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One for the Road (1) - S11-E26
Question: Is it true they wanted to get Glenn Close to make a cameo as Vera Peterson in the last episode? I swear I saw photos in an entertainment mag of her filming a scene for the final episode, with the joke being Norm's long-insulted wife was actually very beautiful and classy.
Question: What is the significance of the Roman/Greek soldier statue in the opening credit sequence?
Question: Bond doesn't have actual proof that Matilde is his daughter, even though she has blonde hair and blue eyes like him. It could just be a coincidence. So why does Madeline tell him at the end that "she does have his eyes"? Did she tell him that simply to try to give him some peace in his final moments before his death?
Question: In the opening credit sequence, were the vines growing inside the statue of the woman supposed to hint at the fact that Bond's child was growing inside of Madeleine?
Question: Why was Bond too quick to conclude that Madeline had involvement in his attempted murder by SPECTRE? Did he think he could not trust Madeline all because his trusting of Vesper nearly got him killed, and so the past was coming back to haunt him?
Question: How was Bond able to get Madeleine pregnant after the sadistic torture he endured at the hands of Le Chiffre in Casino Royale, where that was supposed to disable his ability to procreate? Also, why did Madeleine insist that her child was not Bond's?
Answer: There's no explanation, but there is much Internet speculation that, without being too graphic, believes Bond's injuries were probably treatable and less extensive than was shown, leaving him fertile. Also, movies often change, minimize, or ignore previous plot points in order to fit the current narrative.
Question: I know that originally, Cal was supposed to kill Fabrizio with an oar, and this scene was even partially filmed, but it was abandoned. Why was it scrapped?
Answer: This was cut, and Fabrizio's death scene was re-edited because James Cameron felt Cal was turning into a cartoon villain by that point.
Question: The guy who took the picture of Brian as a kid - was he an opportunist who sold the photo to the magazine? I have a hard time imagining they would be prescient enough to know to send one of their own photographers to the scene of the fire.
Question: Was there really someone named Irv Britzer in the 1972 games that cheated and cost the USA the gold medal? If not, what really happened in 1972? Because I am thinking that in the scene where he goes to the Alliance and says 'go ahead, disqualify me, banish me, do whatever you want, but do it to me', it seems that if they had, they would have still been disqualified because they would have been without a coach.
Answer: Irv Blitzer was a character created for the film. His real-life counterpart is Howard Siler, who was a successful U.S. Olympic bobsledder and coach and was the man who coached the Jamaican team. However, unlike Blitzer, Howard Siler did not cheat and leave the sport in disgrace. He coached the Jamaican team because he found them to be dedicated athletes and was annoyed by their representation in the film as happy-go-lucky goofballs. None of the characters in the film existed in real life, the film is loosely "inspired by" the story of the first Jamaican bobsled team.
Question: At the end, at Paul's house, how was Clarice able to use the phone when the cord was cut off?
Question: What exactly was somatic reconditioning? What was supposed to happen to the rebellious Kryptonians during their "300 cycles of somatic reconditioning"? And why did the Council banish them to the Phantom Zone when Zod and his followers could have just died anyway from Krypton exploding?
Answer: From the context of the trial and sentencing, somatic reconditioning seems to be akin to forced rehabilitation. They would be held in custody while their brains would be subjected to treatments designed to reform them. I get the impression that 300 cycles is A LOT of reconditioning, probably bordering on punishment. The Council was still in denial about Krypton exploding and Zod posed an immediate threat, so they wanted to get him off Krypton as soon as possible.
Question: Are alleys common in Texas neighborhoods? And are they normally big enough that cars can drive by in two directions? I only ask because they are rare in my part of the US.
Answer: I'm not sure if I'd call it common, but from my experience living in Texas, I do know of plenty of areas that have alleys between houses. They're generally not marked one-way, so cars can travel both ways, but they're also generally not divided into a two-lane road. Arlen is a fictional town meant to be a suburb of Dallas and modeled after Garland. Just looking at the map of Garland, I can tell you alleys seem common in the neighborhoods, but I've never been there personally.
Question: Why didn't Wayne Pygram, who played Tarkin in Revenge of the Sith, play Tarkin in this movie?
Answer: Wayne Pygram appeared briefly in "Revenge", and with no dialogue. It was a cameo role, and he was cast because he resembled the late Peter Cushing, who played Tarkin in the original Star Wars trilogy. For the character's expanded role in "Rogue One", an actor was needed who not only had a similar physical appearance to Cushing but could emulate his voice, vocal inflections, facial expressions, mannerisms, etc. This was achieved by using a live actor combined with CGI. Actor Guy Henry was cast, presumably because he was best suited to recreate Cushing's role.
Ocean's Three and a Half - S7-E7
Question: In Stewie's music video, there are scenes that seem to be a reference or parody of other music videos, like the part made from Lego being from a White Stripes video. What are the other references and which part are original (i.e., made up)? Like, I don't imagine there's a music video where someone's nipples become faces, but maybe I'm wrong. Is there another music video that uses pencil drawings because it doesn't feel like A-ha's video?
Question: I know that scenes in this movie weren't filmed in chronological order. Which scene was the first one to be shot and which scene was the last one to be shot?
Question: Was it ever revealed in this film, or in either of the sequels, what crime Joey was actually in prison for?
Answer: In film, no (or at least not that I saw). But USA Today released a special "front page wrap" for Oct 22, 2015 with some changes to the movie prop. For example, they expanded the article of Marty Jr.'s arrest, which for the prop was just repeated paragraphs (as newspaper props often have). On the side of the paper under Newsline (which as far as I can tell wasn't part of the original movie prop) it says "Parole Denied Again for Joseph "Joey" Baines, 61, currently serving a 20 year term for racketeering at Folsom Prison. Baines, originally from Hill Valley, has spent some 2/3 of his life behind bars. This is his 12th consecutive parole hearing to end in denial." In the comic book "Back to the Future: Time Served", by Bob Gale, he writes that Joey wanted to join Biff's gang. Biff had Joey break into Doc Brown's mother's home to steal money from her. Joey was caught and arrested for stealing $85K. Since Joey refused to give up Biff, he got a longer sentence.
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Answer: Most likely symbolic foreshadowing of James Bond becoming a "fallen warrior" at the end.
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