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: Is it actually even remotely possible that the president would just happen to wander through while a tour is taking place?

The_Iceman

Chosen answer: These days it would be highly unlikely due to stringent security measures. However, I knew someone who saw President Kennedy in the hallway while they were on a White House tour.

raywest

Answer: President Trump did this on several occasions. Granted he was flanked by secret service the whole time while doing it, but yes it's possible.

Question: Q is a brilliant genius that uses the best technology for the equipment. Why does he use these ugly old fashioned switches and markings in the car?

Answer: He may simply prefer incorporating a traditional design with the new technology.

raywest

Simpler and less prone to failure and hacking, perhaps?

Answer: The car was a prototype, not yet completed.

tsahi

Question: In BTTF 1 when the family are around the dinner table, Marty is drinking Diet Pepsi, his mother is drinking vodka and his sister has some other soft drink. Who is drinking the Bud Light in front of these 3? It's too far away from his brother and George.

Answer: Considering that Lorraine was alcoholic, the beer was likely hers as well. It is what is known as a "beer chaser."

raywest

Answer: Check the scene again, it is Linda's can. George has a glass of milk, Dave has a Pepsi can and a glass, Marty drinks Pepsi from a can, Lorraine drinks vodka and Linda drinks light beer from a glass. Since she's Marty's older sister she is of legal drinking age.

Question: Would it be possible that the coin that Borden gave to the kid is the same prop used in "The Dark Knight" (Two Face/Harvey Dent Coin)? I mean, Cristopher Nolan is the director of both movies, so it could be possible.

Answer: No, the coins are completely distinct from one another. If you look, the coin in The Prestige has a Queen Victoria on its faces making it appropriate for the setting of Victorian England. Meanwhile the coin of The Dark Knight is labeled with the word Liberty, marking it as an American coin, and the year 1922, which is well after The Prestige takes place.

Question: Is there really a punch line to the "naked lady walks into a bar" joke while Bender is crawling through the ceiling?

Macalou

Chosen answer: The joke goes like this: A naked blonde walks into a bar with a poodle under one arm and a salami under the other. She slams the poodle down on the table and the bartender says "so you won't be needing a drink?" The blonde replies "I will after what just happened! I was about to make love when my boyfriend said 'I'm gonna pound my favourite bitch with my giant sausage' so I grabbed them both and ran out".

Question: When Sirius is a dog dragging Ron down the hole, why didn't the Whomping Willow attack him? And when they're leaving the hole (Sirius, Ron, Hermione, and Harry) the Whomping Willow stays still. Why is that?

Alex Lynn Cline

Chosen answer: In the books, the Whomping Willow had a knot on its trunk that, when pressed, froze the tree. In the movie, the tree is stilled by using the "Immobilus" spell. When Sirius, in his dog form, pulls Ron into the opening at the base of the Whomping Willow, he does it fast enough that the tree has not responded yet to someone being there. It starts whomping moments later just as Harry and Hermione arrive. Later, when Lupin arrived, he stopped the tree by casting Immobilus. (Harry and Hermione watch him doing this when they go back in time.) The spell was still effect when everyone left the Shrieking Shack.

raywest

Question: I know that when books are made into movies, things are changed, left out, or added. However, I can't think of any reason why the scene with Harry and Hermione dancing would have been created. It seems a bit pointless. Has anyone from the crew commented on it?

Answer: I believe it was the director or one of the producers who commented on it in the DVD commentary. The scene was to show their close bond and a brief moment of what might possibly have been between Harry and Hermione but it never went beyond that. The films have depicted their relationship a bit differently from what it was in the books. In the novels they were like the siblings that neither had ever had. The movies made Harry and Hermione to be more romantically compatible than Ron and Hermione were.

raywest

I've Got You Under My Skin - S1-E2

Question: What is the song that plays immediately after the opening credits/theme, over the shots of San Fransisco? [At least in the version on Netflix in the UK - other versions seem to have "Torn" by Natalie Imbruglia]. The lyrics go something like this: "We hope and we pray for a break, that the weather around us might change, that hope just fell asleep in the hole where burdens keep pulling and pressing the weight of the problems in life that we face, but faith's so incomplete."

Answer: I get the impression that it is a studio band doing a "sound-alike" piece of music that may not have ever been released but was done just for the show. I'm not sure it has a title or can be found anywhere outside of the episode.

Question: This might be an irrelevant question, because I can't remember if this happened in the movie or not, but in the book the Phantom asks Madame Giry for a foot stool - why did he want one?

MorganV20

Chosen answer: The Phantom's frequent request for a footstool in box 5, which he demanded be left empty - not sold to patrons, does come from the book (chapter 4, pages 11-14), and is not mentioned in the movie. It's never made quite clear precisely the purpose of the footstool. According to Mme. Giry, "I brought the footstool. Of course, it wasn't for himself he wanted it, but for his lady! But I never heard her nor saw her." She did find evidence of her, however. One night, a lady's fan was left behind. She also mentioned that the Phantom would leave a gratuity for her services. There is never a clear identity given of "his lady." I presume it may have been used for a young Christine Daae to stand on, so she could better see over the rail of the box to the Opera on stage below when Erik brought her. But if that's true, it is still unclear why nobody ever saw her, and why she had never seen the Phantom.

Michael Albert

Question: What did the German kid say in the ambulance?

Answer: It was Duddits who said "Watch out from Mr Gray" supposed to be in English but sounds like German.

Chosen answer: Constantine feared its power in the wrong hands. He considers himself the wrong hands. The power of the spear combined with his own powers would be very dangerous indeed, so he can't know where the spear is.

lionhead

Question: This question is about the book and movie. Why does Draco make an offer of friendship to Harry? His parents are on Voldemort's side. His father and his aunt are Death Eaters. Surely he considers Harry to be an enemy. If Harry had actually decided to join him, his family would have been very displeased. They would also suffer consequences if Voldemort returned and heard that Draco was friends with Harry.

Answer: Draco, still a child when he met Harry, would not yet fully comprehend his family's involvement as Death Eaters or Harry's specific connection to the Dark Lord. His father, Lucius, rarely shared important information with his son. Draco was also the type who would ingratiate himself to someone famous for his own benefit. Draco's cultivating a bogus friendship with Harry could actually have been advantageous to the Malfoys by gaining his trust and giving them closer access to Harry for Voldemort's purposes. The old adage, "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer," would certainly apply here.

raywest

One other possible reason, I think, it was suggested elsewhere, that the Malfoys did not believe that Voldemort would return, and thought that if Harry had defeated him then Harry must be a very powerful wizard and therefore they wanted to be his friend.

This indeed. This was cut from the movies (it's in one deleted CoS scene), but some people including the Malfoys wondered if Harry "defeated" Voledmort because he was another powerful, dark wizard Voldemort didn't want as a competition. That would make him very appealing to the Malfoys before it is confirmed otherwise. Especially since no-one aside from a few people knew Voldemort would ever come back.

Harry was only a baby when he "defeated" Voldemort though. Why would anyone think he was a powerful dark wizard and competition to Voldemort? I get that they might think Harry has some sort of hidden ability that caused him to vanquish Voldemort, but not that being the reason Voldemort tried to kill him. Everyone knew who Harry's parents were, and that's why he was a target.

lionhead

Question: When the Maitlands return to their home after it's been altered by the new owners, Juno tells the Maitlands that they should be thankful that they didn't die in Italy. What did she mean by that?

zendaddy621

Answer: Italy is the center of the Roman Catholic Church, which includes exorcisms as a real-life ritual. Presumably, ghosts in Italy are at greater risk of encountering trouble in Italy because of this reason.

Answer: It's in reference / added on to her previous statement about being quiet/peaceful: Italy, presumably, has a louder, more raucous group of the living.

Answer: Italy, is a trendsetter. There would be constant art-deco changes that conflict with the Maitland's personal taste. In comparison, the Deets' are pretty tamed.

MasterOfAll

Chosen answer: When the Maitlands first meet their case worker, Juno, they tell her how miffed they are with the new family that has moved into their home. Juno glances around the peaceful house and remarks, "Things seem quiet here. You should thank God you didn't die in Italy." The case worker's name, "Juno," is a traditional Italian girl's name; and we see (when she smokes a cigarette) that Juno's throat has been slashed open from side to side, implying that she died a very violent and grisly death. Based on her personal experience (probably being murdered in Italy), Juno is commenting that the Maitlands could have died a far worse death under far more horrific circumstances, and that they really have little reason to complain.

Charles Austin Miller

I'm Italian: there's literally not a single female being, girl or woman, who has (had or have) this name in this country. Let alone being "traditional." "J" is not even in our original alphabet, go figure. I also think it's about us Italians being noisy and the place being quiet, that's all.

You may be Italian, but you're not informed. While the formal Italian alphabet (derived of Latin) does not have a "J" character, the letter "J' is used in modern Italian writing every day. "Juno," in your limited world, would be spelled "Diuno," who was a Roman goddess (queen of the heavens). As this pertains to Beetlejuice, she is a Roman goddess in charge of organizing.

Charles Austin Miller

Juno slashed her own throat. It says earlier in the movie that people who commit suicide become civil servants, which is what Juno is as their case worker. The beauty queen at the desk implies the same when she talks about what happens to people when they die. She says "if I knew then what I know now, I wouldn't have had my little accident" holding up her slit wrists, implying that she wouldn't have committed suicide if she knew she'd become a civil servant (as a desk girl).

It's never stated or established that Juno committed suicide.

Charles Austin Miller

I really think she was supposed to have had a tracheotomy due to her smoking.

Brian Katcher

Answer: To my eye, she resembles a pre-pubescent Barney-like dinosaur, with inexplicable antennae and a case of pink-hued vitiligo. However, as her name implies, she is actually a unique fabrication of the program creators, and reflects no actual animal. The series uses the word "Uniqua" as both the character's name, and the designation for her species.

Michael Albert

Answer: Booth proposes to her and she tells him that she is not the marrying kind. She moves out of the apartment and they break up.

Question: This question is more of an overall question for the series. In Half-blood Prince Tom Riddle asks professor Slughorn if it is possible to create 7 horcruxes. In the movie, once the locket is destroyed, Ron says to Harry "3 more to go". If my count is correct, they destroyed the diary, Dumbledore destroyed the ring, and now the locket. That would leave the goblet, the diadem, and Nagini. In total there are only 6, and at this point, neither Harry nor Voldemort know that Harry is the 7th. So basically the question is, if Harry knew that Voldemort Planned on making 7 horcruxes, why do they only search for 6? Is it possible that I am completely overlooking a major plot detail?

Shane Carlson

Chosen answer: Voldemort wanted to divide his soul into seven pieces by making six Horcruxes and leaving one soul shard inside his body. He made six Horcruxes using Tom Riddle's diary, Marvolo Gaunt's Ring, Helga Hufflepuff's cup, Salazar Slytherin's locket, Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem, and Nagini. Harry Potter was also a Horcrux, but that was never Voldemort's intention. He accidentally (and unknowingly) created a seventh Horcrux when he attempted to kill baby Harry. That meant there were actually eight soul shards in all: the six horcruxes that Voldemort intentionally made, the accidental one he created that was Harry's scar, and the soul shard left inside Voldemort's body.

raywest

Answer: They never knew about the seventh as they never heard what it was. They thought he just didn't make it.

Question: In the end as Rose attempts to reach the whistle on one of the dead passengers, why does she detach Jack's arm from the door. If I recall, you can see that ice was keeping his right hand connected to the door. Why didn't she just say her goodbyes and leave him there, than surely his body would have been recovered and she could even perhaps visit his grave. Why does she remove his hand and drop him into the ocean?

Answer: Jack's arm wasn't actually attached to the door. His hand and Rose's hand were frozen in a grasp. In order to swim to the dead officer to extract the whistle from his mouth, Rose had to pry her hand and Jack's hand apart. She releases him to the water, promising to "never let go" [of life] as she, ironically, lets go [of Jack]. Had she not done so, she never could have saved herself swimming with Jack's dead body in tow.

Michael Albert

Answer: While the kick might not have killed Daniel, who's to say that the beating would have stopped there? Johnny told Bobby that he'd decide when he'd had enough. Johnny was extremely mad, and might have gone really far. Even if he didn't, most of his friends were on the same page, so they might have joined in beating him. If Miyagi hadn't intervened, Daniel very well could have been killed.

dewinela

Chosen answer: Very unlikely.

Question: How come Sadness was the only one who could change the emotion of the memory orb? Don't we sometimes look back at things we thought we were scared of or sad about, and laugh at them? How come the other emotions can't change them the way Sadness can?

Answer: Sadness can change the memories because of Riley's current situation: she has left the home she loved to move to a new city. This makes her happy memories more susceptible to being changed to sad memories. As she remembers things that used to make her happy they now make her sad because she hasn't accepted her new house as home yet. Presumably under the right circumstances the other emotions could do the same thing, just not all the time.

Question: Chapter 24: Draco tells Moaning Myrtle that "he", meaning Voldemort, says he will kill Draco if Draco does not "do it soon" (kill Dumbledore). When could Voldemort have said this to him? He is at Hogwarts and Voldemort will not dare enter the place while Dumbledore is still there.

Answer: Voldemort assigned this task to Draco before the new Hogwart's school year started. He could then communicate with Draco using Legilimancy (speaking to him telepathically) or by way of his parents. The Dark Lord actually intended for Draco to fail so he could kill him as a means to punish Lucius Malfoy for his failure to retrieve the prophecy at the Ministry of Magic. He also intended on killing Lucius.

raywest

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