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: How did Van Pelt control animals without "Jaguar's Eye"?
Question: When Bond hands Moneypenny the photo before he leaves, he writes "From Russia With Love" on it. Would this be another in a series of Bond sight gags, similar to stopping the bomb timer at "007" seconds in "Goldfinger"?
Movie NutChosen answer: It would, yes. Also I am to understand that it's his sense of humour.
Alan KeddieQuestion: How come they stopped with this movie and didn't make any more?
THE GAMER NEXT DOORAnswer: There's a plethora of reasons, as others have said. This film had a relatively large budget (projected between $200-$290 million depending on the source), but was the lowest-grossing film of the franchise, bringing in only about $700 million worldwide when it was expected to be a potential billion-dollar film. Critical reception was lukewarm at best, and fan-reception was very mixed, whereas most of the previous films were received very positively. (Even "Spider-Man 3" fared better in general with critics and fans.) Andrew Garfield was having issues with the studio and executives, and rumor has it that he was possibly going to be fired after showing signs of disrespect towards Sony. (In part because Garfield had serious issues with them for interfering with the production of both "Amazing Spider-Man" films and making demands/undermining the story to set-up future films.) There were already a lot of issues building up behind the scenes because Sony was hoping to use this film to set up about a half-dozen more sequels and spin-offs, and they panicked when it wasn't the huge hit they hoped for. Finally, talks began with Marvel/Disney after its release, and Sony opted to reboot and "share" the character with Disney so Spidey could join the MCU.
Answer: Actually, the timeline is a bit more muddled, since serious talks with Marvel and Disney about the rights to Spider-Man didn't really take off until after this movie bellyflopped at the box office. That's when Marvel offered them the shared custody that ultimately resorted in Spider-Man:Homecoming, where it's Marvel that has the final say in the creative process.
Friso94Answer: Reviews and box office returns weren't up to studio expectations. In addition, the director and Andrew Garfield both expressed not wanting to return to the series. Those, combined with talks to Marvel, resulted in the franchise stalling.
Greg DwyerQuestion: It is explained Peter Sam's funnel was damaged when he crashed. How did the crash damage his funnel?
Question: Have the filmmakers offered any explanation as to why they used CGI for Wolverine's claws in the bathroom scene? As has been pointed out numerous times, the CGI is very poor. Given that the previous three X-Men films used practical claws that looked just fine, this seemed like a very impractical thing to do, especially considering the extra time and money going with CGI would require.
Phaneron
Chosen answer: While it's not a definitive answer, the practical claws were still dangerous and several stunt people, and Hugh Jackman himself, have been injured during filming of the X-Men films. I don't know if they simply wanted to try to be safer or if there was a request made. Plus, the other films still used CGI claws for certain scenes, so perhaps they thought they could pull it off. It should be noted that Hugh Jackman went back to practical claws during filming of The Wolverine.
Bishop73Question: When Harry, Ron and Hermione arrive at the Lovegood house, why do they all sigh Luna's name?
THE GAMER NEXT DOORAnswer: Luna has an odd, quirky personality and does not interact well with people or view life as others normally do. Harry likes her, but she tries his patience. Ron does not particularly like her, and both he and Hermione generally avoided her at Hogwarts, even though she was a member of Dumbledore's Army. Harry, Ron, and Hermione know they need help from Luna's father. He, too, is rather eccentric, and the three are just preparing themselves for what the coming interaction is going to be like.
raywestQuestion: I'm having troubles reconciling few things. In no particular order, here are my questions: a) The shotgun scene didn't make any sense. I guess the "surprise" is that it fires when you release not when you pull it, but it just seems like one of those things where you duck and tell the other guy to duck and then unscrew it while ducking. b) So, John is given one last bullet and asked if he'd like to kill one more time. So, lets say Amanda actually does what she's told and doesn't kill Lynn. Isn't John going to kill her anyway since that was his intent? c) Likewise, how would Lynn have not told John about her collar? You'd think that it'd be the first thing she'd mention to him or you'd think it'd be something he might want to ask about. This, of course, then becomes a bigger deal because if he knows he can't kill Jigsaw without killing his wife, then he probably doesn't and everything has a happy ending. To me, it would've been cool if she had no way to tell him but was trying really hard to and he just ignored her and killed him anyway. d) Was it considered Amanda's choice then to have timers so short to make things "unwinnable"? The characters seemed to basically "win" every time but just couldn't within the time allotted. Presuming that is the case, how could an obsessive guy like Jigsaw not see and evaluate everything? How could he not be the ones watching videos of everything? I get that it was a test for Amanda, but since he objected to "murder" so much, then how could he knowingly allow her to murder?
Answer: A) The judge was preoccupied with Timothy's predicament and Jeff was preoccupied with the rifle, so he may not have noticed the judge was in the line of fire. B) Jeff didn't know Lynn was also being held captive until he witnessed Amanda shoot her. Him shooting Amanda in retaliation was a knee-jerk reaction. Had he walked into the room and seen Lynn alive and well, it may have caused him to let his guard down long enough for Jigsaw to explain everything. Then again, like you said, he just may have killed Amanda anyway. C) Lynn actually was trying to tell Jeff about her predicament, but she could barely speak after being shot and bleeding out, plus Jeff was mainly focused on Jigsaw. D) Jigsaw was extremely ill and weak at this point. He probably didn't have much oversight on Amanda's work. In all likelihood, he learned about her transgressions from Hoffman.
PhaneronQuestion: When Obadiah Price's son talks to J about how he was "there" and you'll tell him all about it what did he mean?
Answer: J asked why he remembers K when no one else does and Price says J remembers K because J was in 1969. One of the things with time travel is that effect can precede cause, meaning J was in 1969 before J travelled to 1969. Then Price says he wants J to tell him all about it when he gets back to the present.
Bishop73Possibly but when talking time travel, theories expound endlessly. Your explanation generally fits the events, or how they're authored to occur, but it's almost too simplistic. I believe that it is impossible for effect to precede cause... At least not without a break. To me, for time travel to exist and be possible, it would require endless loops or time-lines. Essentially that the moment you go back in time and make any change, which could be almost impossible not to, you break the original timeline thus creating a new one. Only then, could effect precede cause imho. It's the butterfly 'effect' :) or the ripples in the pond theory. Even then, I'm not sure that effect could ever precede causation. Your thoughts?
I purposely kept the answer simple since most movies with time travel don't go into much details about how time travel is possible and all the consequences, etc., especially in comedies. Plus there tend to be plot holes left when only partially explained. There was a saying I heard in passing in regards to writing science-fiction (so I don't know who said it or the exact quote), "it's better to have unexplained science than faulty science." One example of effect preceding cause is "tachyons", a hypothetical particle that travels faster than light. As such, a tachyon fired from point A to point B would reach point B before it was fired, due to special relativity. I personally don't subscribe to this theory and say if it was to occur, the tachyon would simple arrive before a particle of light would. I don't believe time travel into the past is possible, so as long as a movie is consistent, I don't think there's anything wrong with picking a closed time loop over an alternate time loop.
Bishop73Answer: Stuart was planning on using Kim as a leverage over Brian and the authorities, presumably as a hostage.
BaconIsMyBFFQuestion: Why did the Tsarnaev brothers have Dun Meng go with them when they take his car? Why didn't they just take it and leave Dun Meng behind?
Answer: As an insurance policy to escape. Since they had just confessed to him that they were the marathon bombers, they had no reason to believe that he wouldn't go the police the moment they were out of sight.
Cubs FanAnswer: They mean the entire year, 1976, is America's birth "day," being the bicentennial of the Declaration of Independence. So the fight, taking place on January 1, is the "first sporting event on our two hundredth birthday."
Question: How come Drake only gets a D- on a test when the score is 87%? Shouldn't that be an A?
THE GAMER NEXT DOORAnswer: First, an 87% on a test would be a "B." But Drake says that test bumps his overall class grade to a 66, which is the "D-" they're talking about (before the test Drake was failing, so his overall grade was a 59 or lower). Although a "D-"is typically a 60-62 and a 66 would be just a plain "D."
Bishop73Question: Does Bill know that Elle poisoned Pei Mai? Pei Mai was Bill's master, and I highly doubt he would have approved of him being murdered in such a disrespectful way, but Elle was still on good terms with Bill which is evident from their phone conversation.
Answer: Since the film itself does not answer this question, any answer would be speculation at best. It is highly unlikely that Elle would tell Bill about it-she also murdered his brother, and lied about that, too-and since she was the only witness, he couldn't have heard it from anyone else.
Question: After the Reliant ambushes the Enterprise, Kirk tricks Khan and hammers the Reliant into retreat. As Kirk turns to assess damage to the Enterprise, Scotty inexplicably appears on the bridge, carrying the charred body of Midshipman Peter Preston. Why on earth would Scotty bring the dying Preston to the bridge, rather than to SickBay with all the other injured? He had to deliberately bypass SickBay just to make an unnecessary appearance on the bridge.
Charles Austin MillerAnswer: I believe Preston was already dead at that point. An earlier scene was edited out of the film that explained Preston was Scotty's nephew (his sister's son), and which may account for Scotty's rather odd reaction of first bringing him to the bridge.
raywestYet Preston is shown alive (still dying) in the SickBay moments later. Preston shares last words with Captain Kirk before he actually dies. So, this is a case of bad editing?
Charles Austin MillerWhat was edited out of the film was an earlier explanation that Preston was Scotty's nephew-this was way before the Enterprise was attacked.
raywestThese scenes, which include several of Preston's lines which were cut, were restored in the 2002 Director's Edition. Curiously, when the film is aired on TV they still run the original video cut which has the scenes removed. The editing is really sloppy with the scenes cut out and the scenes establishing that Preston is Scotty's nephew add another emotional layer to the film. It makes Scotty's actions make so much more sense, he's overcome with grief over his nephew and anger at Khan. With the scenes cut what Scotty does makes very little sense.
BaconIsMyBFFQuestion: Why is Beverly accused by the whole town of being promiscuous?
Cody Fairless-LeeAnswer: Kids are vicious and make up rumors about eachother. Given she obviously has some hangups and acts awkwardly around others due to her sexually abusive father, rumors simply spun out of control and it became popular for bullies to claim they had fooled around with her.
Question: Why didn't the aunts just tell Miguel that Ernesto De La Cruz wasn't his grandfather when Miguel was rambling about it when he entered the Land of the Dead?
Answer: Because Miguel didn't unambiguously talk about his wrong assumption. In other words, he never said, "my grand-grandfather and Imelda's husband, Ernesto de la Cruz" (which is wrong). He only called him grand-grandfather and Imelda simply referred to him as a good-for-nothing musician. The aunts, uncles and the grandfather Julio all knew about Hector, as can be inferred from the reunion scene.
FleetCommandAnswer: The aunts may not actually know. Because his ancestor hated him so much, she may have talked about him very little in both the real world and the afterlife.
Greg DwyerQuestion: When Iris is driving to Amanda's house from the airport, they are driving southeast along the shore. But LAX is east of Santa Monica, which is where the cab turns to head inland. Am I the only person thinking this is wrong?
Answer: This is typical in many movies where a commute to a specific location is deliberately inaccurate. I live in Seattle and have seen movies that were filmed here showing someone driving to a real location in a direction that in no way would get them there. There are logistical considerations in filming, such as what locations are more scenic, physical barriers for film crews, obtaining permits, traffic considerations, and so on.
raywestQuestion: How did the church catch on fire? I know that in the scene before, Johnny drops a cigarette but he and Pony were also there the entire night. There is no way the blaze would have started once they left all them hours later. Also, what purpose did the children have being there? Why would they take a school bus to an old run down church? I get if they were going to just look but the adults let the children inside even though it was falling apart.
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Answer: He had absorbed the power from the "Jaguar's Eye."