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: In the first movie, Kevin was seen being digitized and sent into the Grid. What caused Sam to be sent into the Grid?

Answer: Same exact thing. He used the same machine that digitized him in the 1st movie. You can see the same machine in his secret computer lab.

In the first movie, a laser shot out and digitized Kevin so why didn't it happen again when Sam got digitized?

Well, it's been 28 years since Flynn first visited the Grid, so he's either updated the machine so it's safer or it's a simple visual deviation from the filmmakers.

Answer: Sam and all the other familiar faces were just programs that looked like people we knew. Flynn was the only user actually in the computer world.

It is made very clear that Sam is also a user. He bleeds for one, which programs do not do. He doesn't have the same power as Kevin, but he is a user all the same.

Question: When Alan meets with Sam, he tells him of a pager number coming from the arcade Kevin had but, the number hasn't been used in twenty years. Who activated the number and why?

Answer: CLU activated the number to draw Alan, or Sam, into looking for Flynn, where they'd discover the computer and reopen the gate, so that CLU could escape into the real world.

Answer: Marrying an American does not automatically make one a citizen as well. If a legal alien married a U.S. citizen, and they also wish to become an American, then they must go through the legal process of being a naturalized citizen. Not everyone wishes to change their citizenship, nor are they required to give that up when marrying someone of a different nationality.

raywest

Question: Why would Forrest be drafted into the military? Wouldn't his low I.Q. cause him to be rejected?

Answer: As we see earlier in the film, his mother "persuades" the school principal to increase Forrest's test results to the minimum required to attend school. At that point he was on record as having a normal I.Q.

Answer: He also wasn't drafted, he enlisted.

Question: What does the potion that Snape made for Lupin actually do? I know it doesn't stop him from being a werewolf forever or stop him from being a werewolf the night of the full moon.

THE GAMER NEXT DOOR

Chosen answer: The potion allows a werewolf to retain their own mind during the transformation period, rendering them harmless. Professor Lupin usually spent the night peacefully sleeping in his office. In the book, before the potion was invented, while Lupin was a Hogwarts student, each full moon he was confined inside the Shrieking Shack. It had been specially used for that purpose.

raywest

Question: How did Professor Umbridge get enough power to fire teachers and punish students that she believed were misbehaving?

Answer: Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge is scared of Dumbledore and him being right about Voldemort being back. As such he passed Education Decree number 23 stating if Hogwarts can't find a suitable teacher, one will be appointed by the Ministry. As such, Umbridge is instated to help keep an eye on Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix. Other teachers are not happy with this spying and set out to make life as hard as possible for Umbridge. Due to this, Umbridge is given powers to inspect and remove sub standard teachers or teachers who have a close allegiance to Dumbledore and the Order.

Ssiscool

Answer: It's not so much that only a Prime can kill a Prime by rule, it's just that a Prime is incredibly powerful. Megatron is roughly as powerful as a Prime. Otherwise Optimus would have killed him long ago.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: When it's discovered that Dolarhyde and Lecter have been secretly communicating with each other, a letter that was intercepted from Lecter was for Graham's house address. Since the FBI was able to retrieve the letter before it got to Dolarhyde, then how did he find out where Graham lived?

Answer: Lecter and Dolarhyde were communicating via coded classified advertisements in the newspaper, not by letters. The FBI managed to decode the content of the message, but because it was published in the newspaper, they could not prevent Dolarhyde from seeing it.

Sierra1

Answer: To answer the second part of your question. He found out how Graham lived by telephoning the fbi agency and reaching Crawford's assistant and pretending to be someone important who needed to send Graham something at his home address. (This is from the book).

Question: Was there any specific reason that Dolarhyde chose his victims other than through home movies? Was there anything about the families that made him want to kill them?

Answer: His choices had to do with the layout of peoples' property. At his job, he studied customers' family video tapes that contained scenes of their homes and yards. He looked for seclusion around the properties, easy-access back entrances, whether there was a family dog that would bark, and so on.

raywest

But what was his reason for killing them? Was it because he saw a happy family and he was angry because he never had one or because he saw a life that he would never have?

He chose the houses that had big backyards. During the Edward Norton/Lecter interaction, Lector says something about how blood looks in the moonlight.

Answer: "Because it made him a god" as it was put early in the film.

Chosen answer: Xavier can read minds, so it's assumed he knows about the murders.

Chosen answer: Charles wants Erik to use his powers for good, but if he kills Sebastian Shaw, this may lead him down a darker path (which ultimately ends up happening).

Casual Person

Question: If the two waterspouts were swirling closely around the pickup truck, how come they weren't able to pick it up?

Roman Curiel

Chosen answer: A tornado would have to be at least an F3 to be able to pick up a truck. The waterspouts were very small.

Greg Dwyer

The Fujita Scale is incorrectly portrayed as being used to describe the size of a tornado. It's actually used to describe the amount of a damage it has caused AFTER it has passed.

stiiggy

Question: In the hotel scene in China, Bond throws the ashtray at what is believed to be a mirror but is actually a 1 way mirror where the guys had cameras. Were they trying to shoot a sex tape or something?

Answer: This was the 20th Bond film and there are a number of references to previous films throughout. This scene references From Russia With Love, where agents of SPECTRE film Bond and Tatiana for their blackmail/murder/suicide plot to both kill Bond and steal the Lektor decoder. Bond sees it coming this time, though - it's most likely just the Chinese security service keeping him under surveillance.

Captain Defenestrator

Answer: Since the Chinese government agent at the reception area recognized Bond as a British spy, they wanted to keep tabs on his activities and understand why he was patronizing the hotel and showing up in the area unannounced.

Timothy Conard

The Switch - S2-E2

Question: In this episode, Carlton is told by Linda that he's too old for her so he decides to undergo surgery to become younger. Eventually, he looks just like Hans. At the end of the episode, when Carlton visits Linda, he sees that she's now with Hans, who looks exactly like him. If Carlton was too old for Linda, then why was she still with Hans, since he now has Carlton's body and therefore his old age? Since Carlton was too old for her, that would mean that now Hans is too old for her too.

Answer: It's just the show's typical ironic ending. It turns out Linda was more interested in money than looks, and the surgery and loss of his fortune were unnecessary.

Brian Katcher

Question: Let's say the Joker was alive and released along with all the other prisoners. If he learns that Bane at one point tried to have Batman killed, what would Joker do? Would he try to have Bane, and by extension Talia, killed? If Batman came back, would Joker work with him to kill Bane, or allow Gotham to be destroyed. Due to different goals, who Joker and Bane somehow face off? And would some old followers betray Bane and follow Joker instead?

Answer: It is beyond implausible to presume that the Joker would have been locked away in Blackgate Prison. The previous movie has shown the Joker to have been a terrorist and extremely psychotic. Someone like the Joker would have been put away in a far more secure prison than Blackgate, one that has far more higher grade security and one that is specifically designed to hold people like him.

Casual Person

Question: The scene where they are watching a Washington Redskins game on TV, shows Doug Williams throwing a pass in slow motion and it looks like they are losing the game. In the timeline this game is played before October 18, 1988. The only game which he played in and lost that year was against the N.Y. Giants on Monday night to start the season so I could not place the date or opponent of the game that was airing in the scene. Who/when was it?

Answer: Several key factors in determining which game it was. The commentator said, in regards to the Redskins it's been a disappointing "night for the Super Bowl champions", meaning this game took place in 1989, since the Redskins won the Super Bowl in '88. Additionally, he said "Mark Rypien has some big shoes to fill." Rypien took over the starting QB role in '89 over the Super Bowl MVP Williams. The slow motion shot was probably a Super Bowl highlight. Given this was a night game with the Redskins missing a field goal, it was the Nov 20, 1989 game vs Denver Broncos where the Redskins lost 10-14.

Bishop73

Question: How would Jack get his "eternal life" reward if he was able to kill Jones? Is that what will happen, or I misinterpreted things? Was it because he's free from him due to Davey Jones' demise? Why would Jack want Will to kill Jones and have the immortality thingy if his dream was to sail to the sea forever? I thought Will and Jack weren't "friends" at all? Also, Calypso cheated on Davey Jones with whom? If Elizabeth did the same thing with Will after a span of 10 years had passed, would Will have a scary image like Davey Jones' as well? I mean his sort-of-like-an-octopus look? Lastly, if Davey Jones forgave Tia, would the curse be removed from him? Thank you in advance.

Answer: Jack, by killing Jones, would assume his place and become immortal. Jack gave up his bid for immortality to save Will. He cared about Will (and Elizabeth) more than he'd ever admitted to himself, and could not let him die. Calypso didn't cheat on Jones with another man. She simply chose to abandon him because she could not be committed to one person. As she said, it was her nature. Jones' appearance became corrupted because he had abandoned his true purpose of ferrying dead souls to the "other side." This does not happen to Will because he honored the duty that was imposed on him. Also, if Jones forgave Tia Dalma, it would have nothing to do with the curse.

raywest

The Antique - S5-E12

Question: When Hogan gives Klink $100 for the cuckoo clock, the bill handed over was a crisp American $100 note. How did Hogan get an American $100 note? At best, in this time period, he should only have Reich Marks. And how would he have 333 Marks, 33 pfennigs? Unless he had a side businesses going, this seems unlikely.

Movie Nut

Answer: It's a comedy, not a documentary.

stiiggy

Perhaps it was counterfeit. There are numerous episodes where they deal in counterfeit monies.

Chosen answer: Hogan and his men are running a spy ring out of the camp, they have access to supplies from outside. (In another episode, they have to convince a defecting German officer that they're legitimately working for the Allies by arranging a specific personal ad to run in the next day's London Times, so a new $100 bill is not beyond their capabilities).

Captain Defenestrator

Answer: Werner Klemperer fled Nazi Germany as a teenager. His two conditions for taking the role of Colonel Klink were that he had to be a bumbling idiot and he always had to lose. It would then be a character mistake that if Hogan offers him a fresh American hundred-dollar bill, he's not going to ask questions, he's going to take the deal. The fact that he's Commandant and could just confiscate the money from Hogan would never occur to him because, again, he's a bumbling idiot who, by the actor's contract, always has to lose.

Captain Defenestrator

Answer: Rightfully, Hogan should not have any money at all. POW were stripped of all cash they carried. The intention was to make escape more difficult. The fact that Hogan has what is the equivalent of a third of the price of a KdF-Wagen (You'd probably know it as a Volkswagen Beetle) in cash should rightfully make Klink more than a litle suspicious.

Question: How did Willy Wonka know that Charlie and Grandpa Joe had stolen Fizzy Lifting Drinks? The entire time they were in the room they were completely alone and security cameras obviously didn't come into existence at the time.

Answer: Closed circuit security was invented in 1942 and came into common use in the late 60s and early 70s. Beyond that, Wonka could have had Oompa Loompas monitoring the group or simply noticed that they were gone and guessed.

Greg Dwyer

Question: How is Elliott spelt, as I've seen it both Elliot and Elliott on various different Disney memorabilia?

Answer: In the original film, the credits show his name as "Elliott" (with 2 t's). In the remake, his name is "Elliot" (with 1 t). So older memorabilia will have "Elliott". In the original film, Elliott was the dragon's given name, in a manner of speaking. In the remake, Pete names the dragon after the puppy from his favorite book which was called "Elliot Gets Lost". This is the only reason I can find for the spelling change.

Bishop73

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.