Questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: What motivated Bob Taylor (an earlier abductee of the same perpetrators) to implicate himself in the current abductions by stealing the girls' clothing items and taking them to his home?

BF

Chosen answer: Because he was once abducted by the same kidnappers when he was a child, and it has damaged him emotionally. He is recreating the abductions, playing the part of a kidnapper, and be keeps the clothes as a memento of his past experience.

raywest

Question: In the few seconds (Earth time) it took for the pod to fall through the time travel device, it would have been impossible for Ellie to have become detached from the safety seat. It would have been even less possible for the seat to have become dislodged from the pod, AND for the seat to smash against the side of the pod with sufficient force crush it. I understand there was a cover-up (e.g., the 18 hours of static on her recording device), but Ellie, herself, would have remembered the dislodged, smashed seat. Why did she never bring it up in defense of her version of the facts? Was there a reason someone knows of, or is this just a plot hole?

Michael Albert

Chosen answer: Ellie defended her version of the facts with everything she had to work with, but the simple fact was that the government cover-up was just too strong for her to overcome. The points you raise are perfectly reasonable, but the version of events released by the powers-that-be denies everything that happened and, without any other proof, Ellie has only her word to convince people with. For some, that's enough, as we see in the film, even if a majority choose to believe the "official" version.

Tailkinker

Question: Tom Cruise is a Manhattan doctor living on Central Park West. We can see in the movie it's a large, beautiful apartment. To buy a Central Park West apartment of this type is in the range of 5 to 12 million dollars. Being a doctor he's highly educated. Why don't the rich people in the naked group want him as a member? He the perfect recruit.

Answer: Perhaps the group is full or bans certain groups of people. It is also possible that they excluded him because in New York, physicians are mandatory reporters and they were afraid of being found out.

Greg Dwyer

Show generally

Question: In an episode with all Vivian's sisters around she says "the Smith sisters are together again" or something like that. Later in Fresh Prince we meet Will's father, who we hear has the surname "Smith" as well, does this mean Will's dad and Vi shared a surname?

Makungu Tata Kunda

Chosen answer: Yes, though remember that Smith is the most common surname in the United States.

Greg Dwyer

Chosen answer: The actual song is called "The Portrait". It was not included in the original soundtrack. It is, however, on the "Back to Titanic" soundtrack. This piece is the entire song that plays in the scene.

Question: Doug says they are going home with some money, but how much is the damage to the hotel room going to cost?

Answer: It was never stated but it would cost thousands of dollars to repair the damage.

raywest

Least of their problems, the only one they could give to someone else, and easily covered by all those casino chips.

dizzyd

Question: Who overrode the tunnel's explosion? Was it Marty since he had access to the system from the maintenance hatch?

Answer: It's stated that the tunnel should have blown hours ago, so the initial failure is most likely human error, that the order to blow the tunnel simply didn't get through to the demolition team on schedule. The subsequent problem blowing it up is referred to as being related to "a glitch up top", later stated as a "power re-route upstairs". While not stated outright, the only plausible explanation is that this was, as you rightly stated, due to Marty messing around with the equipment that he found in the hatch.

Tailkinker

Show generally

Question: In the actor/actress introductions at the end is "someone" in a long black dress who is not identified - who is the actress?

Chosen answer: They wouldn't have believed him. Or brushed it off, because Grandpa was probably trying to get them to kill him too.

Captain Defenestrator

Question: I have watched this movie many times but still do not know the logical thinking behind it. If all this time Rose kept "Heart of the Ocean", then why did she ask Brock Lovett in the beginning of the movie by saying "I was just wondering if you had found The Heart of the Ocean yet, Mr. Lovett?"

Hilman Sadakir

Chosen answer: The primary reason for the question is to prove to Brock that she is, in fact, Rose DeWitt Bukater. The insurance claim for the Heart of the Ocean diamond was paid under strict secrecy. As such, few people, including Rose, would even know of its existence. Another underlying reason might be as a private taunt. Rose sees Brock Lovett for who he is - an opportunist plundering the Titanic for riches. I imagine she finds him somewhat distasteful, so she amuses herself by asking a question to which (we all later discover) she knows the answer.

Michael Albert

Three Legs Good - S3-E5

Question: When you are wallpapering, what is it that you brush on the paper after it is on the wall? Helena brushes something that looks like glue on the new wallpaper.

kh1616

Chosen answer: As far as hanging new wallpaper, there is no need to brush on any additional product once it has been pasted to the wall. It appears Helena may be doing an extra decorative step by applying a liquid glaze over the wallpaper to give it a more distinctive look, perhaps creating a sheen effect on the surface. Glaze can also be tinted to give a muted colored tone. It could also be a protective sealant. However, to remove old wallpaper, a product is brushed on that dissolves the old paste so the paper can be easily scraped off.

raywest

Question: The laws of physics in ToonTown are completely different from the laws of physics in the real world, so when Eddie is recounting his brother's death to Roger, how could the piano have killed him?

Answer: It was never mentioned if it was a toon piano or a real life one. A toony ACME piano would have just non-legally flattened Teddy Valiant and/or just for laughs, have piano keys for teeth. A real life piano would definitely lethally crush someone instantly. So Judge Doom must have gotten a non-toony piano from the human world and brought it back to ToonTown.

Answer: The laws of physics are different for 'toons wherever they are, not different for any and all beings within ToonTown. Eddie's brother was not a 'toon, so the piano killed him like it would any flesh-and-blood man.

Phixius

Except Teddy was in Toon Town when the murder occurred. Later in the movie, Eddie is in Toon Town and when he gets on an elevator, it moves so fast that he gets flattened on the floor yet, he manages to survive even though the force alone should have killed him. Since Teddy's was in Toon Town when the piano was dropped on him, it makes no sense how he died but Eddie was able to survive a very fast elevator ride.

Answer: It seems that intent is necessary for an actual death to occur in Toontown. When Judge Doom arranged for the piano to fall on Teddy it was done for the sole purpose of killing him. However, when Droopy Dog takes Eddie on the elevator ride he's not trying to kill him, merely cartoonishly flatten him for comedic effect.

Question: Before Harry gets on the bus for stranded witches/wizards, Sirius appears in dog form and growls at him. Why is Sirius behaving aggressively toward his godson?

Answer: Sirius wasn't being aggressive toward Harry. In the book, Harry merely saw a hulking shape and a pair of eyes in the bushes watching him, but there was no growling. The way it's shown in the movie was played up to make it appear that there is some imminent threat to Harry. The filmmakers were apparently attempting to foreshadow the coming danger and to keep the audience in suspense about Sirius' identity and true intentions.

raywest

Question: Who did the demonic voice that told the priest blessing the house to get out?

Answer: George Lutz.

How was it accomplished?

Question: Chased by agents, Trinity chooses to jump out the window. With no reason to think she can be rescued, the fall will kill her. Why would she do that?

Answer: The script just says "With no choice left, Trinity dives through the window." I think she was pretty resigned to the fact she was going to die and just wanted to go out fighting as long as possible, with the very small possibility that she would survive the fall somehow.

Sierra1

Question: The hat worn by Boss Godfrey (Morgan Woodward) I believe that it is a Homburg style hat, can anyone tell what brand or hat maker?

Question: When the boy enters the train car the other kids are heard singing the polar express song. How could they have learned it?

Answer: They likely were taught it before the boy boarded the train. We should assume that the same magic making the train appear without being seen by others and to travel to the North Pole is also at work here, perhaps allowing the children to be able to learn the song quickly.

raywest

Answer: Alternatively, it could just be a song they all made up.

Question: What does Olaf mean by asking, "Who's the funky-looking donkey?" Was he referring to Krisftoff? Olaf initially mistakes Krisftoff to have the same name as Sven and does not learn his real name until he meets the trolls. Why doesn't Krisftoff or Anna correct him about Kristoff's name?

Answer: It's a joke. He asks who the funny looking donkey is, meaning Kristoff. Everyone assumes he's talking about Sven.

Question: Loki (as Odin) quotes a conversation that occurred between Thor and Odin. This conversation happened after Loki let go of the handle Thor offered to keep him from falling off the bi-frost. How does Loki know what Odin tells Thor when he's supposedly headed to Midgard (Earth) as they speak? Can Loki read minds? If so, I don't recall any movies he comes out in mentioning mind reading.

Answer: Loki has been shown to exhibit numerous powers in the movies that can explain how he knew about this conversation. In all the movies, he has been shown to appear in hologram-like forms in different locations. For example, in The Avengers, he uses this power to meet up with The Other who is in the middle of space, whilst he is on Earth. In the end credits scene for Thor, he was able to watch over Selvig and Nick Fury's conversation despite not being there. In Thor: Ragnarok, he was able to see into Valkyrie's past through touching her head (though this power was not established until Thor: Ragnarok). Any of these powers could have been used to find out about this conversation between Thor and Odin.

Casual Person

Question: When Ron and Hermione argue during the dance, two girls are in the background, sitting on the steps and comforting a third girl who is crying. Is there any explanation as to who the girl is and why she is crying?

Answer: There's no explanation given about who the girl on the step is or why she is crying. She is simply an unnamed character whose evening obviously didn't end well and she is upset. This is only meant as background detail to make the scene more interesting and real without distracting the audience. It has no relationship to the main plot.

raywest

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