Question: How do James Bond and Camille Montes manage to get back from the sinkhole to La Paz? They're in the middle of the desert with no water or access to shelter - you would have thought that the chances of hitching a lift would be slim.
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 was Art forced to play 2 games? Obviously the reason he was put over watching the detectives was because he acquitted the 3 victims who died in the traps, but why make him play the game at the beginning where Trevor could have potentially killed him when Jigsaw/Hoffman needed him to watch Detective Matthews? And what was Trevor's reason he was picked?
Answer: The two games he is forced into can be considered to be just part of one larger game, similar to Jeff from Saw III, William from Saw VI, Bobby from Saw 3D and even Rigg in this same movie. Any one of the aforementioned characters could have died at any point in their tests before completing them, but as Jigsaw told Hoffman in Saw V, "If you're good at anticipating the human mind, it leaves nothing to chance." Art was placed in a dangerous situation in his first test, but he had a large advantage considering that his opponent had his eyes sewn shut. Why Trevor is placed in the game with Art is never explained in any of the movies, unfortunately.
Question: Why does the Dr say that Alexandre Dumas was black?
Answer: Candie has a blind admiration for all things French. Pointing out to him that The Three Musketeers was written by a black man (Dumas had African heritage) would offend his sensibilities, which was King's goal.
Question: During the F4 tornado at the drive in, the wind causes some debris to turn on an air hose in the pit where everyone took cover. After this happened, some of the guys tried to grab the hose, and after Preacher managed to grab hold of it he got sliced on the head from a sharp hubcap flying through the air, causing him to let go of the hose. Why was it so important that they grabbed the flying hose?
Answer: Well, the hose was a long, flailing object blowing forced air which could have caused physical harm had it thrashed into people. And it would only have gotten worse. Preacher's elation at grabbing hold of it was probably a bit out of proportion to the accomplishment. However, under the circumstances, subduing the hose was a pretty good move at the moment, even though its potential for harm paled in comparison to the cars and drive-in sign that would soon descend upon the pit.
Question: In the scene after Glen saws Monica's arm off and Kenneth crashes the bus, I can't tell if Glen was dead before he sawed Monica or after, and I can't figure out what killed him.
Chosen answer: Glen was alive when he accidentally sawed into Monica. He was killed as a result of the crash.
Answer: I'd like to think that if I had somehow managed to survive an apocalyptic zombie uprising and then accidentally chainsaw'd into another human being I think that I'd die just from the shock.
Answer: Glen doesn't saw Monica's arm off. He just saws into her body which is what kills her and then Glen dies as a result of the bus crash and from accidentally murdering an innocent woman.
Question: Scott Lang managed to go subatomic and survive - is it possible that the wasp (a.k.a. Janet Pym) survived when she went subatomic?
Chosen answer: Almost certainly - given comments about that area being separate from normal time and space (coupled with the photo of her and Michael Douglas when young only showing her with her face covered, ie. Without a specific actress cast), it does hint strongly that she'll be rescued at some point, most likely having not aged a day.
Question: Why doesn't the movie acknowledge the actress change for Rachel? I mean everyone who watched Batman Begins will be clueless if they didn't know that Katie Holmes chose not to reprise her role. But the movie never explains this and are people just supposed to go along with it?
Chosen answer: Actors are often changed between movies, occasionally with acknowledgment, more often not. James Bond immediately comes to mind, Jennifer in Back to the Future, Bruce Banner and Rhodey in the Marvel films, Clarice Starling in the Silence of the Lambs/Hannibal...the list goes on. The recasting of Evelyn in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor got a passing nod to the audience (actually, as did the first recasting of Bond), but most of the time audiences are just expected to accept the change and move on.
Answer: I'm really not sure how you think a movie can address an actor being replaced. Unless it's something like Deadpool or Wayne's World, where characters speak directly to the audience, there's no real practical way for a movie to openly acknowledge that one of its characters is being played by someone new.
Question: During the tornado scene, Jonathan Kent rescues the dog, Hank, and in the process injures his leg. With the tornado practically on top of him, Jonathan then waves off Clark, who is only about 50 yards away. The fact that Jonathan waves off Clark is proof that they BOTH knew Clark could rescue his dad, but Jonathan didn't want Clark to expose his super powers. Still, it was Clark's DAD in danger. Why didn't Clark simply go rescue his father at super speed? Certainly, the chaos of the tornado would easily cover Clark's actions, and there would be no reliable witnesses in the midst of such confusion.
Answer: That, AND the fact that his dad is able to stand firmly on the ground whilst the tornado engulfs him, and we still see him standing to the very end as the debris in the tornado starts to hit him. That didn't make sense to me...correct me if I'm wrong, but tornadoes can and do pick up large objects like vehicles etc. and then toss them away WITHOUT the physical funnel of the tornado actually having passed over said objects. I thought once you're in the debris field, which is a separate thing from the funnel, you're already liable to be tossed up into the air and then flung out, but here, Jonathan remains standing on the ground unaffected the whole time, while the vehicle, being heavier than a human, had begun to float up in the air earlier when he went to get the dog, and then he remains standing even while the physical funnel begins to consume him - he should've been tossed up in the air long ago when the funnel was already within hundreds of feet of proximity to Jonathan.
It's certainly unrealistic but it was obviously an artistic choice. The fact that he is peacefully consumed by the funnel rather that violently tossed through the air was meant to be a poignant moment.
Answer: While I could think of several different scenarios that Clark could have done to save his dad without his abilities/powers being seen (that don't involve him moving so fast no-one sees him), ultimately (as Clark said), he let his dad die because he trusted him. "My father believed that if the world found out who I really was, they'd reject me... out of fear. I let my father die because I trusted him. Because he was convinced that I had to wait. That the world was not ready."
Answer: At not point in either Man of Steel or Batman v Superman do we see Superman use speed of the type people have suggested while on the ground. The movie makes a point of outlining his abilities and some of their limits. For Clark to use that ability in that instance and nowhere else in the film would be inconsistent, so the conclusion must be that this version of the character does not have the ability to move in that manner. He might be fast-er than normal people, but not, "blink and you'll miss him fast" - otherwise it would always be an option for him throughout the film and it is not presented as such.
We know from Man of Steel that Clark is entirely capable of high-speed feats: He leaps from a crabbing boat at sea and swims to a burning oil rig easily 4 nautical miles away in a matter of not minutes but moments; and, in the logging-truck scene, Clark apparently wadded up a tractor-trailer so swiftly that nobody inside the bar, just a few yards away, heard a sound or felt an impact tremor. These were certainly acts of super speed; and Jonathan Kent certainly knew Clark could save him from the tornado, which is why he waved him off.
Next to that we see the same Superman in Justice League move at the same speed as Flash whilst on the ground.
Chosen answer: There were multiple witnesses under the bridge who may not have seen Clark, but would have seen Jonathan magically vanish and suddenly appear safe and sound a distance away.
Question: In the beginning, the Joker puts a can of gas in the bank guy's mouth and drives off with the string, releasing the gas. My question is, why didn't the guy just pull it out before he could inhale it?
Answer: He did not know it was a smoke grenade. He thought it was a regular ol' blow-your-head-off grenade. There would have been little point in spitting it out since he was too injured to throw it far enough to save his life. He was resigned to his fate, only to be surprised with a relatively harmless smoke grenade.
Question: In both this film and The Desolation of Smaug. Legolas defies gravity in unbelievable and even comical ways. Is this a character trait, or just some ridiculous touch by the filmmakers?
Chosen answer: Elves are described in the books and shown in the LotR trilogy doing things that would not necessarily rule this behavior out, ridiculous as it looks. For instance, when the Fellowship is trudging through the snow on Caradhras, Legolas is briefly shown walking easily on top of the snow while every one else's feet are sinking into it.
Question: When Manolo and Joaquin start fighting the wild boar, General Posada only sees Joaquin confronting the boar before he is knocked unconscious. Thus, he never sees Manolo fighting the boar like a matador. When the general recovers, he believes Joaquin defeated the boar and not Manolo. Despite the townsfolk being impressed by Manolo's action, why does no one, including the nun who thanks Manolo for saving her life, speak up and tell the general what actually happened? Why don't they confirm to the general that Manolo fought and defeated the boar?
Chosen answer: There was probably too much panic from the rampaging animals.
Question: When Clark gives his boss a Christmas present, he is told to put it with all of the others. There are plenty of presents there, but they are all the same, as they have the exact same shape. What are these presents?
Answer: They are desk organizers.
I'm wondering maybe it was one of the gags in the movie where the boss got the same gift from all the employees. I know there's a lot of gags in the vacation movies.
Answer: I've seen them in stores, it's a desk pen set with a matching business card holder.
Chosen answer: We don't know what is in the packages, but we can assume they are all the same, small, generic gift.
Answer: I think that they could all be tape holders.
Answer: An idea someone mentioned helps resolve some of these "quirks" about the movie. Think of the movie as if Clark is retelling this story a long time in the future - maybe to his grandchildren. Same with the other Vacation movies - he is retelling the story from memory, and his memory sucks or is exaggerated. This explains why things that happen seem to be fantastic (the sledding, how goofy Eddie is, the children's age swapping around, how they got the tree, etc.). In the scene with the present for his boss, he is just remembering that everyone gave him a gift. He can't remember what they all looked like, so they all looked like his. It's also possible that everyone decided to get the same gift, I guess.
I know it's not your idea, but that is pretty deep for a Chevy Chase movie. It's simply that Clark isn't so special. He thought he was making a unique gesture to the big guy only to find out he was only one of a dozen or so—and obviously just as unoriginal as the rest.
Question: Who is Beckett's friend from Singapore, that he mentioned in the conversation with his servant about brethren court?
Chosen answer: Sao Feng became Beckett's man in Singapore, as referenced by a conversation between Will Turner and Sao Feng, which was overheard by Mr. Mercer, during the battle in Singapore. The giving of information was never shown on screen.
Question: What's the deal with Howie, Jr.?
Answer: He's just an odd little boy.
Question: In season 2, there were 5 episodes made without one of the kids appearing in the episode. (Marcia, Jan, Cindy, Peter, and Bobby were each absent one episode). What was the reason behind this?
Answer: Much trivia has been written about "The Brady Bunch, " including the various interrelationships and dynamics among the members of the cast. For example, much has been written about why Robert Reed's Mike Brady did not appear in a couple of episodes, including the series finale, due to rancorous creative and artistic differences with series creator, Sherwood Schwartz. However, in contrast, I have never run across any reasons given why a particular child did not appear in specific episodes - only that the episodes were missed. This suggests the causes were likely unexceptional, such as illness, injuries, vacations, or real-life family obligations.
Although those options ARE possible reasons, it just seems a bit ironic that this happened all in Season 2 ONLY and within a short amount of nearly consecutive episodes. Never happened during the other 5 years of the show at all.
Answer: According to Lloyd Schwartz, in the book he wrote with his dad, Paramount studios made the decision to remove one child from each episode to save money. Sherwood Schwartz eventually told the studio that this was a mistake because "viewers have their favorites." The practice was eventually stopped.
Question: At the start of the episode "No Hope With Dope", Lisa runs into the hallway with exciting news, and Zack responds to Lisa using a sentence ending with "you'll crack your makeup." The audience (primarily young females) starts screaming and cheering very loudly to that line. I am trying to understand what about that "crack your makeup" line was there to scream and go ga-ga about.
Answer: Zack is always good for a sarcastic jibe. Lisa was written as the most fashion and make-up conscious of the Bayside High girls. She was also portrayed as serious and somewhat prissy. The "crack your makeup" comment was a throwaway line. Zack was suggesting Lisa doesn't often get overly excited for fear of having to reapply her face. The line is met by laughter and screeches from largely adolescent female audience that seem out of proportion to the humor. "Saved By the Bell" audiences were rather prone to such excessive ebullience for no apparent reason. The reaction didn't last long, and the scene moved on quickly.
Yeah that doesn't make any sense.
Answer: If there is a reference to "cracking" make-up, the inference would be that the person piles it on or simply wears way too much make-up; the more make-up is caked (or piled) on, the less of the person's real face is visible. The implication is that deep down (i.e, underneath all the make-up), the person's face is actually UGLY.
Zack and Lisa are friends (in fact the briefly date in one episode). He is definitely not calling her ugly. After re-watching the episode, it seems like some of the girls in the audience loved Lisa and wanted to cheer her in when she entered a scene. It happens another time when she walks in and it sounds like these same girls scream as soon as she enters the shot.
Fast Enough - S1-E23
Question: At the end of this episode when Eddie Thawne shoots himself to stop Eobard Thawne from being born, wouldn't that mean Barry Allen's mom would have never been stabbed? So essentially The Flash could've saved his mom from being stabbed anyway.
Chosen answer: No one can explain how time travel works. If by committing suicide Barry's mom survived, then there would be no Flash nor Eobard Thawne. So Eddie wouldn't commit suicide in the first place, because nothing would have happened.
Answer: The show explains in another episode that The Speed Force leaves copies of characters that no longer exist in the past to avoid paradoxes such as this example.
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.
Chosen answer: They find a whole dam full of water in the sinkhole, so that isn't a problem. The sinkhole is an old river bed, and there is a village nearby which they walk to in a few hours, then they catch a bus to La Paz from the village.
Sierra1 ★