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: Heres something that never made sense to me. I could see how Marty's great-great-grandfather Shemus could resemble Marty (so Michael J. Fox plays him), but why would his great-great-grandmother Maggie McFly resemble his mother when this is his father's side of the family?

Carl Missouri

Chosen answer: This has been covered before. Men tend to be attracted to women who remind them of their mothers, so the McFly men would be attracted to a certain "type" throughout the years until we get to George meeting Lorraine.

Captain Defenestrator

Chosen answer: He feared them, for one thing, but also felt loyalty to Frodo, who showed him kindness. Gollum, torn between his good and evil nature, was eventually overpowered by his desire for the ring.

raywest

Question: Towards the beginning of the film when Brock and his team are searching for the diamond. They go through what where Rose's, Cal's and Ruth's rooms. They also pass the bathroom and Bodine says "Looks like someone left the water running" My question is how could he tell that? And how could that've happened? When the passengers start going up to the deck Ruth tells the maids to go back and turn up the heaters believing she will return to the room and maids aren't shown again.

Answer: It was a sarcastic remark. The "water left running" flooded the Titanic and caused it to sink. He didn't mean that someone literally left the water running.

shortdanzr

Answer: What they mean by "the water running" is that the Titanic is fully underwater, where Brock is using sarcasm to say the Titanic is flooded.

Chosen answer: The show, at the time, was suffering badly in the ratings, mainly from a poor time slot, which put it directly up against a highly popular soap opera. The series was also going through something of a bad patch anyway - Colin Baker had proved controversial as the sixth Doctor, leading to his eventual dismissal from the role, a prior eighteen month hiatus had lowered public interest, and a number of issues behind the scenes were deemed to have had a detrimental effect on script quality. While things arguably improved somewhat in the final couple of series with Sylvester McCoy's seventh Doctor, the damage was done and, although pre-production work had already started on the next series, the decision was taken to suspend production.

Tailkinker

Question: When Lenny calls the first time, Vincent looks at Annie's business card in the mirror and gives Max a look. Does this imply that Vincent knows that this is his last target? His conversation with Max about whether or not he should call Annie suggests otherwise, but I was curious.

Brad

Chosen answer: Vincent already knows that Annie is one of the targets on his "hit list." He was probably just surprised that Max had her business card.

raywest

Question: At the end of the movie, why was the Marquis being led to his execution?

Answer: The ending is set during the French Revolution. The Marquis is going to be executed because he is an aristocrat.

raywest

Question: When Hobbs realises that Dom and Brian left him with an empty vault, Hobbs has a flashback of Leo and Santos loading the real vault onto a truck. My question: was that really a flashback (did he really see it take place and forget?) or was it like Dom's image of Letty's death when he and Mia are at the crash site in Fast Four and not 100% accurate, since he didn't know what Letty's killer looked like yet?

Answer: Hobbs doesn't see that scene, though he probably does guess part of what happened - ie. that they swapped the vaults. The scene is played as a reveal for us, the audience, to show us how the vault that is supposed to be full of money is now suddenly empty.

roboc

Question: During the fundraiser, Bruce Wayne points at Dent and says, "He is the face of Gotham's future." However after the blast, Dent becomes Two Face. Did Nolan suggest that after the events of the movie, Gotham is going to be like Two Face, i.e. good and evil together?

vicvil

Chosen answer: That's the sort of question that will no doubt form the basis of a thousand college essays. Yes, the line could be a remark on a split Gotham, with good and evil in equal measure, its also a foreshadowing of Dent's fate to become TwoFACE in the FUTURE.

roboc

Question: Although Shreck's death makes the situation moot, why would Batman risk revealing his identity to Selina right in front of Shreck if his intention is for Shreck to go into police custody? Surely Shreck would have revealed Batman's identity had he survived.

Phaneron

Chosen answer: It has always been in Batman's character to do everything it takes to save lives, any lives, no matter what. In Batman forever, during the circus scene, he immediately jumps to his feet and reveals who he is to Harvey Dent when Dent threatens everyone at the circus with a bomb (even though the noise of the crowd means nobody hears him, his intention was clear). At this point in the movie, Bruce cannot think of any other way to get through to Selina and show her that there is another choice besides revenge and murder. He's trying to save her from herself and save Shreck from her, giving up his identity and his secret is something he simply decides is worth it. That's who Batman is!

roboc

Question: Can inverting a plane completely upside down and then turning it 180 degrees truly keep it from going down in a sharp nosedive and "gliding" to safety? Seems rather far-fetched but made for a very interesting exciting movie focal point.

Tricia Webster

Chosen answer: Popular mechanics wrote an article covering this. In short, inverting a passenger jet is certainly doable, but the specific chain of events seen in the film are more of a stretch. Possible, but...challenging, to say the least!

Jon Sandys

Question: I don't get why Mills gets arrested for killing John Doe. Yes, the killing was motivated by revenge, but Doe was a serial killer, so surely it was a justified death. Can anyone explain this to me?

Brad

Chosen answer: Doe was in police custody, being escorted by Mills and Somerset, to say nothing of the other units involved. He was not a physical threat to either, and thus his execution (no other word works to describe what happens) cannot be legally justified under any definition of the phrase. Mills killed a defenceless prisoner in his custody with multiple witnesses - there is simply no justification for what is essentially a murder. He would likely get off with a lesser charge, given the situation and his grief, a temporary insanity defence would likely work, but that doesn't lessen the fact that he did it. His arrest is absolutely warranted.

Tailkinker

Question: The woman making the announcements in Grand Central Terminal in Superman: The Movie sounds a lot like the Mother computer. Could someone confirm this?

BocaDavie

Chosen answer: No, it isn't the same woman. Mother was voiced by actress Helen Horton, who is not credited for any role in Superman, although, coincidentally, she did appear in Superman III in the minor role of Miss Henderson.

Tailkinker

Chosen answer: Because Kathy's supposed to be disguising her own voice to sound like Lina would if she could sing. The studio is trying to fool the public into believing that this is Lina's voice, even though she can't sing and sounds terrible when she speaks. Actress Jean Hagen, who played Lina, was a singer in real life, and she actually dubbed her own voice.

raywest

Question: What did VOX mean when he said that to find the Morlocks' lair, that Alexander would have to follow the breathing?

Answer: He's referring to the sound that the Morlocks' machinery makes from underground.

raywest

Question: Why does Jack say 'nervous' to Rose while they're in the car about to have sex? It's like they've planned it?

Answer: Whether or not it was planned, the first time can be awkward. They are also in a less than ideal situation, knowing that Cal will seek retribution if he finds out.

raywest

Question: Why did the Jackal tell Koslova how she is going to die?

Answer: He's sadistic, and it's a way to torment her during her final moments.

raywest

Question: Is there any reason, other than to further the plot, that Jack and Will fight over possession of Davey Jones's heart? Their plans once they have control of the heart are not mutually exclusive as Will wants to free his father and Jack wants his debt with Jones settled. They have shown previously that they can work together, so why couldn't one of them take control of the heart and make the demands for both?

Phaneron

Chosen answer: Will having control of Jones' heart would not help Jack in the slightest. Will's intent is to KILL Jones, therefore freeing his father. If Jack had control of Jones' heart, he'd only use it to settle his debt, given Jack's history of treachery. Yes, they could work together, but that would solve nothing: Bootstrap agreed to serve Jones FOREVER. The only way that debt is settled is with Jones' death. That wouldn't help Jack, because, as he says: "With Jones dead, who's to call his terrible beasty off the hunt, eh?"

Brad

Davy Jones doesn't have to die in order for Will's father to be freed from service, though. As captain of the Dutchman, Jones has the power to relieve Bootstrap of his duty for any reason or no reason at all. The third film makes it clear that Jones is at the mercy of anyone that is in possession of his heart, when Beckett becomes his overlord and orders him to kill the Kraken and hunt other pirates. Will and Jack could have easily taken possession of the heart and ordered Jones to both release Jack from his debt and release Bootstrap from the Dutchman. Jack even proposes the idea in the next film to Will that Jack can be the one to stab Jones' heart and then release Bootstrap from his service, allowing Will to still be with Elizabeth.

Phaneron

Question: What are the guns the guards in the agnate facility are using? I've been trying to get a good shot, but I just can't find one. I've also checked IMCDB, which usually has an awnser to that question, but they don't have it either.

Friso94

Chosen answer: If you're referring to the guns that shoot mini grappling hooks, I'm fairly certain that those guns haven't been invented yet.

Brad

Question: At the beginning of the film, Simon gives Mal an injection in the sick bay. What is this for?

Brad

Chosen answer: Answering my own question: In the script, Mall specifies that it is an inoculation for the planet's atmosphere.

Brad

Question: I don't understand the scene where Katniss is watching an old Hunger Games for a few moments then clicks it off. Her hair is down and pretty. Next scene she is still on the train and her hair is still pulled back. When was she supposedly watching this film?

Answer: She is watching the old film in her bedroom compartment on the train later that night. She's taken down her hair and is in her night clothes. You see her again the next morning, wearing the same dress and she has braided her hair again. Peeta and Katniss were almost immediately taken from the reaping to the train, without being allowed to bring any personal belongings.

raywest

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