Questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: I am really confused by one scene. When Buford realises that Bandit is leaving the same service station he is at, he attempts to drive after him, but the front of his car is cranked up, When it cuts back to that scene, Junior (for no apparent reason) is lying on the hood and a crowd is watching them. Was there some missing scene which explains why Junior is in that odd position? Also why is Buford's car cranked up to begin with?

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: There's no missing scene; it's just a joke, albeit not particularly well-executed. Basically, the car was cranked up to replace the tires, and Buford forgot about them in his haste to pull out and crashed into the car in front of him. When we cut back, the joke is that he hit the other car so hard Junior flew out of his seat and wound up on the hood. The crowd gathers, as they tend to do in real life, around the accident to see what happened.

Question: What's wrong with Greedo shooting first? I agree changing it is pretty pointless, but what difference does it make? How does it affect the movie?

MikeH

Chosen answer: This has already been asked and answered on this site, in the past few weeks in fact. But again: It doesn't affect the movie, but it affects the character of Han Solo and how he is meant to be perceived by the audience. If he shoots first, he's an outlaw, a rogue, and, in the classic Western tradition, quicker on the draw than Greedo. If Greedo shoots first, Han is just killing in self-defense, which does nothing for his character and makes the whole scene superfluous, other than establish that people want to kill him.

Answer: Also, Han shooting first places doubts about his motives in the viewer's mind early on. It establishes Han as ruthless, willing to do whatever it takes to survive. Might he turn Luke and Ben over to the Empire if he decides it's in his best interests? But having Greedo shoot first turns Han in to just another generic good guy.

Answer: I mostly agree with the other answers about Han, but his shooting first is integral to the plot and not about showing any ruthlessness. Greedo cornered Han and intended to turn him over to Jabba the Hut to collect the bounty on Han's head. Greedo told Han, while holding him at gun point, that he wanted the money Obi Wan was paying Han, then implied he was going to kill Han before turning his body over to Jabba for the reward. Han's only option was to kill Greedo right then and there. He basically is shooting Greedo in self-defense (or for self-preservation). As well as establishing what his character is like, the scene also serves as exposition that shows Jabba had put a price on Han's head, Greedo was a deadly adversary, that Han leads a dangerous and illegal life, and he was desperate to resolve his dilemma of living under a death sentence.

raywest

As a child of the 70's, I grew up with the notion of Han shooting first. Never gave it much thought, to me he was in a situation of kill or being killed. The debate seemed over a moot point to me.

Chosen answer: No. But Jake's paranoia and possessiveness had consumed him to such a degree that he was convinced that he (Joey) had, based on Vickie's impulsive remarks.

Question: In the opening credits, Clark's passport has the name "Clark W Griswald" instead of Griswold. Was this just intended because Clark can never seem to do anything right, or even get it fixed when it's wrong? (like the Wagon Queen Family Truckster he ended up buying even though that's not the car he ordered...?).

Answer: The answer could be any of those suggestions. It could also very well be a movie mistake. It's not uncommon for character names to be misspelled, either on some document or in the cast credits.

raywest

Chosen answer: The actual name is Bluejohn Canyon. According to online tourist info for Utah, "It appears to have been named after a minor Robbers Roost outlaw by the name of John Griffith. Griffith had one blue eye and one brown eye and thus was saddled with the nickname "Blue John." It is recognized that he kept stolen horses in the area, perhaps watering them at nearby springs. In the fall of 1899 Griffith is reported to have put in at Hite with a small boat with the intention of reaching Lee's Ferry. He was never heard from again."

raywest

Robert Moves Back - S3-E25

Question: Robert and Amy are in Ray and Debra's basement listening to some rock music with a great guitar solo and Ray comes in to get something from his office. Anyone know the name of the song or the artist?

Yvonne Smits

Answer: War.

By whom?

Edwin Starr.

Question: Why was The Headless Horseman ordered to kill the Killian family including their incredibly young son?

Answer: As revealed by Lady Van Tassel to Katrina during the film's climax, the midwife Mrs. Killian was abreast of the secrets regarding the affairs of Peter Van Garrett with the widow Winship, as well as their unborn child. Mrs. Killian revealed this secret to Lady Van Tassel right in front of Mr. Killian, which signed both of their death warrants. However, Lady Van Tassel most likely commanded the Headless Horseman to kill the Killians (as opposed to just saying Mr. & Mrs. Killian), to which the Horseman would instinctively murder their child too. It may have been an oversight on the part of Lady Van Tassel, as the child would undoubtedly be ignorant of affairs and the intricacies of legal matters regarding wills, but then again, she probably didn't care anyway.

Phaneron

Question: Why didn't Lotso just press the button to turn off the incinerator? Also can someone explain why he said where is Andy now?

THE GAMER NEXT DOOR

Chosen answer: Lotso did not turn off the incinerator because Woody and the other toys were a threat to his rule at the daycare. Even though he was kicked out by Baby with the other toys gone he could manipulate and gain his leadership back. He says "where is Andy now" as a taunt to the toys. Woody and the others spend the movie trying to get back to Andy but when they are in trouble Andy is not there for them.

Question: Jack seems to be in the habit of getting smacked across the face by a woman a lot. In a deleted scene, it shows Jack getting smacked in the face by a mermaid. Why was this scene deleted from the movie?

Answer: Although this has been a running gag throughout the series, the filmmakers probably felt it quite didn't fit into the storyline or else thought the joke had simply worn itself out. It may also have been intended to be used for promoting the film and in theatrical trailers.

raywest

It should have been kept in. I thought it was funny.

Question: How does Syrena get into the Fountain of youth cavern? Jack goes through the ceiling of the cave after being helped up, and the rest of the crew follows the same way with the ground being solid underneath them. Since this should be the only entrance to the cavern and there does not appear to be any water connected to the location where they enter, how does she get in to give the chalices to Jack?

Answer: There is no way of knowing that the entrance Jack used is the only way to enter the Fountain of Youth cavern. It is just one way that mere mortals can enter it. Serena, being a mermaid, likely knows of underground water passages that interconnect to the chamber.

raywest

Question: Why is there a scene where the fake detectives are trying to listen to Roy's conversation with his doc? They weren't really cops, the fake hospital room didn't need microphones, etc.

Answer: They needed to get the password for Roy's safety deposit box. They planted the camera and microphones so that they could listen in on the conversation and know what the password is.

Casual Person

Question: How does the crew find Jack if he's in Davy Jones' locker?

Answer: Davy Jones controlled the Kraken that pulled Jack and the Black Pearl underwater. The crew knew that the most likely place Jack would end up would be in Davy Jones' Locker. The crew then obtained the map to World's End from Sao Feng. The map led them to the Locker, and once there, they'd search for Jack. Fortunately, Jack found them, though it appears Tia Dalma had a guiding hand in bringing Jack and the ship to them.

raywest

Question: What was the music played in the trailer, the first song?

Question: In the very last scene, we see Michael Shannon in shackles (presumably in a federal prison) with electroencephalographic sensors attached to his forehead and scalp, oddly gazing at the sunrise as two prison guards flank him. In the very last shot of the film, a closeup of his face, we see his eyes faintly glow for a split-second as he smiles a very slight smile. Question: Is the film implying that Alton is in otherworldly contact with his father, or that his father absorbed some of Alton's otherworldly power; or is it implying that, being the boy's biological father, he was the source of Alton's power? In any event, this may never be revealed, because the film barely made back one-third of its $18 million production budget, making the probability of a sequel highly unlikely.

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: I wasn't sure what to make of it, but I got the impression that he was communicating with Alton like he had done when Alton ran from the truck. I also thought his smile was perhaps in reaction to what Alton told him and/or the two were making fun of (mocking) the use of electrodes because they knew the electrodes would not have any effect on him.

KeyZOid

P.S. Plenty of lousy movies have had sequels, so it is possible there could be a "Midnight Special 2".

KeyZOid

Not necessarily holding my breath.

Charles Austin Miller

A sequel doesn't seem likely. Hope you weren't holding your breath waiting for an answer to your question.

KeyZOid

Question: At the end of the first segment, the one with Vic Morrow, has it ever been determined what his character's ultimate fate would have been if Vic had lived?

Answer: Morrow was supposed to return to his own time frame after redeeming himself by saving the two Vietnamese children from the raid on their village.

raywest

Question: I suppose this is more a request for an educated guess than anything. Why can't anyone seem to produce a working Fantastic 4 movie franchise? The first two movies and the first reboot were awful, simply put, and the poor box office returns made future sequels or reboots even less likely. Why can no one seem to get a grip on what makes Fantastic 4 tick?

Charles Austin Miller

Chosen answer: In a nutshell, 20th Century Fox and the people that worked on the respective films simply don't understand the comics and why fans like the source material. It's also worth noting that the 2015 film was made so that Fox could retain the rights, as they would have gone back to Marvel had they not begun production on it by a certain date in 2014. They weren't exactly making the film with the intention of it being great, rather as a rights grab and a money grab, though the film ended up being a major box office flop, so the latter didn't exactly pan out in their favor. There are many fans that would like to see the rights to Fantastic 4 revert back to Marvel Studios, as they would more than likely do the films justice.

Phaneron

Question: So for blackjack, they rigged machines. For roulette, they used magnetic wheels that the balls would attract too, and the slots had a sequence. What I don't understand is the science behind the lighter and the dice for the craps table. Can someone explain how the purple powder the twins added make this possible? And how pressing the lighter made it roll to the desired roll.

Answer: The powder was explained briefly but it's a magnetic powder and they lighters are at the frequency to pull the dice down. However both Danny and rusty would still have to time it perfectly as there is no way a powder would be orientated correctly.

Question: Why does Rusty tell Benedict "mini bar" after telling him he's staying at the Bellagio?

Answer: He was making a suggestion on how to improve the room.

MasterOfAll

Question: After the blackout, why did the the patrons go through a panic of grabbing chips? Money's understandable, but wouldn't they still need to take the chips to get exchanged? Surely the people who exchange it would know that they were taken during the riot.

Answer: It would have to be proved that the chips were taken and not won. Customers could just hold onto them and cash them in later and over time, claiming they won them on different nights.

raywest

Question: In the beginning of the film, why are the workers putting the gold in tubs of some black liquid?

Answer: That's most likely oil, and they're doing that to smuggle it out. Carrying large amounts of gold over international borders would raise a lot of red flags with the authorities.

Friso94

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