Questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: When Nate writes a letter to the Stork company, he writes that he wants a baby brother, not a sister. If the baby-manufacturing machine can read Nate's letter, why does it produce a baby girl instead of a boy? Also, how come the baby girl has pink hair while her mother has platinum blonde hair and her father and brother have brown hair?

Johman

Chosen answer: The baby-manufacturing machine had been shut down for some time when Tulip wrongly inserted the letter requesting a baby boy. The machine, which presumably would not be working efficiently after such a long hiatus, accidentally produced a baby girl. That may be why the hair color did not match either parent. Also, this is an animated film that has little to do with the reality of biology. The baby is a girl, so pink hair would be an obvious choice. If it was a boy, it would probably be blue.

raywest

Answer: It could honestly be that he "needed" a little sister more than a little brother. Having a sister can be a completely different experience than having a brother, and the machine might have gone against his wishes because it would have been a better fit for their family. Additionally, it could also just be that there's a chance that the machine has the odds of having a boy or a girl at random, and that when a parent requests it, there's always a chance that it will not follow it to a tee.

Question: After 20 years of immense technological evolution, why is everybody still using cars that need gasoline?

alko

Chosen answer: It's technology that works, so why not use it? People still drive 20 year olds cars now, some because they like them, some because they can't afford a replacement. It wouldn't be surprising for the new technology to be very expensive or patented by the military and therefore not available for everyone.

Answer: She probably forced them to drink "Pishalver" which is the potion that will make one shrink.

Question: When Alice returned to the real world in the end, why wasn't she taken back to the mental asylum?

Question: How did Patricia hit The Harvester Queen's shield?

Answer: It appears she hit it enough times that it got too damaged to stay on.

lartaker1975

Answer: This has always puzzled me about this film...the shields on the alien ships at times seem absolutely useless compared to the first film. I know that mankind had incorporated alien tech into its own but in 20 years you'd think the alien tech on ALL its vessels would be practically impenetrable...but when it suits the plot it's suddenly weak.

Upon entering an alien craft one of the characters even remarks that their technology has not advanced at all. And presumably there are different types of shield generators that react differently to different kinds of weapons that are fired at them.

Chosen answer: Neither, actually. Apocalypse merely revealed to Magneto a way in which he could use his powers at their current level. Magneto is simply phenomenally powerful.

Phixius

Answer: He's at the salad bar when the gremlin pops out and grabs a guy. The guy they grab is former football star, Dick Butkus.

Bishop73

Chosen answer: He fell out the back without a parachute when the door blew open. We see him both tumble off the ramp, and another shot of him falling from below.

jimba

Question: What was Abel's problem? I don't really buy his wife having an affair with a white man and being reminded about it by Chris and Lisa's actions as a reasonable excuse for him going psycho. I think there was a bigger problem he had with them that may have made him snap.

Answer: He already had a much bigger mental problem in general, and not just about his wife or with Chris and Lisa. They were merely one of many triggers that could set him off.

raywest

Question: Padme doubts that the Queen will allow her to continue being a Senator because of her pregnancy. Why? The Queen does not know that Anakin, a Jedi, is the father.

Answer: It has nothing to do with who the father is. The queen may feel that Padme's pregnancy will conflict with the position's demands and stresses, leaving her unable to adequately perform all senatorial duties.

raywest

Question: How does Arturo Marquez end up on the boat in the custody of the Argentinians?

Answer: Marquez was the one that Keyser Soze let go after he killed his family so that he could tell the story. Presumably, he ran far from Hungary to flee Soze's wrath and ended up going to the Argentinians for protection.

Captain Defenestrator

Question: This question is about all of the prequels. Has George Lucas and/or Hayden Christensen ever commented on the massive of amount of criticism for Hayden's performance as Anakin?

Answer: Not exactly. George Lucas generally chalks up all the negative reactions to the prequels to overly high expectations and his own unique writing and directing style. Christensen has only ever vaguely commented on the experience not being the best but hasn't really said anything about the criticism of his performance.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: Just watched "Die Hard 2" for the ten-thousandth time. Finally occurred to me, WHY would a pilot use a burning plane crash as a landing light? "Oh, there's a burning plane crash down there! Must be a good place to land!" As far as I know, all air traffic is diverted to other airports when an aircraft crashes.

Charles Austin Miller

Chosen answer: The trail of fire from McClane lighting the jet fuel creates a visual marker that the pilots can aim for. Not the best situation, however, considering that they're low on fuel and that one other plane has crashed that evening already, the pilots decided to settle for the less-than-ideal method of guiding their planes in.

Captain Defenestrator

Question: I have never understood the scene where Kevin questions the store clerk about the toothbrush (whether the brush is approved by the American Dental Association). It just seems odd for him to be concerned with this. Am I missing something?

Answer: It has nothing to do with the plot. This is just a humorous bit that shows Kevin's quirky personality and thought process. He focuses on small, odd details that most kids his age would never notice. It shows how he is able to devise the rather unique plan to combat the would-be robbers. Even Kevin's father comments about what a funny (as in peculiar) kid he is.

raywest

Question: I was wondering what does NS stand for? And also, I've noticed that there seem to be two different kinds of robots apart from NS-5. Their torso looks different. Are these just different NS-4 modifications, or are they even older versions, like NS-3 or NS-2?

Inkster

Chosen answer: With Isaac Asimov's robots its short for a common name. In the case of NS its short for Nestor, though in the movie the robot is called "Sonny" which switches the NS. In the books though its short for Nestor. Another example is the RB type robot (not in the movie), short for Robbie. It's safe to assume there are older models of the robots and that NS-3 and NS-2 are probably around.

lionhead

Question: What is the name of the Christmas Tree farm they went to to get their tree?

Answer: They didn't go to a Christmas tree farm. He took them to a huge forest to get one most likely because it would be easier to get one free then to pay for one.

They went to a tree farm. After running off the road and jumping the snowbank the wagon crashes through a sign that says "Trees." Clark then says, "We're here...and we made good time too." The humor is Clark forgoes a normal "farmed" tree for the "wild" monster he takes home.

False. They may have run over the tree farm sign, but they absolutely did not harvest a tree from the tree farm.

Answer: They never went to a tree farm. Even though there is a sign that says "Trees", there is no employee there to greet them or even discuss how much the tress cost. Plus, trees on a tree farm are usually smaller and are always lined up in a row. The trees seen by the Griswold's are extremely large and are scattered about like what would be seen in a regular forest which is where they went.

They are never shown in the "store" area of the tree farm, so you can't say that there is nobody working there. They jump the snowbank, it shows them gathering themselves in the car, and the next scene is in the wilderness. It's a small, rundown tree farm, but it is a tree farm business, with a plowed parking lot, garbage cans, lights, other customers, etc. These tree farms usually had pre-cut trees for purchase, but you could also walk out and cut down your own for the "experience" if you wanted to. As someone who has walked a couple miles to get a Christmas tree in December in Minnesota, I can say with absolute certainty that this is accurate.

oldbaldyone

Answer: It was a tree farm (the car literally flies through a sign that says "Christmas Trees"). There's a deleted scene after they crash and walk to find a tree. Realizing that they didn't have a saw to cut the tree, the family walks to the lot attendant (an odd man, reclining in a lawn chair, wearing a Santa jacket and hat) to ask to borrow a saw. There is a conversation between them where Clark is told that they don't supply saws, but he gave him a shovel. THIS explains how the tree got dug out of the ground. You can actually see a picture of this scene on an old DVD cover.

Chosen answer: Her clumsiness is quite disastrous so it is entirely possible Hunter was telling the truth.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: When Peter is asleep on the subway, a man puts a glass of water on his head which causes a small drop of water to slide down. When the drop of water gets close to his forehead, his Spider-sense immediately alerts him and he wakes up before the water touches him. Peters' Spider-sense alerts him when he is near danger but, why would it activate when a harmless drop of water is about to touch him?

Answer: "Spidey sense" is more than anticipating danger; it's an overall heightened awareness of the environment around him. In the other "Spider-Man" movie, for example, when the bully is taking swings at Peter, the action slows down and he actually marvels at the ability to observe the action as if it were in slow motion.

Chosen answer: The First 9 wore these, as can be seen on old pictures. They later switched to leather, but Piney just never did.

Friso94

Answer: The same unknown acid/chemical combination that created the Joker in the first place.

MasterOfAll

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