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: Who is the guy suposed to be that Jack kills in the beginning at the night club? (00:04:50)

Quantom X

Answer: His name was Anton. He was an associate of Viktor Chagarin. Jack, although lying, said Yuri Komarov sends his regards. Chagarin and Komarov were former partners and Chagarin was the one who got Komarov put in jail. By Jack saying Komarov sent him, it made it seem like Komarov was out for revenge on Chagarin (by attacking his associates). The courts offered to reduce Jack's sentence for testifying against Komarov, which allowed Jack to get close to him and help him escape.

Bishop73

Answer: Just a nobody. Jack had to kill someone so that he would be arrested and that was his way of getting to the old guy (I forget his name). Additionally the guy in the nightclub was probably an enemy of the other Russian guy and it was a way of getting rid of him.

Alan Keddie

Question: What happened to the people who disappeared? Did they die?

Answer: Yes, the passengers who were awake through the time rift were killed instantly, including Nick Hopewell on the return trip.

Danny Duignan

Hey you can't really assume anything with a film like this and with a storyline being so mysterious and suspenseful. I think it is left up to one's imagination where the passengers disappeared too. Personally I think or would like to believe they all survived but in another dimension probarly in the 4 or 5th dimension like with the Bermuda triangle which is very similar to the movie in relation to people disappearing without a trace.

Actually, since items like pacemakers were left behind it's safe to assume at least some of the missing passengers are dead.

I assume that since some passengers who disappeared left behind their pacemakers, they probably died.

Answer: No, they didn't die. The premise of the story is that the sleeping plane passengers were in an alternate timeline a few minutes out-of-sync with normal time; so, when they awoke, they were aware of a dead zone in the immediate past. Everyone else in the world is still alive in the present. The "Langoliers" were interdimensional creatures that fed on the past, gobbling it up like a stage-cleaning crew.

Charles Austin Miller

We All Scream for Ice Cream - S3-E10

Question: What is the original song playing in the background as Victor enters? Some of the lyrics are "get you out of my head," "you're like a sexual high," "get out of my head".

Answer: This is according to Tunefind: The Cause by the band "27".

Alan Keddie

Question: Why was this film banned in Egypt for portraying "Fagin" too sympathetically?

Answer: Fagin was a Jewish character and in the 1930's and 40's Egypt did not like Jewish people. Egypt was heavily anti-Semitic; Jews were denied citizenship, Egypt was part of the Arab League during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and bombing of Jewish areas in Egypt would occur. It was banned simply out of hate.

Bishop73

Question: When Kimble got his foot stuck in the door and was trying to escape, Gerard shot him in the chest several times. A little excessive and unnecessary, but Kimble was convicted of murder and was running the streets, so to Gerard he could've posed a severe threat. But then once Kimble fell down and was apparently subdued, why would Gerard shoot him in the head? He was supposed to take him in, not kill him. If the glass wasn't bulletproof, surely Gerard would've gone to jail himself. I know in action movies the characters have the right to kill whoever they want whenever they want, but this just seems way too far-fetched and actually rather comical in a really dark and sadistic way. I'm not talking about Gerard repeatedly shooting the glass after it's clear it's bulletproof, I'm talking about before that. Gerard shoots Kimble repeatedly in the chest thinking he actually got him, Kimble fell over in shock and Gerard thought it was because of the bullet wounds, but then while Kimble's on the floor, Gerard points his gun at Kimble's head and shoots.

Answer: In this whole scene what bugs me (and I consider this a major error in the character development) that by the time of the attempted head-shot (because it was one), Gerard had already started second guessing himself. It was obvious that something's not right about Kimble's guiltiness even for this non-negotiating old dog and it was beautifully portrayed throughout the movie including the touching ending scene. However, at the above moment, everything fell out of character and all of a sudden, the Marshal wants to kill the man and let the mystery never to be solved.

Watch the scene again. He mouths something to Kimble after shooting at him when he is down, like "get out of here". He is trying to help Kimble and pretending to shoot at him towards what knows is impenetrable bulletproof glass.

That is not what happens. Gerard mouths "son of a..." because he's constantly a step behind Kimble.

Answer: Kimble doesn't fall from shock, he falls because his foot is caught in the door and he loses his balance. And Girard never thought he'd hit Kimble, which is why he keeps firing after Kimble is on the ground; he's still trying to incapacitate him. He's not aiming for Kimble's head per se, it's just that on the ground, Kimble presents a much smaller target, so his head is just as likely to be hit as the rest of him (his still-vulnerable foot, for example). Perhaps if the glass had not been bulletproof and Girard had, in fact, killed him, Girard would have been in trouble, but since Girard did not intend to kill Kimble, he probably wouldn't have been punished too severely.

It is fairly clear that Gerard is shooting to kill. Police officers and U.S. Marshals do not discharge their firearms unless they intend to kill. Upon observing that the bullets were stopped by the glass and Kimble was unharmed, Gerard shoots again, hoping that he would be lucky enough to breach the glass. Gerard is justified in shooting to kill. A convicted murderer (i.e., suspected armed and dangerous) who is fleeing arrest, has been given a lawful order to stop, and does not stop, is liable to be shot due to the risk they pose to other citizens. That he had entered and was fleeing from a penitentiary is even greater incentive for shooting. Kimble is innocent, but that is something that the audience knows and that Gerard does not. When Kimble claimed that he hadn't shot his wife, Gerard replied "I don't care!", suggesting he didn't believe Richard was innocent - at least, not at the time. (Tommy Lee Jones even insisted that his line "That's not my problem" be changed to "I don't care", because not-caring implies disbelief rather than willful blindness).

Question: During Katniss' individual assessment, was Peeta the one who painted that picture of Rue? I read that it was but that doesn't explain why Katniss got angry when Plutarch tells her she has 10 minutes to present her chosen skills. Or why she made that dummy about Seneca Crane?

THE GAMER NEXT DOOR

Answer: It was done by Peeta, who was artistically inclined. Peeta knew that seeing it would have an emotional effect on Katniss, making her angry over Rue's death, thus helping her not to be intimidated by the Capitol judges. It was also Peeta's defiant act against the Capitol's cruelty in taking innocent lives. Katniss made the dummy of Seneca Crane as her own defiant statement. Seneca, by stopping Katniss and Peeta from eating the poisoned berries and declaring them both victors in the previous games, saved their lives, but he was later executed for circumventing Snow's orders. Katniss is acknowledging that Seneca saved her and Peeta, losing his life in the process.

raywest

Question: When Harry and Lupin are talking about Harry's boggart that turned into a dementor, Lupin says that he thought the boggart was going to transform into Voldemort. If that had been so, would Harry have had a clear image of what Voldemort may have looked like? He probably wouldn't have imagined Voldemort as Tom Riddle from the diary in CoS because Voldemort's more human form isn't fearful and even in The Philosopher's Stone Voldemort's face isn't fully formed as it eventually is in GoF.

Answer: There is no way of knowing how Harry would have imagined how Voldemort looked. However, since Voldemort was an infamous figure, Harry could have, at some point, seen photos or portraits of him in books, old news articles, or other sources.

raywest

Question: When the genie learns that Aladdin tricked him into getting them out of the cave without making a wish, couldn't he have just teleported Aladdin, Abu, and the carpet back inside the cave to make sure Aladdin wishes himself out of the cave?

Answer: He is not an evil genie and, even though he was tricked, he would not have wanted Aladdin to be trapped in the cave again. He likes Aladdin and admires his cleverness in getting himself out of the cave without wasting a wish.

raywest

What I was wondering is why he likes Aladdin.

The Genie likes Aladdin because he is clever, friendly, and charming. As he indicates several times in the film, most of the Genie's masters were greedy, unkind, and selfish.

BaconIsMyBFF

Aladdin doesn't just greedily use up his three wishes and send Genie back into his lamp, which is implied to be what Genie's previous masters have done.

"He is not an evil genie" who says only an evil genie would teleport Aladdin, Abu, and the carpet back inside the cave to make sure Aladdin wishes himself out of the cave?

The comment was specific and limited to the character of the one genie in the movie who is not evil but kind-hearted. Never said "only" evil genies.

raywest

Answer: This movie predates the more advanced CGI that would be used these days. In older films, actors portraying an amputee would have their leg (or arm) bent back and strapped to their body. A prosthetic peg leg would be attacked to the lower appendage. The actors were also filmed from strategic vantage points so the bent part of the limb didn't show. When Douglas is seen driving a wagon, the seat was probably constructed so that his lower leg fit into a hidden compartment and the peg leg was attached on top to be visible. Douglas also wore rather baggy pants, and that would help conceal his bent leg.

raywest

Answer: In the book, Haymitch told Katniss how he used the arena's force field to electrocute and kill his opponent. He was at the arena's edge when the other tribute threw a weapon at him. As it hit the force field, Haymitch ducked, avoiding the weapon. The electrical power bounced back, striking and killing his opponent, making Haymitch the victor. In the movie, Peeta was injured when he struck the force field. Katniss knew that shooting the arrow with a wire attached to the electrical tree into the dome would significantly damage it.

raywest

Question: When the ark is about to be opened by Belloq and the Nazis, Belloq is wearing possibly a priest style outfit and has a gold staff. Does it explain where he got that from? Was it while digging up the city? Personal collection?

Answer: It was never explained where Belloq acquired the outfit, but as he knew the history of the arc and he was actively searching for it to use its power, he must have intended for some time to wear that clothing for the ritual. Whether or not he knew it was needed or his wearing it was just for egotistical theatrics is a matter of speculation.

raywest

Answer: Belloq was working closely with the Nazis who were, of course, already persecuting Jews and confiscating Jewish property on a grand scale back in Germany. As chief archaeologist of the Nazi antiquities acquisition project, Belloq could make any request for necessary equipment (or attire), and the Third Reich would quickly supply it. Belloq anticipated that the ceremonial Jewish high priest costume would be necessary for handling the Ark, and he requested a replica costume in advance. As it happened, merely looking like a Jewish high priest wasn't enough to protect him (or anyone else).

Charles Austin Miller

Question: Why would Kyle assume that her daughter was hidden inside the casket? Only she knew the code.

Answer: I don't think Kyle was looking for Julia in the casket. The crew and air marshal were convincing her that she was delusional. They had also told Kyle that Julia died with her husband. I believe she was looking in the casket to see if it was Julia's casket instead.

Answer: Because after searching the entire plane for her daughter without finding her, it was the last place left she hadn't looked in. It was a desperate, last-ditch attempt to try anything to find her. By now, Kyle may have been suspecting that her daughter's disappearance was something more than a missing child on a plane.

raywest

Actually the last place she hadn't looked before the casket was the avionics room in the nose of the plane, which is where Julia was hidden. And to be honest, I have no idea why Kyle didn't assume her daughter was hidden there, and search there before the casket instead of near the end of the film especially knowing it didn't have a lock, unlike the casket.

No kidding. I mean how in the world did she miss that? She's an avionics engineer. She designed the darn plane.

Question: When Carmen takes off her shoe, are we able to tell the colour of her socks? Or at any point in this movie?

THE GAMER NEXT DOOR

Answer: Her sock colour is most likely black during that scene as it was when they were in the treehouse.

Question: Right before Manolo died, Maria's father and Joaquin blamed Manolo for Maria's supposed death. When Manolo comes back to the living, why aren't they still angry with him?

Answer: Well for one, she isn't dead. No reason to be upset with him over something that didn't actually occur. And secondly, they are on the middle of a fight, better to have all the help they can get.

MasterOfAll

Question: Why wouldn't Nichols just alert authorities right away if he was behind this whole thing the whole time? Made no sense. Good plot twist, but in real life, you would think the mastermind would get Kimball tossed in jail ASAP to avoid being revealed like he was.

Israel Joffe

Answer: One, the authorities are already on Kimball's trail, literally one step behind him the entire film, so Nichols wouldn't gain much by alerting them. Two, he knows that if Kimball finds out he (Nichols) alerted the police, it would pretty much prove to Kimball that Nichols was the one behind everything; safer for Nichols to appear innocent and, more important, cooperative, so that if and when Kimball is recaptured and tells his story, he has nothing on Nichols to tell the authorities. This backfires, of course, but it is the most logical course of action.

Question: At the beginning, Elsa freezes the ballroom's floor after striking Anna, then their parents show up and rush to them. How were they able to run on the frosty floor without slipping or falling?

Answer: People who live in snowy areas learn to run on snow and ice without slipping or falling.

Greg Dwyer

Question: Exactly how is Peeta pretending that he and Katniss are having a baby supposed to get them to cancel the games?

THE GAMER NEXT DOOR

Answer: Peeta knows that he and Katniss are Capitol favorites and that their fans have been enthralled by their (fake) romance. By announcing their bogus elopement and a faux pregnancy, he is attempting to win over peoples' sympathy in hope they will demand that the games be halted in order to protect the "unborn child." People generally have more empathy when infants and small children are involved, though his attempt was unsuccessful.

raywest

Question: At the start when Katniss sang that song for Prim, how does that calm her down since the reaping is still going to happen?

THE GAMER NEXT DOOR

Answer: Because it's something that is familiar and soothing for Prim. It does not completely wash away all the fears and anxiety, but it helps calm her down a little. It is not only the song, but also Katniss being there and comforting her sister, assuring Prim that her chances are practically zero of being chosen, though that turned out to be wrong.

raywest

Question: I could be wrong, but wouldn't destroying the Silver Shemrock factory disable the commercial and/or the mask chips?

JohnShel91

Chosen answer: They don't broadcast the commercial, the cable company does. And the mask chips all have tiny pieces of the rock inside, so they will still work regardless of whether or not the factory is destroyed. So the answer is "no" and "no."

Answer: He didn't. Simon Ambrose, who was the real mole, tricked Johnny English into thinking Patch was a traitor.

Bishop73

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.