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 does Daniel go from barely knowing any karate at all to being able to defeat blackbelts and win a tournament in just a few months?

Answer: It's unlikely he could do that in real life, but the movie employs a suspension of disbelief and compresses time in order to tell the story.

raywest

Answer: The win seems implausible, but I think the special training / unique techniques learned from Miyagi were meant to get him a competitive edge or at least quickly bring Daniel to a level of skill that would otherwise have taken years to attain/master. At first, Daniel wasn't even aware the chores Miyagi gave him were designed to give him quick (automatic) reflexes that would enable him to block blows. The final "crane" kick was created for dramatic purposes, but gave an image of an earned victory.

KeyZOid

Question: At the end of the last movie, "A New Beginning", Tommy was possessed by Jason (or perhaps he just went completely insane, who knows) and is about to kill Pam. Yet in this film he's (somewhat) normal and in control, and is going to cremate Jason's corpse. So, what happened in between?

Answer: Plotwise, we only see him stalk her with a knife. Most likely Tommy came back to his senses, or alternatively fought off the possession, and set the knife down. The realization of what he'd almost done prompted him to try to cremate Jason's remains, to rid himself of Jason's evil influence once and for all.

Jukka Nurmi

Answer: Tom McLoughlin decided to ignore Part 5 when he became director/writer of Part 6.

Rob245

Question: How can Michael recognize Laurie as his younger sister since he wouldn't have seen her since she was only two years old?

Answer: There is a scene where Laurie dreams about meeting Michael as a young teen. It's unknown whether this is an actual memory of real events, but since nothing indicates otherwise, we could assume the he saw her at an older age when she looked closer to her 17-year-old self.

Question: How can Michael possibly know how to drive a car if he's been locked away in an insane asylum since the age of six?

Answer: He observed Loomis enough times when he drove him to hearings over the years.

Rob245

Answer: He likely saw his parents drive before he killed his sister and remembered it. After all, in America 96% of people drive automatics which would be a lot easier to understand at that age than a manual (stick shift).

I'm not sure where you got your random 96% number. But that sounds like a figure from 2020 where less than 4% of vehicles sold are manual. This film takes place in 1978 (where Michael would have been 6 in 1963). Even in the late 90's, more than 25% of cars sold were manuals.

Bishop73

Question: Why does Satipo follow Indy into the boobytrap-filled temple at the beginning of the film, if he's aware of the danger and is terrified to go in?

Answer: He was greedy and probably assumed Indy would disable all the boobytraps getting to the idol, thus clearing the way for him. As for Satipo acting afraid, he was probably faking it so Indy would not suspect that he intended to steal the idol and trap him inside the temple. It also deliberately misleads the audience as to his duplicity, making his betrayal an unexpected twist. He may actually have been afraid but was it was the price for obtaining what he wanted.

raywest

Question: Right after Richard shaves his beard off, he runs into a cop who shows him his own photo, and he asks if Richard ever saw that face. Richard then says, "Every time I look in a mirror. Except the beard." Why would Richard say that? Isn't that him practically confessing he's the guy they're looking for?

Answer: He's being flagrant, so he'll be the last person the cop suspects. The officer is assuming his man will be nervous and would run like hell when he saw a cop. By being friendly and playing up his resemblance to the suspect, Richard looks like a guy who has no reason to be afraid.

Brian Katcher

Question: Why does Luke offer to sell the droids to Jabba the Hutt at the beginning? Would Luke actually have left C-3PO and R2-D2 with Jabba if Jabba had agreed to give Han back in exchange for them?

Answer: The Droids were his inside men. All part of his plan to free Han. Why do you think R2-D2 had the light saber hidden within him? C-3PO knew nothing of it.

Answer: In his hologram message, Luke offered the two droids to Jabba as a "gift" to show his supposed good faith before he arrives to bargain for Han. He was not offering to sell or exchange the droids for Han. Of course, Luke had no intention of giving up the droids and knew Jabba would never hand over Han. Luke's rescue included retrieving Han and the droids.

raywest

Question: When Luke finds R2-D2 after R2 runs away from Luke's home, and then R2 starts beeping something and C-3PO says, "There are several creatures headed from the southeast!" Why then does Luke go to take a closer look instead of simply getting the droids in his speeder and getting out of there?

Answer: Luke is focused on finding Obi Wan and delivering Princess Leia's recorded message, which has intrigued him. Also, Luke is young, adventurous, and rather rash; he's curious to know what he's up against and whether or not it's necessary to flee or stay and continue his mission. He has a Jedi Knight's nature, and they do not run at the first sign of danger.

raywest

Question: Why would Ephrain not break bread with Avnar at the end of the film?

Answer: Avner had refused Ephraim's request that he return to Israel and Mossad. When Avner invited Ephraim to dinner to break bread, it was a symbolic gesture to make peace between them. Ephraim's refusal indicates they will never reconcile their differences.

raywest

Question: Why does Michael turn on and kill Dr Wynn and other cult members?

Rob245

Answer: Because they no longer controlled him, his evil was so strong it broke free, like a volcano erupting.

Answer: Thank you.

Rob245

Question: The scene where Jamie flees to the clinic's basement because she thinks Michael's there, was it all in her mind or what?

Rob245

Question: Why does Babe throw Szell's diamonds away when he could've kept a few? Why would Szell be stupid enough to risk exposure when going to the diamond district of New York where somebody might recognize him?

Rob245

Answer: The diamonds were "blood money" that were stolen at the expense of many Jewish lives during the holocaust and also resulted in Babe's brother, "Doc" being murdered. For that reason, Babe would not want them, nor would he allow others to profit from them. Szell needed to risk being recognized in New York in order to retrieve the entire cache of diamonds from the bank safe deposit box after his brother, Klaus, was killed. Klaus would retrieve as many diamonds as Szell needed to sell to support himself in South America. Once Klaus was dead, no-one else could gain access to them for Szell, or if they could, probably would have stolen them.

raywest

Mr. Monk Takes Manhattan - S3-E1

Question: When Monk took the train I was confused as to where they were going to? It seemed to me they left downtown Brooklyn on a train going further into Brooklyn, not Manhattan?

Question: Could someone tell me when Gillian got her sunburn?

Answer: It wasn't shown on camera, but it happened the same night that Roy was also "sunburned." Jillian and other local residents had been going out after dark watching the UFOs as they were buzzing around the county.

raywest

The Jingle - S1-E2

Question: Did anyone else notice a few things that are weird about this episode. 1) Jim is known for his shaky voice and propositioning Jackie but in this episode he seems to talk normally and isn't even asking to see her. It's like Mark Heap forgot to do this or the showmakers were testing it for future episodes. 2) The camerawork is different. In all the other episodes the camera shots are shaky but still OK; however, the camera stays still and uses normal zooming in and normal camera switching methods.

Answer: This is most likely down to the filming order. If this episode was filmed before 'The Sofa Bed' then it could easily be concluded that they added in Jim's quirks to make his character more unique. Several shows have done this in the past.

Ssiscool

The Violin - S5-E5

Question: All the way up until season 5 Nelly (the nice Grandma) and Martin get along nicely. In season 1 EP 3 they are joking with each other. In season 2 EP 7 he apologises for pouring water on her (and keep in mind he is being sincere here). But in this episode he hears that she had a fall and suggests that she have a bigger one. What happened?

Answer: Martin is simply making a joke. Even after this episode you see him and Nelly get along perfectly fine.

Ssiscool

Question: When Josh is giving his presentation to everybody, why did Paul say he doesn't get it? Was he mocking Josh? If so, why?

Answer: When Josh started at the toy company, he torpedoed Paul's skyscraper transformer by saying 'I don't get it.' Paul is returning the favor.

Brian Katcher

Answer: The trustee may be knowledgeable about the symptoms and physical characteristics of being poisoned as opposed to a seizure.

raywest

Question: How come Wilson never deflates from the time Chuck opens the parcel to the time it falls off the raft and is swept away? A normal ball would go flat after a period of time, but 4 years on and Wilson is fully pumped. Does Chuck have a pump?

Paulspurs

Answer: Look closely. In the later scenes, Wilson's entire top is gone, now filled with dirt and grass to give him the illusion of hair.

Brian Katcher

Thanks Brian.

Paulspurs

Question: What is the source of that strange, echoing voice heard as Michael, in the hospital to visit his father, realises that all of Don Corleone's bodyguards are gone and even many of the staff seem to have abandoned the place (the better to facilitate Solozzo's second attempt on Don Corleone's life)? It sounds like a male voice almost chanting the words 'two-nine, two-nine, two-nine'.

Answer: It's a 45 (a small vinyl record that generally held one song per side...a "single") playing on a record player in the nurses' station. It is skipping, thus repeating the word "tonight" over and over. You can see it when Michael arrives at the desk; we also see a half-eaten sandwich.

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