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: Why did Tony have a wedding ring, when it turned out he was never married? The movie even did a close up of his ring to emphasise this.

Answer: Tony is secretly investigating Sarah while engaging in an affair with her. Pretending to be married would be a convenient cover that allows him to be vague about where he lives, arranging to see her at odd times and in out-of-the way places.

raywest

Chosen answer: In a nutshell, tax evasion. He's running the prison like a company doing building work with, as its described by the builder in the movie, a pool of slave labour to allow him undercut other contractors. He is skimming profit for his own pockets, along with taking bribes, etc. that Andy's creative book keeping is hiding from the IRS.

Question: Was the police force in the 50s really that corrupt and brutal?

MikeH

Chosen answer: Yes.

Answer: Yes indeed. Example: "Bloody Christmas," which takes place in the beginning of the film, was based on a real incident, when on Christmas Day, 1951, some 50 officers, many of them drunk (in violation of the LAPD's alcohol policy), beat six prisoners to a bloody pulp in revenge for an assault on a fellow officer. At least 100 people knew about or witnessed the beatings.

Question: Why does Biff travel through the outskirts of Hill Valley to get from his home to Hill Valley High school? Biff travels through what looks to be the countryside through the River Road tunnel to the school and he is travelling through the countryside when he heads home from the dance as well. It almost suggests that Hill Valley High is in another town. One could say the road Biff took in 1955 may be a populated area in 1985 but it doesn't really make sense to have the school so far away from the town center, the movie gives the illusion Hill Valley high school is in another town. The only logical answer I could think would be that Biff actually lived in another unnamed town in 1955 and drove into Hill Valley to attend high school, perhaps he was kicked out of the neighbouring town high school. Although that doesn't work that well, as we watch Marty follow Biff from his home to the town square.

Blair Howden

Chosen answer: Hill Valley is in a valley with hills to the west and east. The main street/Courthouse Square are against the western hill, the school is to the north of the square, Biff's and most of the other houses are on the eastern hill or to the south. To get to the school Biff drives through the tunnel (presumably under the railway line through the valley). Note the town square seems to be closer to Biff's house than the school as Doc leaves the house on his bike after Biff and Marty drive away, yet he reaches the courthouse while they are still in the tunnel. Biff only drives for a few minutes so it's not too far, and there are likely to be trees by the side of the road near the tunnel.

Sierra1

Question: I might be mistaken, but I think I saw the bullies at Arlene's house at the end. Were they there, and if so, why?

MikeH

Chosen answer: The one who stabbed him was not. The others were there because they did not mean for Trevor to get stabbed and killed so now they feel guilty. They were showing Arlene they were sorry.

They were sorry for killing him.

Only one of the bullies killed him. The others were bullying, but didn't think the other would kill him. However, they still had remorse and were showing that remorse to the mother.

Question: Why doesn't Snape just apparate away when Voldemort is about to kill him?

Answer: Snape was taken by surprise and he was confused. He was Voldemort's right-hand man, and wouldn't have expected the Dark Lord to kill him, at least not then or in that way. Appararating also takes some deliberate thought and physical action, and Snape simply didn't have enough time to react.

raywest

Question: When Bruce Willis is shot, how come there's lots of blood on the exit wound but absolutely no blood on the entrance wound?

Answer: The exit wound of a bullet is always much bigger than the entrance wound. Because as the bullet goes through the body, it pushes more and more flesh and body with it tearing a larger and larger hole as it passes through. So a bullet goes in, but bullet and lots of flesh and other bodily parts come out making a large exit wound. As of such blood more readily flows from the larger hole that the tighter entrance wound. Plus it could also be from where the bullet hit. The exit wound may be close to an artery that pushes blood out faster and maybe the entrance wound was not close to any large veins.

Quantom X

Question: Since Ralph made the bonus level for all the characters who got their games shut down and if the characters die outside of their game they are dead forever, wouldn't the characters who got their game shut down be dead forever if they died in the bonus level?

Answer: Possibly. But it's also possible that in putting them in the bonus level, it became their game too.

Greg Dwyer

Question: What was the point of the ending? What message was it trying to send? We have a whole movie sending an anti-racist message, but then a black guy kills Danny for blowing smoke in his face. I'm sure this wasn't the movie's intention, but it kinda seems like we're supposed to believe Derek was originally right and shouldn't have changed.

MikeH

Chosen answer: No, the message is absolutely not that Derek was originally right. The last part just shows there is evil on both sides and not only the neo-nazis need change. Danny changed, but too late to be saved from being murdered for racist reasons. Its a classic Shakespearean tragedy.

lionhead

Answer: In the original unaired ending of the movie, it shows Derek staring in the mirror at his home. He takes his shirt off exposing his swastika, then you see hair falling into the sink as he shaves his head.

Anywhere to find that alternate ending?

lionhead

Question: In the "My name is Jeff" videos where they actually show the video from the movie as well as the voices, sometimes they show a close-up of his face, but sometimes it's from more of a distance. Which one do they use in the movie, and where's the other one used?

MikeH

Question: For those of us who live in countries where Cornettos aren't sold, what flavors are the three colors in the Cornetto Trilogy?

Captain Defenestrator

Chosen answer: Strawberry Red for "Shaun of the Dead", Original Blue for "Hot Fuzz", Green Mint Choc Chip for "The World's End".

Sierra1

Q Who? - S2-E16

Question: Picard orders the away team to be beamed from the Borg ship directly to the bridge of the Enterprise. If this was possible, why was there ever a need for anyone to go to a transporter room and stand on a transporter platform?

Answer: Several reasons. While it is possible to beam people to and from just about anywhere, for efficiency and safety there needs to be a centralized location. If an away team was being transported at the same time, then they are transported as a group from the platform and not from a random location within the ship. Transporting people to places other than to the transporter platform is risky and it is usually only done in extreme circumstances. Precise coordinates are needed to find and safely beam someone from one place to another. The bridge is an emergency transport site and the those coordinates are already known. It has also been seen that the transport can go awry. In that event, the transporter officer needs to be able to see what is happening in order to make adjustments to safely re-materialize the passengers. It has been mentioned in Star Trek canon that it is possible for someone being transported to re-materialize inside a bulkhead or some other object if the coordinates are incorrect or the surrounding environment had changed, thus injuring or killing them.

raywest

Chosen answer: The helicopters aren't flying backwards, they are simply not moving through the camera view as fast as the camera is moving.

Greg Dwyer

Show generally

Question: Is there anyway to see the scenes at the end of each episode without the theme song playing over it so the dialogue can be heard?

strikeand

Chosen answer: There is no dialogue - the end scenes are deliberately constructed to be visual, with no audio.

Question: How did the movie get nominated for Best Picture? I thought there was a separate category for animated films.

MikeH

Chosen answer: There's a separate section just for animated films to highlight them and give a wider selection recognition, similar to foreign movies, but they're not excluded from the best picture category, which is open to every feature.

Question: How come Hadley was arrested for Tommy's murder but nobody cares about Fat Ass's murder? There were hundreds of witnesses.

MikeH

Chosen answer: 1) This is almost twenty years down the road. Many of those witnesses are either gone from the prison, dead, or may have forgotten any details. 2) Hadley beat Fatass because he wouldn't stop talking, breaking the rules. Tommy was just standing there talking to the warden. It's cold blooded murder vs. Simple brutality. 3) Prisoners are often reluctant to testify against guards because of fear of retribution from other guards.

Greg Dwyer

Show generally

Question: In what episode was the tune that became the theme for Mayberry RFD originally used? I remember it was B/W and had something to do with a bank robbery and the old guard Acer.

Answer: The episode with the bank robbery and old guard named Asa is from season 3, episode 13 "The Bank Job," but the music can be heard much earlier than that. The theme music for Mayberry RFD is named "The Mayberry March" and a few bits here and there can be heard in several episodes of season 1, such as "Bringing Up Opie, " however, in season 2, episode 4 "Mayberry Goes Bankrupt" about half a minute of the music is heard while Frank's house is being renovated.

Super Grover

Question: Does Lily Potter scream anything in particular when she dies? Some fans (according to Google searches) seem to think that she is screaming "Always", but it sounds more like "Harry" to me. Has JK Rowling ever answered this?

Answer: She is screaming Harry.

Answer: I've listened to this a number of times, and her scream is just that - a scream, somewhat enhanced with special sound effects. It's too unintelligible to make out if she was saying anything. I have not found anything about J.K. Rowling commenting on whether Lily said anything.

raywest

Question: Does this movie bear any relation to the previous 2, beside from being in the same series?

Answer: No, none whatsoever. None of the characters from the previous movies appear or are ever mentioned.

THGhost

Question: How did the movie win Best Picture? I thought there was a separate category for foreign films.

MikeH

Chosen answer: There's a separate section just for foreign films to highlight them and give a wider selection recognition, similar to animated movies, but they're not excluded from the best picture category, which is open to every feature.

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