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: Do you think N is a villain or an anti-hero?

Answer: He is a hero.

Question: What are Karrablast and its evolution Escavalier based off?

Answer: It is based off the Japanese snail eating beetle.

Question: Why was Bianca's father attempting to take her home instead of letting her continue her journey?

Answer: To become the best.

Question: How exactly, in the context of the film, did Dietrich manage to have Sutler appear on his show? Obviously John Hurt is playing the part and I get that it's not supposed to be the real Sutler, because Sutler was devoid of humor and would never agree to appear on the show, but did Dietrich just luck out by finding someone that looked and sounded exactly like Sutler?

Phaneron

Chosen answer: Sketch comedy shows do this all the time, and I'm sure even in the film's world, there are comedians who specialize in impressions. It wouldn't be impossible to find someone who looks and sounds like Sutler, or at least close enough that they can do so with a bit of make-up and rehearsal.

Chosen answer: John Teller (Jax's father). "Piney" Winston (Opie's father). Lenny Janowitz. Keith McGee (President of the Belfast charter). Wally Grazer. Thomas Whitney. Chico Villanueva. Otto Moran (not to be confused with Big Otto Delaney with the eye-patch). "Clay" Marrow (though not a founding member).

Bishop73

Thank you.

NS - S3-E13

Question: What was the symbol Chibs wrote in Jimmy's blood on Stahls car at the end of the episode?

Chosen answer: It was the IRA's symbol (or their "tag"), an upside-down cross in a circle. It was done to frame them for the killings.

Bishop73

Question: When Bond finally emerges from hanging onto the underside of the elevator that the villain was in, how does Bond know which way the villain went, right or left; I mean the elevator would have blocked the light?

kh1616

Chosen answer: It's not really clear - Bond saw the shadow of him stepping out but not which way he went. I suspect Bond just took a 50/50 chance that he went right, and guessed correctly.

Sierra1

Question: Moneypenny is ordered to shoot Bond, to get to the man Bond is fighting on the train, so why does Bond, later, in MI6, dig the fragments of the bullet out of his shoulder and ask them to be analysed, which does reveal that the bullet is very odd?

kh1616

Chosen answer: The bullet fragments are not from Moneypenny's shot - earlier on Bond is shot in the shoulder by the assassin Patrice when he is in the cabin of the excavator.

Sierra1

Question: At the beginning, Stretch asks the two punks in the car to hang up so that the call can end and the phone line can be clear. Why? Why can't she just hang up and end the call? This makes no sense.

Brittle Fingers

Chosen answer: That's how telephones worked back then. It has to do with the lack of a disconnect signal being sent by the called party, which phone companies have now. Back then when someone called another person, they were paying for the call and thus it was felt that they're entitled not to be hung up on and the line would not be "free" for the person being called, even after they hung up. This also meant if someone was called and they picked up in one room, they could say "hold on I'm going to switch phones", hang up, go to another room and pick up the phone and the caller would still be there. It was also a great way to scam or annoy people by calling them and not hanging up. Some countries still maintain this method of operation, largely because some people have become used to it, although nowadays it's by choice, not by technical limitation, and the length of time the line is held open is significantly reduced.

Bishop73

Yeah that's actually true. in the 80s we used to call up talk radio shows from isolated, seldom-used phone booths and then leave the phone off the hook. No more calls for hours until they straightened it out with the phone company. we called it 'jock blocking'.

That's not true my brother would prank call KDKA in Pittsburgh constantly they had no trouble hanging up. If people called our house there was no trouble hanging up.

That's exactly how it worked if the line didn't have a disconnect signal.

Bishop73

Question: Why did Meredith change Tom's specifications on the production line? Was it merely to impress Conley-White? If she was incompetent, then wouldn't she knew she would screw up the production line? Was it unlawful as well? I know she was using the sexual lawsuit claim as a reason to kick him out of the company before he could trace the problems. But if that's so, I don't really understand her making Tom's life hell.

Answer: Meredith secretly changed the specifications to make it look like Tom had messed it up, giving cause for him to be fired. In addition to getting rid of Tom, she also wanted personal revenge against him for their failed relationship, making his life hell and wrecking his marriage.

raywest

Question: Several questions. 1. What was Carson's relationship to Stephanie? They obviously knew each other. 2. Why didn't Carson ask the morgue director for the code? It would have been much easier. 3. The plane is to escape, but would they really allow an air marshall to just stroll on the plane even if his plan was successful? And how would he get Stephanie on? 4. Was Carson enjoying himself with his convoluted plan? He wants $50 million, but there are so many easier ways to get that such as robbing a bank.

Answer: 1. They appeared to be lovers. 2. I would classify this as a plot hole. However, if he had done that, there would be no movie. This a literary device known as a "suspension of disbelief." That is, the audience just accepts that certain aspects of the plot are unrealistic so the story can be told. 3. It is highly unlikely Carson would be allowed to stroll onto the plane. It was not revealed how he intended to get Stephanie aboard, but he could not leave her behind. 4. There's no way of knowing if Carson was enjoying himself. Yes, he could rob a bank, but he has no experience doing that. He is utilizing his knowledge and expertise as an air marshal to execute a complicated plan that places him in the center of what is happening, giving him some control over how events unfold. Carson has created an atypical scenario and knows the police cannot respond as if it was an everyday bank robbery. Also, successful bank robberies typically result in a relatively small amount of money being stolen, not $50 million.

raywest

Why would there be no movie if Carson asked the morgue director for code?

Answer: Carson wanted to make Kyle the terrorist so that he could live peacefully even after debarked. His plan was to blow up the plane after evacuation. If he did that, there would be nothing left to prove him guilty. When Kyle asked him to get into the plane, he would have run towards FBI and blasted the plane. That would have been more ideal.

Answer: 2) the morgue director doesn't have the code as was explained at start of film 3) the G3 plane was never intended to be used. Carson was going to kill (shoot) Kyle and blow up her daughter. Therefore he wouldn't need to escape, as no-one knows he is bad.

2) It's never explained whether the morgue director has the code or not. It's only explained that Kyle has the code; Carson and Stephanie don't. Plus, given that he was the morgue director, he would have had the code too. When they said Kyle was the only one who had the code, they didn't necessarily mean that Kyle was the only person in the world who had the code, they meant she was the only person, besides the morgue director, who knew the code.

The morgue director does not have the code. Kyle is the only one in the world who knows the code. The morgue director had Kyle enter the code to say her final goodbyes. She leaves with the coffin still open. This is presumably when the morgue director plants the bombs.

2) Then how did he plant the explosives inside the casket?

Question: At the very beginning of the movie, Kyle sits on the bench alone in the empty subway station. She looks very shocked or frightened. Why is that? Because at that time, her husband David is not dead. He walks up to Kyle and they get on the yellow subway train home.

Bunch Son

Answer: I believe he isn't really there. She's on her own on the way to the morgue but she's too scared to do it; that's why she's upset and why she takes long time to get on the train but he appears in her head to give her the courage to get up and get on the train to the morgue. It's done to set the scene.

Answer: He's not really there. On the plane, she tells the psychologist that she saw him, but that was her mind coping with his death. She imagines him helping her onto the train, walking home with her, sitting in the courtyard, but you can see there's only 1 set of footprints.

Chosen answer: It's never explained. She might have been concerned about something at work or there were problems with her marriage that she is contemplating. Personally, I attribute it partly to Jodi Foster's acting style. She tends to play scenes in an overly intense manner.

raywest

Question: Why did Kyle want to sit in the courtyard with her husband at the beginning? She looked quite serious. What is the significance?

Bunch Son

Chosen answer: He's not really there. On the plane, she tells the psychologist that she saw him, but that was her mind coping with his death. She imagines him helping her onto the train, walking home with her, sitting in the courtyard, but you can see there's only 1 set of footprints.

Answer: There's no explanation, but there seems to be some sort of tension or discord going on between them that may be putting some strain on their marriage. They may have wanted a more private place to discuss something where they knew their daughter could not overhear. They also acted this way when they're in the subway station, communicating that all is not right between them.

raywest

Question: Shouldn't Magneto have died when Mystique shot him? Wouldn't his carotid artery or jugular vein have been hit?

Answer: Obviously, the bullet managed to miss the carotid artery and jugular vein. Such a neck wound, even from a gunshot, is not necessarily fatal.

Answer: Because wearing his helmet makes him immune to Xavier's mind-probes. If he put the helmet back on, he could have tried to kill Nixon again. He doesn't take the helmet with him because he knew that Xavier would stop him in his tracks if he tried.

Phaneron

Question: Mystique had just walked away after Magneto flew off. She changed into a soldier that was still in uniform. Why change into that out of all things instead of a civilian?

Answer: Since the scene involving Mystique had literally taken place on the White House lawn, leaving as a civilian would most likely result in her being stopped for questioning/debriefing. By taking the guise of a uniformed soldier, she makes it less likely that she will have to answer to anyone as she is trying to get away.

Phaneron

Tutoring Reese - S2-E19

Question: This question could be for many American TV shows not just this one, but are American schools so strict about cheating on one single test? Because here in Europe if you are caught cheating you will most of the time get an "F" for that test, plus "official warning", and you need like 3 or 4 warnings like that to be Kicked Out of school. But, I saw on many American TV shows situations when a character cheated once and he was like "they are gonna kick me from school" (one example, Family Matters when Steve helped Edward during the test and he was almost expelled).

Feather

Chosen answer: I work in a student conduct office. Students are not expelled after one academic misconduct incident (there are rare exceptions in higher academia). A first time offense usually results in a "0" grade on the test or assignment in addition to a sanction of a warning or probation. Repeated offenses can lead to being suspended for a period of time and even permanently dismissed. Students often cheat or commit plagiarism because they are struggling in school. The goal is to help students get the help and resources they need. Students who are caught committing a misconduct often tend to panic and believe the worst will happen to them. TV shows tend to exaggerate the circumstances for dramatic or comedic effect.

raywest

Question: Frank is fighting a lot of bad men in oil, so everything is slippery. My question is: What are the things Frank puts on the front of his feet, to fight the slippery oil, they are like half-rollerskates?

kh1616

Chosen answer: You notice that Frank removes those items from a bicycle frame. Those are stirrup-style rat trap bicycle pedals. They have serrated metallic edges which supposedly give Frank traction on the concrete floor, despite the oily mess.

Charles Austin Miller

Question: At the very beginning of the film, the burglars take care to switch off the home alarm system before ransacking the house. Why, then, as they are leaving, do they turn the system back on and shatter a window to trigger the home alarm? Makes no sense.

Charles Austin Miller

Chosen answer: As we see in the film, the houses they burgle have all purchased security systems from Alex's father. This makes it easy for them to gain access to the houses without triggering the alarm. However, if they committed a string of burglaries in which no alarms were triggered, people would eventually put together that customers of the same home security company were being burglarized and would point to them all being inside jobs. By tripping the alarm once they finish, they make it look like a standard break-in.

Phaneron

Question: I don't remember if Logan said it or if it was said on the radio. But what happened to the mutants?

Answer: Dr. Rice tells Logan the mutants have been wiped out due to a drug in the food and water supply that suppresses mutations, thus no new mutants had been born in 25 years. In the film series, it's indicated mutant powers usually come out during puberty, so parents don't know their children are mutants until around 12 or 13. So it took over a decade to realise no new mutants had been born. However, the government had been breeding mutants for weapons, which is where the mutant children come from in the Logan film. Furthermore, it is implied the "Westchester Incident" was an uncontrolled seizure of Charles Xavier that resulted in the death of many of the mutant students.

Bishop73

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