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: Could Truman file a lawsuit against the people who turned his life into a TV show?

Answer: Anyone can file a lawsuit if they choose. The question is whether he would win. That would be questionable, given he was legally adopted by the studio. He was well cared for, so it would come down to the question of whether hiding the truth from someone and manipulating their entire life constitutes abuse.

Answer: I'm 100% sure he could sue and get financial compensation for his time, face, and name being used. They make a ton of money off him, he would be rich.

Answer: Yes.

Brian Katcher

Question: Wouldn't Dr. Kimball lose his medical license for changing the boy's orders in the hospital and signing the form, forging someone else's identity?

Answer: He's a convicted murderer, he's already lost his license. If you mean after he's been exonerated, the other doctor admitted he saved the boy's life. I doubt the AMA would prosecute him for doing that.

Brian Katcher

Also, as he was wrongly convicted of murder, he was wrongly deprived of his medical license.

raywest

Assuming he gets exonerated for the murder charge (I'm not a lawyer but I assume, in the messed up US legal system, this still takes evidence even though the actual murderer is in custody), he would still technically be guilty of breaking out of prison and fleeing police. It would be very interesting to hear the end of the story - everyone assumes they just let him go but in reality, it wouldn't be that simple and again, even if you are wrongly convicted, it's against the law to escape prison.

oldbaldyone

Answer: I have repeatedly told people he wore a sweater. There has to be one, more original, that has him in a sweater. I remember almost like a Easter yellow.

It should be noted Rhames does wear what looks like a yellow sweater in "Pulp Fiction." Although I wouldn't call it Easter Yellow.

Bishop73

I saw Ving Rhames in a navy crewneck sweater in the closing shots of this film.

I also can swear I saw an ending with Ving Rhames wearing a sweater. This would be in keeping with Klein asking him earlier in the film if he ever wears sweaters.

Answer: My wife and I also believe that Agent Duane Stevenson wore a sweater at the end of the movie on the VHS version. The DVD version switched Duane with suit, white shirt and tie - no sweater.

Answer: I saw Ving Rhames in a navy crewneck sweater at the end of movie shot.

Question: After Peter yells at Kevin "You spent $967 on room service?!", where does Kevin run off to? It's not clear from what's onscreen.

Answer: He's heading back to the hotel most likely to apologize for spending such a huge amount.

Answer: It's Kevin's dad who screams out. You can tell because Buzz looks at the bill, smirks, and says, "Oh, Dad." I've always interpreted it as Kevin running away. The joke is that Kevin's dad screams so loud from the hotel room that Kevin can hear him from the park. So Kevin wouldn't want to face his dad.

Bishop73

I just watched the clip on YouTube and yeah you're right, it is his dad. The sound of his voice when he yells "Kevin" sounds exactly like Buzz, so it probably conditioned a lot of viewers such as myself to accept it as Buzz's voice for the whole line.

Phaneron

Question: Where does all the money come from? These people earn some serious cash from completing dares, but they never tell us where the money came from.

Mario Limbouris

Answer: From the watchers. They pay to watch for 24 hours. I can't remember how much off top of my head but that's where the money comes from. As people fail or bail the money is removed from their bank accounts and goes back into the main fund.

Ssiscool

Question: I'm looking for what Sydney says about disappointment when she comes back looking for her sister's sweater.

Answer: She says is "Oh, f*** the sweater, she'll have to learn to live with disappointment."

Bishop73

Question: Why did Fridge explode when he got killed by his weakness, cake, but not Martha when she gets killed by her weakness, venom?

Answer: Allergic reaction.

Answer: The simple answer? It was just a funnier visual to see Fridge literally explode from eating cake instead of just dying. It's just a very minor inconsistency in the film for comedic purposes.

TedStixon

Question: What is the significance of the bar scene they keep cutting to during the live aid performance? It does not appear to be the same door that Freddie first played with Smile so I'm not sure the significance. Also, who is the blonde guy with glasses sitting next to Bob Geldof when Bob is asking for money? That's supposed to be someone famous?

Answer: It's not any specific bar, it's just a very common trope in this kind of movie to show everyday people in a bar/pub watching/responding to a massive televised event (cf. V for Vendetta). The guy sitting next to Bob Geldof is David Hepworth, who's not super famous; he's a British music journalist and was a co-presenter of Live Aid.

Question: When the men are at the statehouse, what are they arguing about?

Answer: They are debating whether or not to pass a levy (tax) to fund an army the American Revolution.

LorgSkyegon

Answer: He attempted to, but that's what made Magneto threaten to execute all the police officers.

Phaneron

Answer: Lenny was probably not their friend anymore when they became part of the college fraternity and he didn't. He would probably respond to them like Thumper did.

lionhead

True. Plus when I think about it, in the original timeline Lenny didn't grow up and was still living with his mom so thought that's where he was.

Question: If the Maitlands aren't dead at the end and the Deetzes agreed to share the house, then how did Lydia fly while dancing?

Answer: The Maitlands are still dead. They are still ghosts.

lionhead

Answer: The Maitlands are definitely still dead. Absolutely nothing in the movie indicates they came back to life. Lydia flying and all the things happening around the house at the end are the Maitland's doing - they're having fun with Lydia using their otherworldly abilities because Lydia's doing good in school.

TedStixon

Question: P.L. Travers hated Disney's film adaptation of Mary Poppins so much that she refused to have Disney make any more adaptations of Mary Poppins. How could a sequel be made without the consent of Travers, especially since she died in 1996?

Answer: Travers was never entirely opposed to having a sequel made. She initially refused Disney's sequel ideas, and attempted to impose her own demands and concept on what any additional film would be. In the 1980s, Travers and a friend wrote their own screenplay. The Disney company, now with different management, considered it but eventually dropped the project amid casting problems and other issues and conflicts that emerged. After Travers' death, Disney could then negotiate directly with Travers' estate.

raywest

Answer: The short answer is *because* she died. Control then passed to her beneficiaries/estate. She didn't forbid Disney from making a sequel, and she couldn't legally prevent it either. The deal she had with Disney just meant that they had to agree on it as she had creative control, and despite their (and apparently her) best efforts, they could never find a sequel idea everyone was happy with, especially given her dislike of the original film. Her will stated: "Any payments received by my Trustees in respect of or any future commercial production or exploitation in any form whatsoever of any books I have written (including any sequel to the film "Mary Poppins") shall be held by my Trustees upon trust to distribute..." On her death creative control passed to her trustees, in terms of sequels and the stage show, and they managed to agree on a sequel idea.

Jon Sandys

Question: When Steve injured himself making the spear for fishing and Charles helped to treat his wound, he asked Bob to bury the cloth. Did Bob hang the cloth in a tree intentionally? Or did he just not know that other animals could smell that for miles? Especially the bear they had encountered beforehand.

Answer: The latter. He didn't think it was necessary to bury it because a) he was lazy, and b) he knew nothing about animals or wilderness survival, much less bears' sense of smell. He was just trying to get rid of it with as little work as possible.

Answer: Plot-wise, there was no reason given for her exit. She was a minor character, not a regular, and writers often write them out of a series without an explanation. The actress, Margo Harshman, did go on to work in a web series the next season and, following that, had a more substantial role on NCIS.

raywest

Question: When the lights went out in the toilet den, why did Phil try to start a lighter and how did the whole den explode?

Answer: Earlier in the film, when the guys were talking to the banker about getting the camp ready, the plumber came out and said the bathroom had a methane problem and that it needed to be pumped (and a new septic tank and plumbing). The backed up tank is what caused the methane to build up in the bathroom. Methane is highly flammable and will cause an explosion if the gas mixture is right and there's a spark or flame (mines have exploded because of methane build up). When the lights went out, Phil lit the lighter to help him see in the dark better (although we don't really know what his full intention were, e.g. was he going to go see who turned the lights off, wipe, or just continue reading).

Bishop73

Answer: Harry, while on the bed, dangled his shoe over the edge, luring the book out from underneath. The book, attracted by the movement, lunged for the shoe, and that's when Harry jumped on top of it. It's similar to a cat chasing a small object tied to a string.

raywest

Answer: If you mean how he got it back under control, he lured it out from under his bed and then stepped on it. He was then able to put the binding back on. The book stops moving if the binding is around it.

lionhead

No I meant how did he lure it out. I don't get how that works.

The book isn't a very smart creature. No reason for attacking is given so it probably attacks anything that is in front of it, too close maybe, or anything that moves. Like a shoe.

lionhead

Like many animals that feels threatened, it emerged from its hiding place to attack its foe. In doing so, Harry was able to pounce and subdue the book.

Ssiscool

Answer: Aside from a couple cuts and what appears to be a sprained wrist, she looks relatively unscathed, so he probably just hovered around her for a short while to terrify her. His goal is to make Spider-Man realise that he knows his secret identity, so he wouldn't risk any major bodily harm to Aunt May, as that could potentially kill her.

Phaneron

Answer: Both were breaking the rules. Nobody said conjuring a snake is more a violation then using other spells than the disarmament spell. Plus everybody kinda forgot it happened after they heard Harry speak parsel tongue.

lionhead

Answer: Because Snape whispered an incantation to Malfoy.

Ssiscool

Answer: Logan was forced to kill Jean Grey to save the world from the Phoenix, and presumably remaining with the X-Men would have constantly reminded him of her, exacerbating his guilt and anger.

Sierra1

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.