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 did Lisa turn Chet into? Every time I've seen this movie, I could never figure it out.

Answer: According to the Wikipedia page for this movie, Lisa transforms Chet into a giant, talking turd.

Casual Person

Answer: A steaming pile of poo.

Answer: I was actually under the impression that Lisa turns Chet into a Toad, since he has bumpy like skin. He also eats a fly which is something that Toads do.

Question: Two questions: 1. When they arrive at the whaling station, Lex states that the pyramid is "directly beneath" the camp, but the map shows that the pyramid is much further away from the station and is definitely not "directly beneath." Why would she say this? 2. When Lex and the Predator leave the pyramid, the platform that they get on goes extremely fast. Why would this be logical at all? Without any kind of stopping mechanism, it would fling the sled far away and severely injure the user. Why?

Answer: 1) This is a goof, most likely left over from an early version of the script when the pyramid was supposed to be directly beneath the whaling station. Clearly on the map the pyramid is a good distance away (some estimates say it's close to half a mile). 2) The winch has to be high powered because it is carrying heavy supplies and equipment for the expedition. Lex uses the sled as fast as it will go in an effort to escape but that doesn't mean it has to be used that way. No doubt under normal circumstances the sled wouldn't need to go so fast and can be stopped normally and safely once it reaches the summit.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: Nurse Wilkins is a named character in the film, but the entirety of her role seems to be her saying that her castor oil was stolen in the scene where Sandy was at a reception. Did she appear again (eg. at the gym), and was the castor oil significant in any way?

Answer: Nurse Wilkins, played by Fannie Flagg, only appeared on camera once during "Grease." It was, as you point out, during the scene in the office when Sandy first arrives to register at Rydell High School. She may have been present in other scenes, but never appeared on camera. She may also have had other speaking parts which were sacrificed to the cutting room floor. There is no way of knowing that. Castor oil was used, historically, for a variety of medicinal purposes - most notably as a laxative and remedy for minor digestive problems. It has a distinctly unpleasant taste. Therefore, stealing it would probably be just a minor prank, without any other apparent significance. I suppose one could draw conclusions about other uses adolescent boys could find for an unctuous substance like castor oil, but that would probably be reading far too much into a throw-away line.

Michael Albert

Nurse Wilkins is mentioned a classroom cut scene (available for flu jabs). Speculation, but maybe originally Sandy was originally going to be sick for the dance competition like the stage play (with Nurse Wilkins playing a role), but when ONJ's role got enhanced during filming, this scene was dropped.

Season 9 generally

Question: Does anyone know if the reason most of the main cast didn't return for season 9 is due to the actors' decision or was it a show makers' choice?

The_Iceman

Answer: A lot had to do with the direction Season 9 went, and some of ABC's influence. Show creator, Bill Lawrence, was approached by ABC to continue the show and he wanted to more or less do a spin off and call it "Med School" since he felt Season 8 was the last season for "Scrubs" (even Zach Braff thought that and joked about it on Twitter a few times). However, ABC rejected the idea of a spinoff, and I think ABC felt the actors didn't need to be brought back because they would be working on other projects. It should be noted, while only John McGinley and Donald Faison signed on to be regulars for Season 9, Judy Reyes was the only regular not to return. She wanted to sign on as a regular, but her character did not fit in with the show's new direction and wasn't offered a contract. When she was offered a guest spot, she turned it down. The other regulars only returned to help transition the show into something new, which because of ABC was still considered to be "Scrubs." Most of the writers also did not return.

Bishop73

Question: When on the rooftop, Noah's dad mentions his mother was a good listener. Are we to assume that she left them but still has an amicable relationship with the father or she passed away?

Answer: It's assumed that the mother has passed away.

raywest

Question: How does Allie know about Martha even before she meets her?

Answer: I think we're supposed to assume Noah told Allie about her at some point.

Question: During the masquerade scene, Ana walks down the stairs and passes by Jack before he takes a photo of Christian and his family. My question is, how did he get there at all? Is it possible he had that information, meaning where Christian's parents were and when the masquerade would be, from the files he got in Fifty Shades Freed? Did he even have those files before starting the fire because that's when they first came into focus for the story?

Answer: The ball was an annual charity event the Grey family held that Jack probably knew about. Certainly it is no secret where the Grey family estate is located, so Jack could easily find it and slip into the party, appearing as a guest and even using a fake name. As the event was to raise money, attendees would not necessarily be restricted only to invitees. Often, people can buy a ticket for such an event.

raywest

Question: Wasn't Jack chopping down the doors trying to kill Wendy? Why did he stop and suddenly only go after Danny when Dick pulled in?

Answer: My assumption is that he probably wasn't thinking rationally and used poor judgment. He could have killed Wendy when he had the perfect opportunity, but he probably assumed Halloran's presence would be a threat to his goal. He would obviously chase Danny since he was trying to get away.

Answer: Danny is the one Jack wanted to kill since he possess supernatural abilities. When Jack was chopping down the door, he was preying for Danny more than Wendy. Later he realises that Danny has escaped and leaves the place.

In the movie, Danny's parents don't know about his supernatural ability but in the book they do. It is explained more in the book but since Holloran has the shining as well, they are linked. So where Holloran is, Danny is sure to be near. So when he shows up, Jack goes after him knowing this fact instead of going after his wife.

Question: When Ellie was attacked by a raptor in the power shed, she was startled by the hand of Mr Arnold which turned out to be his severed arm when she grabbed it, What happened to the rest of Mr Arnold's body? The raptor's mouths aren't big enough to swallow the whole rest of his body.

adamtrainman@aol.com

Answer: In Michael Crichton's original novel (upon which the movies were based), the Velociraptors didn't consume whole human bodies. A raptor would focus on its victim's abdomen, eviscerating its prey alive, eating only the entrails and internal organs. So, we may assume the majority of Arnold's body was left elsewhere in the power shed.

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: There is no way of knowing what happened to his body. The movie would not go into gruesome details like that, and it would add nothing to the story, but most likely he was partially eaten. Ellie probably interrupted the raptor's meal and it then became focused on hunting her.

raywest

Answer: In the book, his body was wedged between the pipes and the raptor ate what it could get to - this was supposed to be in the movie, however filming for that scene was delayed due to a real hurricane so it was cut.

Answer: The creators of the film were not concerned with details explaining scenarios. They simply wanted to create a shocking jump scare type of scene. In reality, the man's hand would not have been severed and left in such a position.

Anthony Lemons

Question: I'm looking for some instrumental song from the movie. On the DVD it starts at 41:07 and lasts til 42:27. I can't find it anywhere, on the soundtrack nor anywhere else. Does anyone know it?

Question: What happened to Todd? Did Margo kick him out?

Answer: It wouldn't be much of a surprise to kick him out. Obviously he has no idea what happened to her when she comes back and asks her. She also believes the police knocking at her door is actually Todd and says if he want to come in, he'll have to break the door down. So logically, she did kick him out.

Answer: Because without the pigs they wouldn't get the money for the tractor. Without that they wouldn't get the harvest and would end up losing the farm. Not to mention that the piglets were prize pigs and would sell for lots of money.

The Painted World - S2-E3

Question: How did Phoebe send Kit inside the painting without being trapped too? Probably she read the spell and not Kit (duh) then she should've been trapped instead of her - or both of them if she held her in her hands. And why did she do that? She knew about the warlock, wouldn't have it been easier, if she'd got inside, found her sisters and together read the liberating spell... as it happened later?

Damentian

Answer: Phoebe could have placed Kit in front of the painting and said the spell from a distance or jumped out of the way at the last minute. She knew a man was trapped in the painting but didn't know he was a warlock until he came out.

Question: At the drive-in, Kenickie confronts Rizzo about being pregnant, but she tells him not to worry because "it was someone else's mistake." What does she mean?

Carmen Dawson

Answer: She says it to hurt him.

Absolutely, she said it, like she said a lot of things - out of malice. Kenickie is genuinely distressed, genuinely meant he would stick by her, even if the baby wasn't his.

Answer: Rizzo doesn't actually mean someone else got her pregnant. She is just letting Kenickie "off the hook," probably because she figures he wouldn't want to take responsibility, anyway, and she was probably going to have to handle this on her own. Kenickie is hurt by this, however, as we can tell by his expression when he replies, "thanks a lot, kid."

Michael Albert

I always read it as an expression of relief when he says "Thanks a lot, kid".

lionhead

It was not meant as an expression of off the hook. It was meant as in, "that's really a messed up thing to say!" He was hurt by her saying that he was someone else's mistake.

She didn't say he was someone else's mistake. I already said that in a different correction. She says "it was someone else's mistake." Meaning the baby isn't his.

lionhead

Answer: The whole meaning behind it is that Rizzo really is pregnant with Kenickie's kid but Rizzo says it's someone else's: "someone else's problem," pretty much giving a chance for Kenickie to be off the hook as not being the father. But Kenickie obviously knows she is lying. And he's upset and says "thanks a lot kid" sarcastically.

Bbanda100

Answer: Both Kenickie and Rizzo are upset and being sarcastic. The interpretations of his and her words are debatable, especially since there is no way of knowing if Rizzo did, in fact, sleep with someone else. However, there's no indication that Rizzo was with another boy/man, so it can be assumed Kenickie is the father and both know this is true. My interpretation was that Rizzo, by saying "it's someone else's mistake", was referring to herself - that she was stupid enough to even have sex with someone like Kenickie in the first place. (The second inferred meaning is that she will not hold him responsible because she knows he isn't interested in being a father/paying.) Kenickie's response, "thanks a lot, kid" was returning an insult - the "thanks a lot" part being sarcastic and "kid" meaning immature and not old enough to have even been given the chance or "be lucky enough" for him to (lower himself and) sleep with her, given all the other "better" girls - WOMEN - around from which to choose.

KeyZOid

Answer: I thought Rizzo said it because she was hurt that Kenickie referred to it as a mistake. So in turn she said don't worry about it...it was someone else's mistake.

Answer: She just means that someone else got her pregnant, and that the pregnancy itself was unintentional.

Cubs Fan

Answer: It's been a while, but I thought the quote was: Kenickie: I don't run away from my mistakes Rizzo: Don't worry, you're someone else's mistake. I would agree with others that she's essentially letting him off the hook in the storyline (everybody knows it's his), but this particular quote is basically just a joke implying HE was HIS parents' mistake...as a way to lighten the mood.

She didn't say "you're someone else's mistake." She says "it was somebody else's mistake."

lionhead

Question: When was 'Giant' first shown (month-day-year) on network television?

Question: This was the first of Toho's "Minilla" films (Minilla being the diminutive son of Godzilla), featuring an actor known as "Marchan the Dwarf" in the role of Minilla. Is there an official or even unofficial biography of Marchan the Dwarf? I'm not seeing anything on him through conventional searches.

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: All that I could find of him are his IMDb and Wikizilla pages.

Question: How did the pirates manage to recapture Phillips after he tried to escape by swimming?

Answer: They do it exactly as shown in the movie: Phillips, due to currents and his own physical condition, is unable to swim very far from the boat, so the pirates just follow him, trap him, and bring him back onboard. In addition, the Marines fire a flare, which lights up the scene...this was done so they could be certain the escapee was Phillips, but it also makes it easier for the pirates to spot him.

Question: I heard that Quirrell was the muggle studies teacher before this year. So after he took defense against the dark arts, why not give muggle studies to Arthur Weasley?

Answer: Mr. Weasley was fascinated by Muggles but he was not an expert. His knowledge in that subject was somewhat sketchy and based on erroneous assumptions. He frequently got many details wrong. He usually relied on Harry for explanations.

raywest

Answer: Even with his fondness for Muggles, Arthur may not have wanted to be a teacher. And even if he did, another possibility is that he doesn't have the necessary educational requirements (i.e. O.W.L./N.E.W.T. passing grades in certain subjects) or enough teaching experience.

Cubs Fan

Question: When the kids have to pick up Dewey to go to Battle of the Bands, how did they know where he lives?

Answer: It is never said but If I was to guess, they got it from the guy he was pretending to be (Ned's) information from the school office.

Question: When Cinderella's stepmother overheard the grand duke telling the captain about his promise to marry off Kit to Princess Shalina, did he (the captain) recognize the stepmother later on when they arrived at her doorstep?

Answer: Even if he did, he didn't know she was the stepmother of Cinderella.

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