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: Would Phoenix have been capable of destroying all the sentinels in the future timeline?

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: Yes. But she was already dead in this film.

MasterOfAll

Question: When Xibalba first gives Joaquin the Medal of Eternal Life, he is disguised as an old man. Yet, at the end of the film, Joaquin returns Xibalba his medal. How did Joaquin know the medal belongs to Xibalba? Is there a statement by a character or some indication that the medal belongs to Xibalba which I missed?

John Ohman

Chosen answer: Well, the Medal of Eternal Life and Xibalba do share colors, so it's likely Joaquin connected the two and knew it belonged to Xibalba. This is what I just think though,.

Question: How did Will Smith hook up the radio? Did he use electricity? He can't have used a generator, that would have created too much noise. Also why is he on a dock? Wouldn't a higher place be more suitable? Is it just for effect?

Sarah Hicks

Chosen answer: He's been in New York for a few years now since the break out, ample time to scavenge any radio broadcast stations for equipment and probably cannibalize them at his home. That or just set up a power source at a radio station and set it to broadcast. The details are not shown in the movie. And the dock is the most logical place for people to come to given the safety of the sea, as well as many ships were loaded with survivors that were to stay out for a while and then return. Likely to come to the docks. Or anybody else that was traveling across the nation might avoid a land route as it's safer to go by boat on water. And don't forget this is New York, most of the city is surrounded by water anyway.

Quantom X

Question: Why does the phone call Topher Grace makes after the killing of the "brother" of the prostitute seems to lead him to believe that Richard Gere is Cassius? Whose number is he calling?

AnthonyA

Question: Is the whole thing with truckers seeing "a black dog" when they have been on the road too long true, or made up purely for the film?

brianjr0412

Chosen answer: It's an old trucker's myth that has been around for a long time. There's no known origin for the story, but supposedly when truckers become drowsy, they can see a demon-like black canine of some sort running along the side of the road. This legend was incorporated into the movie.

raywest

Question: Jafar apparently knows that genies can grant only three wishes, since he refers to his wish for Jasmine to fall in love with him as his "final wish." He appears to be tricked into thinking that this wish has been granted because of how Jasmine acts seconds later. Later on, Jafar makes a wish to become a genie. I've never understood it, if Jafar thinks his original final wish has been granted, why would he make a second final wish?

Answer: Because he realizes a very short time later that Jasmine was faking, therefore that wish was not actually granted. Jafar isn't an idiot, he figures things out pretty quickly.

Phixius

Chosen answer: Bourne arranged to meet Conklin at Pont Neuf, then planted a tracking device on the surveillance van, which he followed back to the Treadstone safehouse.

Sierra1

Episode #1.4 - S1-E4

Question: Why does Daisy "take a turn" in Lady Mary's room? She never saw them take Pamook's body from Mary's room. She only saw them putting him back in his room, which is said to be "miles" away.

Answer: Word gets around. The staff are gossips amongst themselves, but those loyal to the family know who to keep secrets from and who they can trust to share in the knowledge.

Phixius

Answer: Lady Mary was one of the three women Daisy saw carrying Pamuk's body. Daisy realised he could not have died in Cora's (Lady Grantham) room, as she sleeps with husband Robert, nor would Cora and Mary ever help carry Pamuk from Anna's bedroom in the upstairs servants' quarters. Lady Sylvia and Lady Edith were completely unaware of what happened and Edith later quizzed Daisy for information. That left Mary, who everyone noticed was particularly distraught. Daisy could have overheard Thomas later telling O'Brien that he had shown Pamuk where Mary's bedroom was located (though he never saw Pamuk go inside).

raywest

Question: In gate 1, Wade power cycles the TRS-80 after loading the cassette program - all of the units I used (I'm old) required the operator to boot, load the program from audio cassette, then run - not reboot and autostart as an Atari or Nintendo did - was there a trick from 30+ yrs ago I'm forgetting?

Chosen answer: Rudy may have had him wait. Jack was not originally from that dojo so he may have had to spend time working his way back. My school had a 2nd degree black belt come back after a 15 year absence, she has been back for a month and is at the green level; about 1/2 way to black.

But in Episode 2 I believe Jack is wearing a black belt and I think he wore it in 4 so I'm confused.

Answer: He was new so that is why he is a yellow belt.

Question: At the start of the film, Michael says that he doesn't want anything to do with the family business. However at the end of the film, he is the don. I've been wondering where exactly does he change his beliefs in the film. Mates have told me its when Vito dies, but I believe its either after the hospital (when Vito is shot the first time) or after Michael's wife in Sicily dies. Are any of these true?

Dra9onBorn117

Chosen answer: It is a gradual process and it happens long before Vito Corleone's death because Michael had already taken over as Don. Michael was deeply affected by his father being shot and nearly dying. Michael changes and will now do anything to protect his father, and in the hospital tells him, "I'm with you now." Michael kills Sollozzo because he knew his father would never be safe while Sollozzo lived. His first wife's death certainly had an effect, but it really is when his brother Sonny, the heir apparent, is murdered that Michael's path is cemented. He also knows that Don Corleone cannot live forever, and with Sonny gone and Fredo being incompetent, the Corleone empire will collapse once he dies. To ensure the Corleone empire stays protected and in tact, Michael takes over as Don with the idea he'd make the family a legitimate enterprise. He and his father (now retired) then plot to murder the remaining mob heads. Don Corleone had never wanted Michael, his favorite son, to join the family business, knowing what it would do to him. Ultimately, there was never anyone else capable of succeeding Vito Corleone.

raywest

Answer: Michael's decision is between love and power. These are the two roads of life and you can only go down one, as an ancient Roman said. At the start of the film, his road is obviously love. There's no single moment when he abandons this path - indeed, you can argue that the whole film rests on his gradual, incremental abandonment. The process begins shortly after his father's shooting. In terms of cinema, we first see the process unfolding when he's sitting out in the yard, thinking things over, just before being called in to the telephone. (Notice how, in the next scene, Clemenza mocks love.) Shortly thereafter, Mike is with Kay in the hotel and he's distancing himself from her emotionally. Then comes the hospital scene and "I'm with you now" to his father. He notices his hands are steady during the cigarette lighting. He's well on the path now. Then comes the sock in the jaw and the killing. Now, to be sure, the interlude in Sicily suggests that he is wavering somewhat in the direction of love rather than power - the expression of his face, while they're dancing, suggests that he perhaps might, at this point, opt for love. But then, in rapid succession, he is informed of his brother's murder and his wife is blown to pieces. His fate is sealed.

Question: I know that the studio chose James Cameron to direct due to the strength of his script, but why wasn't Ridley Scott offered the chance to direct? And was the studio considering a sequel before Cameron joined?

Dra9onBorn117

Answer: It really was all down to James Cameron having already written the script and proving himself capable of directing with 'The Terminator.' It was just a quicker, easier, and almost certainly cheaper decision to let him direct his own script rather than get someone else, even Ridley Scott. While the producers had wanted to make an 'Alien' sequel almost immediately, at the time the head of 20th Century Fox didn't want to pursue it fearing it would be seen as an obvious cash-in and flop. When a new executive at the studio came in a couple years later, the project was put back on track, and I believe Cameron was the first to be approached to write the script.

TonyPH

Chosen answer: The studio was considering a sequel before Cameron was involved, but regarding directing it, Ridley Scott told "The Hollywood" in a 2008 interview, "They didn't ask me! To this day I have no idea why. It hurt my feelings, really, because I thought we did quite a good job on the first one." The studio liked Cameron's script and at that time he had enough clout to be able to insist on directing it.

raywest

Question: I've read that The Godfather has gotten 270-280 million dollars at the box office. Now I though that Jaws was the first to get 100 million. Was this statistic just in the US or did the Godfather garner this number with a re-release?

Dra9onBorn117

Chosen answer: The Godfather's totals mentioned above include domestic + foreign + re-releases over the years. In its initial release (and re-release after the 1973 Academy awards) it earned $85.7 million domestically. Jaws received $123 million in its initial domestic release.

Question: There is an incredibly freaky but cool voice in the trailer that sounds like a woman screaming. Is this sound heard in the film (I've watched it heaps of times but never heard it) and how was the sound effect created?

Dra9onBorn117

Chosen answer: The "woman screaming" sound effect was created by an instrument called the water harp. And, no, the sound effect was never heard in the film.

Casual Person

Question: If Snape never wanted the Philosopher's stone, why did he attempt to enter the chamber on Halloween (when Fluffy injured his leg)? Quirrell later says that Snape stopped him from trying to get the stone on Halloween, so there should have been no reason for Snape to try and get past Fluffy.

Answer: Snape was heading off Quirrell and trying to protect the stone.

kristenlouise3

Show generally

Question: How come Raj has no problem speaking to his mother, but, when around other women, such as Penny, he immediately stops talking? Also, why does he have to whisper in someone's ear if he wants to ask Penny something?

Answer: Because Raj's selective mutism seems to be caused by women that Raj sees (on some sort of conscious or subconscious level) as a potential sexual partner. An attribute that wouldn't apply to either his sister or mother.

Question: Why didn't James Cameron return to direct? I know he made more than a name for himself after Aliens but I don't understand why the studio wouldn't ask him to return due to how good Aliens was. And why was a debut director (David Fincher) brought in with such a high budget? Wouldn't the producers think of choosing a more experienced filmmaker to deal with the budget and actors, considering how strong the previous films were?

Dra9onBorn117

Chosen answer: I did a little reading on this. Cameron was adamant at the time that if there was an Aliens 3 that he, and his then-wife, Gale Hurd, would not be part of it. He said by the time a decision could be made about a another sequel and a plot was outlined, they would already be on to other projects, and he did not want to invest that much time and effort into one film franchise. He stated that money was not an issue, but he simply wanted to move on to other creative projects. Fincher had at this point directed several successful and lucrative, big money advertisements. The producers had enough faith in him to believe he was capable of directing the third film, but not so much to give him total creative control. There has never been a "directors cut" of Alien 3, as Fincher had so little control, that he pretty much disassociated himself from the film after completion.

raywest

Chosen answer: Midi-chlorians are an intelligent microscopic lifeform present in the bloodstream of all sentient beings within the Star Wars universe. The higher the midi-chlorian count present within a being's bloodstream, the more Force-sensitive they are, making them a likely candidate for Jedi (or Sith) training.

zendaddy621

Question: I was wondering if there were any unsimulated sex scenes in the film, because some of them look very real.

Dra9onBorn117

Chosen answer: No. While some NC-17, non-pornographic films do feature unsimulated sex (Nine Songs and Nymphomaniac, among others), it's normally explicitly (heh) clear that it's real, rather than just seeming realistic.

Question: In the movie where the Deetz's are remodeling the house outside and all the cranes and construction guys are there, Delia is talking to one of the workers while climbing down a set of stairs. As a child, it sounded like she said "If you tell me what you do, I'll tell you why my husband farted." Obviously this is not what she says, but even now as an adult, it really does sound like she is saying that! Can anyone please tell me what she was saying? Thanks!

Answer: She says, "If you tell me what you do, I'll tell you why my husband will fire you."

Answer: She says "I'll tell you why my husband fired you."

Greg Dwyer

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