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: Why would a gun store have ammo on display? Would it make more sense to have it behind the counter or a hidden place so customers can't take some when the clerk's not looking?

Answer: Things that are sold are on dispay or people wouldn't know you got it for sale now would they? The clerk is alert for shoplifters, its his risk. No difference from a gas station.

lionhead

I think the question is referring to why would they have the ammo on the counter and not on a shelf behind the counter or in a display counter? Having live ammunition on the counter is, as you say the clerks risk. But it does seem rather foolish.

Ssiscool

I think inexpensive things are common to be put on counters to sell. Like cigarette lighters, candy and lottery tickets. Bullets seem a bit dubious as this scene shows someone can load their gun on the spot, but I don't think in reality anyone would do that.

lionhead

Agreed, non-expensive items are generally kept on counters. But slightly stupid and dangerous to do it with ammo.

Ssiscool

Answer: He's using wooden weights, so the goods he buys will register less than their actual weight and he'll pay less than he actually owes.

Brian Katcher

The Royal Train - S6-E3

Question: A set of complicated events mean that Captain Mainwaring and some other members of the platoon have to drive a railway engine. After they leave the railway station it turns out that the railway engine has no brake wheel and cannot stop. The ARP warden, the mayor of Walmington, the vicar and verger take the brake wheel, jump on a handcar and chase after the engine. Catching up with the engine, they throw the brake wheel to Captain Mainwaring. The engine then reverses, so they must pedal the handcar even faster to avoid being run over. Could four men (all obviously in late middle age, and past peak fitness) pedal a handcar to outrun a railway engine at full steam? When the engine reverses, why do they pedal the handcar to stop being run over? Why don't they jump off the handcar, then pull the handcar off the track? (Also it takes the engine less than a minute to reverse. In reality, it would take several minutes to change a moving railway locomotive from forward to reverse).

Rob Halliday

Answer: The show is a comedy, this was played for comedic effect and to show that in times of extreme fear, in this case about to be crushed by a steam train, the men had an adrenaline surge strong enough to pedal fast enough.

Question: When Caleb and his mother are talking about Caleb's father and Caleb's ascension, Evelyn describes his dad/her husband. It shows a picture of an actor other than Stephen McHattie on the side table. By the conversation going it seems as though they intend on it being a picture of James Danvers. Does anyone know who the actor is in the picture? And if this was a mistake or intended to be someone else? Thanks ahead of time for help. (00:11:00 - 00:13:00)

Question: Who shows up after the truck goes through the ground?

Answer: If you mean the men on motorcycles, they are part of the security detail Steve hired to escort the truck.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: Did the 1966-67 BBC TV series "Adam Adamant Lives!" inspire Austin Powers? The first episode of AAL! starts in England in 1902. Adam Adamant, a wealthy gentleman adventurer, thwarts a plot to assassinate Edward VII at a royal ball. Adam Adamant is captured by a masked villain, The Face, who subjects him to a 'living death' putting him to sleep in a block of ice. In 1966 Adam is found, frozen in ice. Revived to consciousness, he has daring, swashbuckling adventures in 'swinging sixties' England, although, as an Edwardian gentleman, 1960's pop culture mystifies him. In the second series of AAL! we find that The Face, too, has been cryogenically frozen. The Face is revived and renews his conflict with Adam (like Dr Evil). Aged 10 and 11 I watched AAL! avidly; it remains one of my favourite TV shows. Sadly the BBC dropped AAL! after two series. The Austin Powers franchise openly pays tribute to British 1960's espionage thrillers. How much of an influence, was Adam Adamant Lives!?

Rob Halliday

Answer: While there are many overlaps, and IMDB does list Adam Adamant as a "reference" for Austin Powers, Mike Myers himself has never indicated that that series was part of his inspiration. According to Myers, he created the character as a tribute to his father; more specifically, as a tribute to the comedy/culture of the '60s, which his father had introduced him to and which had influenced his own comedy.

Question: When Mr. Sir was handing the guard a coke from his fridge and Stanley thought it was for him, what does Mr. Sir say to him? After, he says "Thirsty Stanley?" I've watched this movie many many times and I still can't understand what he is saying. It is about 9 minutes into the movie. (00:09:00)

Answer: "Well you're a bag of tricks."

Show generally

Question: What was the episode where Bobby meets Dooley in a line to apply for a job and Dooley says, "I'm building character"?

Answer: It's Bystand Me, season 10 episode 2, when Hank wants Bobby to get a paper route.

Super Grover

Question: Why do the German officers in the pub salute a Captain and LT but don't salute a Major when he walks in?

Answer: I agree with the previous answer, and another possibility is that since the Major was already in the pub, they might have already saluted him when he (or they) arrived.

I agree with this, and to expand on that a little more, I was under the impression that they came to the pub together. I could be wrong, but I believe it gets mentioned that the major let Wilhelm and the rest of the soldiers have the night off to celebrate the birth of his son. He sits alone so as not to fraternize with the soldiers.

jshy7979

Answer: I can't say specifically for the WW2 German Army but usually in any group of soldiers the one with the highest rank will be expected to pay correct compliments to a commissioned officer (of a higher rank than themself). They do this by calling the group to attention and greeting the officer individually. These soldiers have saluted the junior officers but they would then expect the Captain to formally greet a Major.

Answer: No specific reason is given and any answer is speculation. My take is that it is only about plot timing and pacing to serve the story line. After Harrry and Sirius exit the tunnel, they have a short conversation in which they solidify their godfather/godson bond. Sirius also offers Harry a home, if he wants. If Lupin and Pettigrew had come out sooner, this narrative would have been interrupted. After their conversation, Lupin and Pettigrew then emerge, and the story continues, building up to Pettigrew's escape.

raywest

Question: Why does Pinhead kill John Merchant? Obviously he's angry that Merchant tried to activate the new Elysium Configuration to suit Angelique's desires, but he did so under duress, and as far as Pinhead knows, Merchant is the only one that can keep the portal between Earth and Hell permanently open. Was Pinhead just hoping that Merchant's son would one day continue his father's work and he could force him to complete the configuration?

Phaneron

Question: The Lord of Downton in the movie states "The King and Queen are coming to Downton." Since they are British, wouldn't he have said, "Your Majesties are coming to Downton"? Also, isn't the wife of the monarch of the United Kingdom called the "King Consort" not the Queen? I know Prince Philip is not called "King", he is the Queen Consort.

odelphi

Answer: Re the first part, it's just a matter of word choice, not a mistake, even if it might be "wrong" from an etiquette point of view. For the second question, no, the wife of the King is called the Queen, conventionally. Technically "Queen consort", to draw a distinction from the reigning monarch, in that she has the title of Queen but not the same political power. But the husband of a reigning Queen isn't called a King, or even a King consort, generally, because in the UK a King is viewed as a higher authority, so would imply a greater status than that of his wife, who's the actual monarch. Prince Philip isn't the Queen consort, he would be a Prince Consort, but doesn't have that title, hes a "Prince of the United Kingdom." The only husband of a Queen to have held the title of Prince Consort was Prince Albert, husband to Queen Victoria. It's largely a semantic/title difference and comes down to personal preference/the will of the reigning monarch.

Jon Sandys

Question: At the end of the movie when they are driving away from the dust cloud and he says don't look back, there is an image of a man in the smoke. Who was the image of?

Answer: I watched the clip on YouTube. If you're referring to when Brosnan looks in car's side mirror, there is an amorphous shape in the ash cloud that has only a vague humanoid form, but it's just a shape. If it looks like anything, it would be a sasquatch, but it's just the ash cloud. A human body would be far too small to be seen from the car's vantage point. It's like people seeing real forms in cumulus clouds on a sunny day.

raywest

Question: I know one of the reasons Anakin slaughtered the younglings at the Jedi Temple is because he knew it would add to his power, but is there any other reason why?

Answer: He was instructed to eliminate all Jedi. Since the younglings were force sensitive and training to become Jedi, they were eliminated as well.

oldbaldyone

Question: Why did Joan Collins character let herself get beaten up by her ex husband's second wife? She surely could've used this to get her arrested for assault.

Rob245

Answer: Alexis instigated the fights, by lying cheating and mouthing off. Plus the publicity of an arrest or trial was no doubt unappealing.

Question: Why shut down their game system for only two days out of the week? Why not let it be on for only the weekends as they fix the world?

Rob245

Answer: Why not shut off TV or the internet so we can can concentrate on real world problems in our own universe? The game system is pretty much the only source of entertainment and joy for most of the world's population, and the kids don't want to take it away.

Brian Katcher

Answer: Not to mention that kids use the OASIS to go to school.

LorgSkyegon

Question: Why do Chris and her friends bully Carrie? She's never done anything to them and I've read the book which also provides no answers.

Rob245

Answer: Bullying doesn't have anything to do with whether or not someone did anything to someone else. Bullies zero in on people they know are emotionally weaker and less able to defend themselves. Carrie was extremely shy, awkward, naive, etc. These are traits that bullies tend to exploit for their own amusement and to make themselves feel superior.

raywest

Question: In the office when Buddy is quitting, the windows in his office show a large fire outside. What was that?

Question: If there was no Beatles, where did the toy yellow submarine come from?

Answer: Believe it or not, the Beatles did not invent the idea that a submarine could be yellow, and yellow toy submarines were sold for children to play with.

Answer: It is just a toy submarine molded or repainted in yellow. Only the 'stalker' fans know the reference to the Beatles song.

Answer: I think it was so those 2 people that knew of the Beatles could prove they knew the Beatles song, since presumably that was a song Jack forgot about.

Answer: None of these answers explain why it's shaped the same as the submarine from "yellow submarine." It's a specific shape that didn't exist before the Beatles, so shouldn't exist.

Answer: NYPD police pin.

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