Questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: The villain's whole plan was to force John Matrix to kill some foreign president by holding his daughter hostage. So why at the beginning were they killing members of his unit? That seemed rather pointless to me.

Gavin Jackson

Answer: They didn't know where Matrix lived. They were killing Matrix's old unit because they knew if they did General Kirby would make physical contact with Matrix to warn him. They simply followed Kirby to Matrix's home.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: To flush him out into the open. By killing his unit it will make it more likely he will want revenge and come out into the open making him a target.

Ssiscool

Question: Has anyone noticed what looks exactly like a Buddy Elf doll standing on the kitchen counter during the breakfast scene where Buddy is pouring syrup for the mom? If you pause when the camera pulls back to show Buddy pouring syrup and the back of the moms head, you'll see the elf doll on the right side of the scene (our right, Buddy's left) facing away from the camera. It's on the counter directly below the cabinet knobs; behind the back of a chair and in front of what looks like a radio that sits against the counter wall. Ideas? Looks just like a Buddy doll to me.

Answer: It might just be a regular elf doll that, coincidentally, is dressed in real elf clothes.

Answer: This was probably deliberately added to the scene. Movies often add in-jokes like this. I believe it was "HP and the Chamber of Secrets" that while Harry, Ron, and Hermione are in Diagon Alley, the entire Harry Potter book series can be seen on a shelf in the background. In "Raiders of The Lost Ark," there are a little C-3PO and R2D2 carved into the stone hieroglyphs in the Well of Souls. "Jurassic Park" openly displayed JP merchandise, the same merchandise that was sold in stores. Filmmakers love to add little "Easter eggs" like that for audiences to find.

raywest

Question: Why did the last three remaining crew members split up? Surely it would have made better sense to stay together as up until that time the alien had only attacked people when they were alone.

Answer: They felt like they didn't have enough time. Parker and Lambert stayed together to get coolant while Ripley was to prepare the shuttle and set the auto-destruct. They wanted to escape as soon as possible. Staying together would have, in their minds, lengthened the time they were on the ship with the alien.

BaconIsMyBFF

I would add to that the fact that Lambert and Parker were actually killed while still together. By splitting up, the alien could only attack one person or group at a time. This actually increased the chances for Ripley.

Garlonuss

Answer: Fair point but I don't think that the Alien would have attacked three people because when it moved in to kill Lambert it didn't know that Parker was behind it.

You're basing that on what you know about the alien from watching the films. The characters at this point have no real idea how the alien would behave. For all they know, it could start reproducing asexually and there could be six more of them on the ship.

BaconIsMyBFF

Don't understand what you mean, sorry.

You are saying that you believe the alien wouldn't attack three people together. That's because you've probably seen the films and have a pretty good understanding of the creature's biology and behavior. The characters in the film have no idea how it behaves or how it will behave the longer it stays alive. The biology of the alien is so different from anything they've seen and they want to get away from it as soon as they possibly can.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: After Ripley has set the ship to self destruct, she grabs Jones and hurries towards the shuttle. She then runs into the alien in the corridor, drops Jones and runs away and then tries to stop the self destruct system. Now she'd set the ship to self destruct, needed to get the hell out of there, the alien was in her way, why didn't she just blast it with her flamethrower? Ripley is not like Lambert, she's feisty and brave and I think Ripley would have done just that.

Answer: Ripley is, for the majority of this film, not "feisty and brave." She is written to be an intelligent, capable, but otherwise average person. She is for all intents and purposes an "everyman" character. She does not become the tenacious, bold heroine that defines her in popular culture until her last battle with the alien, and these character traits are solidified in the sequel. For most of the film, she is very much terrified of the alien and the prospect of fighting it head on is the furthest from her mind. At that moment in the corridor, her fight or flight response kicks in and she flees. All of this serves to make her fight against the alien in the shuttle more poignant, as she is forced to literally face her fears and defend herself. Note that while she is trying to get the alien to come out of its hiding place on the shuttle, she is soaked in nervous sweat and is singing a song to calm herself down. Would the Ripley of later films have blasted the alien to kingdom come? Of course. The Ripley in this film has yet to become the no-nonsense, composed heroine we remember at that point.

BaconIsMyBFF

Pre-Witched - S3-E17

Question: Every time one of the sisters kill Shadow there is a number in the background to count how many times he died. In the first two it's on a store front. The fourth time it was on a clock. Fifth on the calendar. Sixth on the table at the restaurant etc. I can't find a number for kill 3 or 9. Can anyone help me?

Answer: We don't see Prue kill Shadow her first time which would be number 3. However, in the scene after the second flashback we see the famous effect of the sisters being drawn together in the picture taken by Grams, this symbolizes the Power of Three and then Prue is the first sister to appear in the scene. It's hard to make out and I am not completely sure, but when they finally kill Shadow, the shirt Phoebe has on has a fictional soda pop on it, and I think the little graphic next to it is a 9 and then a cents symbol.

Question: Can the Djinn only give bad wishes according to his interpretation of them or does he just do it because he is pure evil and "enjoys" giving people exactly what they asked for, just not what they actually meant? For example could he, if he wanted, have given the shop assistant a lifetime of beauty without turning her into a mannequin?

The_Iceman

Answer: The Djinn is a demon, it only knows how to hurt people. The wish he offers a person is just a way for the demon to buy the soul of that person, making use of the emotions inside someone to have them wish something. The wish works how the Djinn wants it to work, not what the victim wants it to do, that's irrelevant to him. Yes, he has the powers to give people what they actually want, but he doesn't as he doesn't care about people.

lionhead

Question: What was the point of Sean Bean's role in this movie? I get that he is exposed as a fraud, but it doesn't really affect the plot one way or the other.

Phaneron

Chosen answer: It is true that it doesn't affect the plot. However Spence's (Bean's) failure can be contrasted with the professionalism of the main characters. Also it raises the possibility that whoever hired them isn't taking necessary precautions in planning and hiring. Earlier we heard Sam (De Niro) ask Vincent (Reno) if he was "labour or management" which suggests a theme of professional operators getting their hands dirty while their bosses play politics.

Question: So how exactly did Max Cady slip past Kersec's security system and get into the house? Did he kill the maid outside and then just walk in disguised as her?

Phaneron

Answer: He snuck in during the day and hid, before Kersec's teddy bear security system was set up. Sam Bowden realises this when he wakes from a nightmare. Its how he was able to poison the dog which hadnt been let outside. Max Cady killed the maid in the pantry with the same piano wire he later attacks Kersec with.

Answer: Kersec suspected that Cady might attempt to break into the Bowden house if he thought it was empty. His plan was for Cady to break in and then be shot dead as an intruder. He likely lessened the security to allow Cady to break in. Cady killed and then impersonated the housekeeper to get in.

raywest

I like your answer but I'm a little confused by the "lessened the security" part. If I'm not mistaken, every possible point of entry into the house at least from the ground floor was connected to the bear via the fishing line, so Kersec would know if a point of entry was disturbed by the bear moving. Where would Kersec lessen the security from that standpoint, especially since his setup was supposed to be foolproof?

Phaneron

Kersec wanted Cady to be able to break in so that there would be a plausible reason to shoot him dead. The idea is to make it look like his death was a result of self defense. I'm only speculating that Kersec made it easier for Cady to break in into the house. Being as it was his security system, he would know how to make it possible for Cady to get in.

raywest

Blindsided - S3-E4

Question: Matt has the taxi take him to the prison and tells the driver to wait for him. But the taxi is parked right next to the exit gate, so as close to the prison as you can get. During such an intense riot and lockdown, would a corrections officer tell the taxi to move? This is a question for people with prison/correctional work experience in regards to lockdown procedures.

Bishop73

Question: If Thurman knows that Willie isn't Santa, why does he ask him questions as if he is Santa? (Ex: The many questions he asks while Willie's in the tub).

Answer: Thurman unfortunately isn't the smartest kid. He doesn't accept that Willie isn't Santa. He thinks Willie is trying to cover his identity as it's always a secret.

Ssiscool

Question: When Finch talks to Dominic about his visit to Larkhill, in the movie we see some flashforwards of what is going to happen. In one of those scenes there's Evey in a house, wearing a blue dress and arranging a flowerpot of scarlet carsons. Behind her there's a man in an armchair drinking something. What does that scene stands for? Is that a scene of Evey's future life? Who's that man?

Answer: I believe that in all those scenes Finch is not imagining, because all is seen is what actually is going to happen (or already happened) in the course of events (Gordon's kidnapping, V's final showdown with Creedy, Evey's sitting outside the train). So I think that also Evey's flowers scene is actually showing what will really happen and I also think the unknown man could be Finch.

Answer: Finch is imagining all of this mind you. So it's from his perspective, and from his perspective Evey and V must be acquaintances to have appeared together all of a sudden. In his imagining the future he was thinking they be sitting on a couch somewhere reminiscing.

Question: Towards the end when George is at the bridge looking to jump in to kill himself it's snowing. However, after Clarence shows him what the world would have been like without him, he runs back to the bridge and it is not snowing. George is then begging Clarence to let him live again, and just like that it starts snowing just as it was when George was looking to jump in and kill himself. What did George's life have to do with changing the weather?

DrLoomis1978

Answer: It's just a cinematography thing. It's snowing in the real world, the weather is clear in the alternate world. When the snow resumes, it shows us that he's returned to his real life.

Brian Katcher

Very good answer.

DrLoomis1978

I agree, a good answer.

raywest

Answer: Most likely it had nothing to do with it. This is probably a plot inconsistency.

raywest

Answer: Because they were just having a bit of fun at Ron's expense. After saving Sirius and Buckbeak and going through a rather harrowing ordeal, they can now relax and enjoy themselves. The levity provides an "end point" to the main story, indicating to the audience that it has reached its conclusion.

raywest

Question: At the end, would McClane really have been able to hit that electrical wire with the piddly little model 36 revolver he was holding? Would it even be able to shoot that high? (00:21:05)

Answer: He could have but probably not. It would be a very lucky shot. Chalk this up to "movie magic."

raywest

Question: What is the connection between Wombosi and Kane, i.e. how does Wombosi know/recognise Kane's corpse and make the connection to Bourne? Are we assuming that they had prior contact before Bourne tries to kill him on the boat?

Answer: If they had no prior contact, how would Wombosi have known the name Kane and to go check the morgue?

Answer: In fact on the yacht Wombosi had fired 3 bullets at Bourne. He checks that the corpse has no impacts. That is how he understands that the corpse is not the one of the killer of the boat.

Answer: Wombosi is aware that the CIA is responsible for the attempt on his life. He is also aware that the CIA attempted to kill him because of his threats to go public with information about their activities in Africa. Conklin is unaware, however that Wombosi got a good look at Bourne's face. When Wombosi sees the body in the morgue is obviously not the man he saw on the boat, he correctly suspects the CIA is trying to fool him and will likely make another attempt on his life. Wombosi and Bourne had no prior contact before that night on the boat.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: Would Rick have regenerated that quickly (overnight) after the blood loss from the giant mosquito and tick that he suffered?

Answer: It would depend on how much blood he lost and his general constitution. Of course, this is a movie, and reality is often fudged in order to tell the story. Having a character take days to recover would unnecessarily slow the plot.

raywest

Answer: He asks what time they're going to the horse racing.

Question: Why are Ali's friends with Johnny, Dutch, and Tommy at Golf and stuff? Surely they'd stay away from them out of respect for Ali?

THE GAMER NEXT DOOR

Answer: Ali and Daniel are really the only ones that seem to have a problem with Johnny and his friends. Other than that, Johnny is well liked and popular. Even Ali's parents are fond of Johnny. Also, to be fair Johnny does seem to be genuine when he invites Ali to come along with the group and even invites Daniel along as well, though he does make a rude comment about Daniel while doing so. The Cobras have stopped harassing Daniel and only Daniel and Ali know the real reason why. Johnny and his group are still friendly with Ali's friends so they see no reason not to hang out with him. Ali's friends also unfairly dislike Daniel from the beginning because he lives in Reseda, so they are not the best judges of character to begin with.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: They are in the same friend group and Johnny and Ali's break up doesn't really affect any of them. In the Cobra Kai series, Johnny said that they got into a fight before his senior year and figured things would blow over. So it sounds like them fighting was a regular thing and their friends were probably used to it.

Question: Right before Frank dies and turn into a zombie, he said to Kenneth, "You want every single second." What does he mean by that? (00:55:35)

Bunch Son

Chosen answer: I interpreted it as a reflection on his life and the lives of all those around him as his life drained from him. And that reflection is that as people we are always chasing something - goals, desires, a nice new car, a better job, a family with kids - but we are always left wanting something more. It's what keeps us alive and moving forward. As he dies, everything becomes illuminated and he realises this truth. I think it could also mean that he wanted to live every single second to experience as much as he could in life. But I prefer my first interpretation, so that's how I picture it.

Answer: I interpreted it as meaning a person wants every possible second to remain as a human.

raywest

Didn't it sound weird? He could put it in another way. A natural way.

Bunch Son

I'd agree that is sounds weird, but this is written by a screenwriter, and they often use embellished and unrealistic dialogue for a more dramatic or emotional effect.

raywest

Answer: I assume this is a very old question, but I always thought it meant with your kids. He wanted to wait to be killed until after he turned because he was all his daughter had left. So he wanted every single second with her, but it could just mean as human as mentioned here.

Question: How did the group get past the lizard people that had surrounded the obelisk they entered after meeting with Enik?

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