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: Why does the principal (Mr. Duvall I believe) have a cast on his right hand? I don't recall seeing him fracture or injure it. Was there something I might have missed?

Answer: He has carpal tunnel syndrome. He mentions it when he's talking to Tina Fey after she gets coffee spilled on her and she talks about how she got a divorce.

Answer: The real-life reason for this is that the actor broke his hand before filming started, so they wrote it in as a "carpal tunnel" condition that the character had.

Question: During the Greece scene, there is a line strung at the end of the covered area (behind Marie) with several things hanging on it that look like seaweed, pennants, or something. What could that be?

scwilliam

Chosen answer: They are octopii hung up to dry in the sun. A common sight at Greek islands. If you search Google, there are pictures of them. They are humorously mentioned at http://www.thevisualrecord.com/dbphotopages/photopage.php?photo_id=80.

Question: I noticed from the previews that this movie looks very different. What is it? Is it a digital camera that has been used? Or no lighting effects used? The movie really has a "behind the scene" feel.

Kirill Ostapenko

Chosen answer: It was shot with a digital camera. IMDB is a great place to answer questions like this. Go to *Technical Specifications* in the *Other Info* section of the menu on the left hand side of the screen. In an interview in American Cinematographer, Michael Mann said that as far as he was aware, this was one of the first movies to attempt to make a "look" out of digital video rather than trying to make Digital Video look like film. This approach meant the movie could be shot in the low-light scenes of urban desolation Mann wanted - because Digital reacts much better to low light than film. The approximately 20% of the picture that was shot on film was mostly, according to Mann, the portion set in the "Fever" nightclub - because this is the scene with the brightest lighting states, a condition in which Digital Video does not perform as well.

J I Cohen

Question: I read somewhere that during the scene where passengers are falling off the Titanic, the animators added a falling cow. Anyone know if there's any truth in it?

Phil Watts

Chosen answer: I've seen that movie a thousand times and I've never seen a cow or heard a rumour about a cow. Someone must be pulling your leg.

Question: The soundtrack for this film is only of the score. Can anyone tell me the names and artists for some of the other songs?

Answer: 'Dammit (Growing Up)' By Blink 182, The Offspring 'Come out and Play.'

Hamster

Show generally

Question: In the "Stargate" movie, all the chevrons locked, but in the series, it's the one at the top. Surely they should make the Stargate the same?

Answer: In the series, all the chevrons lock as well. They just show the last one as it would be tedious to show all 7 everytime the gate fires up.

Grumpy Scot

Question: Why was Nedry paid to smuggle the dinosaur embryos off of the island?

Answer: So the company that paid him would have all these dinosaur embryos without having to dig to find them and could then create dinosaurs themselves.

Craig Bryant

Question: All Samara wanted was to be heard and she killed anyone who didn't make a copy and show to someone else. Obviously she was very capable of killing before Rachel and Noah found her body and found out what had happened to her. So why does Aidan say that it's bad that they found her? How does it matter since she could kill before too?

Answer: Aidan said to Rachel that they weren't supposed to *help* Samara. When she told him they had, he assumed that worse things were going to happen. He wasn't entirely wrong; the problem didn't go away, but Rachel finding Samara's body and learning the rest of her story didn't make things any worse. If anything it enabled her to understand why she escaped death.

Answer: Correct. If anything, it made things worse for them since Samara mistook Rachel's quest to find out about her story (in order to save their lives) with genuine concern and care. That's the big reason why she takes over Aidan's body in The Ring 2 and becomes obsessed with Rachel being her new "mommy."

Question: Could anyone tell me who the big pig-like orc is who leads Sauron's armies against Minas-Tirith? I've read somewhere that he's a kind of incarnation of Sauron, but I'm not too sure.

Answer: His name is Gothmog and, no, he's not an incarnation of Sauron. He officially holds the title of Lieutenant of Morgul, a position of considerable power within Mordor, and acts as the second-in-command to the Witch King of Angmar. He's mentioned precisely once in the books and Tolkien doesn't even mention what race he's from - it was the filmmakers choice to make him an orc.

Tailkinker

Question: Is it ever mentioned of what happened to Peter's parents and why he lives with his aunt and uncle? I've never read the comic books.

Answer: They died when he was young and he moved in with Uncle Ben and Aunt May. He was lead to believe they died in a car accident but in fact they were spies who were believed to be traitors to the Russians (This was back in Cold War days), but Peter (as Spidey) cleared their name.

SexyIrishLeprechaun

Question: I recalled through TV spots and the title that the film does not explicitly mention the fact that it is based on the story of Moses. Was this the intentions of the filmmakers?

megamii

Chosen answer: In the beginning of the movie, it says the movie is based on the story of the Exodus, with certain historical and artistic licenses being taken. Since Moses was the center of the story, it clearly is supposed to be about him, although maybe not exactly as the Bible depicts.

Krista

Question: Fusion consists of combining two hydrogen atoms into one helium atom, and energy is released during the process (very simplified explanation). So if the reaction is self-sustaining in air, why at the end of the movie did they dump it into the water? Could the reaction ignite all that extra hydrogen in the water?

Answer: First, fusion is not only combining hydrogen into helium, that's just the most common form. Fusion has to start with an outside power, but the reaction had become self-sustaining, passing the point of needing outside power. This means that the energy given off by the reaction was sufficient to continue the reaction. By dumping it in the water, the energy given off would be absorbed by the water, and the reaction would no longer be able to continue.

Question: In the entire movie all of the events that help Evan are there because he put them there when trying to go back. For instance when he goes back from when he was in prison he draws the drawing of him killing the two inmates. When he goes back to get the knife, he made himself do it. I couldn't understand where to put this in this website but if anyone could help me understand it would help my mind out greatly.

Answer: That's what the blackouts are all about. Its the future changing the present and because, for him, the future hasn't happened, he can't know about them.

SexyIrishLeprechaun

Question: In the scene where Vincent is just about to launch, the doctor testing him mentions his son. My brother seems to think that the doctor knows Vincent is not who he pretends to be because he is Jerome Morrow's father. Is there any evidence for this?

Answer: None whatsoever. The doctor seems to have worked out that Vincent is not who he seems to be from simple observational evidence. It's because of his son that he feels sympathy for Vincent and hasn't revealed that he's tricking the system.

Tailkinker

Question: Can someone please explain to me why the audience and Amsterdam are supposed to hate Butcher so much and think he's a loathesome person? He killed Vallon during a fight, fair and square, and was nothing but respectful to his dead enemy. He almost seemed to have regretted killing Vallon. He didn't act like a worse scum than anyone else until quite a while into the film.

Answer: Well, rather obviously, Amsterdam hates him because he killed his father. I mean, wouldn't you? It hardly matters that the fight was fair and that Bill showed respect about it, Amsterdam's not exactly likely to turn round, say "oh, that's alright then" and walk away. William Cutting (or William Poole, as he was in reality) was a ruthless, vicious man, who pretty much stopped at nothing to cement his control of the area. Whether he was actually worse than many of the others is questionable, but the film is based on Amsterdam's view of things - in that view, Bill is the enemy and we're supposed to see him as such.

Tailkinker

Answer: Because he's very racist. That's why the audience hates him. He's very racist.

Answer: Because he was a racist? Secondarily while others might have acted that badly in his situation he was the one with the power and therefore the one holding a city hostage.

Out Of Mind, Out Of Sight - S1-E11

Question: At the end of the episode, the invisible girl is taken away by government officials and put in a school where other invisible children are taught things such as assassination and infiltration. Did the series ever follow up on this 'loose end'?

Answer: Marcie Ross - the invisible girl - is never heard of again, though in Season Seven there is another girl who starts turning invisible before Buffy steps in and acknowledges her. That said, in Season 8 (comic) there's hints that Marcie might possibly make a guest appearance in Season 9, as she is asked for by numerous fans.

troy fox

Question: Can someone explain exactly what shaft entrance was blocked by all those big explosions after which Lock says "your move?" It can't be the entrance to the temple, since we see the Kid run from the dock to the temple in about 5 seconds to tell Zion that the machines have left. So what shaft was it?

Answer: The temple is located at the very bottom of Zion right at the bottom of the living quarters (possibly the engineering level is deeper) while teh dock is above the living quarters. To get from the dock to there there is a long lift shaft (which is seen in reloaded) and it is that shaft which Lock blocks.

Question: Why exactly does Spider-Man start to lose his powers?(Web shooter, finger grip).

Answer: As the doctor hints, Spider-man's inability to fully make use of his powers comes from a psychological obstacle - and as also hinted, (very heavily, in fact) Peter Parker no longer seems motivated to remain Spider-man. This lapse in powers and enthusiasm eventually leads to the decision to discontinue Peter's role as Spider-man. After then facing the guilt and shamefulness of a life without assuming responsibility, this momentary crisis reveals itself to be the deciding factor that Peter does indeed want to be Spider-man and that he may not have any other choice. Inside, although he didn't fully understand it, this ailment was needed for Peter to resume his role as Spider-man with a new ambition - which was in turn required for him to face the problems that affected his normal life as well.

Question: Right after the man talking with the lawyer in the beginning says "Grant's like me; he's a digger" and the close up of the mosquito in amber, he says something in another language. Sounds like "caleendo" or something. Does anybody know what he is saying here?

Coconut

Chosen answer: He says in spanish "Qué lindo eres" (what a beauty).

Question: How much time passes between the first time the fellowship leaves Rivendell and Aragorn's coronation?

Answer: They leave Rivendell December 25, 3018 and Aragorn's coronation is May 1, 3019, so a little over 4 months, assuming the films are the same as the books.

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