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: There seem to be a very, very large number of apes descended from the original lab escapees. What kind of population growth must the ape colony have had to have so many apes in 10 years?

wjh

Chosen answer: The apes that were in the colony would not have to have been descended only from the lab apes. The end of the first movie shows the liberation of other apes from zoos in the area. As the virus had spread world-wide, it's logical to assume that all apes would have been infected as well, including these liberated apes. That's only staying within the fictional universe of the movie, because in reality there are only about 25 non-Human apes in zoos, 0 ape sanctuaries, and 0 apes living in research facilities, in the San Francisco area. It's also illegal to keep apes as pets in California (I'm assuming this includes Humans.) At least according to Nina Shen Rastogi. http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2011/08/23/the_rise_of_the_planet_of_the_apes_a_fact_check_how_many_apes_li.html.

Question: The Hogwarts letter states that the recipient has been "accepted" into the school, so are there other magical schools for those who aren't chosen for Hogwarts?

Answer: Every wizard child is accepted to Hogwarts. It's merely the school's way of formally wording the letters to new students. For Muggle-born wizard children or ones like Harry who never knew he was a wizard, the wording may be slightly different. There are other schools of magic, but not in England. As seen in HP and the Goblet of Fire, there is also Durmstrang and Beaux Batons, among others. Also, not all English wizard children attend Hogwarts. Some study in another country or at home, though most go Hogwarts. Muggle-born wizard children are not forced to be trained in magic.

raywest

Question: The other night me and some friends were arguing whether or not the shot that Brody makes to blow the tank up to kill Bruce was possible, or would it be too hard to make?

liezander

Chosen answer: It would certainly be very difficult, with the shark moving and hitting the tank while slightly underwater. But it wouldn't be impossible.

Greg Dwyer

Answer: This theory was tested on "Mythbusters" and the myth was "busted", twice. https://mythresults.com/mythbusters-vs-jaws.

wizard_of_gore

The Mythbusters did indeed bust that myth by failing to cause the tanks to explode. In case anyone disputes the technology, they used the same type of scuba tanks, rifle, and ammunition that were used in the movie.

raywest

Answer: While taking the shot and hitting the tank could be possible, it would not result in an explosion.

What was shown on Mythbusters was the tank, when filled with compressed air, became a flailing projectile as the air escaped from a bullet hole.

raywest

Question: I have two questions. Firstly I read that Liev Schrieber makes an appearance. Does anyone know which one he is? Secondly, given how much Hunt admired Jake, why didn't he warn him that the gang had a new leader and that he risked death by going back due to his betrayal? Seems odd to me that he said nothing.

Gavin Jackson

Answer: Don't recall seeing Liev, as for your second question, maybe Hunt figured it was nothing Jake didn't already know, or at least conclude.

Answer: There are many reasons that known actors appear in movies and are uncredited. Cameo appearances often go un-credited. Actors sometimes do a cameo if they are friends with the director or the other stars. It can add an unexpected surprise for the audience. There are also contract and payment issues if an actor receives billing in the credit. Jack Lemmon, who was the narrator for the story, may have preferred not being credited. He was certainly a big enough star that if he wanted to be listed in the credits, he would have received proper billing.

raywest

Question: In one of the very first scenes set in one of the plantation slave huts, Solomon is struggling to sleep. He is sleeping on the floor squashed amongst many other slaves. During this scene, what looks like a white youngish woman encourages him to touch her. A little earlier we see her sitting on the porch of the slave hut eating alone whilst the slaves are eating. As far as I could tell, she doesn't appear again in the film. Who is she? Does she play a greater role in the book? Was there more of a story here that ended up on the cutting room floor?

Answer: It was a fellow slave. As to whether or not she has a greater role in the book I can't say, but I interpreted the scene to demonstrate how far removed from his former life Solomon had fallen; rutting on the floor in front of everyone else like an animal.

Phixius

Question: Why at the end, after the Predators have appeared before Danny Glover to give him the pistol, do they camouflage themselves again? Being that they're on their own ship, and no hunt is in progress... Camouflaging themselves just seems like the special effects technicians wanted to indulge themselves one more time before the end of the movie.

Paul Weston

Chosen answer: It could be a precaution to keep him from attacking them once their backs are turned.

Captain Defenestrator

Question: When the dwarves are in Mirkwood, Thorin tells Balin he told Thranduil to... then a string of dwarvish. What does the dwarvish mean?

Annabel Keeley

Chosen answer: According to linguist David Salo who worked on the languages for the LOTR and Hobbit films, he says "îsh kakhfê ai-'d-dûr-rugnul" meaning "May my excrement be poured upon the naked-jawed (ones) " - the naked-jawed ones being the beardless elves.

Sierra1

Question: How is it that Rodan flew supersonic speeds but you only see him flap his wings to take off? Also how did he leave a vapor trail at high altitude?

Answer: The movie was made in the 1950s when special effects barely existed and were primitive at best. This is also a Japanese-made movie, and their film industry, at that time, was far less sophisticated than Western movies. Audiences then were expected to employ a "suspension of disbelief" while watching a Sci-fi movie, accepting that what they were seeing was implausible or crudely done, but it told the story. Audiences know that Rodan could not have taken off at supersonic speeds merely by flapping its wings or left a vapor trail at high altitude, but just accept that it adds to the overall illusion of what is supposed to be happening.

raywest

Question: Another entry says "… his name is in the rip portion of the credits." What is the "rip portion of the credits"?

kh1616

Chosen answer: The closing credits for both Kill Bill moves included a short list of deceased directors, writers and actors, under the title "R.I.P.", meaning "Rest In Peace": Charles Bronson, Chang Cheh, Kinji Fukasaku, Lo Lieh, Shintaro Katsu, William Witney, Sergio Corbucci, Lucio Fulci, Sergio Leone, and Lee Van Cleef.

THGhost

Question: I have 2 questions. When Billy takes the mogwai to his science teacher to demonstrate how they multiply, is it Gizmo that he drips the water on? Or is it one of the first five? Also what happens to him when he changes into a gremlin? Is it safe to assume that he ended up joining with the others? I don't recall the movie ever explaining what happened to him when he escaped through the air vent.

Enchantress

Chosen answer: It is one of the first five. You can easily tell after he drops the water on it, the 2 gremlins are on either side of the box communicating with each other. They show them both and neither is Gizmo. As for what happened after it escaped in the air vent, it never shows so we assume it joined the others.

lartaker1975

Question: I've always wondered if Booth shot those hunters because he was pissed off at that one guy for shooting the duck; or because he felt it was the perfect time to test the effectiveness of his home made gun. Any thoughts on this?

Enchantress

Chosen answer: The two hunters had now seen his face so they had to be killed. If they reported Booth to the police as "a weirdo in the woods with a powerful gun" (or whatever) his face would become known to the authorities and his chances of getting anywhere near the president would be zero.

The_Iceman

Question: Has it ever been explained what happens to a wizard/witch if they don't repay a life debt? Harry should owe one to Snape after Snape rescues him from Quirrell's curse during the Quidditch game, but he never does throughout the series.

Answer: It does not appear that life debts automatically form whenever somebody saves somebody else - J K Rowling has, for example, stated that Ginny did not incur a life debt to Harry when he saved her in the Chamber of Secrets, although she said nothing about what circumstances need to occur for a debt to exist. In Snape's case, there would seem to be several possibilities. 1) A life debt simply didn't form. 2) Snape is protecting Harry because of his love for Lily and his failure to save her, so he may actually be paying off a debt of sorts himself by doing so. 3) Harry's father James saved Snape from almost certain death when Sirius tried to trick him into going into the Shrieking Shack when Remus Lupin was in his wolf form. As such, Sirius may have owed James a debt, which he paid off by saving Harry. 4) A life debt did form but, as Snape died before Harry could pay it off and, insofar as we know, had no relatives that the debt could pass to, Harry was let off the hook.

Tailkinker

Question: A while after the Yule ball scene, after Harry wakes up from a nightmare, Neville comes in. He says something like "I got in! Me!" What is he talking about? What did he get into?

Answer: What Neville means is that he's only just got back in from being at the Ball, despite it being extremely late at night. The "Me!" simply reflects that fact that even Neville is aware that of everyone in the dormitory, he is unquestionably the one you'd least expect to be the last one back. Exactly what Neville has been up to is an open question, but he certainly seems excited about it. Alternatively, since Neville has a reputation for forgetting the password to the Gryffindor common room, "I got in! Me!" probably means that he is marveling at the fact that he remembered the password and actually got in to the common room and dormitories without any help.

Tailkinker

Question: In the apartment scene where Nick is sitting awkwardly listening to Tom and Myrtle "do it", what is the dog eating on the plate? Because, at one point, the plate is empty and then you hear a plopping noise and there is more (food?) on the plate. What is it?

Answer: According to the script, it's a "soggy dog biscuit [dissolving] into a saucer of milk".

Sierra1

Question: When Blazcowicz wakes up after the head trauma, why is he in a mental institution and not a hospital? He wasn't crazy, merely injured from shrapnel that got stuck in his head.

Answer: The trauma left him in a fugue state. An ordinary hospital would not have been equipped for that kind of potentially lifelong care needed in the 1940s, so they would have had him committed.

Captain Defenestrator

Question: Is there any other way that Hermione could have possibly protected her Muggle parents from Voldemort and his followers besides erasing their memories, like casting a protection spell over them similar to what was done with Harry for the past 17 years or taken them to the Burrow to be protected, or even Grimmauld Place?

Heather Benton

Chosen answer: Any of those options would provide some degree of protection, but, should Voldemort ultimately triumph, it's extremely likely that those measures would eventually be circumvented by his forces, leaving her parents entirely at his mercy. By erasing herself entirely from their memories, they cannot be used against her, as they cannot be linked to her (it's reasonable to assume that Hermione would also have arranged for any files linking her to them or that address to be destroyed or altered as well). Erasing their memories also has the side effect of sparing her parents from grief should she fall in the ensuing conflict.

Tailkinker

In the book, in addition to erasing their memories, Hermione also sent her parents to live in Australia, further removing them from danger. She not only erased their memories to prevent them from being tortured and divulging any information, but if she was killed, they would not grieve the loss of their only child for the rest of their lives.

raywest

Question: Can students arrive at Hogwarts without riding on the train first? Surely some of the Hogsmeade residents have children, and it doesn't make sense for them to go to London and get on a train just to go right back to the Hogsmeade/Hogwarts area.

Answer: Children from anywhere but Hogsmeade must take the train.

Roomies - S7-E8

Question: In this episode, Samantha moves out of her too noisy dorm room and into a professor's empty house along with an engaged couple, Beth and Benjamin. Benjamin is played by Matthew Perry, who played Chandler Bing on Friends. My question is whether this is the role used to create the Chandler character, because they are so similar.

stormy602

Chosen answer: Most likely this is a type of character he excels at playing and when Friends was being cast he fit the part.

raywest

Question: Since Harry told Cho that Cedric knew "this stuff", and Cedric was a sixth or seventh year student when he died, I guess older students are taught the Patronus Charm in school. Why, then, does the Ministry of Magic bother using Dementors when so many magical people have learned how to escape them?

Answer: As mentioned in Prisoner of Azkaban, it is a very difficult charm to cast. Even Hermione has a great deal of trouble with it. It requires concentration on a very happy memory. JK Rowling has stated that it is near impossible for dark wizards to cast it (Snape was the only Death Eater who could). Add in that it requires a wand, and they are excellent guardians of wandless prisoners of Azkaban.

Greg Dwyer

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