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 Nada first puts the sunglasses on, when walking on the sidewalk, what did he see on the ground that made him realise something was wrong and different?

Movielover1996

Answer: The glasses use a filter that makes everything appear similar to black and white television. This was not immediately noticeable to Nada until he recognized that the grate on the sidewalk appeared a different color with the glasses on (dark gray instead of bronze).

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: When Mr. Brooks states that Sonny lied about being Kevin Gerrity to get custody of Julian, he says it's a big problem in this state. Why do so many people do that in New York (as opposed to other places)?

Answer: Maybe I'm misinterpreting the line, but I thought "big problem" in this context meant that the state would aggressively pursue criminal charges against Sonny for his actions, as in it's his big problem to deal with now.

Phaneron

But in that context, wouldn't it be a "big" / serious problem in any state? I can't imagine that most states would be easy-going about it. He seems to mean that it happens a lot in New York, but I might be wrong.

Other states would certainly be aggressive in that situation, but given that Mr. Brooks is an employee of the state of New York, he could just be emphasizing how much trouble Sonny is in.

Phaneron

Fair enough. Sonny might have thought that it was OK for him to pretend to be Kevin, since he is good friends with the real Kevin.

Mr. Brooks was being facetious by specifically saying "big problem in THIS STATE." Obviously Sonny knows what he did was very wrong and illegal. It would be like if you were driving in a different state and didn't stop at a stop sign. The cop might say "I know in your home state the stop signs are optional but here in Texas you're required to stop at the sign."

Answer: Saying "in this state" is most just to show Sonny he is in a lot of trouble. Kind of like an intimidation tactic to be sure Sonny is going to take this seriously and to show Mr Brooks is serious.

Vision Quest - S7-E12

Question: Obviously, the guys don't believe that Bill has a son named Trey. Hank points out that the name was Travis last week. But why is Bill pretending to have a son?

Answer: Bill lives in a state of denial. He hopes his wife will return any day. He escapes into elaborate fantasies, like having a son.

Captain Defenestrator

I've noticed that Bill often wants to copy what the other guys are doing, as part of his fantasies. So if Hank and Dale are talking about issues with their sons, he wants to talk about a son, too.

Question: Why was Qualen impressed by Crystal saying that they needed insulin?

Answer: He's praising her for how she spontaneously added an extra element of distress to further deceive the rescuers. Mostly, he was mocking his accomplice, Travers, by implying he couldn't have thought of something as clever.

raywest

Question: Why did Billy and Stu kill Sidney's mother, then wait almost one year to proceed with more killings?

Answer: One killing after another is too suspicious and would focus on those closest to her and would put authorities on guard, in case they believe the entire family was a target. Which it was, by waiting for the excitement to die down, it would give everyone a false sense of security.

Answer: I agree with the other response, and I want to add that Billy and Stu are trying to make their own "movie." In a lot of movies, the current events are connected to an incident that happened one year ago or longer.

Question: At the end of the film, Nate connects the Christmas lights and the house lights up. Why does this make the homing beacon turn green?

Question: Why did the bad guys go to 'Plan B' about 15 seconds after arming Matt's computer? He could've been sitting on the toilet for all they knew, so why such a short amount of time?

Answer: I'd say this is a matter of movie plotting and a "suspension of disbelief." Time and events often need to be compressed to move the story along, even if it's not entirely logical or realistic.

raywest

Answer: I don't think she's supposed to be anyone in particular. Just a person in town who has likely encountered Aladdin before and finds him attractive.

Phaneron

Question: At school, Starla makes fun of a supposedly lesbian girl by asking if the girl's perfume is "C.K. Spam." What does that mean?

Answer: CK, which stands for Calvin Klein, is a brand of perfume. Spam is the cheap ham meat in a can. So she's indicating she smells like the meat or could be a subtle way of calling her a pig.

Bishop73

Question: During the yacht rescue, Superman is stepping on the door and getting a grip to fly. How is he flying/lifting if he has technically landed?

Answer: Superman doesn't fly through blasters on his feet. He simply levitates. In this instance, however, he also happens to be holding onto the object that he has his feet on (the boat), which means that as he moves up, the boat he has his feet on is moving up at the same rate.

Garlonuss

Question: It's never explained how Harry Powell gets that Model-T into the middle of the lake. Any possible answers?

Question: What kind of hairstyle is Fatso wearing when he pretends to be Amelia?

Gojira1954

Answer: The style looks similar to an updo with the Rockabilly Curl or Victory Roll at the top.

Super Grover

Answer: It looks like a mid-20th century (1940s era), female-style pompadour.

raywest

It doesn't look like any pompadour I've seen.

Gojira1954

Female-style pompadours from around the 1940s included styles with a curl or roll on top.

raywest

Question: When Daniel is on the phone with the alarm company, what causes the connection to go static for a moment? Could it be that the aliens were eavesdropping on their conversation?

Question: When Sammy is in the park, what causes him to start screaming in that prolonged scream?

Show generally

Question: There's a quote from Richard Fish I've never been able to find exactly online, but I'm sure I'm remembering the gist, I think talking to someone about getting divorced or cheated on: "10 years from now, are you still going to be as mad as you are now? Of course not. So jump to that point, now, and you're over it. Fishism." Can anyone identify the episode/quote?

Jon Sandys

Answer: Answering my own question - it's from S1 E4. "One of the keys to life: the fast-forward. Every movie has its lousy parts; the trick is fast-forward through them. See, as time passes, you look back and say, 'Huh. That little adultery thing. Oh, that.' You fast-forward to then right now... and you're over it."

Jon Sandys

Question: When Bella discovers Edward has snuck into her room and reveals he's been watching her, Bella has no pants on - just a shirt and underwear. Wouldn't Bella be upset about being seen in her underwear? She doesn't try to cover herself.

Answer: Apparently she wasn't bothered by it. One thing I find so amusing about our culture: If a woman is wearing a bikini at the beach, no-one thinks anything of it. But a bit of underwear showing raises eyebrows.

raywest

As a woman, one slight difference is that I would intend for people to see me in a bikini. Underwear can be more "ugly." I wouldn't want most people to see me in an old bra with polka-dot panties that don't match. But I understand your point - it's still sort of funny.

Question: In this version, when Ariel becomes human, she loses her bra. What happened to it? Did it just come off?

Answer: Her long hair covered her up.

There are a couple of shots after her transformation where you can tell she's no longer wearing her bra. However, I rewatched her transformation scene, and her bra is never seen coming off. It's just gone.

Answer: It wasn't explained, so any answer is just a guess.

raywest

Question: When Ariel rescues Eric from drowning, he still has boots on, but when she brings him to shore, he is barefoot. What happened to his boots? They couldn't have slipped off, as they appear tight on his feet, and Ariel couldn't have removed them and kept Eric above water at the same time. Later during the climax, Eric spends a good amount of time in the ocean with boots on, but after he defeats Ursula, he's barefoot again. Why and how do his boots keep coming off?

Answer: Co-director John Musker was asked this on Facebook. He said that they had Eric wash up barefoot because they thought he looked more like he'd "been through Hell", and didn't really think about how or why his boots came off.

Answer: This appears to be a continuity mistake and not anything that happened in the film.

raywest

La Biblioteca Es Libros? - S2-E19

Question: Who is in the footage at the end of the episode? It shows Adam's real Spanish class, but there are two boys who both look like the real Adam when he was younger in his class. One sat down answering, and one stood up asking Spanish questions. It threw me off as now I'm unsure which is Adam and who the other boy is.

Question: Did Lana actually like Joel or not? She said that the night on the train was not simply a diversion while Guido and Vicki raided his house. However, she was still involved with them, after claiming that she was done working for Guido. She and Vicki "quit" when he first appeared at Joel's house.

Answer: Lana liked him, but was not in love with him. The whole Guido house raid was his way of getting what's owed to him, when Joel stole all his business. At the end of the movie, Lana and Joel walked and talked about him going away to college, with no expectations about one another continuing their relationship.