Question: When Richard's parents are building the treehouse, are the facts Richard states about accidents on ladders and trees true?
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 the Spanish flag seen on the building in Huelva the accurate one used during Franco's regime or the modern one?
Answer: During Franco's reign, 1938 to 1977, the flag (Rojigualda) had a different coat of arms, the Eagle of St. John, with 'Una Libre Grande' inscribed. It changed in 1945 to a bigger eagle, overall covering some of the red bands of the flag, so, as this is 1943, from what one can see, the flag is correct in the film.
Question: There's a quote from Richard Fish I've never been able to find exactly online, but I'm sure I'm remembering the gist, I think talking to someone about getting divorced or cheated on: "10 years from now, are you still going to be as mad as you are now? Of course not. So jump to that point, now, and you're over it. Fishism." Can anyone identify the episode/quote?
Answer: Answering my own question - it's from S1 E4. "One of the keys to life: the fast-forward. Every movie has its lousy parts; the trick is fast-forward through them. See, as time passes, you look back and say, 'Huh. That little adultery thing. Oh, that.' You fast-forward to then right now... and you're over it."
Question: The answer is not given in the film, but does it explain in the early scripts why Jack shot his parents but not Bruce? If not, what was Joe Chill's reason for shooting Thomas Wayne in Batman Begins?
Answer: It's unlikely there was anything in the script addressing this. In the Batman universe and the various interpretations, there's never been a definitive explanation. In the original lore, Bruce Wayne's parents were the victims of a random mugging by Joe Chill, who, for whatever reason, murdered the Waynes, probably unintentionally. Maybe he was startled or Mr. Wayne attempted to subdue him. He may have been mentally unstable and acted impulsively. Bruce was probably spared because many hesitate to kill a child. Chill may have considered Bruce too young to remember specific details. Something could have scared him off. However, this really has to be seen through the lens of a writer. The plot requires that Bruce survive the ordeal in order to grow up and become Batman. His parents' murders shaped and motivated everything in his life from that point on. Otherwise, there would be no story to tell.
Answer: There's a fan theory that Bruce Wayne projects his parents' killer onto all his enemies, so whoever he's fighting at that particular moment killed his parents.
Question: When David tells Betty of what happened to Bruce as a child, David said that he wanted to cure Bruce but was stopped. If his original plan was to cure Bruce, then why does he suddenly want to absorb all the gamma energy out of Bruce and then kill him?
Answer: It's called lying. He was an egotistical mad scientist, who was paranoid and obsessed with proving his work valid. He was willing to do anything to achieve his goals.
David wasn't exactly lying. He attempted to kill Bruce when he was still a child but ended up killing Edith instead when she tried to stop him. General Ross was even there when David was taken away so there is some truth to what David said to Betty.
Answer: He wasn't trying to kill him, he was using his son as a guinea pig. Experimenting on him, poking and prodding him, altering his genetic structure. That trying to cure him was all crap.
Then why try to kill Bruce when he was a child?
Question: Why are the deceased bad guys including Tai Lung, Lord Shen, and Kai in the Spirit Realm with the good warriors? Shouldn't the good and the bad be in separate realms like Heaven and Hell?
Answer: There isn't necessarily a separate heaven and hell for kung fu masters. There's just the Spirit Realm.
Radio Days - S6-E4
Question: When Joey and Jesse try the DJ spot, you can see a sign on Julie's desk that says NO CHECKS CASHED. Would people try to get checks cashed at a radio station?
Answer: Larger businesses used to cash personal cheques for their employees as a courtesy, since ATMs weren't nearly as common as they are now, and they may not be able to get to their bank.
Question: Would it really have been possible for Nygma to modify the security footage to make it look as if Stickley was committing suicide at the time, with Nygma nowhere in sight?
Answer: That's an extremely difficult question to answer because you have to look at it from two perspectives. In real life at the time in the 90s? Probably not, because the technology wasn't really there to convincingly create a convincing computer simulation/fake footage that quickly. (Even the special effects wizards who had months to make the movie did a good job but didn't quite nail the digital Batman in the few shots he's CGI.) But in the context of the movie? Yes. You have to remember, this movie is set in a highly stylized, fictionalized universe. One with superheroes, supervillains, highly advanced technology, doomsday machines, and all that jazz. The movie isn't meant to be realistic. It's meant to be exaggerated and cartoonish. So you can safely assume, in the context of the movie, Nygma had the means to create the fake security footage.
Question: On the plane, as Gerry is wrapping her stump and right after he admits he hadn't known cutting her hand off would work, Segen says something quietly, then adds "Now I'm just a liability." What does she say right before "Now I'm just a liability"? I can't hear what she says (it might not be English) and it's not in the closed captioning or in any transcript I've been able to find online.
Answer: Segen says in Hebrew, "עכשיו אני סתם עול" (phonetically pronounced, "achshav ani stam ohl"), which means "Now I'm just a burden." Then Segen says in English, "Now I'm just a liability."
Question: In the deleted scenes, who was the woman cast at the gun counter?
Answer: Donny's girlfriend.
Question: Holmes says he realised that Inspector McDonald was an impostor because he supposedly knows the 'real' Inspector McDonald of the Edinburgh police. As shown in the other movies and Conan Doyle's original stories, there are several Inspectors working for Scotland Yard in London (another British city), which begs the question: does this resolution Holmes mentioned about two British Inspectors having the same surname make sense and, if so, why?
Answer: If you're comparing the film to Arthur Conan Doyle's original Sherlock Holmes stories, then any discrepancy does not really apply. The Basil Rathbone films were loose adaptions of Doyle's work, often incorporating plot elements from multiple stories or were original screenplays with new characters. There was little regard to details or plot consistencies. "Terror by Night" was an entirely original story. The original Sherlock Holmes stories were set in the late Victorian era while the 12 Universal Studio films mostly took place during World War II, with Holmes often fighting Nazis and enemy spies. The first two Sherlock Holmes films by 20th Cent. Fox studio were generally faithful to the original stories.
Actually, my question is related to the movies themselves and it's not a comparison. There are still several inspectors working for Scotland Yard in the Basil Rathbone saga too (I've made an entry edition to include this).
Thanks for clarifying, though you stated, "as shown in the other movies 'and' Doyle's original stories." Much of my previous answer still applies. The Basil Rathbone movies were not a definitive interpretation of Sherlock Holmes. The first two by 20th Century Fox were mostly faithful to the original stories. The 12 later Universal Studios films were lower-budget, cranked out in rapid succession for profit, and shifted the time period to the mid-20th century for cheaper production costs. The studio's mandate was the films were, "to simply be entertaining B pictures." There was little regard for historical accuracy or plot continuity from film to film. Scripts were simultaneously developed by different writing teams. The 12 films had multiple directors and screenwriters who were focused on their individual projects.
Actually, almost all the movies were directed by Roy William Neill (11 of 14).
That's true, but many different screenwriters were simultaneously working on the various movies. It's also typical in Hollywood for uncredited "script doctors" to revise scripts, further adding to small inconsistencies. Universal Studios had a seven-year contract with the Doyle estate to make the Sherlock Holmes films. They produced them quickly, releasing three movies per year. Under the contract, Universal was allowed to make plot revisions, create some original stories, and modernise the setting (making it more topical and cheaper to produce).
Question: When Rimmer is jailed for killing everyone on Red Dwarf, why did they go down the route of getting Rimmer a retrial? Wouldn't it be faster and easier to simply turn Rimmer off and then reboot him?
Answer: They could do that after they left the planet, sure. But if they tried it while they were there, the Justice Zones would punish them for it. Best to play along until you can get away.
Question: Why did Lane Henderson (Louise's father) murder his wife?
Answer: In a flashback scene, it was shown that he had a violent temper, so it stands to reason that he finally killed her in a fit of rage.
Question: How could the police car still work without any issues after Pops literally crushed its front by falling onto it?
Answer: Question already asked and answered. Depending on what exactly was damaged when he landed on the hood, it may still be able to run for a while before the damage destroys the engine beyond use.
Question: What happened to the woman talking about Sam's girlfriend's infection? When Dad arrives, she is not shown or in helicopter scenes.
Answer: The woman was the librarian and library receptionist. She lives to die another day. She gets rescued with the other library survivors. The actress just isn't Jake Gyllenhaal or Dennis Quaid. So the focus in the end is not on her, but rather on the big-name stars.
Answer: If you mean Sheila McCarthy, she is on the helicopter. They show her smiling at the man who saved and carried the large Bible.
Question: Why doesn't anyone from the Afterlife try to stop Lydia from doing her TV series? In the first movie, Juno said that the living must not discover evidence of the Afterlife.
Answer: My guess would be that it's a combination of a few factors. The first is that she's far from the only one doing that sort of program. There are hundreds of paranormal shows, YouTube channels, etc. It would start to look very suspicious if suddenly things started happening to everyone who makes that type of content. Second, a lot of people just flat-out don't believe in things like ghosts and the afterlife. And a lot of those shows are faked, anyway. So while Lydia is earnest and honest, a lot of people won't believe it. Therefore, her show isn't exactly super risky for the afterlife. And finally, the original movie really doesn't dwell on that idea; it's basically given a few brief lines of dialogue in like one scene, and that's it. So you could also make the argument that this movie just sort of ret-conned or is ignoring that idea due to it being such a minor, unimportant element of the original.
Answer: I agree with Ted Stixon - many people have similar shows/online channels, and many people don't believe in the content. So, the afterlife officials are probably not concerned about all of them. There are people in real life who claim to be in contact with the deceased, as well as psychics and people with various religious beliefs.
Join the mailing list
Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.
Answer: Some facts about accidents involving ladders and trees while he's talking to his father as they build the treehouse. He talks about how dangerous ladders and trees can be, which is a reflection of his cautious and somewhat anxious personality at the beginning of the film. Although Richard's exact statistics or facts aren't fully detailed, his concerns about safety are valid in a general sense—treehouse construction and using ladders do come with certain risks if not done properly, such as falling from a height or sustaining injuries. However, the exactness of Richard's claims (like any specific numbers or details) is not the focus of the story; it's more about Richard's growth from somebody who is fearful to someone who is brave enough to face his fears during the adventure that follows.