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.

Chosen answer: Because he's a giant meat-eating spider. His love for Hagrid stops him and his children from attacking Hagrid. But beyond that, they simply want to eat whoever just meanders into their lair.

Garlonuss

Question: Is there a reason why the white bird in the cupboard died? Also, why did it turn black when it came back to life?

Answer: There are two birds, as we see in the cage early on. Draco uses them to test whether the link between the two vanishing cabinets is working - with the white bird, the link is unsuccessful, so the bird dies. After working on it further, he tests it again using the black bird, which survives, telling him that the link is up and running.

Tailkinker

Answer: The sign said $30,000.

Chosen answer: $25,000. Given to the Griswalds by Sid Caesar's character just before he passed away.

Question: What is the name of the first song that plays in the trailer?

Brad

Chosen answer: It's "You're a God" by Vertical Horizon.

Madstunts

Question: At the end of the forest battle, Megatron stabs Optimus right through the back and chest, then blasts a hole in the same spot. Later, Sam merges the Matrix of Leadership with Optimus's chest. Where exactly does he put it? The logical place would be to unite it with his spark, but his spark is gone. Furthermore, Optimus then gets up to reveal that the hole in his chest is gone. Does the Matrix harbor the same regenerative abilities as the All Spark?

Answer: There are 2 possible scenarios: First, is that Optimus wasn't really dead, he only went into status lock, in which the spark is active, but the body is inert. So the Matrix rebooted Prime back to normal. Or the second possibility is that the Matrix did in fact regenerate his spark. In the cartoons, the Matrix was a kind of gateway to the Transformers afterlife - so it is possible it brought Prime back from the dead.

Question: Why don't EMPs affect the Transformers? Heck, Starscream even used one as a weapon. It had no adverse effect on himself or any of the other Transformers in the area. I know their life force is mostly Energon, but aren't they also powered by electricity to some extent?

Answer: The transformers are far too advanced to try and guess if the run on normal electricity, and EMPs can be assumed to have no effect on them at all. It's possible to protect human electronics to varying degrees, so there's no reason to assume the Transformers wouldn't have mastered the technique.

MasterOfAll

Question: If Claude came to the US from Manchester when he "dropped out", why does he have an American accent?

lensloon

Chosen answer: Claude did not come from Manchester, England. He is from Oklahoma in the movie although in the original stage musical he is from Flushing, NY.

Myridon

Question: How does the "Lovely Bunch of Coconuts" song go after the line "Ones as big as your head!"?

Answer: The lyrics go: --- I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts / There they are, all standing in a row / Big ones, small ones, some as big as your head / Give 'em a twist, a flick of the wrist / That's what the showman said. --- There's much more to it, but that's how that section goes. For more, look here.

Garlonuss

Question: Although it is not mentioned in the film, I assume that unobtainium has antigravity properties, since it floats in the air in Parker's office. If this is the case, the logical thing to do would be to mine the floating rocks in the hallelujah mountains, which obviously contain loads of the stuff. Why mine it out of the ground at a much higher expense?

Answer: Unobtanium is a superconductor which creates an antigravity effect in a magnetic field. The places where the rocks are floating indicate that the magnetic field is stronger there, which reduces the effectiveness of the human machines and makes using them more dangerous. In fact, they specifically mention that fact when hiding among the floating rocks. They can't be tracked as easily so the odds shift a bit in their favor. Add to that the fact that human technology is geared toward surface mining, not mining floating rocks.

Garlonuss

Question: When it is mentioned that Ilia is Deltan, a couple of the male Enterprise crew members (Sulu in particular) look very interested when they hear that. Why? Also, why was it necessary for her to say that she has taken an oath of celibacy?

Answer: Deltans exude an intensely potent and effective chemical substance known as pheromones, which act as signals arousing an intense sexual reaction in other species (in other ST material it's inferred that its potency is so extreme that a non-Deltan risks insanity in a sexual encounter with a Deltan). Upon entering Starfleet, Deltans must swear "an oath of celibacy" so as not to influence or take advantage of crewmembers. That is why Lt. Ilia stated that her "oath of celibacy" was on record.

Super Grover

Question: At the end of the movie, it is stated that the Drakensberg mountain range in South Africa now has the highest altitude in the world, since the "entire plate of Africa has lifted". Isn't this highly unlikely, seeing as the Drakensberg is incredibly far away from any tectonic plate lines? Wouldn't it rather be Mount Kilimanjaro, which is not only already the highest point in Africa (the continental plate of which is implied to have been raised as a whole), but is also a volcano (thereby being more likely to be raised should there be lifting within the plate itself)? I am South African myself, and though I am incredibly proud of our mention, I wonder if it really is plausible.

Answer: It's really impossible to say, given all of the massive land shifting seen in the film. We see the entire coast of California fall into the ocean. It's reasonable (in the film) to assume some cataclysm struck Kilimanjaro to lower or destroy it, or that the continent has been tilted.

In the movie, it was implied that the continent of Africa as a whole remained unflooded. So it stands to reason that the millions of inhabitants of the various countries may have survived intact. And so, the animals and plant life as well. So the question of saving the human species may be mute in this scenario. It's ironic, since most of the scientific community believes that modern humans evolved there first anyway.

Question: Did journalists disappear by 2113? Why didn't Jake and the scientists try and contact someone on Earth (or even upload the whole thing on Youtube of the future)?

Answer: Because it wouldn't really do any good. Firstly, as is observed in the film, while bad publicity isn't ideal, it's worse to come back with no profits. A successful mining mission, even with some local casualties, would swiftly override any negative publicity from actions taken to secure the prize. Plus, they're six years away from Earth. Even if they could somehow get a message out through a communications system that's likely rigidly monitored by the company running the operations, it's not as if any backup could rush to help them - all they have to work with is what's right there on-planet.

Tailkinker

Question: So what tricks does Blackwood use to make the girl try to kill herself at the beginning? I don't get that part. Thanks.

Answer: While it's never stated explicitly, drugs and hypnotic suggestion are most likely.

Grumpy Scot

Question: In the scene where the bride first enters Hattori Hanzo's loft, directly following the scene in the sake bar, what is the name of the song that plays?

crateguy

Chosen answer: Wound That Heals (aka Kaifuku Suru Kizu) by Salyu.

Show generally

Question: In "Spongebob vs. the Big One", at one point, the Flying Dutchman is in Davey Jones' Locker. While there, an old man comes out (not animated, a real person), he says something to the Flying Dutchman, then "Daydream Believer" by the Monkees starts playing. Is he supposed to be one of the Monkees or something?

Answer: He is indeed--he was lead singer of the Monkees and his name (of course!) is Davy Jones.

Chanteuse66

Question: What's the deal with R2-D2's 'short circuit' after he's shot while trying to override the shield generator's doors? Did the blast cause him to go haywire or is he having a panic attack?

Answer: The impact of the energy shot on Artoo's data-access arm has caused a short in his systems, so he's just going through an overload.

Tailkinker

Show generally

Question: Something that's bugged me ever since becoming a Star Trek fan: Why do none of the ships featured in this or any other Star Trek series have seat-belts or some futuristic equivalent for their bridge crews? Practically every time, for example, the Enterprise comes under heavy attack, consoles and panels start exploding and crew members are thrown from their chairs and shown flying through the air. To me this seems a very obvious oversight.

Answer: The ships have inertial dampeners, they don't really need seatbelts. And consoles aren't really supposed to be exploding. When the do, would you really want to be lashed in place so your face and torso take the full force of it?

Phixius

There is a deleted scene in Star Trek nemesis where Captain Picard captain's chair get a seat belt and he makes a comment about them.

Dan23

The question refers to all crew, not just the captain's.

Noman

This video shows the many instances in the shows and films where seatbelts are used by the crew: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ysvyXDebsM.

Answer: In ST:TMP, the captain's chair had restraints; the arms folded down over him, holding him in place.

The question refers to all of the crew, not just the captain's chair.

Noman

In that scene all of the chairs have these restraints, so the answer actually applies to the whole bridge crew.

Show generally

Question: I finally saw the 2-part episode from the show JAG. Does anyone know what happened to Viv Blackadder? I don't recall hearing anyone ever mention the name on NCIS.

Answer: I hadn't seen the backdoor pilots yet but while it wasn't explicitly stated, at least onscreen, I heard somewhere Vivian got either fired from NCIS due to jeopardizing a case, got resigned from the agency, or transferred to the FBI.

Raykvega423

Answer: I dont believe it is ever mentioned, but like most pilot episodes the characters are often changed, replaced or even removed in this case.

Question: When Bella is bitten by James, Jasper also comes and rescues her - by killing James - but how is it that Jasper does not react to Bella's blood? Is it because of "heat of battle?" I also think of New Moon, where she only had a paper cut (but he still freaked out).

IdaMarieSmithLarsen

Chosen answer: There's no definitive answer. Most likely it was because the conditions between the two scenarios were very different. When the Cullens saved Bella, Jasper was intensely focused on defeating James, exerting all his energy into killing him. He would have gone into battle knowing there could be bloodshed. He may also have not been "hungry" at the time, therefore, less affected by the scent of blood. At the birthday party, Bella cutting her finger was so totally unexpected that it caught Jasper by surprise, and he instinctively reacted to it. He still struggles with being a "vegetarian," and is constantly watched by the other Cullens.

raywest

Question: In the movie there are eight dogs and one dies falling on the snow, which leaves seven. In the end there are six. Did I miss one? Thank you very much for your help.

ribarbet

Chosen answer: Yes you missed Old Jack, who's too old to go with the others on their journey and dies at base camp.

Anastasios Anastasatos

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