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 didn't Dumbledore let Harry, and the others on their side, know ahead of time that he had asked Snape to kill him? Then they would have known all along that they could trust Snape.

Answer: Because if they knew to trust Snape they would have behaved differently around him and that would have looked mighty suspicious to all the Death Eaters and Death Eaters' kids that know how much Harry and his allies hate Snape. It was imperative that Voldemort believe Snape was on his side. Besides, do you really think Harry would have been okay with that plan anyway?

Phixius

Question: Near the end of the film, the plane stuck on the ground is pressurised before it can move out of the way. Why is it pressurised if it's on the ground and not in the air?

kh1616

Chosen answer: Patroni isn't referring to the cabin pressure, he says to "pressurize the manifold" - part of the engine start procedure of a Boeing 707, which I believe involves a ground crew pumping gas (nitrogen?) from a cart into the intake manifold.

Sierra1

Pressurize - as in the manifold, to turn on bleed air from the APU - on board Auxiliary Power Unit - a small jet engine that provides electrical and pneumatic air to operate aircraft systems including starting engines.

Answer: It was just a succinct, aspirational and poetic way of saying, "I will go wherever you take me, as long as we're together, an it's anywhere away from my hopelessly bleak and loveless existence." It's one of a few references they make to being together, wherever they go (with apologies to "Gypsy"). They sing the ditty "Up We Go." They say, "you jump, I jump." It also provides kind of an interesting foreshadowing and counterpoint to where they end up, souls knit, spending eternity together at the bottom of the sea. Obviously, it isn't literal.

Michael Albert

Question: I understand that Frank is part of the manipulated dead and I also understand that he does not travel through time, but rather manipulates it as it happens. This leads me to ask, how was it possible for Frank to guide Donnie before Donnie kills him? Is this implying that the loop has happens over and over until Donnie gets it 'right' and sacrifices himself?

Answer: No, the timeline is not a loop. Frank's death is just bound to happen and he is supposed to make sure Donnie kills him, after accidentally killing the girl. That is the "trap" as they call it. To make sure that Donnie is forced to fix the universe and saves everyone.

Show generally

Question: 1) Why was the grounded Minnow moved from the shoreline to the lagoon in color seasons? With holes like it had in the sides, it should have sunk at sea! 2) A friend says he counts four people on the stern area in the color version as the Minnow puts to sea. I really cannot say for sure but is that a goof or a shadow or something else? 3) Is the third season music SLIGHTLY different from the season two? Some on Youtube claim it is. Only proof they show sounds like someone played with an audio equalizer / compressor and made it more pronounced.

Answer: 1) The answer to the moving of the Minnow probably has no profound significance except for aesthetic. They were re-doing the opening in color, and it looks like they had a different model of the Minnow and placed it in a different setting. This is more a "continuity error" than a decision of any import in the minds of the creators, I'm guessing. 2) I see five people on the stern. But even if my eyes are playing tricks on me, someone could have easily been below deck. 3) The music does have a somewhat different quality between season two and season three. The differences are subtle. I agree with you that it probably wasn't actually re-recorded, but instead, was just remastered a bit. Also note, for reasons unknown to me, in the season three opening, the pictures of Mary Ann and the Professor (rest in peace, Russell Johnson), are reversed, compared to season two.

Michael Albert

Question: Towards the end when the briefcase has been recovered and Hobbs asks what the reward should be, Dom replies "1327." What do these numbers refer to? Shaw's former hideout? Or an amnesty law code or something?

mNemesis

Chosen answer: It's the house number of Dom's old house in Los Angeles, from the first film. Hobbs says "name your price", so I guess Dom was asking him to buy his old house back (the gang are having a BBQ there in the next scene).

Sierra1

Answer: There was a time conflict. Weller was filming another movie (Naked Lunch) at the same time RoboCop 3 was scheduled for production.

raywest

Question: When Rene Russo and her team are breaking into his house there is music playing with a great beat. What is the music and artist, or was it made just for the movie?

Answer: Sadly, this track, known as either "Cleaning Service" or "Catherine's Break In" was only ever released on a VERY rare, expanded version of the score in 2001. Since then it has become extremely difficult to find.

Question: Can someone please help? When the killer shows up at Rhyme's place at the end, he explains to him why he did it and how Rhyme did him wrong, but no matter how many times I watch it, I don't understand what exactly happened and how Rhyme was to blame for it?

Heather Benton

Chosen answer: The killer used to be a forensic scientist for law enforcement (where or when is never stated). Rhymes testified in court that evidence had been falsified, leading to wrongful prosecutions, the killer was sent to prison for this, where "every day I was brutalised". The killer blamed Rhymes for this, so set out to prove he was better by giving him a series of clues that he (in theory) couldn't solve. It should also be pointed out that Rhymes never met the killer or knew what he looked like.

Answer: Easy. He could have got the guitar at any point in his life. As for keeping it in the attic? You're not going to throw out a £1000 guitar any time soon.

Ssiscool

Question: Why are the Phantom's footsteps walking distance when he runs to the statue? Also, when did he learn to climb so swiftly?

Answer: Not everyone runs in big strides. The phantom has also had most of his life to master climbing, sneaking, hiding, etc. To see and take what he wants from the theatre without being seen, in his youth he had little to do except explore and learn everything about the place and the fastest ways to get where he wants to go.

Purple_Girl

Chosen answer: The agent on the plane watching Indy was not Toht, and was played by ILM staffer Dennis Muren, although they look similar. The Nazis were spying on Indy but this doesn't mean they didn't know where the Ravenwoods' bar was.

Sierra1

Murder Among Friends - S12-E16

Question: I think most MSW episodes are wrapped up pretty nicely, however, there is a loose end in "Murder Among Friends" that is bothering me - why didn't Dyan take the script from Ricki's safe after she killed her? We know that safe was open when she killed Ricki and that the script inside named Carly as the one being written-off the show (not herself like Dyan wanted). She had no way of knowing that Gene would switch out the script (a good red herring) or that Leo would opt for a re-write anyway, so why leave it? We also know that Leo didn't want to let Dyan do the movie either, so killing Ricki alone wouldn't necessarily solve Dyan's problem. It doesn't seem plausible that she killed Ricki out of pure rage without caring whether or not it would even help her cause. Is there any explanation? It just bothers me that they never addressed why Dyan didn't take the script...after all, it WAS the McGuffin!

Question: Carol and Maddy are with Peggy Sue in her bedroom talking. A phantom voice says: "hey Peggy Sue" Someone please explain this unusual occurrence.

Answer: When Peggy Sue cusses, Maddy reprimands her by saying "hey Peggy Sue."

Question: During the film one of the officers was holding a bottle of Becks beer. Was the label on the bottle age/era appropriate?

Answer: The label is absolutely correct, but at this time Beck's Beer was only for export and not regularly available in Germany.

Answer: I compared a clip of the scene to a vintage postcard from 1940 which had a photo of a bottle of Beck's, and it looks completely accurate in the film as far as I can see regarding the label, foil on the neck and bottle shape of the 1940s.

Sierra1

Question: I am confused as to why the House Cup winner (Gryffindor) is named at the feast where Hagrid returns. Shortly after, there is a mention of "the rest of the final term" passing quickly. If school is still in session, couldn't the students' actions/behavior still change the total amounts of points?

Answer: No, the points are tallied and the cup is awarded by a specific time, which is the Leaving Feast. There is only a short period of time after the feast before the students go home for the summer. Anything a student might do during that time does not count against their House for that year. Any penalties or rewards given to a House after the feast could be carried over to the following year.

raywest

Question: What is the Tony Calvano inhaling from the glass that is on his desk?

Answer: He was doing a hot rail. If you heat up cocaine in a glass until it burns, you then inhale the smoke left behind.

Answer: My guess is ether... Not cocaine.

Question: What happened to the guy in the first trap? he killed the other man with the eyes sewed shut to get the key. It looked to me like he got the chain unlocked from his neck but he yelled and blood flowed from his mouth. Was he too late?

The_Iceman

Chosen answer: He wasn't too late. He was the guy supervising the Hoffman/Matthews trap.

Answer: He was barely in time; he was still unlocking the chain from his neck as it was being pulled into the winch, pulling his hands in with it, which made him scream in pain.

Question: I've been puzzling over this for decades: who smashes the mirrors in the music room? Is it Charlotte, in a drug-induced state - that would explain the marks on her arm, pretty bad ones, too - but she loves the house, she wouldn't hurt it? Or is it Drew, and they - he and Miriam - imply she did it, to make Charlotte think she's crazier than she already is? It can't be Miriam - she was in bed, asleep.

kh1616

Double Sting - S1-E13

Question: In this episode, Jessie, ticked off that he had to pay the boy's bail, says that the mortgage payment has to be made to Jason Higgins. I thought that J.D. Hogg held the mortgage to the Duke farm. Has my memory got a hole in it?

Answer: Hogg didn't own the farm and hold the mortgage until that episode. He says that he "bought aII Jason's hoIdings Iast week", but the Dukes didn't know about it and thought they still had to pay Higgins.

Sierra1

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