Questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: Bernie made a full confession of murdering Mrs. Nugent to the police. In the event of full confessions, the cases go before a judge only for conviction and sentencing. So why did Bernie have to go before a jury trial?

Charles Austin Miller

Chosen answer: Confessing to a crime is not the same as pleading guilty in court. The DA had charged Bernie with premeditated murder (1st degree murder), but still had to prove in court it was premeditated, Bernie only confessed to killing her.

Bishop73

Question: When Don asks why Russell Sr. won't go on their trip, he says that Mae can't go due to "plumbing." Was he referring to her being on her period?

Answer: More along the lines of a serious health problem related to her "plumbing".

Greg Dwyer

Question: I would appreciate sincere opinions of the following: I watched the original Star Wars movie when it came out in the 80's. Now I want to catch up and watch all of them to get ready for the next. In what order do you think it is best to watch all the episodes now available?

Answer: The first Star Wars film came out in 1977. The best way to watch Star Wars is in the original order that the films were released: Episodes 4 through 6 first, then Episodes 1 through 3, then Episode 7 and Rogue One. If you watch the episodes in sequential order (1,2,3,4,5,6,7), then you will be disappointed with the lower quality of the early special effects in Episodes 4 through 6. Some aspects of the prequels also depend on, or are at least enhanced by having seen the original three movies.

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: My advice when it comes to films like these (sequels and prequels, trilogy form, etc); if you have a basic understanding of the entire series or you know the basic plot of each film, but just want to refresh, watch them in chronological order. (I'd also suggest watching the stand alone films, like Solo and Rogue One, after you finish the series). If you've never seen them all, or forgot what's going on, I'd suggest watching in order of release. Often the sequels and prequels don't have the same character development like the original film because it's assumed you know enough of the character's background. And in the original films, there's often key reveals or plot twists that add more suspense to the story line and can make the film more enjoyable.

Bishop73

Answer: This boils down to personal taste and there are advantages as well as drawbacks to each. If you only care about all the flashy special effects, then you should watch in order of release dates as the cinema quality has gotten better with time (Episodes 4, 5, 6, 1, 2, 3, 7, Rogue One). You will have questions surrounding the plot as the events of Episodes 4, 5, 6 occur 18-20 years after the events of Episodes 1, 2, 3. However if you care more about story telling, plot development and general acting ability then you should watch in sequential order (Episodes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, Rogue One). OR you can watch in chronological order (Episode 1, 2, 3, Rogue One, 4, 5, 6, 7) and get the best of both worlds. The down side here is that there are discontinuities in lore due to the fact that Episodes 1, 2, 3 were written 20 years after Episodes 4, 5, 6. Like I said, it's all personal taste. May the Force be with you.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Monk - S8-E9

Question: At his birthday party, Monk realises that Pressman is the murderer and when he looks at his ice cubes, he sees that they are square while everybody else's is round. He then realises that the poison was in the ice cubes and now his ice cubes were filled with poison. Why would Pressman try to kill Monk? He never did anything that gave Pressman the indication that he was on to him. All Monk did was want his self-cleaning vacuum fixed.

Answer: When Natalie and Monk took the vacuum cleaner to Pressman, Pressman asks about the cases they're working on, and after Pressman mentions the janitor cases, Natalie says that Mr. Monk always says "it's a work in progress" when he's close to solving the case. Pressman was afraid Monk would figure out the connection of the two cases soon.

Bishop73

Question: Lindsay just had her first encounter with an alien. She and Bud are discussing what happened in the submarine to Jammer. In the background there is a window with an upside down plush toy what looks like a cat clawing to get out of the rig by way of the window. Is this a reference to something that might have been cut from the movie?

Answer: No, it's only meant to show the crew's sense of humor.

raywest

Question: Rene Russo is listed in the credits as Lynn Wells, but in both the restaurant and when Jake asked for her on the phone with the Cuyahoga sheet metal place, they pronounce her name Westland. I even checked the subtitles. Did I miss something? They don't tell us Tom's last name but a playoff game for a divisional title would be about Oct 3rd when they were supposed to get married? Right?

Kim Robb

Answer: Lynn's last name is Westland. The credits have it incorrectly listed as Wells. There is no explanation for the error.

BaconIsMyBFF

Chosen answer: Even if one can see the future, it can be somewhat vague and left open to interpretation.

raywest

He can sees the future all jumbled up. It is like a puzzle, it is hard to put together, but even when he does put it together it is not set in stone the future can change.

Mr. Monk and the Class Reunion - S5-E6

Question: In this episode, Monk discovers that Kyle intends to murder his wife Dianne and then make it look like suicide. Why would he do that? I've watched the whole episode and still can't figure out the reason.

Answer: You can hear Kyle talk to his "mistress" on the phone when he is at the ice cooler in the hotel, thereby making it clear he has an "extramarital" affair, thereby outing his motive to get rid of the wife who brought the money into the marriage...plus her life insurance, supposedly.

Answer: When Dianne was in college, she had attempted to commit suicide and even wrote a suicide note. Dianne saved the note this whole time and Kyle had found it. If Kyle killed Dianne and made it look like a suicide, the suicide note would be authentic (rather than having to try and forge a suicide note that could be proven to be fake). This is why Kyle arranged for specific activities to occur that seemed odd to Monk, the dog having the same name, the missed pass that broke the glass, etc. These were all mentioned in the original suicide note.

Bishop73

Answer: It speaks for your character that you cannot relate to his reasons. But he wants her dead, because he is having an affair and since all their money is coming from her father and his high paying job is also not his gain but another grant of her father he would very likely loose everything if he divorced her for another woman. And as the other answer mentions already he sees his opportunity to get away with it by re-enacting the circumstances as described in her 25-year old suicide note.

Prince Eitel Joe

Question: What was Andy's motive for telling Hadley the procedures of tax evasions?

Answer: Like Red said, it could be to get the guards on his side, or to help the other inmates like him, or to do something to feel normal again.

Greg Dwyer

Question: When the fake Professor Moody is in his office with Harry, revealing everything he did, Dumbledore charges into the room with Professors McGonagall and Snape. All three of them are prepared to attack when they enter. How did they figure out that something was wrong?

Answer: When it was noticed that Harry was missing during the commotion surrounding Cedric's death, someone in the crowd saw Moody leading Harry away and tipped off Dumbledore. Dumbledore knew that the real Moody never would have taken Harry away like that without telling anyone. Also, Snape is a legilimens (able to read minds) and would be able to "hear" Harry and Moody's thoughts.

raywest

Answer: Adding to the other point, you wouldn't take a child who mentioned Voldemort's return away without the inquiry so Dumbledore must have realised that Moody was trying to get Harry away from the situation.

Question: How exactly did Harry and Ron make up after arguing for a while?

Answer: It was somewhat gradual. Ron came to realise that he was being unfair to Harry, but was too proud to make the first move in making up. First he tipped off Harry about the dragons by way of Hermione and several other students. During the celebration in the Gryffindor Common Room, while everyone is celebrating Harry's retrieving the dragon's egg, the squealing noise it makes propels Ron to finally react and talk to Harry.

raywest

Question: What were the Centaurs going to do with Umbridge once they carried her away?

Answer: It was never stated. In the books, they kept her prisoner until Dumbledore went into the forest and demanded that they release her, which they did.

raywest

Question: Who does the Joker get on the bus with after blowing up the hospital? Weren't those the people who just evacuated? If so, they definitely would not have waited there for him or let him on.

Answer: He does indeed get on a bus with several people who were evacuated. The bus also contains his henchmen and is driven by one. He makes his escape by hiding in plain sight (as one of several buses that evacuated civilians from the hospital). The passengers of the bus then become the hostages in the high rise scene.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: Why didn't they just put the small gem explosives in the cart with Yen? Why all the drama with the briefcase?

Answer: They needed Saul to be in the eye-in-the-sky room so he could distract the employees long enough for Dell to switch to video without them noticing.

Greg Dwyer

Question: Which grandparent doesn't like candy?

Answer: All of the grandparents like candy. But grandpa George doesn't like the way it is being used in the contest and he also doesn't like the children who end up getting the tickets.

Question: When Chucky confronts John, he say he "prepared" for it, meaning he made the voodoo doll himself, but then he says John shouldn't tell people where he hides them. Was this a mistake during production?

JohnShel91

Chosen answer: This isn't a mistake. John made the voodoo doll himself. When Chucky said he was "prepared" for it, he meant that he was prepared to do whatever it takes to get information from John about his being wounded. Even killing him as we see.

Question: According to Chucky, he went to John to learn only how to cheat death, and then John says Chucky perverted everything he taught him. If not to cheat death, what did John think he was teaching him?

JohnShel91

Chosen answer: He taught him how to call forth and harness magic. There is white magic and black magic. It's the individual's decision on which to use.

Question: What are the seven seas? And why is it a "big deal"?

Answer: The "Seven Seas" is an ancient phrase that came to refer to all the world's seas and oceans, although it was more of a figure-of-speech than an actual description. Beginning in the 19th century, the term generally came to mean the seven oceans: the Arctic Ocean, the North Atlantic Ocean, the South Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the North Pacific Ocean, the South Pacific Ocean, and the Southern Ocean. Supposedly, a sailor wore a gold earring after having sailed on all seven oceans (and also for sailing around the Horn), which was a considerable maritime feat in pre-modern times.

raywest

Question: When Carl and Ellie are married, why are there only a few wedding guests for the groom and why the long faces while the guests for the bride are so excited and celebrating the wedding?

Bunch Son

Chosen answer: Carl and Ellie have two dramatically different personalities. Carl is more conservative, more reserved, a tender heart covered by a tough exterior which Ellie is able to break through, but which seems to recalcify after she dies. Ellie, on the other hand, is the sweet free spirit, rambunctious and adventurous. Throughout the film, each one conforms to the other until they ultimately blend into one beautiful unit. I think the makers of the film were trying to show that their respective personalities were a product of their upbringing, and reflected in the reactions of their families - hers larger, more fun, and more "hick" (we hear gunshots, for Pete's sake), and his more reserved, formal and patrician.

Michael Albert

Question: When Elliot Spenser is being transformed into Pinhead, who was cutting lines into his face and head and driving nails into him?

Answer: All we can see (in abstract closeup) is serpent-like tendrils cutting him and driving the pins into his head. As someone else said, it's likely another cenobite, although alternately it could also be the same "contraption" that turns Channard into a cenobite late in the film, given the tendrils are similar to the ones he sprouts.

Answer: Presumably another cenobite/cenobites. The choice not to show them makes for a better scene, as that moment is all about him, becoming the iconic Pinhead; the cenobites who made him that way are of no consequence to the story, and their own grotesque appearance would have distracted from his transformation.

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