Answered questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: Surely the rest of the Mafia would seek revenge on Corleone for the death of Don Fanucci, right?

Rob245

Answer: Not really. It's more fully explained in a scene from the novel that was filmed but ultimately cut: Vito witnesses Fanucci get attacked by two street youths, who slit his throat from ear to ear (he survives, but with a scar). No one comes to Fanucci's aid and the youths are not hunted down, and Vito deduces that Fanucci is not well-connected at all, as if he was really a Mafia Don, no-one would dare attack him so publicly. This, combined with Fanucci's threat to report Vito and his friends to the police (something no mafioso would ever do, if they had real power), convinces Vito that Fanucci can be dealt with without retribution, and he is correct.

Question: Why did the ROARs congratulate Sully and invite him to join them after seemingly losing the Scare Games to Oozma Kappa?

quinnnmallory

Answer: They said he could rejoin the fraternity as long as he proved he could be a great scarer, so his victory showed that he was good enough for them.

Answer: Paulie believed that he shouldn't have to ask Rocky for a job. In Paulie's mind, Rocky should have known that Paulie was struggling and offer him a job, and not wait for Paulie to ask for help, because that would be humiliating. Paulie believes Rocky and Adrian owe him because their success wouldn't have happened without Paulie helping them get together. Rocky believed that Paulie is a grown man, and his financial and emotional problems are his own making and if he needed help he should have been a man and asked for it. In Rocky's mind, offering a job to Paulie would have been like giving him a handout, because he doesn't have any real experience working with a fighter at Rocky's superstar level.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: It was an idiotic diet fad in the mid to late eighties.

Tutoring Reese - S2-E19

Question: This question could be for many American TV shows not just this one, but are American schools so strict about cheating on one single test? Because here in Europe if you are caught cheating you will most of the time get an "F" for that test, plus "official warning", and you need like 3 or 4 warnings like that to be Kicked Out of school. But, I saw on many American TV shows situations when a character cheated once and he was like "they are gonna kick me from school" (one example, Family Matters when Steve helped Edward during the test and he was almost expelled).

Feather

Answer: They used to do this. Cheating was a violation of the honor code and you would get a mandatory suspension. American schools vary a ton from place to place. During the late 90s and early 2000s they were incredibly strict about a lot of things. The rules have changed because of a lot of scandals in the troubled teen industry. After the school shootings in the early 90s there was a huge moral panic about schools not being strict enough and millennials like the kids in this show paid for it.

Chosen answer: I work in a student conduct office. Students are not expelled after one academic misconduct incident (there are rare exceptions in higher academia). A first time offense usually results in a "0" grade on the test or assignment in addition to a sanction of a warning or probation. Repeated offenses can lead to being suspended for a period of time and even permanently dismissed. Students often cheat or commit plagiarism because they are struggling in school. The goal is to help students get the help and resources they need. Students who are caught committing a misconduct often tend to panic and believe the worst will happen to them. TV shows tend to exaggerate the circumstances for dramatic or comedic effect.

raywest

Question: Is Goldeneye a reboot? From what I remember, there's no clear evidence that it is a reboot like Casino Royale, but there's also no evidence that it's in the same universe as the previous movies. Licence to Kill is, because Tracy's death is mentioned, and it's clear that Bond and Felix have been close friends for decades.

MikeH

Answer: It's definitely not meant as a reboot. While there may not be any explicit references to earlier Bond films, plenty of them lack those. It may feel like a reboot because, as the first Bond film made after the end of the USSR, it had to establish Bond's place in a post-Cold War world; hence his terse exchange with the new M (Judi Dench) early in the film about how he is a "relic", and the fact that this story has its origins in the Cold War and many of its villains are ex-Soviet officials and such. It's more a transitional film in the series than a reboot.

Answer: In season 5, episode 17 (Polly in the Middle), Malcolm complains to Stevie about Dewey believing he is having a 'lucky shirt', to which Stevie replies "you're asking me about luck?"

Question: A couple of times, Luke mentions Vader not being able to kill/destroy him "before." What is he talking about? At Cloud City, Vader wanted to freeze him in carbonite, not kill him. He even tested the process on Han Solo first.

Answer: The emperor wanted Vader to kill Luke outright, but Vader suggested instead to turn him and only kill him if necessary. He promises the Emperor that "He will join us, or die." Luke is saying that during their fight on Cloud City, especially near the end, he could sense Vader's hesitation to kill him. Vader even says to Luke at two points "Don't make me destroy you" and "Don't let yourself be destroyed as Obi-Wan did."

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: Are there any ways Clark could have saved his father from the tornado without the need for superspeed and thus risk his secret getting out before the time was right?

Answer: Here's how I've always visualised it. Jonathan lets Clark help. While both are running to the truck, Jonathan tells Clark that when they get there, Clark would pretend to struggle with opening the door. After "pulling" three or four times, Clark finally gets the door open, they grab the dog and run back to the shelter. By doing this, Jonathan would have survived.

Question: What does Luke think happened to his mother before he meets Obi-Wan and learns that his father was a Jedi? Has this been mentioned anywhere?

Answer: It's never revealed in the original movies what Luke thought about his mother's demise. His foster aunt and uncle probably never knew her identity, and Obi-Wan likely gave little information other than Luke's name. They apparently learned at some point that Vader was the father. Lars and Beru probably told Luke that his mother died from natural causes shortly after his birth.

raywest

According to the recent series about Obi-Wan, Obi-Wan didn't even know, right away, that Anakin became Darth Vader. He thinks that he left Anakin to die after their fight on Mustafar, and Vader is literally a separate person. Only ten years later does he find out that Anakin became Vader. If you think this change is weird and unnecessary, you're not the only one.

It is rather weird, though it kind of explains why Obi-Wan, believing Anakin was dead, would reveal Luke's real name to Lars and Beru. Even so, it would have been wiser to use a false surname. Of course, it also makes little sense that Obi-Wan, after learning about Vader, wouldn't tell Lars and Beru to change Luke's last name to protect him and themselves. It sounds like a typical plot point revision after people notice inconsistencies in the storyline.

raywest

Good point. But I thought Force users could sense when someone close to them dies. Anakin could feel his mother's pain, and later, Vader says he felt that Padme was still alive.

Just more plot inconsistencies, though Obi-Wan, the one who inflicted the pain, would have been sensing as well as witnessing Anakin's agony, leading to him assume Anakin would quickly die. He probably dismissed any later Force disturbances he felt regarding Anakin.

raywest

Question: When Stanley first met up with Charlie and their dates at the Coco Bongo, why did the admission guy refuse to let him inside? The guy knows Charlie (they greet each other), and he allowed the two women to follow Charlie inside, so why not Stanley?

Answer: Because Stanley didn't appear to be part of the group, as Stanley doesn't immediately follow them. The bouncer, at least, didn't see it that way. Charlie also doesn't say anything to the bouncer about Stanley before he himself goes through.

lionhead

Question: When Seth teleports a plate with a piece of steak on it, why doesn't the steak merge with the plate?

Answer: Short answer, because the plate doesn't have DNA. Initially the pod was making synthetic versions of what was being teleported, which is why it turned the baboon inside out and made the steak taste funny but inanimate objects appeared OK. It was only later, after reprogramming, that the pods could basically identify tissue to teleport living organisms. However, with the fly present, the pod's programming couldn't distinguish there were two separate living organisms and ended up combining them. It didn't happen with the plate because the pod recognized it as a separate object.

Bishop73

Answer: Something non-biological can't merge with something biological.

lionhead

Except that later on, a portion of the telepod merges with the Brundlefly.

Jukka Nurmi

Question: Why did the Princess not have money with her at the market? She could easily disguise herself as a lower-class person who has some amount of money with her, like the other shoppers.

Answer: Despite being a princess, Jasmine likely did not have access to money. Royals are known to never carry cash on their persons. Everything in Jasmine's life is controlled, and whatever she needs or wants is provided. She is young, naive, and has been so pampered and sheltered from the real world that she'd probably never consider how currency works.

raywest

Question: Sidious/Palpatine killed three of the Jedi who came to confront him in his office, fought Mace Windu until Anakin arrived, and later, Yoda could not defeat him. Considering this, why is Luke such a big threat to him years later?

Answer: Probably because Luke is Vader's son. Palpatine knows it creates complications and a conflict of conscience and loyalty with Vader, who becomes torn between serving the Emperor and his underlying feelings for Luke. Despite Vader's assurance that Luke will join them or die, Palpatine remains wary.

raywest

Question: I once read something about a chimpanzee being in this movie somewhere. No joke. Has anyone else read or heard this?

Answer: This is likely what you are referring to: When the Emperor first appeared in The Empire Strikes Back, he was portrayed by Marjorie Eaton under heavy makeup. Chimpanzee eyes were superimposed into darkened eye sockets during post-production. Https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palpatine#:~:text=over%20military%20force.-, Portrayal, was%20voiced%20by%20Clive%20Revill.

ctown28

Question: Why does Director Jacobs authorize Secret Service protection for Speaker Trumbull when he becomes Acting President when the Speaker of the House already has a protection detail? Or, does the Speaker of the House normally not have any? Was that just for a dramatic moment in the film to show that, even in a crisis, things still happen by arrangement?

Answer: Tip O'Neill didn't have a security detail.

Question: Do Presidents make last-minute trips to other locations in the world? Or would that not be possible due to a safety concern? In reality, would somebody else attend the funeral in the President's place?

Answer: I worked security in the 1990s, in Houston, Tx, when Clinton was in office. I was working the George R. Brown convention center. One day I went to get my paycheck, when I spotted several men surrounding the building. I asked if there was an event inside the building, they said they were Secret Service agents and there was a possibility that the President may make a visit. I asked, really. They said it was a possibility, he might stop by but could change his mind at the drop of a hat. Those men waited for nearly ten hours all day and in the end, Clinton didn't come.

Answer: I believe that, because ensuring the president's safety is so logistically difficult, it would be the Secretary of State, our highest-ranking diplomat, attending in his place.

Cubs Fan

Question: Why did Paul insist on taking the van rather than getting in the Humvees with everyone else? When Harry stops by the motel later to pick up ELF, we see that most if not all the equipment got left behind. We also see behind Paul a number of times whilst he's driving, and the van looks empty so it's not like it had all their gear in it.

Answer: Maybe he liked his van very much. Maybe he purchased it for his own money and it was expensive.

Answer: Several reasons. Hawthorne was reluctant to accept the role, but thought the story had some merits and hoped the movie would help him professionally. The script was constantly being revised during filming, and he found the overall production unpleasant. Hawthorne didn't directly clash with Stallone or Snipes but their enormous egos and being constantly late, often keeping cast and crew waiting, was irritating. Stallone and Snipes were self-involved and showed little interest in Hawthorne, offending him. He also found Stallone's acting style annoying. Hawthorne also thought director Joel Silver was quirky.

raywest

Answer: He installed asbestos in schools. It's not said what he did after that, but he complained about all his work being undone.

Captain Defenestrator

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