Answered 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 did Whitney hide the key to his house that poorly (in the flowerpot on the porch)?

Answer: Many people do this-hide a house key in an outside place that they think is secure when in fact, most burglars would know to look there.

raywest

Question: I have a problem with the scene where Chuck makes a fire by rubbing sticks. While it is possible to make a fire by the rubbing sticks, don't you need to run the stick against bamboo for the trick to work?

Answer: The point of the scene is that he has no idea what he's doing.

Chuck is using the fire plough method. A very established method. This and the fire saw method probably resulted in early sailors bringing back stories of."natives rubbing sticks together" to create fire.

Answer: You can use any wood (although technically bamboo is a grass and not wood), it just should be very dry wood. He's employing the fire trench method where the friction is created by rubbing one stick at a 45° angle against a trench in a wood plank (his trench looks to have been created because the plank was slit).

Bishop73

Actually, I looked up how to make a fire by rubbing sticks because asking this question, and I misread it as suggesting using bamboo. It was actually suggesting using coconut wood.

Question: Did Ralph know Turbo when the "Turbo Time" game was in the arcade? Did Turbo know Ralph at that time?

Answer: While they never show that Ralph and turbo actually knew one another there are some clues in the movie to at least allude to the fact that they knew of each other. Ralph knows what going turbo means when asked at the beginning of the movie in the bad guy anon group and turbo (as king candy) has a line when he first sees Ralph that goes, "Milk my duds! You're Wreck-it-Ralph" meaning he knew him at least by name.

oddy knocky

Question: After they escape the safe house, Weston calls the CIA and says "no chance of an SDR, I've picked up a tail." What does SDR stand for?

The_Iceman

Answer: "Surveillance Detection Route." It's what you do when you think you're being followed (drive a specific route to detect if you're under surveillance or not). Weston says "I think I might have picked up a tail", so he was unsure if he was actually being followed or not, but had no time to try and determine if he actually is being tailed or not.

Bishop73

Question: A bit puzzled as to why Ash tried to kill Ripley by stuffing a rolled up magazine in her mouth when he could have strangled her in seconds.

Answer: I believe this was another subtle way for the film to depict that Ash was malfunctioning or at least not fully processing correctly and having problems. It was showing a brutal savagery to his motions as well as an artistic choice for the moment.

Quantom X

Answer: This is just one possibility among many, but Ridley Scott suggested Ash may have been developing latent sexuality that he was not equipped to handle through his programming, and perhaps not physically either; his use of a rolled-up magazine may have come about because he was not constructed with a penis (I had to stop myself from making a pun about "hardware").

TonyPH

I always wondered about this. It always struck me as a little Freudian. Also, notice the picture of the topless lady on the wall - an interesting detail when combined with the phallic paper.

Jack Vaughan

Question: If Remus is a tidally locked planet, and the bright side is too hot to live on, wouldn't the dark side be too cold to live on?

Answer: On the surface, yes. But if I recall, the Remans live underground. Below a certain depth from the surface, the outside temperature would not affect living environments underground and they would pretty much have one single temperature through out their whole civilization. Like how here on Earth, regardless of what part of the planet you are on, once you reach a certain depth, the temperature below the surface is usually a constant 65° globally until you start getting too deep.

Quantom X

Wouldn't it make more sense to live on the terminator sides instead?

If their species is adapt to that. Like with how Ron Pearlman is, the Remans appear to be very bat like in how they 'evolved'. The ideal conditions for them is probably underground in cooler, moist temperatures.

Quantom X

Question: Mark finds pathfinder, and takes it back to the hab, and recharges it. Wouldn't he have to repair it first? The rover is very old, and hasn't been used in decades.

Answer: Maybe some slight repairs sure, but it wouldn't have been nearly as damaged as you would think. Unlike on Earth, the Martian atmosphere lacks enough oxygen to cause corrosion or rust. And since the Pathfinder has been buried, it wouldn't have really taken much damage from weathering or light past that point. In other words, the conditions of Mars would have actually preserved it pretty well.

Quantom X

I am not asking whether or not he would have to repair the rover due to the effects of corrosion, or rust. I am asking whether or not he would to repair the rover due to the effects of aging.

What I said still stands for that. A lot of the issues with equipment aging is due to being exposed to the elements. Oxygen in the air oxidizing metals, sun light cracking plastics and rubber, the presence of bacteria and other microscopic life forms causing bio degradation, etc. Those are the main reasons why machinery and equipment here on Earth are subject to deteriorating with time and age. The environment the Pathfinder was in is a stark contrast and it was basically kept preserved like in a museum... so to speak. Yes, it's been up there for 2-3 decades. But the amount of aging it would have taken from that might only be equivalent to a couple years or so if it were here on Earth. The environment, and especially the air and exposure to sunlight, are the main contributors to the aging process of non living items. Being buried under the Martian soil for 30 years most protected it from any exposure to the elements that would cause aging.

Quantom X

But being buried in sand could damage it too though right, Given that it could allow sand to get inside the rover, and damage the electronics?

No. Dust storms are a part of life on Mars - any rover would be designed to withstand sand intrusion, or not be affected by it to any serious extent, otherwise they'd stop working. Spirit and Opportunity massively outlasted their original mission parameters despite frequent dust storms which would apply much more pressure than being buried.

Yeah basically what he said. They are designed to withstand the strong winds on Mars picking up dust and small rocks that hit it at a much harder force and pressure than just the weight of dirt on it buried.

Quantom X

Question: Who is the actress playing the flight attendant that listens to the guys in the bathroom with disgust?

Celldweller55

Answer: Lara Cox is not the flight attendant. "Cute Girl on Plane" was the 2nd girl to enter the scene and overhear the boys in the bathroom. I was unable to find who played the flight attendant and she may have just been a featured extra. I suspect Lara Cox is a member of S.A.G. and that's how she got a credited role and the other lady is not a member and was just hired as a background actor, which is why she's not credited (most extras are not credited).

Bishop73

Ah, good looking there. ^^ I was going by the best that I could find.

Quantom X

Answer: If I'm able to figure out who the correct person is by the IMDb listings, I think she's credited as Cute Girl On Plane, with the actress playing her being Lara Cox. That's the closest thing I could find in the IMDb listings to a flight attendant, as I don't think customs officer counts.

Quantom X

Question: When Charlie looks inside the toilet to see the mess Max made since he missed, why don't we see what's inside?

Answer: Because it's a kids movie that adults are supposed to be able to sit through as well. Seeing the horrific diarrhea mess would have too high a gross out value and be a turn off for the audience. It's better to leave it to the imagination than gross out your audience when that's not what you're wanting to do with the movie as a whole.

Quantom X

Question: What did the emperor mean when he said "only now at the end, do you understand?"

Answer: The Emperor firing lightning from his hands is a shocking development (no pun intended), an ability unlike any Luke had seen before and he was caught completely off-guard and defenseless against. One way to interpret the Emperor's words is "You fool, did you really think I just made that all up about how powerful the dark side is? Now look at you, I'm a feeble old man and I am literally going to effortlessly kill you with my fingertips!"

TonyPH

Answer: The Emperor meant that he had lured the Rebellion into a trap at Endor, and that Luke came to confront the Emperor believing that Vader ultimately would turn back to the light. The Emperor believed in that moment that he had won, that if Luke would not turn to the dark side then he would murder him and Vader would do nothing to stop him, and that Luke's optimism was misplaced. Of course he was wrong, the Rebellion was saved and Vader did turn, but the Emperor never thought it would happen in a million years.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: Towards the end of the movie, after he kidnaps her a second time, Christine originally has on her outfit from Don Juan but then has time to change into the white wedding dress. Why did she change? Did he make her change into that? I understand from like a movie point of view that it's a different song/act.

Answer: The Phantom forced her to change into the wedding dress shortly after he kidnapped her the second time. He intended to make Christine his "bride."

raywest

Answer: He could have overheard some discussion about it or observed Ivy and the others from a window as they headed to the woods.

raywest

Question: The first Robocop 2 attempt managed to commit suicide by shooting himself at where I assume the brain was located. Wasn't this a major oversight in design that the cyborg wasn't made out of hard/thick enough metal so it wouldn't be possible to kill it with a single shot?

Answer: It became apparent that the original Robocop was an extremely lucky one-off success, as the second-generation Robocop experiments were thwarted by incompatibilities that drove the human subjects quite mad. The second-generation Robocop experiments were, thus, probably not outfitted with bulletproof armor in the test stages, just in case they went crazy and had to be put down.

Charles Austin Miller

Question: The two failed RoboCop 2s wound and perhaps killed a person. Weren't they programmed with the prime directives?

Answer: They were programmed with the prime directives but Alex Murphy was a special case. His strong moral fiber and dedication to his profession allowed him to remain sane and accept the directives. The failed specimens never accepted their programming.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: When his dog got infected, why didn't the doc use the same cure that worked on the mouse/rat to cure her, or at least try? Did I just miss him doing it? I would think he'd try anything to cure his dog before killing her to keep her from suffering. I know the cure didn't work on humans in the first trial, but it did work on an animal. So...?

Answer: He gave the dog the cure and it seemed to work at first but quickly the dog began to turn. Neville was forced to euthanize the dog as a result. The cure wasn't perfected until later in the movie.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: Why did Dom and Brian decided to double cross the train heist in the first place? They are already on the run, what differences does it make when they found out the cars they're robbing has been seized by the DEA? Isn't it easier to just complete the job and get the money after the heist is done?

Answer: Dom decided on the double cross when he realised the DEA had seized the cars and Zizi was only interested in one car. It turned out to be a much more complicated job than simply stealing three cars from a collector, they were actually retrieving seized property from the United States government. The crew was hired under false pretenses and he didn't trust his employer to follow through on his end of the deal. Stealing the GT40 was leverage to make sure he and his crew were properly paid for putting their necks on the line and exposing them to even more risk.

BaconIsMyBFF

Also, he probably had a gut feeling that like you said, the job was not what they thought and didn't trust what Zizi and his crew might do to them after the heist.

Question: Why did they take Cody off the mission just because he was defending himself from some bullies? Also, why did Cody lie to Natalie by saying he was taken off the mission because he became too close to her?

THE GAMER NEXT DOOR

Answer: The fight with the bullies made the school paper and drew unwanted attention to Cody which could compromise his mission. Cody lied to Natalie to try and impress her.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: There's a scene toward the end of the movie where Adam sits down with his therapist (Katie). The camera shows a full frontal body shot of Adam as he's sitting down. His pants are wet. It looks like he urinated in his pants. But his wet pants aren't addressed. I don't think I missed anything. Or did I?

iXero

Answer: His pants only look wet because of the lighting. The color of the pants and the shadows make it look that way but they aren't really wet.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: How did Ethan know the location of the meeting between McCloy and Ambrose on that island?

Answer: Luther brings up the schematics of the Bare Island facility when they are looking up the plans for Biocyte's headquarters. Also remember that Ethan and his team abducted then released McCloy earlier on to find out about the cure, so they could have copied and analysed the contents of his briefcase such as his diary and phone to pinpoint the meeting with Ambrose.

Sierra1

Question: Who does Ethan call from the train car? Is it Bogdan? Is it Max? "The Fog" (the arms dealer)? I don't understand how Bogdan, who we last saw completely confused about his friend "Sergei", is now suddenly Ethan's hot secret agent contact. When did that happen? The eventual meeting in Dubai suggests that Bogdan liaised between Ethan and The Fog, suggesting that it was Bogdan who Ethan was on the phone with. How does Max's former henchmen with the long blond hair fit into this? Why is he working for The Fog now and why would they blue ball us that hard? Was Vanessa Redgrave (Max) at one point supposed to appear in the film?

Answer: Ethan called Bogdan, who would have been debriefed (and given a phone) by the IMF sweeper crew whose van they transfer him to. The henchman played by Andreas Wisniewski just works for whichever arms dealer will pay him, so Max and later The Fog. If you recognised him, you were probably supposed to think Max would be the contact, so it was just a bit of an easter egg and subtle gag by the filmmakers, but there has been speculation that Redgrave was supposed to reprise the role.

Sierra1

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