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 the Kraken is attacking the Pearl, what was the point of hoisting all the gunpowder as high as possible? The Kraken is below the water and it's just the tentacles that are above the water. Did Will really expect it to kill the Kraken?

Answer: If they set it off too close to the deck, it could kill members of the crew or severely damage the ship. Hoisting it high and hoping that it would cripple the Kraken by maiming its tentacles was their best bet.

TedStixon

Question: What was Bart referring to when he told one of his men to keep an eye out for the old bill?

Answer: "Old Bill" is an old British slang term for police. He's telling them to watch out for the cops.

af4dable

Question: Why did Owen and Beru ever tell Luke that they are his aunt and uncle? They apparently want him to live a simple farmer's life, stay away from Ben Kenobi, and not learn about Jedi or get involved in the Rebellion. Would it not be easier to pretend that they are his parents?

Answer: Any answer would be speculation and it's hard to know exactly how much George Lucas had planned ahead for these characters. Not to mention things like Obi-Wan never knew Anakin was alive when they were separating Luke and Leia, Darth Vader hadn't been created yet, and he doesn't find out Anakin is Darth Vader until years later. An in-universe answer would basically be there's no way for the Lars to explain they now have a baby when Beru was never pregnant, so everyone would know Luke isn't their son (which could eventually be told to Luke as he got older). So really the only options would be to raise him as an adopted child or as their nephew. The Organas on the other hand always wanted a daughter and so Bail agreed to secretly adopt Leia.

Bishop73

Answer: Considering Kenobi lived on Tatooine and it was known that Anakin became Vader, there was always a chance that Luke would learn the truth and finding out he was lied to about his past could have been devastating to him and the family dynamic.

Question: How can Jack carry around a case of drawings without them rubbing together, and smudging the graphite or charcoal? Many modern artists will spray those mediums with hairspray or art fixative, but I don't think those were available in 1912.

Answer: Artists at that time could use fixatives to protect graphite or charcoal drawings. I had a small foldable metal sprayer for my drawings. The small metal tube is inserted into a bottle of fixative. The hinged top of the sprayer is bent at a 45-degree angle. As the liquid is wicked up through the tube, you blow through the bent part and it sprays the fixative onto the paper. It's a little hard to explain, but it works. There were also hand-pumped misting sprayers and atomizers (like the old-fashioned perfume bottles). Artists made their own fixative with shellac and isopropyl alcohol and also used clear casein (made from diluted egg whites) to paint over drawings.

raywest

Question: If anyone who's been booted talks about Kingsman, they and their family will end up in a body bag. How come Charlie escaped that fate? (00:30:52)

Question: The miscast spell made everyone who knew that Peter Parker was Spider-Man to appear in Tom's universe. Why didn't Mary-Jane, Harry Osborne and Eddie Brock from Toby's universe and Captain George Stacy and Gwen Stacy from Andrew's universe also appear as they knew Peter Parker was really Spider-Man?

Answer: Perhaps they did cross over, but they were not part of the plot, so we just didn't see them. They were all returned at the end anyway.

lionhead

Answer: It could be there were too many characters and too many subplots already, they only needed the characters that would cause the most damage to Peter's universe. There are confirmed sequels in the SCU and The MCU, who knows who could show up there.

Question: Is there any significance to "Orion" by Metallica playing over the end credits?

Phaneron

Question: So, Maverick is in Miramar (California) and must depart immediately for the Indian Ocean, some 12 time zones away. How do he (and all the others) get there in 24 hours, especially on the carrier, well rested and acclimated to the new time zone, ready to go to battle?

Answer: Who said it was 24 hours? When they move from one scene to another one, it's indicated that time has passed. Several hours to several days.

When they cut to the aircraft carrier, it says 24 hours later.

Question: Did they have signs for smoking cars on the train windows in that era?

Answer: Yes they did. In 1868 the Railway Regulation Bill was passed in the UK which forced railway companies to designate certain cars as smoking cars. This bill was passed in response to companies banning smoking altogether on their trains.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: What was the pamphlet that Forrest was given after graduating from college?

Answer: It was a recruitment pamphlet for the U.S. Army.

Bishop73

Question: What song was the President playing on the synthesizer?

Answer: Axel F by Harold Faltermeyer, which was originally used in the movie Beverly Hills Cop.

Casual Person

Question: How exactly did Lecter receive the toilet paper note?

Answer: While it isn't specified in the film, if Lecter was receiving mail by his attorney, the staff at the asylum would be prohibited from opening the letter. I believe it was sent as a letter appearing to be from his attorney.

jacrispy

Answer: The movies never say. According to Wookieepedia, cybernetics or prosthetic limbs can be powered by batteries, with no further explanation.

Question: Who is the character with him in the picture?

Answer: This question needs way more context. Who is the he you're referring to and what picture are you referring to?

Bishop73

If you're referring to the pictures that Eddie is looking at, the guy in the pictures next to Eddie is his brother Teddy who was killed by Judge Doom.

Question: In a deleted scene at the beginning before the meeting, leader Cleon tells the gang that the Warriors are a street gang of over 100 members, counting affiliates. Why at the end of the movie when they were running from Luther and the Rogues, they're on their turf, why wouldn't they have used a pay phone to call back up or at least lure the Rogues to their gang house where other members would be able to run them off or hold them in custody until the Riffs could get them?

Answer: Because it would have lessened the impact of the large number of Riffs showing up at the end.

Answer: Based on this exchange, one can also question why the Warriors didn't call for help at any point that night. One phone call saying, "meet us at..." would have brought members running and ended their ordeal. Thoughts?

Yes you're right but you gotta remember they were stuck in the Bronx far away from their turf in Coney Island, so the likelihood of them calling back home for backup when they could have been anywhere at anytime in the Bronx fleeing from rival gangs would not have been possible.

Answer: You answered your own question when you said "deleted scene." With that information cut out of the movie, it wouldn't have made sense to the viewer that the Warriors suddenly have a large number of members at the end.

Question: Touching Lorna's computer Riggs unintentionally started a Three Stooges game which Lorna claimed to be a weapon. Why?

Answer: She didn't want him to see that she was a fan of those comical idiots. She was supposed to be a tough nonsense internal affairs officer. She was in fact his soulmate, exactly like him, wild and crazy.

Question: I saw that Robert O'Reilly is in the movie playing a character called "The Figure." What scene is that character in or was he cut from the movie?

Question: What is the machine that grabbed Neo, and why did it let him go after the cables that were attached to him get removed from his body?

Answer: The machine is probably a regular maintenance machine for the pods. It grabs hold of him as the cables are detached to prevent him from falling out. It let him go so the body could be drained for recycling.

lionhead

Answer: It let him go because he woke up and became self-aware. Everyone else was asleep in the Matrix fantasy world. The machines knew if anyone woke up, they would join the resistance, so Neo was considered defective and literally flushed away.

Question: In The Matrix Reloaded, the Architect tells Neo that each incarnation of the One went into the Source while the machines killed everyone in Zion. If the machines knew where Zion was the whole time, then why did the machines need the code for the Zion mainframe?

Answer: Because that would make it easier to access Zion, like opening the gates and shutting off defences.

lionhead

Show generally

Question: Even though we know in the pilot that Mike was widowed, the show kept Carol's status a secret if she was widowed or divorced (though TV guides in the 70's labeled her as widowed). It seems obvious that widowed would be the answer since the girls never kept in touch with their father at all (or ever mentioned him). So the main question here is regardless if Carol was widowed or divorced, why were her 3 daughters' last names changed to Brady? Marriage would only change Carol's last name.

Answer: That the girls be adopted was for good reason - it would not be "proper" to have girls housed with boys (or a grown man) they were not related to, even if only by marriage. They may not be blood relatives after their adoption, but their statuses as step-sisters to the boys (or step-daughter to Mike, now their step-father) help clarify their roles and set appropriate boundaries (especially prohibited sexual behavior).

KeyZOid

Answer: It's implied that Mike Brady adopted Carol's daughters, which would result in their last name being changed to Brady as well.

Bishop73

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