Question: I never understand why the bully backs off from Jack suddenly once he thinks Jack has a steel plate in his head from Vietnam. What does a steel plate in the head mean and how did it fend off the bully?
Brian Katcher
23rd Jun 2022
Three's Company (1977)
Answer: Jack is saying that part of his skull has been replaced with a metal prosthetic, due to having been wounded in Vietnam. The bully now sees Jack as a wounded veteran who could suffer severe health problems if punched.
23rd Jun 2022
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
Question: What does the log mean that they carried Homer Stokes on out of the building?
Answer: Per Wikipedia: Riding the rail (also called being "run out of town on a rail") was a punishment most prevalent in the United States in the 18th and 19th centuries in which an offender was made to straddle a fence rail held on the shoulders of two or more bearers. The subject was then paraded around town or taken to the city limits and dumped by the roadside.
3rd Jun 2022
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)
15th May 2022
Seven (1995)
Question: When Mills and Somerset are investigating John Doe's apartment Somerset comes across the hand of the Sloth victim in a jar. I'm wondering how exactly John Doe was able to use that hand to place fingerprints on the wall behind the painting. He either cut it off recently, or cut it off a year ago and kept it until he needed it. The second is highly unlikely, but even if the first case is true, is that hand capable of giving clean, traceable fingerprints? Because the hand is decayed pretty badly.
Answer: We don't know that John Doe left the fingerprints at the same time as he murdered the Greed victim. He's put a lot of work into each killing, and has meticulously planned each victim and detail, so it's possible he left the fingerprints behind the painting long ago, when the Sloth victim's hand was still, for lack of a better word, fresh.
But long before he killed the greed guy? That doesn't make sense.
28th Apr 2022
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
Question: Has it ever been explained what would have happened if the Sorting Hat couldn't decide what students should be placed into what house?
Answer: If the Sorting Hat experienced a "Hatstall" where, after a certain amount of time passes, it was unable to decide where to place a student based on their being suited to more than one House, then the student's personal preference would be considered. There were a handful of "hatstalls" over the centuries, but the Sorting Hat eventually placed the students.
Where are you getting this?
From the Harry Potter "Wizarding World" web site. The supplemental material was written by J.K. Rowling and originally published on "Pottermore." According to Rowling, Minerva McGonagall was a Hatstall student. The Sorting Hat had difficulty placing her between either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, finally settling on Gryffindor.
The term Hatstall was created by JK Rowling. It can be found here: https://www.wizardingworld.com/writing-by-jk-rowling/hatstall.
11th Apr 2022
General questions
Trying to remember where I saw this scene from - a guy is telling a story about where a racing dog caught the mechanical rabbit it was chasing and got electrocuted in the process.
Answer: Actually I saw it again earlier tonight - it was the criminal minds episode To a Better Place.
Answer: Except for the man and the dog, There is a Bugs Bunny cartoon, "The Grey Hounded Hare," Bugs believes the mechanical rabbit is real and tries to stop the dogs from chasing it, after disposing of them, he kisses the rabbit and gets electricuted.
3rd Mar 2022
Groundhog Day (1993)
Question: At the end of the film, Phil finally wakes up in bed with Rita on the day after Groundhog Day (meaning he's finally broken out of the time-loop and temporal continuity is restored). Doesn't this necessarily imply that everything he did the day before will have repercussions for him? I mean, as far as everyone knows, Phil Connors just suddenly became a local sensation in one day, flashing a lot of money on the same day as the armored car robbery. Wouldn't Phil naturally fall under suspicion?
Answer: On that particular previous day, he didn't rob the armored car. All he did was spend the day doing good deeds and the only repercussions will be people thinking highly of him.
A huge part of his "good deeds," no doubt, was his flashing a lot of money around town, buying a full insurance package from Ned, paying the piano teacher a significant wad of cash, gifting the newlyweds tickets for their honeymoon, etc. That's a big part of how Phil became so beloved by so many townspeople in one day. Plus, he bought the ice-carving chainsaw and who knows what else. He wasn't just pulling all that cash out of thin air. I think robbing the armored car every morning had become second-nature to Phil.
Phil seemed to be trying to do everything just right to break the cycle. It's unlikely he would choose to rob the armor truck. And it's unlikely the truck was robbed that day. However, Phil was a professional with a good paying job. Rita herself had almost $400 in cash on her. If Phil didn't have that much cash on him, he could easily get it from the bank and then write checks (or use a credit card) for everything else.
19th Feb 2022
The Fugitive (1993)
Question: Where does Richard come up with the "Atlas of Limb Prostheses" that he's studying at the Polish woman's house? You don't just go to the library and find that, and you need a library card if they had it. Probably an expensive book and his funds are limited.
Answer: In addition, if it was outdated he could have found it at a used book store for nothing. Medical libraries and college bookstores only keep the most updated books on hand and sell old versions cheap.
Answer: He may not have a library card, but he could have smuggled the book out of a library. Being that Richard is a doctor, he'd know where to find medical books, including used ones, that he could access. There are several medical schools in Chicago which would naturally have extensive libraries. There would also be bookstores near those universities that sell new and used textbooks. Richard could have taken the book from one of those.
3rd Feb 2022
Dolittle (2020)
Question: At the beginning, Dolittle was scared because a boy broke in his territory, so he says to Chee-Chee, "Possum, play dead." Why does he call the gorilla possum? Chee-Chee is a gorilla, not a possum. Also Possum is not his name nor nickname.
Answer: 'Playing possum' is slang for pretending to be dead, as possums sometimes do that to avoid predators.
Answer: Opossums will go into a state where they appear dead when threatened, thus the term "playing possum." Dolittle was just saying to act like a opossum and play dead.
2nd Jan 2022
The Princess Bride (1987)
Question: When Buttercup confronts a masked Westley, she says that she loved more deeply than a killer like him ever dreamed. Westley's response is to raise a hand as if to hit her, but he stops and says that was a warning and that where he comes from, there are penalties when a woman lies. In what way was Buttercup lying?
Answer: Westley comes back from the sea, only to find that his one true love is engaged to another man. He feels her love for him wasn't true if she could even think of getting married again, at least so soon.
31st Dec 2021
Home Alone (1990)
Question: How come Kevin never told his parents or his family about the Wet Bandits? He also never told them in the sequel either.
Answer: If your kid came to you and said he single handedly captured to two robbers, you'd believe him.
Answer: He never tells them onscreen, nor does the movie give any indication that they know, but realistically, Kevin was a witness to their crimes, and he would be called in to give statements and testimonies in order to put them away. So his parents would have to know about his encounters with them, otherwise it would be a major plot hole. Perhaps the film-makers thought it would be funnier and more in line with his character for Kevin to be secretive about it.
Not necessarily. The police caught them red-handed and one of the cops said their habit of flooding houses was proof as to which houses they hit. It's possible no-one knew Kevin's connection.
Answer: Adding to a previous answer, the cops arrested them at the site of a previous break-in. Even though Marley rescued Kevin, it's possible he didn't tell anyone about them either, so them breaking into the McCallister's house didn't matter. Not to mention, Marv blabbing about them having the calling card to the police didn't help their case either.
Answer: Why would he need to? The idea is that he outsmarted them alone, and his parents were none the wiser.
29th Dec 2021
Shrek 2 (2004)
Question: What was that stuff fairy godmother had Harold put in one of the teacups?
Answer: Love potion, to make Fiona fall for Prince Charming.
Uh, why wouldn't making Fiona take a love potion to make her fall for Prince Charming be interfering with Fiona's free will?
Answer: Love potion. If she drank it, she would fall in love with the first person she kisses.
23rd Dec 2021
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)
Answer: He's a chemist who develops food additives for a food company.
3rd Dec 2021
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2020)
Question: When Phoebe is on the phone with Ray, he mentions that the Ghostbusters fire house is now a Starbucks. In the post-credits scene, we see that Winston has purchased the fire house so the Ghostbusters can get back to business, but the fire house looks like it has been abandoned for several years and no other company ever took it over. Did I miss something here?
Answer: Ray was probably being sarcastic, and was simply making a general comment about gentrification in the area.
Answer: Perhaps nobody wanted to take over the place for a few reasons. Historical purpose, high cost... hauntings.?
Answer: It's been 40 years since the Ghostbusters disbanded, Ray mostly likely passed by the old place and saw a Starbucks there. It has since shut down.
But they left the ghost trap active? Not likely.
20th Nov 2021
Back to the Future Part II (1989)
Question: Did Needles know that Marty would get fired if he swiped his card? He seemed to have a huge smirk on his face as he hung up?
Answer: No, he was just happy that he'd goaded Marty into participating in his scheme.
Answer: When Marty is talking to Needles, he mentions that what Needles is asking from him is illegal and that he could get fired especially if the boss was monitoring. This causes Needles to call Marty a chicken, something he hates, and he swipes his card. Needle smirks because of how easy it was for him to push Marty.
Answer: I believe, it's because that Needles made the phone call from "The Jits'" Office and knew that he goaded Marty into doing something that would lead to his termination, which explains why Marty's boss called him immediately afterward and fired him for making the illegal transaction.
22nd Oct 2021
Addams Family Values (1993)
Question: I'm just curious but is it possible to actually kill a member of the Addams family? Fester survives both the bathtub electrocution and the bomb explosion, Pubert can stop the guillotine blade with his bare hand, and in the first film Pugsley willingly lets Wednesday electrocute him with no apparent ill-effects.
Answer: They can be killed. In the first movie, Morticia talks about several relatives who were murdered, and the whole family seems pretty scared when they're strapped in the electric chairs. They're hard core and lucky, but not immortal.
Answer: They originate as a cartoon (1938). So they are basically immortal cartoon characters like the Looney Tunes.
20th Oct 2021
Problem Child 2 (1991)
18th Oct 2021
Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)
Question: Why does Ed's Aunt Vesta throw candy at Evelyn? Why is she not shown?
Answer: She's a grouchy, hateful, possibly senile woman who doesn't like Evelyn, despite the gifts she brings her. As for not showing her, it's funnier to try to imagine what she looks like.
14th Oct 2021
Trading Places (1983)
Question: Louis is arrested for theft, and ultimately also booked for PCP possession. Penelope pays his bail and gets him out so the plot can carry on, but the theft and drug charges never come up again. Why is all of that dropped? Do the Dukes just drop the charges?
Answer: It's likely that the Dukes dropped the charges. They initially were planning on bringing Winthorpe back into the company after conducting their little experiment, and only changed their minds after Winthorpe threatened them at the Christmas party.
Answer: Petty theft and first time drug possession wouldn't be impossible to have the charges reduced or dismissed. If found guilty it would most likely be a heavy fine and probation. Also, after the scandal with the Duke brothers and Bryon Beaks, the plot against Louis would have been uncovered.
Answer: Louis became a millionaire again, and likely just hired a good attorney to get the charges dismissed.
24th Sep 2021
The King of Queens (1998)
Question: The elderly man in Carrie's overnight team, George, says that the firm is trying to force him to retire. Why don't they fire him?
Answer: Because he didn't do anything wrong. If they fired him simply for being older, he'd have excellent grounds for a wrongful termination suit. Much easier to 'convince' him to retire.
I know he didn't do anything wrong, but I thought New York was an "at-will employment" state, meaning that a company can simply terminate someone's employment at will.
Answer: To fire someone you need a reason and simply being older is not a reason. They could be sued for wrongful dismissal. If he retires the company doesn't get sued.
Yes, but New York is an "at-will employment" state, so a company can terminate employment at any time, without needing to give a good explanation. Unfair but it happens.
Even in at-will States, employers and employees can still enter into binding contracts that would protect an employee from being terminated without cause. These contracts may have retirement policies as well, should an employee want to retire with any benefits offered. And, what others were saying, barring any contract, terminating someone without reason is one thing, but for an illegal reasons (age discrimination) is another matter which could result in a lawsuit.
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Answer: Jack never said he had a steel plate in his head... Janet told that to the bartender who in turn questioned Jack about it.