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: What was wrong with Rachel's sister Zelda? In the flashbacks it shows the older sister as having a twisted spine and being in bed. But what was wrong with her? Was she crippled?

Answer: In the original film, she has a condition called "spinal meningitis," which is an infection in the fluids and membranes around the spine and brain. The disease in real life can cause a range of effects including severe joint and back pain, weight loss, light sensitivity and even brain damage. The implication in both films seems to be that we're not really seeing the "real" Zelda, but more of a monstrous version of Zelda based on Rachel's memory as a child.

TedStixon

Question: At one point in the film, Joker says to his henchman Bob "You are my number one, and I..." I understand this is a callback to Carl Grissom saying almost the same thing to Jack Napier early in the film, but since he doesn't finish the sentence, what exactly did Joker mean by the "and I..." part?

Phaneron

Chosen answer: Actually he said, "you are my number one guy."

Question: Early in this movie while still in the USA, Gail says she can't support the research that the blood orchid flower can be used to renew youth for humans, which would make that flower the fountain of youth. Why can she not support the valid scientific research?

Athletic Jason

Answer: I interpreted it as "I can't support this claim the chemical will extend cell life" because she already said it was impossible. However, the way the line sounded when delivered off screen makes it seem like it was dubbed over different dialog. So someone may not have like what was initially said and had this in as a foreshadowing of her objections later in the film, or it was just a throw away line.

Bishop73

Nothing was stopping her from saying that before they left the United States so that is awful writing. She had no valid reason to think or expect that saying "I can't support this" would change the President and other persons minds after they saw a great presentation with images along with science research to substantiate the claim that the blood orchid flower could renew human youth like a fountain of youth. I assume by objections you mean she didn't want to continue to go through with the expedition after Ben was killed by a giant anaconda, also she gave some answer about evidence not being valid.

Athletic Jason

Question: With the military mere minutes away, why did the chopper guys find time to try kill Dom? He was no threat to them.

Answer: Sirius was attempting to break into the Gryffindor common room to find and kill Peter Pettigrew (Wormtail), who had been disguised as Ron's pet rat, Scabbers for the past twelve years.

raywest

Following on from this answer, when the Fat Lady would not give him access to the tower because he didn't have the password, Sirius (not Lupin) became angry and slashed the painting in an attempt to get her to open and allow him access. However, she still refused him access and then left the portrait, essentially sealing off the common room.

Ssiscool

Question: Why were the bad guys that had captured Ramsey driving so close to one another?

Answer: Highly skilled drivers who are working as a team to protect their hostage. Therefore driving in a tight unit offers more protection.

Ssiscool

Question: What does Ra's al Ghul say in a foreign language when he talks about invisbility?

Answer: He winked to show he had already thought of this happening. Hence his best.

Ssiscool

Answer: He was locked in an institution since he was 6. Contrary to popular belief, a lot of drivers only ACT like they're 6.

Question: What did the letters M E F that kept showing up on Claire's computer mean?

Answer: They are the initials of Madison Elizabeth Frank, the woman Norman was having an affair with and later killed.

raywest

Question: How did Hobbs know the drone was about to exit the tunnel?

Answer: He could hear it coming. The tunnel would amplify the sound of the drone making it very easy for someone to listen for when it was about to exit the tunnel.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: How exactly did Janet con Freddy and Lawrence?

Answer: She pretends to be a clueless, naive "mark" for them to con. They initially think she is a rich, spoiled heiress (the kind of mark Lawrence usually exploits), and make a bet as to which of them can extort $50,000 from her first. Freddy poses as a veteran in need of $50,000 treatment; Lawrence poses as the psychologist who charges a fee of $50,000 to treat him (Freddy). They later "discover" that Janet is in fact a poor girl who won a contest to go to Europe. This turns them against one another, as Lawrence wants to cancel the bet, since he does not take advantage of people who cannot afford to lose the money he takes. Janet later tells Lawrence that Freddy stole the $50,000 she raised for his treatment, at which point Lawrence, disgusted by Freddy's behaviour and rich enough to make it right, gives her $50,000 of his own to cover her loss. After Lawrence sends Janet away, Freddy arrives and it is revealed that she never gave him $50,000, and trapped him until she could tell her story to Lawrence. Only then do they realise that she is, in fact, The Jackal (another con artist whose name has been dropped throughout the story, and who Lawrence initially believes is Freddy's alias), and she conned them both for $50,000.

Question: What game was Taj playing on his cellphone?

Answer: Cards.

Question: At Han's funeral Roman says "I can't do more funerals. First Han..." What about Gisele? She died before Han. Didn't he count her as part of their family or what?

Answer: Roman says "I can't do no more funerals", then Tej says "First Han...now Hobbs is laid up. We're being hunted." Roman was referring to funerals for Vince, Giselle, and Han. Tej was remarking that Shaw attacked Han first, then Hobbs and the rest of the team are probably next.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: What caused Chuck's gum to swell?

Answer: He had a bad tooth that he had delayed getting fixed. He mentions it before leaving on the plane. An abscess then developed in his gums.

raywest

Answer: If you're talking about the pendant that's a long, thin rectangle; it's her name, "Electra", written in lowercase Greek letters. They used "chi" instead of "kappa" so that her name has a "c" in it instead of a "k." (epsilon lambda epsilon chi tau rho alpha).

Bishop73

Question: Spoilers: When Simon's corpse is discovered flayed apart and hanging, it looked like some of the organs suspended above him (possibly his lungs?) were still moving a bit. Was he still alive at that moment?

TedStixon

Answer: Yes, that is the impression that is given. He is still alive.

wizard_of_gore

How would they be able to keep him from bleeding to death? We see earlier in the film when they kill Josh that someone was wearing Mark's skin. That means they completely flayed him and then crudely reattached his skin in order to hang him from the ceiling later on.

Phaneron

Never mind, I see that I was confusing Simon with Mark. It looked like Mark hanging to me when Christian found Simon.

Phaneron

Question: I recently picked this film up on Blu-Ray, and I noticed a few small changes in the animation compared to the old VHS tape I had from the 90's. (Most noticeable being that a few bits in "I Just Can't Wait to be King" seemed entirely re-animated) When were these changes made? And has Disney made other similar changes in the Blu-Ray releases for their other films?

TedStixon

Answer: Where as he doesn't give exacts on when, but Nostalgia Critic actually pointed out some of these things in his recent review of the film. Https://youtu.be/KnyHqxxsD8g He talks about it around the 5 minute mark. But he really only mentions that there are differences between the VHS and Blu-Ray editions of the film. My best guess is these changes were made for remastering it to look better on Blu-Ray.

Quantom X

Question: Django sneaks back into Candyland at the end of the movie, but the only residents that show back up are Candie's closest people from the funeral. Did that mansion not just have a bunch of dudes capture Django in the shootout in the few scenes prior? Where are they now, or were those the men that Django killed in that cabin?

Answer: There were indeed a lot of people there for the shoot-out, and Django did kill many of them, but it's safe to assume that whoever was left alive was told to clear out of the mansion after the funeral, so that Candie's sister and close family could grieve in private.

Question: Presumably the only people on Asgard that are worthy of wielding Mjolnir are Thor and Odin. Why isn't Frigga worthy? And since Loki isn't worthy, shouldn't that have tipped off Odin that his son wasn't exactly noble, or would he just pass it off as Loki not being worthy because he is mischievous?

Phaneron

Answer: Worthiness is a tricky thing. Not being worthy doesn't mean you aren't a good, brave, honest, or sincere person. There may only be the tiniest flaw or doubt that can prevent you from moving Mjolnir. For example in Age of Ultron Bruce Banner, an intelligent, honest, sincere, and genuinely decent person is unable to move it. He simply lacks some aspect of being worthy.

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