Questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: Why did Pete keep insisting that Michael beat up the burglar, instead of listening to him and simply hauling him away? Surely he would have still got on Michael's good side just to take him in, so why not just do want Michael wants, rather than complicate matters, which leads to Michael cutting ties off with Pete for good?

Movielover1996

Answer: Pete was a psychopath and a murderer who did not think or act in a logical, reasonable, or restrained manner. He had become so enamored of Michael and Karen and their affluent lifestyle, that he went to extreme and dangerous lengths to ingratiate himself with them. He was not at all rational.

raywest

And also, his years of being a patrol cop and seeing the brutality of society on different calls may have made him snap. I mean, look how heartless he was-he throws a naked woman out into the street in a dark alley and leaves her there after having sex with her in his patrol unit, no regards for anything or anyone at all.

Question: Why in the world would a school principal scold a teacher for apparently putting her hands on a student who had been expelled, not to mention for nearly killing someone, showing he was dangerous? Shouldn't all that make her "putting her hands on him" irrelevant? Especially if he's not a student and wasn't actually injured?

Movielover1996

Question: This film will be a sequel to the first two Deadpool films, which were part of the Fox X-Men franchise, but will instead be a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Is this the first time in history that a film is a sequel to another film, but is now part of a new franchise?

Phaneron

Answer: In addition to Bishop's answer, you could theoretically apply this to Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man characters. They both appeared in "Spider-Man: No Way Home," which technically acts as a sequel to "Spider-Man 3," "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" and "Spider-Man: Far From Home" - three distinct movie franchises. (And there are persistent rumors that Maguire and/or Garfield may make future MCU appearances).

TedStixon

To add to that (I ran out of room in my reply), with the creation of the multiverse, now any Sony or Fox franchise or universe can be considered as part of the MCU. So any Fantastic Four or X-Men sequel (although most likely any up coming film will be a reboot) can be part of the MCU.

Bishop73

I get what you're saying, but No Way Home was more of a crossover film that acknowledged characters coexisting in the multiverse, with those characters returning to their respective universes by the end, and Sony would still have control of those characters. Although we won't know for sure until Deadpool 3 comes out, Deadpool is meant to start as a character in a previously established film franchise and then occupy a different one moving forward.

Phaneron

But what film franchise would he be in? If he's in a Deadpool movie, he's in the Deadpool franchise. If they stop making Deadpool films and put him in another film, then he becomes part of another franchise. (Or more likely, just another crossover film).

Bishop73

This is where I would disagree with you about the MCU not being a franchise. I would contend that it is a franchise, and every series of films and TV shows within it are sub-franchises. So the Deadpool series of films would be a franchise unto itself, beginning in the larger Fox X-Men franchise and transitioning over to the MCU.

Phaneron

So what distinguishes one Marvel film from being in the MCU and another Marvel film not to be in it? Marvel Studios has been part of the production of a lot of films not included in the MCU, including the Blade, X-Men, and Deadpool films.

Bishop73

Any film made by Marvel themselves (or co-produced like the Tom Holland Spider-Man films). Marvel didn't begin making their own movies until the first Iron Man. All previous movies based on Marvel characters were made by other studios in association with Marvel, largely because Marvel licensed out their properties to avoid going bankrupt. The MCU itself is recognized as being the highest-grossing film franchise of all time.

Phaneron

Answer: It depends how you want to define a franchise. Are you talking production companies involved or the distribution company? And are you considering reboots? The reason Deadpool 3 would be "set" in the MCU is because Disney bought Fox and the filming rights returned to Marvel Studios, along with the rights to X-Men and Fantastic Four. When Sony rebooted Spider-Man with Tom Holland, Sony shared the rights with Marvel Studios. So Spider-Man was part of the MCU while still being part of the Sony Spider-man franchise. Venom 2's mid-credit scene is meant to make it part of the MCU while still being part of Sony's Spider-Man Universe. That being said, there are a number of cross-over films that put sequels into another franchises. Such as Freddy vs Jason, Godzilla vs Kong, or Frankenstein meets the Wolf-Man.

Bishop73

I'm speaking strictly from a narrative point of view. Say, for instance, they made a new Alien movie, but it was now part of the Avatar franchise moving forward, while still being a sequel to the previous Alien movies, and not intended to be a brief crossover. I know the meta nature of the Deadpool character and movies makes it a different beast, but still.

Phaneron

And this is what's up for debate, but to me, the MCU isn't a franchise. It's made up of the various franchises; Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, etc. where they exist in the same universe. So when crossover films occur, it's two or more franchises now existing in the same universe. Even the Avenger films can be considered crossovers. Which is why people were wonder if Spider-Man was part of the MCU or the Sony universe. Deadpool is still part of the Deadpool franchise, but now part of the MCU.

Bishop73

Question: Tod is only a cub the first time he encounters Amos Slade. Amos swears to shoot Tod the next time he sees the latter on his property. Amos leaves for a long hunting trip the next day and doesn't see Tod again until after he returns home. Tod is full grown before Amos returns. When Amos sees a full-grown Tod in his yard during the night, he yells, "It's that fox again." How does he know it's Tod?

Johman

Answer: As there're no obvious markings on Tod that Amos could recognize, it seems it's just an assumption on his part that it's the same fox he previously chased off his property. He probably says the same thing to any fox he sees.

raywest

Question: Why did Doug did not travel back to the night before his partner was killed? He could save his partner, the girl and the people on the ferry.

Answer: They only have a 4-day window to observe and intervene with the past events. Once Doug and everyone else observed his partner being murdered, the 4-day window for that event had lapsed.

Phaneron

In theory, he could go back (not far enough), then find the time travel scientist, convince him to believe his story, and travel back another 4 days, etc. A lot of ifs, but it could be possible?

He could, yes, but their priority right now is to go back and prevent the ferry attack. They were on the trail of the terrorist at this point, so going back before taking care of that matter could further complicate things.

Phaneron

The Wait Out - S7-E23

Question: At the end, when Susan comes back and says she's been thinking about the wedding, and George has his hand on her shoulder, there's a framed picture (or painting) on the wall. What is it a picture of or suppose to be? (I'm sure the picture is in other episodes, this is just where I noticed it and it's fully in the shot.

Bishop73

Question: Regarding the scene where people catch fire after John Wick shoots them with a particular gun, what exactly is causing them to catch fire? I recall an earlier scene showed men carving lines into the tips of their bullets, though I don't remember if the two things are related. If so, is there something about carving the bullet that causes it, or is it the particular gun?

Phaneron

Answer: These are dragon's breath shotgun shells. The shells are filled with magnesium pellets and ignite when fired. The film seems to exaggerate the stopping power, making it seem almost like an explosive round rather than incendiary. These are not the same rounds that we see the men carving into. Carving grooves into a bullet is done so the bullet expands upon impact and causes more damage similar to a hollow-point round, though the effectiveness of this method is debated.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: It may be incendiary ammunition (not to be confused with tracer bullets). The bullets have a hollow head containing a flammable mixture that ignites upon being fired.

raywest

Question: Why did Catherine change her mind about killing Nick at the end? Obviously she was planning on killing him anyway, but she changed her mind only hours after ending their relationship when her book was finished and was of no further use. So why did she spare him? Was it because she fell in "love" with him?

Movielover1996

Answer: There's no definitive answer to this and the ending is deliberately ambiguous and open to interpretation. The audience is left to speculate whether or not Catherine kills Nick, or if she intended to kill him but changes her mind because she loves him, or intends to kill him at a much later time, and so on.

raywest

Show generally

Question: Trying to remember which episode had a literal 'black market' - crooks were pushing shopping carts down isles with signs indicating which contraband was stocked in which isle.

Answer: "The Merc" was a warehouse like store with aisles that sold mainly weapons, machetes, AK-47s, C-4, barrels of acid, etc. In s02e05, "Scarification", it was shown being raided by GCPD.

Bishop73

Question: When Chloe is looking out the window in Koulter's apartment it shows the city and right there in the skyline are the Twin Towers which went down Sept 11, 2001, but this was filmed in 2015? Was that not New York city or am I wrong about what I saw?

Answer: No, those are not the twin towers. What you are seeing is the Deutsche Bank Center (formerly Time Warner Center) on Columbus Circle. These two towers are at the southwestern corner of Central Park as you might see, whilst the World Trade Center twin towers were located much more south in Manhattan, in the financial district, and wouldn't be viewable from there. The two towers on Columbus Circle were constructed and finished between 2000 and 2004.

lionhead

Answer: Just to add to the first answer, the Deutsche Bank Center towers are each 55 stories tall. The World Trade Center's North Tower and South Tower each had 110 stories. As for Chloe's "nice view" outside the window, some of the buildings are as follows. The first building on the left is The Plaza, its Central Park South side. The next tall building is the Park Lane Hotel. The very tall glass building near the center is a condominium tower, nicknamed One57.

Super Grover

Question: I was wondering, if John Whitney's human soul and body is trapped inside the Kothoga's body, is there a way to help him return back into a human again?

Answer: John was given a brew from the tribe's "witch doctor." It was the plants that kept him from changing into the Kothoga. He killed for the human hypothalams as a supplement for the plants but it was a temporary fix.

Answer: John's soul and body was not trapped in the Kothoga's body. John's body was transformed into the Kothoga. Since John knew what he was going to turn into, he began killing most likely as soon as he began transforming. The only thing that was discovered was that what he was given is what caused his transformation but, since the Zenzera would use the plants to kill their enemies when they felt threatened and then let the Kothoga die after their enemies were dead, chances are no cure was ever created.

Question: What happened to Dack to take him out of commission during the assault on Hoth? He was rendered unconscious or dead before being able to fire the tow cable.

Answer: The back of their ship was struck by a laser-blast, which killed Dak. You hear the sound of a laser blast, see it for a split-second through the window, and then Dak's console explodes and he slumps over. (It's slightly unclear what exactly killed him, but it appears that either some of the energy from the blast hit him and/or he was killed by his equipment shorting out).

TedStixon

Question: How could Batman be infected if he cured himself of the Joker's poisoned blood in Arkham City?

Answer: He was exposed to a toxin bomb, so he probably got a bigger dose of the fear toxin.

The fear toxin only makes a person see their worst fear. It doesn't make them physically transform into it.

Answer: He was exposed to the fear toxin when it was unleashed on Gotham City.

How does that explain him being still being infected? The four people he had at Panessa studios were infected by a blood transfusion but Batman cured himself of his. Plus, the fear toxin only makes a person see their worst fear.

Answer: He was infected through a blood transfusion.

The Joker infected Batman with a blood infusion in Arkham City but Batman cured himself so, it would make no sense for him to still be infected.

Question: Why is Ron so shocked by Scabbers running away after Buckbeak's execution? He's run away before.

Answer: Don't disagree with the other answer, but would add that Ron was initially confused about why Scabbers had previously disappeared and was now struggling so hard to escape while he held him. He was shocked that Scabbers bit his hand to get loose and run off again. After so many years as a contented "family pet" it was uncharacteristic behavior. Of course, it's soon learned why Scabbers (Pettigrew) was so desperate to get away.

raywest

Answer: I think he was upset rather than shocked. He is frustrated any time that his pet runs away. Also, he, Harry, and Hermione were already upset by the situation with Hagrid and Buckbeak. Scabbers running away again, on top of everything else, was extra trouble.

Question: Who exactly was it that called Nell and told her to look up the ad about the insomnia program?

Answer: Another possibility is the spirits of the children. As long as Hugh Crain was inside the house, the children were trapped inside too. They could have called Nell because they needed her help in being set free.

Answer: Hugh Crain. He knew Nell was a descendent of his second wife, Carolyn.

Question: Is it common to be committed like Pat was to avoid a jail sentence? Is this up to the judge?

Answer: It's not exactly common, but yes, it would be up to the judge, and establishing that a person is a "clear and present danger to themselves or others" can result in involuntary commitment in Pennsylvania, where the film takes place. In this case, it would not be hard to argue that, "the person has inflicted or attempted to inflict serious bodily harm on another and that there is a reasonable probability that such conduct will be repeated" (50 PA. CONS. STAT. ANN. § 7301 (b) (1)), as he had just physically assaulted his wife's lover and she'd obtained a restraining order. His mental health problems would have been well-documented, so it would have been easy for a judge to order him to undergo psychiatric evaluation, which could (and, in the film, does) lead to extended involuntary commitment at the discretion of a mental health professional.

Question: How did Bourne get out of Russia with a bullet wound and the Russian cops looking for him?

Answer: His elite training gave him the advantage over his pursuers and his skill, cunning and guile helped with his evasion of the authorities. Also, his extensive training in counter manoeuvres would have afforded him this such luxury. Remember Bourne was a professional.

ChristmasJonesfan

Answer: Earlier Chandler asked to borrow Joey's shoes, as his were too slippery to dance in, and he discovered that Joey's feet were much smaller than his. Ross then noticed the same thing at the end of the episode. Like a lot of TV show contrivances, it's a reveal which multiple characters conveniently discover around the same time for the sake of a gag.

Answer: Because she is an old lady, the last of the Romanov line. She was no threat to him, when she died, it would be over.

Answer: As I recall it, Anastasia and her grandmother escaped through a secret passageway when revolutionaries invaded the palace. After the two got separated, the grandmother lived in exile in Paris, where she and Anastasia are eventually reunited. If the grandmother had not escaped, she likely would have been executed. Rasputin probably realised her being a prominent Romanov, as well as a grieving mother/grandmother, could garner public sympathy and outrage over the royal family's brutal deaths.

raywest

Question: What does the piercer say to Tracy/Evie right before piercing Tracy's tongue? (04:30:22 - 04:59:43)

Answer: He says something in Spanish that roughly translates to "if you only knew a woman with a big butt" and then in English says "I only put it in when I need to" (regarding his tongue piercing). Then says "stick it out." (referring to her tongue).

Bishop73

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