Question: Towards the end of the movie when Gunny Highway's men first learn that he is a Medal of Honor recipient they are all suitably impressed. Yet when he first reports to take over the platoon he is wearing parade uniform with all of his medal ribbons displayed. The very first ribbon looks like the one appropriate for a MoH - surely the young marines should have been able to recognise it? Is the MoH insignia able to be noticed on his uniform?
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: What's the English translation of what the French guy says (in French) after commenting that French is a great language to swear in?
Answer: The French phrase is [edited due to not being 100% sure what to star out] Roughly, with some liberties to prepositions and word order: Name o' God, bastards f**ked your mother up the a** in some sh*tty whorehouse.
Question: When Neo meets the Oracle in her kitchen he asks why she didn't tell him what was going on before. She tells him he knows and points to a sign above the beaded door. Is this a latin phrase? What does it mean?
Answer: In the first film she points this same sign out to Neo and explains that it means "Know Thyself"
The One With The Secret Closet - S8-E14
Question: When the closet is finally opened, revealing how messy it is inside, Chandler says to Monica "I married Fred Sanford". Who?
Chosen answer: Fred Sanford was one of two main characters of "Sanford & Son", a TV show from back in the 70s. He was a junk dealer. Those who are British might be interested to know that it was the American version of 'Steptoe and Son'.
Question: In the courtroom, after everyone goes "Oh no.", what looks like a teapot bursts through the wall going "Oh yeah.". I'm assuming it's a US advert, but I've got no idea for what - can someone let me know?
Chosen answer: It's the Kool Aid mascot (Kool Aid being a fruit flavoured powdered drink mix - FILLED with sugar). It has been bursting walls (while screaming "Oh, yeah!") for years, bringing what's needed to quench children's thirst.
Doppelganger - S1-E5
Question: When discussing the bomb plot, there's something odd with the audio. When Sloane's talking, at two points he says "UCO", but it's obviously been dubbed over - the shot's from behind but the tone is different. Arguably just post-production looping, but because the pitch is so noticeably different I'm assuming they mentioned some organisation they couldn't refer to, so changed it. Can't be the UN, as they mention that earlier in the scene. Anyone know why that was changed? (00:35:05)
Chosen answer: It does sound overdubbed, but there was no change in the organization. UCO is United Commission Organization. There are signs when Patel is coming that say UCO so obviously it wasn't changed.
Question: In the scene in Joe's bar there's a jazz singer named Mae Mercer. I could swear that the voice is the absolutely unique one of Nina Simone's, even the way she plays the piano, but there is no hint either in the cast or the list of song. I'd like to hear other people's opinion on that. (00:49:55)
Chosen answer: Just my opinion: Mae Mercer is a great jazz singer - and there is a soundtrack of this movie, just in case someone wants to check it out - and I am sure she was the one singing.
Question: Would someone please explain why they need a huge Gatling gun on the asteroid? Are they scared of aliens or what?
Answer: If you look at the deleted scenes on the special edition DVD, you will see a deleted scene in which A.J. asks what they needed a gun for, and Max explains that it's for debris elimination, in order to take out small rocks in the way.
Question: After the son has been rescued, there are reports on the TV that investigators do not believe that all suspects have been caught and they do not believe the leader has been caught. Since they believe this, wouldn't they fingerprint the place they were keeping the kid in? How could Gary Sinise explain why his fingerprints are all over the place? He only had a few minutes from the time he radioed in to the time the cops showed up - he couldn't say he left all those prints in that little time.
Answer: While the police would take fingerprints, it would take a long time to get all the fingerprints to the lab and tested for a match. They probably wouldn't have known whose prints they had at the time of the news broadcast. And even if they knew they had Gary Sinise's prints, they wouldn't automatically suspect him.
Question: Why was the man in the yellow suit wearing a band-aid on his pointer finger when he was talking to the young priest?
Answer: I looked over and over, he is not wearing a band-aid. My guess is, since he has bumpy fingers and it was dark, you just thought you saw a band-aid.
Question: Why is Decker wanted by the police? When the police came to visit the ranch, Decker notices them, tips his hat and walks away. The police have a sketch of Decker that says he is WANTED.
Answer: Very early in the story when one stab is narrating, he's kind of introducing everybody and makes a reference about Decker having "illegally" married an Indian woman, and there are several references to the fact that the father was not happy working for a government that was killing Indians and also went out of his way to make sure they were in no way discriminated against. I think it's possible that may be why they were looking for Decker and why Colonel went out of his way to hide his living there.
I believe Decker had been a bootlegger. That would be the reason why the O'Banions (sellers of booze themselves), were with the sheriff when they came looking for Decker at the Ludlow's ranch. And also, the reason why the O'Banions didn't want to say what Decker was wanted for because.it was their own personal vendetta concerning bootleg whiskey. Maybe they had reason to believe that he was still selling bootleg whiskey around those parts. Also, later in the movie, when Tristan returns home after 7 years, Decker says to him "There's good money in bootlegging if you know what you're doing." And, Decker says that with a huge smile. Like he definitely knew what he was talking about and could definitely give Tristan some pointers about being a bootlegger.
Alcohol wasn't illegal until well after World War 1. The initial scene with the O'Bannons takes place before the boys go off to war, and it's stated afterwards that Alfred voted for the Volstead Act making alcohol illegal.
Not sure about this. At the time the sheriff comes looking for Decker, it's roughly 1915, and liquor is not yet illegal.
Answer: I don't think it's ever mentioned. The Ludlows almost certainly already know, and in the scene mentioned, the cops won't say.
Question: Can 7-year old children be put under oath? (01:06:10)
Chosen answer: Yes, but I don't think it is possible for a child to understand the consequences behind the oath.
Question: I'm intrigued if anyone knows what the experiment was that Doc refers to at the start. He says "my experiment worked - all the clocks are exactly 25 minutes slow". The only thing I can think of is that Doc loaded them all into the time machine or something similar - is there any official answer, or is it just a random comment?
Question: In the beginning of the movie when the tanker truck gets blown up, why does the fully intact truck just get launched straight up with flames below it? The source of the explosion would be the truck itself, so when ignited, the truck should have simply been blown up into a million pieces, not launched straight up fully intact.
Answer: This was most likely done just to make the scene look that much cooler. Movies do things like this all the time.
Question: At the end of the second film, Felicity went to the future with Austin. When this film starts she's nowhere in sight for the whole movie. Whatever happened to her?
Answer: An original cut featured the opening scene with Heather Graham in it (I'm not sure what happens) - I'm assuming they dropped that idea when they could get hold of all the cameo stars. Hopefully it'll surface on the DVD.
Answer: Remember that there were 2 Austins at the end of the second film, thus she likely ended up with one of them, while the other Austin went in a different direction.
Question: I'm sure I'm missing something, but the ending didn't quite gel with me. I didn't get the significance of George Parker becoming Bill Johnson off-screen. Was it that given the fictional nature of the world/show, they were both different sides of the same person, or what? (01:51:45)
Chosen answer: I agree. I think there are a couple ways you could interpret this, but I took it to mean that Bill Johnson essentially became the new man in Betty Parker's life and that the show would continue reflecting this change.
Question: How does he fold the Monet in half to fit into the briefcase? Originally I thought he'd separated it from the wooden frame (ie. just a canvas), but when he takes it out back at his house he holds it up, and the wooden frame's still in one piece. Also, surely folding it in half would crack the paint, but despite the painting being twice the width of the briefcase (it fits snugly when the case is open), he then shuts the case down to a "normal" size. Any ideas?
Answer: I believe that the Monet that Crown hides in his study is not the one that was stolen, it is a copy that he already had prepared. He can enjoy the copy knowing that the original (with the broken spreader bars) is also in his possession. The stolen original then goes to the forger who repairs the broken spreader bars, and then paints another painting (using water soluble paint) over the Monet, so he can "return" it to the museum 3 days later. It gets more complicated when he discovers that Russo is on to him so he has a second forgery made (even the edges forged to match) over the top of "Dogs Playing Poker." He doesn't know if it will be necessary, but given his research into his new adversary, he concocts this contingency. It is likely that he has many contingencies in place, but the "Monet with a ghost underneath" is the only one we get to see. Of course for my theory to hold water, there must be (or have been) that earlier forgery - unless it has been destroyed.
Answer: The only explanation I can come up with is that the inner part of the frame is precut. With the frame cut that way it would allow the picture to fold, but when unfolded it would be fairly rigid with the exception of bending it forward at that point. When he pulls the painting out, it still holds the square shape of the frame. Best I can come up with.
Answer: He doesn't fold it. The frame is solid. It's just movie editing to make the viewer think he put it in her briefcase. You can't fold a Monet.
He absolutely folds it. We see him put it in the case and him then shut the case, folding it in half.
Question: How come everyone including Randy had their jackets on and appeared to be leaving the party, and yet Randy was the only one left at the party at the end, before the bloodbath?
Answer: The answer to this spawns another goof itself. Randy said he'd stay behind to check on Billy and Sydney, which is why he didn't leave. However, the goof is that he didn't actually go upstairs to check at any time, because he'd either have seen them having sex, or else found Billy's body. Of course, another explanation is that we're made to think that Randy must be the killer, because he's the only one who stayed behind. We just don't know.....
Question: Would the labels on the Budweiser bottles be the same in the older era during the beginning of the movie, as it is in the latter part of the movie (1994)?
Answer: The color and design of the label hasn't changed in decades, although the script on it has changed some over time. They all look almost identical from a distance.
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.
Chosen answer: I can personally attest, when you see someone in dress uniform, the first thing you look at is their rank. No one really pays much attention to the ribbons, and not many people know what more than a handful of them mean. When you add the fact that Highway put the fear of Gunny into them at the first meeting and that none of them are all that bright, it could easily be overlooked. One thing that is wrong, is as an MOH recipient, Gunny Highway is entitled to a salute from anyone short of the President. Granted he is not the type to point out his awards either.
Grumpy Scot