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: When Dianne leaves the Winchester to try to help David, what's the background music that plays in the following battle? Does that song have a name so I could look it up, or is there an original soundtrack where I can find it?

Answer: "Burn Down the Sun" by Daniel Mudford & Pete Woodhead, according to this site: http://musicfromfilm.com/movies/shaunofthedead.php. According to http://www.discogs.com/Various-Shaun-Of-The-Dead-Music-From-The-Motion-Picture/release/402748, it's not on the soundtrack (as it's just background music).

David R Turner

Question: Why doesn't the movie acknowledge the actress change for Rachel? I mean everyone who watched Batman Begins will be clueless if they didn't know that Katie Holmes chose not to reprise her role. But the movie never explains this and are people just supposed to go along with it?

Arrntv2

Chosen answer: Actors are often changed between movies, occasionally with acknowledgment, more often not. James Bond immediately comes to mind, Jennifer in Back to the Future, Bruce Banner and Rhodey in the Marvel films, Clarice Starling in the Silence of the Lambs/Hannibal...the list goes on. The recasting of Evelyn in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor got a passing nod to the audience (actually, as did the first recasting of Bond), but most of the time audiences are just expected to accept the change and move on.

Jon Sandys

Answer: I'm really not sure how you think a movie can address an actor being replaced. Unless it's something like Deadpool or Wayne's World, where characters speak directly to the audience, there's no real practical way for a movie to openly acknowledge that one of its characters is being played by someone new.

Phaneron

Question: Why didn't Jor-El program Lara in the Command Key so that Clark could talk to both of them?

Arrntv2

Answer: There wasn't enough time.

Question: Why does Lois fall when everything else is getting sucked into the black hole? And then superman has to fly with all his might to make sure she doesn't get sucked into the black hole? This doesn't make any sense. There are heavy rocks and debris getting sucked into that thing and Lois falls like she's heavier than all of them.

Arrntv2

Answer: Lois wasn't affected by the Phantom Energy and the singularity only takes in things bathed in Phantom Energy like the debris affected by the Black Zero.

Question: During the tornado scene, Jonathan Kent rescues the dog, Hank, and in the process injures his leg. With the tornado practically on top of him, Jonathan then waves off Clark, who is only about 50 yards away. The fact that Jonathan waves off Clark is proof that they BOTH knew Clark could rescue his dad, but Jonathan didn't want Clark to expose his super powers. Still, it was Clark's DAD in danger. Why didn't Clark simply go rescue his father at super speed? Certainly, the chaos of the tornado would easily cover Clark's actions, and there would be no reliable witnesses in the midst of such confusion.

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: That, AND the fact that his dad is able to stand firmly on the ground whilst the tornado engulfs him, and we still see him standing to the very end as the debris in the tornado starts to hit him. That didn't make sense to me...correct me if I'm wrong, but tornadoes can and do pick up large objects like vehicles etc. and then toss them away WITHOUT the physical funnel of the tornado actually having passed over said objects. I thought once you're in the debris field, which is a separate thing from the funnel, you're already liable to be tossed up into the air and then flung out, but here, Jonathan remains standing on the ground unaffected the whole time, while the vehicle, being heavier than a human, had begun to float up in the air earlier when he went to get the dog, and then he remains standing even while the physical funnel begins to consume him - he should've been tossed up in the air long ago when the funnel was already within hundreds of feet of proximity to Jonathan.

It's certainly unrealistic but it was obviously an artistic choice. The fact that he is peacefully consumed by the funnel rather that violently tossed through the air was meant to be a poignant moment.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: While I could think of several different scenarios that Clark could have done to save his dad without his abilities/powers being seen (that don't involve him moving so fast no-one sees him), ultimately (as Clark said), he let his dad die because he trusted him. "My father believed that if the world found out who I really was, they'd reject me... out of fear. I let my father die because I trusted him. Because he was convinced that I had to wait. That the world was not ready."

Bishop73

Answer: At not point in either Man of Steel or Batman v Superman do we see Superman use speed of the type people have suggested while on the ground. The movie makes a point of outlining his abilities and some of their limits. For Clark to use that ability in that instance and nowhere else in the film would be inconsistent, so the conclusion must be that this version of the character does not have the ability to move in that manner. He might be fast-er than normal people, but not, "blink and you'll miss him fast" - otherwise it would always be an option for him throughout the film and it is not presented as such.

We know from Man of Steel that Clark is entirely capable of high-speed feats: He leaps from a crabbing boat at sea and swims to a burning oil rig easily 4 nautical miles away in a matter of not minutes but moments; and, in the logging-truck scene, Clark apparently wadded up a tractor-trailer so swiftly that nobody inside the bar, just a few yards away, heard a sound or felt an impact tremor. These were certainly acts of super speed; and Jonathan Kent certainly knew Clark could save him from the tornado, which is why he waved him off.

Charles Austin Miller

Next to that we see the same Superman in Justice League move at the same speed as Flash whilst on the ground.

lionhead

Chosen answer: There were multiple witnesses under the bridge who may not have seen Clark, but would have seen Jonathan magically vanish and suddenly appear safe and sound a distance away.

Blathrop

Question: What happened to Beth's boyfriend? Was he too on Krampus' naughty list?

Answer: Since it's never shown, it's only speculation that if he lost his Christmas spirit, he was killed. If not, he's alive.

Question: The delivery man was later found by Beth frozen in fear. Why did he deserve to die?

Answer: The beginning of the movie established that Christmas spirit was lacking in the masses...so perhaps the delivery man was also too cynical to escape the wrath of the Krampus.

Erik M.

Question: In the beginning, the Joker puts a can of gas in the bank guy's mouth and drives off with the string, releasing the gas. My question is, why didn't the guy just pull it out before he could inhale it?

Answer: He did not know it was a smoke grenade. He thought it was a regular ol' blow-your-head-off grenade. There would have been little point in spitting it out since he was too injured to throw it far enough to save his life. He was resigned to his fate, only to be surprised with a relatively harmless smoke grenade.

Question: In both this film and The Desolation of Smaug. Legolas defies gravity in unbelievable and even comical ways. Is this a character trait, or just some ridiculous touch by the filmmakers?

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: Elves are described in the books and shown in the LotR trilogy doing things that would not necessarily rule this behavior out, ridiculous as it looks. For instance, when the Fellowship is trudging through the snow on Caradhras, Legolas is briefly shown walking easily on top of the snow while every one else's feet are sinking into it.

Phixius

Question: On Bond's obituary page M is typing up, after Bond's name is "C.M.G." and "R.N." What do these stand for?

Bishop73

Chosen answer: Companion of the Order of Saints Michael and George and Royal Navy.

Captain Defenestrator

Question: When Clark gives his boss a Christmas present, he is told to put it with all of the others. There are plenty of presents there, but they are all the same, as they have the exact same shape. What are these presents?

Eigger

Answer: They are desk organizers.

I'm wondering maybe it was one of the gags in the movie where the boss got the same gift from all the employees. I know there's a lot of gags in the vacation movies.

movielove

Answer: I've seen them in stores, it's a desk pen set with a matching business card holder.

Chosen answer: We don't know what is in the packages, but we can assume they are all the same, small, generic gift.

kristenlouise3

Answer: I think that they could all be tape holders.

Chosen answer: Right before Aunt Josephine's house falls apart. The door to Ike's room is blown open and the drawing flies into Klaus's hands.

Brad

Season 2 generally

Question: In season 2, there were 5 episodes made without one of the kids appearing in the episode. (Marcia, Jan, Cindy, Peter, and Bobby were each absent one episode). What was the reason behind this?

Answer: Much trivia has been written about "The Brady Bunch, " including the various interrelationships and dynamics among the members of the cast. For example, much has been written about why Robert Reed's Mike Brady did not appear in a couple of episodes, including the series finale, due to rancorous creative and artistic differences with series creator, Sherwood Schwartz. However, in contrast, I have never run across any reasons given why a particular child did not appear in specific episodes - only that the episodes were missed. This suggests the causes were likely unexceptional, such as illness, injuries, vacations, or real-life family obligations.

Michael Albert

Although those options ARE possible reasons, it just seems a bit ironic that this happened all in Season 2 ONLY and within a short amount of nearly consecutive episodes. Never happened during the other 5 years of the show at all.

Answer: According to Lloyd Schwartz, in the book he wrote with his dad, Paramount studios made the decision to remove one child from each episode to save money. Sherwood Schwartz eventually told the studio that this was a mistake because "viewers have their favorites." The practice was eventually stopped.

No Hope With Dope - S3-E21

Question: At the start of the episode "No Hope With Dope", Lisa runs into the hallway with exciting news, and Zack responds to Lisa using a sentence ending with "you'll crack your makeup." The audience (primarily young females) starts screaming and cheering very loudly to that line. I am trying to understand what about that "crack your makeup" line was there to scream and go ga-ga about.

Answer: Zack is always good for a sarcastic jibe. Lisa was written as the most fashion and make-up conscious of the Bayside High girls. She was also portrayed as serious and somewhat prissy. The "crack your makeup" comment was a throwaway line. Zack was suggesting Lisa doesn't often get overly excited for fear of having to reapply her face. The line is met by laughter and screeches from largely adolescent female audience that seem out of proportion to the humor. "Saved By the Bell" audiences were rather prone to such excessive ebullience for no apparent reason. The reaction didn't last long, and the scene moved on quickly.

Michael Albert

Yeah that doesn't make any sense.

Answer: If there is a reference to "cracking" make-up, the inference would be that the person piles it on or simply wears way too much make-up; the more make-up is caked (or piled) on, the less of the person's real face is visible. The implication is that deep down (i.e, underneath all the make-up), the person's face is actually UGLY.

KeyZOid

Zack and Lisa are friends (in fact the briefly date in one episode). He is definitely not calling her ugly. After re-watching the episode, it seems like some of the girls in the audience loved Lisa and wanted to cheer her in when she entered a scene. It happens another time when she walks in and it sounds like these same girls scream as soon as she enters the shot.

Question: At the end of the movie Amelia and Larry are saying their goodbyes - Larry tries to bring up what will happen to Amelia at sunrise, and Amelia says that she knows what will become of her. Is it implied that Amelia will not make it back to the Smithsonian before sunrise and turn to dust, or is it implied that she will make it back, but will not be able to come to life at night due to not having the tablet near her?

Jaredsmith09

Chosen answer: Amelia has no idea about the turning to dust at sunset consequence, but what she does know is she will disappear and not be found, as what happened to the real Amelia Earhart.

Scott215

Christmas Who? - S2-E5

Question: Santa doesn't come to Bikini Bottom, but then Squidward receives a thank you letter from him and sees him and his reindeer in the ocean's sky. Why didn't Santa come before? The one voiced by John Goodman appeared in "It's a SpongeBob Christmas" stop-motion special at the bottom of the sea talking to the characters. Can somebody clarify this for me?

Answer: In the "Christmas Who?" episode's intro, Patchy the Pirate is reading a letter where a fan ask if Spongebob loves Christmas as much as he does. Patchy explains they didn't always celebrate Christmas and this episode is a flashback to the first time Bikini Bottom had heard of Christmas. Santa had never visited before because nobody had believed in him before. Santa finally does visit because of Squidward's Christmas spirit. The "It's a Spongebob Christmas" episode aired 12 years later. So by this time, Bikini Bottom had been celebrating Christmas for quite sometime. Santa comes for a special visit because of how everyone in town, except Plankton, is on his naughty list.

Bishop73

Question: How does the show account for money? Truman obviously has real money so he doesn't get tipped off that he's living in a fake town, but how do they go about money for everyone else and any change Truman might get when he purchases items? I don't think the director would risk having any movie money (used in TV and movies to stand in for real money) within the world in case Truman should be handed some by accident.

Heather Benton

Chosen answer: The world of "The Truman Show" is created as an actual functioning world. As such, even though Seahaven is a simulation, everything within it is made to seem as "real" as possible. There are actual newspapers and magazines. The snacks Marlon stocks in vending machines are actual snacks. The products in stores are real (and many are available for sale by catalog to the viewing audience). As such, there is every reason to believe that money used in Seahaven is actual legal tender. Why wouldn't it be? Every store and business can be stocked with money for change. Every actor and extra in Seahaven can be provided money for whatever transactions are needed, just as they are provided cars and briefcases and clothes and food. Accountants for the show can track the money just like everything else is probably tracked. The logistics seem overwhelming, but the economic operations of Seahaven have probably developed as the town has developed to meet Truman's needs.

Michael Albert

Question: It says in Guinness world records 2013 that one of the scenes parodies Star Wars. Which scene?

Answer: It's at the end of both The Simpsons Movie and Return of the Jedi, during the celebrations, and it's not actually a scene parody. At the end of The Simpsons Movie, when Homer and Bart show up and the crowd gathers around them, we see Carl happily shaking his fist, and after Bart's dog shows up, when it cuts to the wideshot we see Carl raising his arm way up (as if he were showing something zooming up to the sky). At the end of Return of the Jedi, after Lando hugs Chewie, we see Lando shaking his fist in the background, and then in closeup raising his arm way up as he's explaining to Chewie what happened.

Super Grover

Question: Wouldn't going into the Iranian embassy and opening fire with guns be seen as a declaration of war? Especially since they shot/killed dozens of Iranian citizens while escaping.

The_Iceman

Chosen answer: Perhaps, but against whom? The Americans, the Brits, the Koreans? And having an American citizen found tied to a chair, abused, and murdered would be hard to explain. In addition, their involvement in a narrowly averted nuclear holocaust may keep them from saying too much.

Blathrop

Lazarus Rising - S4-E1

Question: In this episode after Dean comes back from hell, he and Bobby go see Sam at the hotel. There is a woman with him who says her name is Kristy. It is the girl who's body Ruby later uses. Is this actually Ruby, or the real Kristy?

Terry Foss

Chosen answer: In a later episode, it shows a flashback, revealing that "Krissy" was actually Ruby the whole time. She has possessed the girl beforehand. I think when ruby saw Dean, she started to improvise, which is why Sam was so surprised when the girl told him he got her name wrong. It's because it was really Ruby, and Sam was well aware of that.

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