Questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: What's the deal with Russia having sold their old satellite to Brij Nath in Mumbai? The Fog explains this but I didn't understand at all. How did this sale happen and why?

Answer: The Fog implies that he brokered the deal for the Russian government to sell an obsolete tactical satellite to Brij Nath's telecom company. Russia didn't need the satellite now the Cold War was over, Nath needed one for less than the cost of building and launching one, so both parties benefited and the Fog was paid a commission.

Sierra1

Question: What's The Fog's angle? Why does he tell on Ethan to Sidorov? Ethan intended this so that Sidorov would later find him. But as far as The Fog is concerned, what does he gain?

Answer: He considers Hunt to be a friend, so did what he asked. In addition, by carrying out the deal he has ingratiated himself with Sidorov as well.

Question: How did Ethan know the location of the meeting between McCloy and Ambrose on that island?

Answer: Luther brings up the schematics of the Bare Island facility when they are looking up the plans for Biocyte's headquarters. Also remember that Ethan and his team abducted then released McCloy earlier on to find out about the cure, so they could have copied and analysed the contents of his briefcase such as his diary and phone to pinpoint the meeting with Ambrose.

Sierra1

Question: When Ambrose noticed the envelope was in the wrong pocket, and was thus tipped off that Nyah was a spy, how did he jump to the conclusion that Ethan was her contact? Did he play a mere hunch when he impersonated Ethan in front of her?

Answer: Ethan was the most probable candidate. Remember that Ambrose and Ethan had specifically worked together a few times with IMF in the past, as stated in the film, with them body doubling each other. Once Ambrose had his suspicious raised by the envelope, he decided to test Nyah. So showing up to her with Ethan's face would indicate if she recognized Ethan, or thought she was being approached by a total stranger at night.

Quantom X

Answer: Ambrose has stolen Chimera, a virus developed by Dr. Nekhorvich. Dr. Nekhorvich was an associate of Hunt, and trusted him. This is why Ambrose had to pose as Hunt to extract him at the beginning. Given that Ambrose was posing as hunt on the mission he went rogue, it is logical that Hunt would be the one sent to take him down.

Question: A man said that after the two years of house arrest, Scott would have three years of probation. What does that probation involve?

THE GAMER NEXT DOOR

Answer: Probation varies depending on the case, but it involves adhering to whatever conditions that is set by the court. In Scott's case it could include but not be limited to regularly reporting to a probation officer, not traveling out-of-state, avoiding certain areas, people, or activities, attending counseling or joining a support group and so on.

raywest

Question: Viewers always say Katalin Helinszki was innocent. How do you know? Sure, she said she was innocent, but so did some of the others.

MikeH

Answer: Many feel she was innocent because she was the only one during the Cell Block Tango scene not holding a red scarf (indicating the other women had blood on their hands). The others boasted about what they'd done while she proclaimed her innocence. She was also the only one executed, probably because she was unable to defend herself due to her poor English. There may have been discrimination against her because she was foreign.

raywest

Also during her dance, the light that shown down on her was white while the others were either in the dark or under a red light for the blood they shed.

Question: In the train carriage at the end of the film why did the bad guy get off the car? He surely must have been aware that the bracelet got transferred onto him?

Answer: He didn't know the bracelet was on him until he was off the car.

Question: Why didn't Frank call his police friend to have him have bomb defusal experts ready for him and the woman at a location to get the bracelets off?

Answer: Deactivating a complex bomb like that would have taken time, which Frank did not have and he was being monitored by high tech hardware.

Question: When the guy playing as Jason Voorhees gets killed in the OASIS, he throws off his goggles in a fit of rage and attempts to jump out the window to commit suicide. He's at work with other workers and surrounded by Dell computers. Am I mistaken... or are those modern day Dell computers? This movie takes place in 2045 and to me it seems unrealistic for a Japanese/Chinese company to be using almost 30 year old computers. (00:06:50)

Quantom X

Answer: It is not uncommon for movies set in the future to include technology or brands from the era that they were made. For example, futuristic movies like Back to the Future Part II, Blade Runner or Alien include technology and brands that were popular when they were made, as well as appear just as they appeared at the time their respective movies were made, but become outdated as the years go by. This is done mainly because the filmmakers do not know what the real technologies or brands will be in 2045 so they have to use modern technologies and brands of our time to include in the movie. Though sometimes the technologies and brands can be incorporated with the technology the future setting in the movie has established to make it feel as real as possible.

Casual Person

Answer: I didn't notice the computers, but yes, you're right. They could have put Plexiglass boxes with glowing lights inside on everyone's desks where an electronic device might go, no wires, with maybe a place to put the headset onto for charging. I think that would have looked futuristic and been acceptable to the movie viewers. (Or maybe a pyramid design instead of a box design.) But someone else might suggest that the owner of the business where all the people work (if it is a business) might have opted for the "retro look" even though the computers/electronics inside are far beyond what they look like.;-).

chuckie001

Answer: 25 years from now a computer will still need an input device, a display device, and a box to hold the processor. Why would computers change all that radically? As the old saying goes: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Arokthis

Computers have changed appearance radically over the past 10, 20, 30 years. Yes a computer from 1999 would have had an "input, display and box" but there's a stark difference in technology and design between that era and the modern day.

Jon Sandys

Since most people play on their own in their own homes and only on the Oasis, what a computer looks like seems much less important.

LorgSkyegon

Question: Why was Frank evading the police after managing to escape the bad guys? Couldn't Audrey tell them that he was on their side?

Answer: The police will just get in the way and slow things down too much. Frank can operate outside of the law and get more done and get it done quicker. Plus, they can't just take Audrey's word for it.

TedStixon

Question: When the squad comes across the radar site and there's a big discussion about whether to attack it or not, why doesn't Jackson just kill them with his sniper rifle? He claims to be a "fine instrument of warfare", so why not give him the opportunity to test that theory?

Pie Man

Answer: On paper, that does sound like a good strategy. However, there is the human element to factor in. The moment one German soldier fell and the others heard the shot, they would have taken cover to get out of Jackson's line of fire. This would allow them to be ready and take away the U.S. squad's small element of surprise that they had achieved.

Quantom X

Answer: Security and guest privacy was less of a concern in this era. Often someone could merely inquire at the desk which room a guest was staying in. Another ploy often used in movies was to leave a note for the guest and then watch which numbered mailbox the concierge placed it in.

raywest

Answer: He deduced that Goldfinger was using a partner to spy on his opponent's hand, and to check his theory he went to the room with the best line of sight. Alternatively, he went (off-screen) to the desk and used his charm, which was utterly irresistible in the Bond films of the '60s, to find out where Goldfinger was staying.

Question: Why did Goldfinger go through the hassle of telling the other gangsters his plan, only to kill them right after?

Answer: Goldfinger wants to keep the charade going up until the end so the others suspect nothing unusual. It is also a means of exposition to explain the plot to the audience.

raywest

Answer: I believe that Goldfinger is a showman / show off and wanted to boast for the pure hell of it. Also I think that he had to string them along so they wouldn't suspect he was about to do what he ultimately did to them.

Alan Keddie

Answer: Like all Bond villains, he wants someone to appreciate his genius, even if he plans to kill that person immediately after. How many times have villains told Bond their plans, then stuck him in a deathtrap that he manages to escape? These guys got the same treatment except for that part at the end.

Captain Defenestrator

Question: Just wondering, usually a sequel takes part after the previous movie (eg Saw II is a sequel to Saw I) and a prequel is before the previous movie (ie Star Wars episode 1 compared to Star Wars episode IV) but to me Saw IV is set at the same time of Saw III, is this called a samequel?

oobs

Chosen answer: I believe the term for two storylines taking place simultaneously is "paraquel."

Answer: A mid-quel?! an "equal"?.

dizzyd

"Equal" gets my vote. :-).

Answer: The way I understand it, Saw IV takes place after Saw III, not at the same time, so it would be a sequel. Detective Kerry and John Kramer die in Saw III and are dead in Saw IV. Although, when sequels do show flashbacks, that doesn't mean it's set in the same time as the previous film. A film that takes place during the same timeframe as a previous film in the series is called a midquel. A film that is centered around the same event as a previous film, but shown from a different perspective can also be called a "twin film."

Bishop73

Jeff's game from "Saw III" and Rigg's game from "Saw IV" are happening at the same time.

Phaneron

Question: How does Danny not suffer from the cold and freeze to death like Jack does when they are running through the maze near the end?

Answer: Jack got lost, running around in the maze for much longer than Danny was, chasing his own footsteps. Danny felt the cold, but didn't spend more then a few minutes outside, hiding close to the exit and escaping pretty quickly.

lionhead

Question: At the prison, when Witherspoon tells Declan "that's our deal", the camera is pointing towards Witherspoon and there seems to be something, or an image, behind him (to the left). What is it? It looks like a cardboard cut out of a person (to me I see a face and bare chest), only it's all grey and almost looks like Lobo from DC Comics. But I don't see anything in the wide shots that it could be. (00:25:55)

Bishop73

Answer: If you look at time 24:21, you can see two murals painted on the walls. Presumably by the prisoners. The one with his arms up striking a muscular pose is what you're seeing. The camera focused on Witherspoon in the shot you're talking about makes that image blurry in the background and gives it the effect of having dreadlocks. But it's just the muscle guy painting.

Quantom X

Answer: She didn't, she tried right away. Then Bill called her at the last minute and stopped her, out of respect for the Bride. It's only after this that we cut to four years later, when she wakes up.

Question: Why did Jasper need to pay Buck to let him rape The Bride? Why couldn't he just walk in and do it for free?

MikeH

Answer: Buck is wearing scrubs in the scene, so he probably works at the hospital. (A Kill Bill wiki says that he is a nurse.) Jasper is paying Buck for access and to not be disturbed while he commits the rape.

Question: At the end of the movie, George Clooney and Nicole Kidman are trying to remove one of the small explosive plates that surround the plutonium sphere in a nuclear weapon. Couldn't they have just disconnected the wire connected to the explosive plate to prevent that trigger charge detonating properly? Or would it have detonated because it was touching the other plates?

Answer: Presumably they couldn't take the risk that removing the wire would stop that plate detonating, and/or were worried that there might be a failsafe to detect a wire being cut. Physically removing the charge seemed like the safer bet.

Jon Sandys

Show generally

Question: I have no idea what episode where this is from, but during one conversation all the boys have at the school lunch is talking about Terminator and Skeletor with Butters exclaiming "Skeletor is real?" I'm assuming that Terminator is Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver being Skeletor. I don't understand the joke or the conversation of Maria being Skeletor?

Richie

Answer: In S15 E04, "T.M.I, " at the start the joke is that Maria Shriver, prior to getting together with Arnold, was hot; and now she's all bony (time code 00:00:40).

Answer: I believe this is from s15e12 "1%." Many people, especially on the internet, say that Maria Shriver looks like Skeletor because of the bony features of her face. She has very high cheek bones and a broad, flat, square jaw that resembles Skeletor's jaw (the mandible). Sometimes she appears to have sunken in eyes too.

Bishop73

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