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.

Season 1 generally

Question: I wanted to know what was the name of the episode where these cancerous creatures suck the bones out of you and turn you into a pile of mush - it was one of the first episodes I think.

Answer: Your right it is, "Island of Terror."

Answer: I don't think this was a Doctor Who story. It sounds more like the 1966 film "Island of Terror" (although it did star Peter Cushing who played Dr Who in two Dalek movies around the same time).

Sierra1

Question: If Amanda felt guilty about abducting Adam, why couldn't she just return to the bathroom, unshackle his chains, and nurse him back to health, like John did with Dr Gordon, instead of killing him?

Answer: She could have, but if she did and John found out, she might get punished and he might start to lose her trust. He could also just put Adam in another game (possibly inescapable since he was meant to die of thirst).

Question: Why is it that the machines they used to fight back didn't try to attack the humans? The military vehicle had a .50 cal machine gun that shot AT them, but their guns seemed to work just fine.

applejackson

Answer: It should be noted, the ending title cards seems to set it up so there are no plot holes and answers any "why" questions (which, intentional or not by King, can be debated). While the opening premise is the comet's close pass by Earth caused all machines to turn on people, at the end, the Russians blew up a UFO 2 days later, suggesting that it was the aliens controlling the machines. Bill suggests aliens are trying to wipe out humanity (although at that point he's just guessing and had no evidence of an alien or UFO present), but it can be debated the actual premise was that aliens were just testing or experimenting on people.

Bishop73

Answer: The movie is infamous for its plot holes, among them this one, and "How come cars didn't start attacking people"? From the story point of view we can surmise that the M60 is part of the vehicle's structure, while hand-held weaponry stay inert.

Jukka Nurmi

Elfie - S3-E11

Question: Why did the young girl not welcome her Dad home when he came out of the box?

Answer: I'm not sure what little girl the question is asking about. But, the scene in question was a real life surprise to the family of Petty Officer 1st Class Raymond McKnight. It was his wife and two sons that were there. His son was already excited about being on TV and then just shocked at seeing his Dad and didn't know how to react. But then he is hugging and welcoming him home.

Bishop73

Answer: It's just one of Frasier's little arcane witticisms. Roz is acting over-the-top surprised (hands on her heart, wide-mouthed gasp, etc.), the way theatre actors and actresses would back in the early 20th century. Tallulah Bankhead was a successful American stage actress of that era, so Frasier is comparing Roz to her after seeing her "performance." He (or, more accurately, whoever wrote the episode) probably chose to reference Bankhead out of all possible actresses because it's an unusual name, unlikely to be confused with some other, non-theatre Tallulah.

Answer: This is a reference to Tallulah Bankhead, a prominent stage and movie actress in the mid-20th century. She mostly played somewhat over-the-top, strong-willed, opinionated characters. Frasier appears to be comparing Roz's melodramatic behavior to her.

raywest

Answer: When Roz comes into the scene, she's complaining about Christmas shopping because she says that she never knows what to give the men in her life. Frasier replies, "Since when?", making a sly comment on Roz's sex life. Roz was often teased about having many men in her life (it was a different time back then). When Roz overacts in response to Niles' statement about getting back together with Maris, Frasier says, "That's enough, Tallulah." The reference is to Tallulah Bankhead, a stage and screen actress from the '30s and '40s who was also known for her sexual appetite.

just visiting

Question: I have a question, I don't know if it's true or not but I have heard about this for years after Part III was released. Had Crispin Glover decided to do the sequels, would he have had the role of Shamus McFly in Part III, or once Glover turned down the sequels, then it was decided that Michael J. Fox would play the part of Sheamus once Part III was greenlit? Or was it always going to be Fox playing the role of Sheamus regardless if Glover came back for the sequels or not?

Answer: In an interview, actor Jeffrey Weissman (the actor who replaced Glover as George McFly) mentioned Glover was slated to play Shamus since Lea Thompson, who played Lorraine (Marty's mom) also played Maggie (Shamus' wife). So it made sense the Mom and Dad would play the great-Grandparents. However, without the heavy makeup and prosthetics to look like Glover, the film makers thought having Weissman playing the role would look too unrecognizable that the audience wouldn't know who he was. In a side note, the scene of elderly George hanging upside down in BTTF 2 was written with Crispin Glover in mind as payback.

Bishop73

Answer: She also erased all the secrets and mysteries surrounding the amusement park.

Answer: Because he knew that Diana Prince was Wonder Woman and watched her in action. Since he had been missing for a couple of days, she needed to erase everything he knew.

Couldn't she just make him forget that Diana and Wonder Woman were the same but leave everything else?

Question: Maybe I'm ignorant but shouldn't all those injections of various drugs Dr Varnick gets in the chest kill him?

Rob245

Answer: It appears he only gets pierced by the needles. The plungers aren't pressed, so he isn't injected with their contents.

Phaneron

Question: Is it me, or do all of Ardeth's Egyptian dialogue lines end sounding the same way, despite completely different words being used to make his sentences? Is there a reason for this or something that I'm not picking up on, or is there no reason at all?

Answer: The script writers chose to truncate (shorten) the Egyptian words as they were often quite long which made for slow and clunky dialogue. The familiar sounds from Ardeth are simply due to the truncation limiting the variety of words being spoken.

Question: Did the actor have a stunt double? In certain scenes (such as the one where she draws the town) her hair is significantly more red than in other scenes.

Answer: I read all the end credits after the movie and didn't see a listing for "Opal's [AnnaSophia Robb's] Stunt Double", but this does not rule out the possibility that one was used - there could be an uncredited one. In general, a stunt double will be used to perform any of the actor's role that is dangerous or could result in injury or death. This is particularly true for child actors (not legally adults) who must be protected or shielded from danger. Movie producers/directors don't want to jeopardize the health/ safety of any person playing a character and also do not want to have to delay or stop production while an actor recuperates; there are physical and emotional as well as economic harms resulting from injuries. It is best to "play it safe" by using a stunt double. Child labor laws restrict the number of hours per day and the time-frame a child actor may work, so a stunt double or stand-in is often used during the restricted hours to help preserve the child actor's limited time.

KeyZOid

Question: What caused Finn and Alexis to become technophiles?

Answer: I'll provide a "response." This seemingly simple/ straightforward question has a straightforward answer as well as a complicated one. The simple answer is it is impossible for anyone to know with certainty what "caused" them to be or become anything. There are theoretical perspectives that may offer different possibilities. Scientifically, there can be factors that are associated/ correlated with being a technophile, but there can also be unknown factor (s) that contribute. The complicated answer would break down your question and not take it for granted: What do you mean by "technophile"? What criteria are used to define someone as a technophile? Is "enthusiasm" measurable? Do Finn or Alexis meet the criteria for a technophile? Is using a technology that is readily available because of the historical time in which one lives the same as being enthusiastic over new technology? Is an addiction or obsession the same as enthusiasm? What evidence do you have that they are technophiles, etc?

KeyZOid

Both Wikipedia and Home Alone Wiki state that Finn and Alexis are technophiles.

Does either provide a definition of "technophile" or provide criteria or evidence?

KeyZOid

Finn is obsessed with video games and Alexis is obsessed with listening to music via headphones.

Question: Have there been two separate endings made for this film?

Answer: Rumor says there was another ending, where they meet again and she says too much time has passed, she has a career and they could never recapture the magic they once had. She leaves him at the airport and he watches her fly away.

Question: What were those things Shang had the recruits wear while having them climb the pole to retrieve the arrow? And how much did they weigh?

Answer: They were weights that he made everyone use to try to get the arrow. It's unknown how heavy they were but they must have been heavy enough to even make a strong guy like Chien-Po fall to the ground.

Question: Tony's boss says that he wants Tony and Virginia out of the apartment "today." Are landlords not required to give a tenant notice - often between ten and thirty days?

Answer: He is being dramatic. He wants them out of the apartment quickly. Most landlords are required to give a certain number of days, depending on the local laws. And most tenants can't pack all of their belongings and leave before the next day.

Answer: His remark could be interpreted in different ways. There is a legal process involved in giving an eviction, but he could mean that as of that day, they are being given notice. It is also a hyperbolic figure of speech and is something someone would say in anger, meaning to get out as soon as possible. Also, it being a TV series, it streamlines the plot, and the dialogue sounds more dramatic and immediate when the character states it in that way.

raywest

Question: Since one male from each family in her village is required to report for training to serve the emperor, how is it that no-one recognizes Mulan - especially when she gives in to her chi?

Answer: Although it isn't said (in either this film or the animated original), she reports to a different camp than anyone else in her village. Otherwise, the men would not only recognize her physically but they would know beforehand that Hua Zhou never had a son so the ruse would never work. How she knows nobody from her village will be at that particular camp is never explained in either film.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: Was the poison that killed both John Ruth and O.B. (by causing them to vomit blood) purely fictional? Does it have any equivalents in the real life? If it does, then what kind of poison was that?

Answer: It's not PURELY fictional, as plenty of poisons lead to vomiting and bleeding (cyanide, arsenic, etc.), but Tarantino, as is his wont, definitely takes some artistic license and kicks it up several notches for dramatic/gross-out effect.

Question: So, how do they find the dogs?

Answer: I believe they returned to the base camp. The dogs apparently stayed in the area and, although there were no dogs when the people first got to the camp, the dogs heard them and came over the hill.

KeyZOid

Question: Two questions about the scene in which the Green Goblin comes to JJ Jameson's office: 1) Why does JJJ cover for Parker and say that the photos of Spider-man come in the mail? I would expect him to protect himself before Peter. 2) The Green Goblin says "Jameson, you slime." As Norman Osborne, does he have a prior conflict with Jameson?

Answer: He might be a bad boss but not so bad he willingly gives up his employees to homicidal maniacs. JJJ is probably known to a lot of people as a slime, considering how he runs his paper. Osborne has probably been featured many times in it.

lionhead

Show generally

Question: Do the actors sitting at the table outside of MSec office along with Matt, Daisey, Blake and Jay, ever say anything? What's their purpose?

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