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 happened to Alex's journals and equations when he left on his trip?

Answer: When Alexander is travelling through time, he sees everything in his lab being removed very quickly, so the equations on his board were most likely erased and his journals were probably thrown away.

Question: When Sue Ellen is shown heading to work, wouldn't she be headed into the city, since Kenny says they live in "the boonies"? But she is shown leaving the city, envying the group of teens in the car next to her, who appear to be headed to the beach (also leaving the city).

Answer: People in LA commute in all sorts of directions for work. And the freeway you see is the 405 in West LA (not the "city" - or Downtown where she worked). This freeway would not even be her direct route anyway. All just made up in the film.

Question: Why exactly does Brick Top hate Tommy so much? What does he have against him? Is it because Tommy reminds Brick Top of someone from his past who he found annoying and insufferable? Or did Brick Top straight up not like Tommy from the start? I've seen this film many times and I've never been able to figure out why this is the case.

Question: If time travel was banned throughout the universe and they imprisoned Obadiah Price as the inventor (time 1), why didn't MIB confiscate the devices and continually make sure his son Jeffrey never has the devices or lets others use them? He has a log book and Boris the Animal's entry is more than a few pages in (time 2). (00:30:21 - 00:32:00)

unkajes

Answer: They did, but the son had the knowledge in his head, so he did it in secret. The son dealt in black market devices.

Question: Why doesn't Boris the Animal kill Jeffrey Price after he gets the Time Jump Device? He doesn't seem to have problems killing anyone else who gets in his way or helps him. (I don't think saying that if he killed Jeffrey, there's no way J can go into the past is sufficient as that's a plot device.) (00:11:25)

unkajes

Answer: He may not have known about the son when he killed Obadiah in the space prison. He thought no one else had a time device. Besides, he was completely focused on his mission. He thought of nothing else.

Question: Umbopa's people wear colorful, patterned clothes, use metal weapons and bells. Yet there is no evidence of cotton fields, weaving equipment, mines or forges. Where did they get/make these items?

Answer: It's possible all these goods were traded for. Realistically, everything came from the MGM costume and prop department. Movies from this era seldom strove for historical or cultural accuracy. Native costumes and other possessions were often the embellished invention of imaginative costume and set designers, with little thought or regard to authenticity. The intent was to produce an exciting, colorful, entertaining movie.

raywest

Question: Why didn't Finn put cameras in the house to prove that he was right?

Question: In the scene at the House of Blue Leaves, (right after the Bride kills GoGo), O-Ren is holding Gogo's small sword. She begins to unsheathe it before stabbing it into the railing. What was the point of it? Was she upset because Gogo died, or was she contemplating suicide in lieu of facing the Bride?

Answer: To be honest, it's a mix of both. O-ren and B were close in the hit squad. B knew O-ren's backstory, suggesting a shared past. They had common interests, spoke Japanese, and used samurai swords. O-ren confided in B and may have been her squad member. O-ren shared her shame with GoGo, indicating a deep bond. Bill supported O-ren's Tokyo takeover, indicating their closeness. Their shared dialogue suggests an inside joke. O-ren contemplates suicide for betraying her friend and killing her child. She feels remorse for failing to defeat Beatrix and cares for GoGo, who died protecting her. When the 88's arrive, O-ren resolves to fight for honor and avenge GoGo. She knows Beatrix will defeat the 88's, so she prepares for their upcoming battle.

Question: When the team is inside the 'laser room', there is a sizable space between the door on either end and the mirrored corridor itself. Why didn't they simply hide in that safe zone to avoid the lasers? (00:30:25 - 00:33:35)

NeoMatrix

Question: Why are the new recruits not wearing their dog tags? Dog tags are issued at boot camp.

Question: When Teasle and Rambo first meet, Teasle says something to the effect of "wearing that flag on that jacket, looking the way you do, you're asking for trouble around here." What does Teasle mean about Rambo wearing the flag? Is the town liberal, and he knows they wouldn't respect a veteran? I've never quite understood that line.

Answer: The exact opposite. He's saying Rambo looks like a long-hair peacenik, not a clean-cut veteran, so the town, being conservative, will not take kindly to his wearing the US flag in a way that they would interpret as disrespectful.

Answer: What he's actually saying is that many American soldiers returning from Vietnam were actually despised. America was incredibly divided over Vietnam in the 70s. Unfortunately, many vets were shunned in society.

Question: Excluding plot convenience and suspension of disbelief, how could the time machine be shipped to San Francisco when H.G. Wells was traveling into the future with it?

Answer: At the end of the movie, he said that he was going to dismantle the time machine, so it's not used again, thus ending this timeline and the timeline we know as H.G. Wells would come to pass. As for the time machine being in San Francisco, if the machine had never been moved or buried, he would have landed in London.

Answer: In the late 1970s, Wells' time machine and other belongings were sent to San Francisco as part of an H.G. Wells exhibit at a museum. It had been found two years earlier, buried under Wells' since-demolished London house. It was considered a non-working "curiosity" that Wells built and had inspired his novel, "The Time Machine." In the 19th century, when Wells chased Jack the Ripper into the future, that is where his time machine landed, apparently drawn to its 1979 counterpart in San Francisco. At the end, Wells returned to 19th-century London in the time machine, where it would eventually be found many decades later. And sorry, but there has to be some "suspension of disbelief" to explain the time travel.

raywest

My Mom, the Mom - S3-E12

Question: When Al, Bud, and Steve are discussing the window that Bud broke, why does Steve say "I guess the lesson is mine to learn"?

Answer: When it comes to Bundys, anything that can be broken, will be broken.

Question: Spoiler! Does this movie actually end with Dominic and his son Brian about to die and the bad guy Dante winning?

Answer: It does - it's a massive cliffhanger leading directly into the next (and apparently final) film. The team's plane has been shot down and crashed, seemingly killing them all (but let's be honest, that's unlikely...). Dom and Little B survive the drive off the dam and crash into the river. Dante looks down on them and arms massive bombs along the length of the dam, they apparently have nowhere to run to... End of film.

Jon Sandys

Show generally

Question: Which episode is it where the characters visit either a museum or an archaeological dig of the 20th century, and come across a voiceover/narrator/scientist making wild and wrong assumptions about the use of common objects? I've got a quote in my mind that's something like "here's where people would maybe do [something] perhaps."

Jon Sandys

Chosen answer: In s02e06, "The Lesser of Two Evils", they go to "Past-o-Rama" amusement park. There's a hologram of an Old New York traffic and the voice over guy says something like "it was a forum for a free exchange of opinions", followed by New Yorkers yelling.

Bishop73

Thanks! I think what I was remembering was that combined with the Bigfoot video where the narrator says "In the dense forests of the Pacific Northwest dwells the strange and beautiful creature known as Bigfoot, perhaps."

Jon Sandys

Question: If Wadsworth threw away the key to the cupboard (as we saw), how could Col. Mustard open it to get the wrench to do away with the motorist?

Answer: As Wadsworth explained to everybody, when he saw the motorist at the door, he didn't throw the key away but put it back in his coat pocket. While everyone's attention was on the motorist, Col. Mustard took the key from Wadsworth pocket and replaced it with a different key.

Question: What did Professor Trelawney mean by "innocent blood shall be spilt" in her prediction?

Answer: My interpretation was that Trelawney's prediction referred to Sirius Black and the Dementors, who were going to suck out his soul. While his blood would not literally be spilled, it was still a death of an innocent person. It was more of a dramatic colloquial expression, like saying someone has "blood on their hands" for causing innocent people's deaths. The prediction could also include Buckbeak, who was being wrongly executed that same night. Her prediction was regarding events that would have occurred if Harry and Hermione had not traveled back in time and changed the outcome.

raywest

Question: Why does Hermione seem to hate Scabbers throughout this movie? I'm talking about before they find out the truth?

Answer: Hermione doesn't hate Scabbers. A rift had been ongoing between her and Ron. Hermione resented him constantly blaming her cat, Crookshanks, for chasing Scabbers. Ron was angry that Hermione never took responsibility for her cat's behavior. Even though Ron was justified, Hermione was being unreasonably protective and resentful. She didn't realise that Crookshanks sensed something odd about Scabbers. Also Ron and Hermione had other issues with each other, and the pets were merely an excuse to express their disagreements. It's also supposed to show the growing romantic tension between them.

raywest

Episode #1.8 - S1-E8

Question: As we know Gene died in 1953 so how did he save Alex in 1981 from the car bomb, he was already dead and in the purgatory world?

Answer: Have you finished watching the entire series? I don't think it's fair to answer this for someone who hasn't.

Bishop73

Answer: Agree with the other answer. This is not the place for spoilers. I suggest checking the series' entry on Wikipedia. There is a synopsis of each season's episodes that may have the answer you seek. Check here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ashes_to_Ashes_episodes.

raywest

Question: The older sister seems to hate Uncle Buck. Why does she hate him?

Answer: She doesn't seem to really hate him, per se. She's a rebellious teenager going through a hard time in her life, pretty much giving all adults/authority figures a hard time (including her parents). Like a lot of teenagers, she doesn't like being told what to do and thinks herself far more mature than she is. She starts off on the wrong foot with Buck before he even shows up, since she resents her parents for having him come in the first place; she thinks she's old enough to a) be left alone, and b) look after her two younger siblings. So, when he shows up, she immediately defies him and refuses to acknowledge that he is "in charge", since she is, in her mind, not a child anymore. Her relationship with him eventually thaws as she realises that he genuinely cares about her (something she doesn't think her parents do).

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