or shoes?

He's carrying her skates. Her shoes are never seen. You never actually see the entire bench so her shoes could be underneath. You also never see her feet before she puts the skates on so it isn't clear she ever actually wore shoes down to the fountain anyway. People walk around without shoes all the time.

BaconIsMyBFF

Twisted Sister / Cover Up - S2-E11

Question: After Buttercup loses her blanket a monster attacks Townsville, and Buttercup doesn't have the confidence to defeat it until Blossom goes to the house, comes back with her blanket, and gives it to her. Buttercup gets her confidence back and defeats the monster. But later Blossom tells Buttercup it's not her real blanket. It's just a fake blanket she found to get her through the fight. How would Blossom know if it was Buttercup's real blanket or not? It looks exactly like the real blanket.

Answer: It depends on where Blossom found the new blanket. For example, if she found the blanket for sale brand new in a store, she would know it wasn't Buttercup's real blanket.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: Over the course of the film we learn all the middle portion of Rose's life, but how did she get through life without any paperwork such as a birth certificate? Getting married, driving/flying, all need documentation the "renamed" version of herself wouldn't have.

dizzyd

Answer: Record keeping at the turn of the 20th century was still incomplete and inaccurate. Many people were born without a birth certificate being issued. Tens of thousands of immigrants entering the country often lacked those types of papers, and many had their surnames changed when they arrived. It was also much easier to get alternate documentation to prove one's identity or, in certain situations, may not have required proof, as it does now.

raywest

Question: Was The Truman Show actually on the air since he was a baby? If so, what kind of entertainment would the audience at home be getting out of watching a baby every day for years? It seems like it would be a pretty boring show until Truman grew up and reached at least the age of 6 or 7.

Answer: They seem to imply the show was always on the air. However, they may have just shown 'best of' clips until he was walking and talking, or perhaps the show never took off in popularity until he developed a personality.

Brian Katcher

Question: Near the end of the movie, Dr. Julia Kelly asks an FBI guy about to enter his SUV where he is from. He answers Philadelphia, to which she asks for the keys to it and drives off. What was the meaning of this?

Answer: The F.B.I. agent was most likely called in from the Philadelphia office, which means he didn't know the streets of New York intimately. Time was short, and she needed to get moving, couldn't wait for a driver.

Question: Since they had satellite photos of the trains colliding, couldn't they simply look for where the other train went? Surely the satellite photos had been stored in order for them to look?

Question: As Gavrich fled into a building being chased by Devoe and Kelly the helicopter operators informed that the (radiation) signal just disappeared. Would it really disappear so quickly?

Question: Wouldn't they know something was up when the train explosion wasn't as huge as it should have been (because many of the bombs were missing, and thus making the explosion smaller)?

Answer: The two train engines colliding caused the explosions, all the other cars derailed. All the warheads were carefully packed and disarmed.

Question: Annie's business card is attached to the visor of Max's cab - then somehow, it appears in his pocket when Max needs to warn her about being a target. How/when did it get there?

Answer: At some point, he took the card from the visor and put it in his pocket. Just because it's not shown on camera does not mean he didn't have the time or opportunity to do that.

raywest

Question: How were the brothers able to steal the second car, after their hostage escaped? Or was that their car? They just jumped in and drove away with no apparent time or effort spent.

applejackson

Answer: The smaller car belonged to them. They go and pick it up again after Dun Meng escapes the Mercedes at the gas station.

ThisRaines

Thank you! With hindsight, maybe that's obvious, but I didn't catch it when I watched the movie.

applejackson

Question: Why was it necessary for Michael to kill Sollozzo and McClusky? Sonny knew where the meeting would take place. He could have sent in a team of assassins any time during the meal.

Answer: The plan was to make the murders look as if the Corleones were not involved and that Michael was falsely accused and forced to disappear to protect himself. If Sonny's men went in and just started blazing away, deliberately killing a police captain, the Corleones would have lost Mafia allies and political power. Michael was also the only person who could get close enough to kill Solozzo because he was not considered a threat. It was a tactical element of surprise. Sonny and Hagen also wanted to avoid a bloody gunfight that would have killed innocent bystanders, something all the Mafia families disdained. After enough time had passed, the Corleones bribed a condemned prisoner to "confess" to murdering Sollozzo and McClusky, offering him a large sum of money ensuring his family would be taken care of. Michael was then exonerated and returned to the USA.

raywest

Answer: Michael was used as bait to set up a meeting with Sollozzo and McClusky so that they could be set up for assassination. Michael was picked up in a neutral spot and driven to the cafe; if Michael wasn't there Sollozzo would have remained in hiding under protection.

michael g

Question: After Peter yells at Kevin "You spent $967 on room service?!", where does Kevin run off to? It's not clear from what's onscreen.

Answer: He's heading back to the hotel most likely to apologize for spending such a huge amount.

Answer: It's Kevin's dad who screams out. You can tell because Buzz looks at the bill, smirks, and says, "Oh, Dad." I've always interpreted it as Kevin running away. The joke is that Kevin's dad screams so loud from the hotel room that Kevin can hear him from the park. So Kevin wouldn't want to face his dad.

Bishop73

I just watched the clip on YouTube and yeah you're right, it is his dad. The sound of his voice when he yells "Kevin" sounds exactly like Buzz, so it probably conditioned a lot of viewers such as myself to accept it as Buzz's voice for the whole line.

Phaneron

Question: How does Kayako's body fall from the attic when Peter Kirk opens it, because in certain flashbacks it can bee seen that Takeo places Kayako's body in a corner of the attic?

Answer: This appears to be a film/plot inconsistency and could be submitted as a "movie mistake."

raywest

Answer: It never shows Takeo placing Kayako's body in the attic, so he could have placed it close to the opening. The bodies in the corner of the attic are the bodies of Matthew and Jennifer, who were killed by Kayako/Toshio.

Torie White

Show generally

Question: How is it possible that the foreign ministers of Russia and China who live and work in Moscow and Beijing are always in Washington to meet with Secretary McCord?

Answer: Most likely, in real life, this would not happen. However, for the purposes of the show, the ministers are shown as being frequently in D.C. This would be classified as a "suspension of disbelief." It is a plot device where the audience knows something is untrue or realistic, but are willing to accept the premise in order for the story to be told.

raywest

Question: Why does this film reuse almost none of the musical themes from the first two movies, given that John Williams is credited with writing all three scores?

Answer: A variety of reasons. The core melody written by John Williams is always there, but the score has evolved over the course of the different films to reflect the changes in the plot and mood as it became darker, more complex, and more tragc. It also avoids boring repetition. Also, different composers have written their own original music.

raywest

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