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: How can Jack carry around a case of drawings without them rubbing together, and smudging the graphite or charcoal? Many modern artists will spray those mediums with hairspray or art fixative, but I don't think those were available in 1912.

Answer: Artists at that time could use fixatives to protect graphite or charcoal drawings. I had a small foldable metal sprayer for my drawings. The small metal tube is inserted into a bottle of fixative. The hinged top of the sprayer is bent at a 45-degree angle. As the liquid is wicked up through the tube, you blow through the bent part and it sprays the fixative onto the paper. It's a little hard to explain, but it works. There were also hand-pumped misting sprayers and atomizers (like the old-fashioned perfume bottles). Artists made their own fixative with shellac and isopropyl alcohol and also used clear casein (made from diluted egg whites) to paint over drawings.

raywest

Question: Why did Owen and Beru ever tell Luke that they are his aunt and uncle? They apparently want him to live a simple farmer's life, stay away from Ben Kenobi, and not learn about Jedi or get involved in the Rebellion. Would it not be easier to pretend that they are his parents?

Answer: Any answer would be speculation and it's hard to know exactly how much George Lucas had planned ahead for these characters. Not to mention things like Obi-Wan never knew Anakin was alive when they were separating Luke and Leia, Darth Vader hadn't been created yet, and he doesn't find out Anakin is Darth Vader until years later. An in-universe answer would basically be there's no way for the Lars to explain they now have a baby when Beru was never pregnant, so everyone would know Luke isn't their son (which could eventually be told to Luke as he got older). So really the only options would be to raise him as an adopted child or as their nephew. The Organas on the other hand always wanted a daughter and so Bail agreed to secretly adopt Leia.

Bishop73

Answer: Considering Kenobi lived on Tatooine and it was known that Anakin became Vader, there was always a chance that Luke would learn the truth and finding out he was lied to about his past could have been devastating to him and the family dynamic.

Question: Did they have signs for smoking cars on the train windows in that era?

Answer: Yes they did. In 1868 the Railway Regulation Bill was passed in the UK which forced railway companies to designate certain cars as smoking cars. This bill was passed in response to companies banning smoking altogether on their trains.

BaconIsMyBFF

Question: When the Kraken is attacking the Pearl, what was the point of hoisting all the gunpowder as high as possible? The Kraken is below the water and it's just the tentacles that are above the water. Did Will really expect it to kill the Kraken?

Answer: If they set it off too close to the deck, it could kill members of the crew or severely damage the ship. Hoisting it high and hoping that it would cripple the Kraken by maiming its tentacles was their best bet.

TedStixon

Question: The miscast spell made everyone who knew that Peter Parker was Spider-Man to appear in Tom's universe. Why didn't Mary-Jane, Harry Osborne and Eddie Brock from Toby's universe and Captain George Stacy and Gwen Stacy from Andrew's universe also appear as they knew Peter Parker was really Spider-Man?

Answer: Perhaps they did cross over, but they were not part of the plot, so we just didn't see them. They were all returned at the end anyway.

lionhead

Answer: It could be there were too many characters and too many subplots already, they only needed the characters that would cause the most damage to Peter's universe. There are confirmed sequels in the SCU and The MCU, who knows who could show up there.

Question: What is the machine that grabbed Neo, and why did it let him go after the cables that were attached to him get removed from his body?

Answer: The machine is probably a regular maintenance machine for the pods. It grabs hold of him as the cables are detached to prevent him from falling out. It let him go so the body could be drained for recycling.

lionhead

Answer: It let him go because he woke up and became self-aware. Everyone else was asleep in the Matrix fantasy world. The machines knew if anyone woke up, they would join the resistance, so Neo was considered defective and literally flushed away.

Question: So, Maverick is in Miramar (California) and must depart immediately for the Indian Ocean, some 12 time zones away. How do he (and all the others) get there in 24 hours, especially on the carrier, well rested and acclimated to the new time zone, ready to go to battle?

Answer: Who said it was 24 hours? When they move from one scene to another one, it's indicated that time has passed. Several hours to several days.

When they cut to the aircraft carrier, it says 24 hours later.

Question: Touching Lorna's computer Riggs unintentionally started a Three Stooges game which Lorna claimed to be a weapon. Why?

Answer: She didn't want him to see that she was a fan of those comical idiots. She was supposed to be a tough nonsense internal affairs officer. She was in fact his soulmate, exactly like him, wild and crazy.

Answer: There are two times when this happens the first time he is holding his guns. The second time he is holding a frog.

Question: Who is the character with him in the picture?

Answer: This question needs way more context. Who is the he you're referring to and what picture are you referring to?

Bishop73

If you're referring to the pictures that Eddie is looking at, the guy in the pictures next to Eddie is his brother Teddy who was killed by Judge Doom.

Question: How did the Marshalls know Kimble had been picked up by the lady when he was hitchhiking? (00:45:20 - 00:46:00)

Answer: They didn't. When Cosmo tells Sam that, "He's shacked up with some babe over in Whiting," they were actually talking about Copeland, who had also escaped and was with his girlfriend. Although the line was meant to let people watching the movie think they had found Richard, as eventually shown. It was really Copeland they had found.

Question: In The Matrix Reloaded, the Architect tells Neo that each incarnation of the One went into the Source while the machines killed everyone in Zion. If the machines knew where Zion was the whole time, then why did the machines need the code for the Zion mainframe?

Answer: Because that would make it easier to access Zion, like opening the gates and shutting off defences.

lionhead

Show generally

Question: I've heard they're a paper company but what do they make exactly? Just paper? Nothing but copy paper or do they make other stuff as well?

Rob245

Answer: They're a paper and office supply company. I'm pretty sure they never actually make the paper. But their main clients are businesses and corporations, not individuals, so they would sell business cards, pre-printed paper with letterhead, and other office supplies that they get directly from the paper or supply manufacture. They're basically the same as Office Max or Staples, but without stores for individuals to go and buy 1 pack of printer paper or a chair.

Bishop73

Question: What was the pamphlet that Forrest was given after graduating from college?

Answer: It was a recruitment pamphlet for the U.S. Army.

Bishop73

Show generally

Question: Even though we know in the pilot that Mike was widowed, the show kept Carol's status a secret if she was widowed or divorced (though TV guides in the 70's labeled her as widowed). It seems obvious that widowed would be the answer since the girls never kept in touch with their father at all (or ever mentioned him). So the main question here is regardless if Carol was widowed or divorced, why were her 3 daughters' last names changed to Brady? Marriage would only change Carol's last name.

Answer: That the girls be adopted was for good reason - it would not be "proper" to have girls housed with boys (or a grown man) they were not related to, even if only by marriage. They may not be blood relatives after their adoption, but their statuses as step-sisters to the boys (or step-daughter to Mike, now their step-father) help clarify their roles and set appropriate boundaries (especially prohibited sexual behavior).

KeyZOid

Answer: It's implied that Mike Brady adopted Carol's daughters, which would result in their last name being changed to Brady as well.

Bishop73

Question: What song was the President playing on the synthesizer?

Answer: Axel F by Harold Faltermeyer, which was originally used in the movie Beverly Hills Cop.

Casual Person

Answer: McKellen said he turned it down for two reasons: first, he had already played a famous wizard (Gandalf) and didn't want to do it again; and second, he didn't want to take over a role from Richard Harris after Harris had called him a "dreadful actor."

To clarify, Harris never said that McKellen was "dreadful." He was quoted in an article as describing McKellen as a, "technically brilliant, but passionless" actor. He was also including Kenneth Branagh and Derek Jacobi in that assessment and referred to them all as "nice actors" who were "careful." It was just his opinion about an acting style different from his own, which was more emotive.

raywest

Question: Why would Dracula need to put Wilbur's brain in the body of Frankenstein's Monster? I understand the Count wanted a Monster who would be much more obedient and easier to control, however it seemed like the Monster was that way already; he would follow Dracula's commands with "Yes, Master." So what did Count Dracula need Wilbur for again?

Answer: The monster may have seemed obedient, but its overall behavior is unknown to us. It's possible that it was at times defiant, obstinate, or just didn't follow instructions completely or competently. It's also just a plot device for a silly movie. There has to be some reason, however flimsy, why Dracula wants Wilbur's brain.

raywest

Question: Originally Christian says that when his biological mother overdosed he was taken to the hospital which is where Grace, his adoptive mother finds him. Then near the end of Fifty Shades Freed, they see the picture of the foster family where he and Jack were in the same foster home in Michigan. How was he in a foster home in Michigan, if Grace took him and adopted him when he was at the hospital?

Answer: Christian mentions he was in and out of foster homes for various periods of time before his mother overdosed and died. She had likely cleaned up enough to where Christian was returned to her custody, but she then reverted to her old ways and became involved with an abusive man before overdosing. Christian then met Grace at the hospital.

raywest

Question: Why did Mort/Shooter kill Chico the dog? I don't think he wanted to upset Amy, because she never finds out that Chico is dead. She calls his name when she takes the divorce papers to the lake house, where Mort/Shooter kills her.

Answer: "Shooter" (actually Mort), killed the dog as a threat and a warning to Mort, implying this will happen to him if he doesn't cooperate. Mort, as himself, has no recollection of doing this and believed "Shooter" was threatening his life. Mort then reports it to the sheriff, which only fed into his delusion that Shooter was real and shows he's losing his grip on reality. It wasn't about Amy.

raywest

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