Questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: Maybe I just missed something, but what's going on with Dunbar's military superior that he meets at the fort out west? He seems to think he's a king or something, referring to the frontier as the "realm" and Dunbar's travel companion as a "peasant." At the end of the scene he salutes Dunbar very sarcastically and then shoots himself. What does any of that have to do with the story?

Krista

Chosen answer: It shows that the officer was mentally disturbed, and he was the only one in the fort who knew about Dunbar's assignment. It sets the story up so that Dunbar could live with the Indians without the Army interfering with his life (No one expected any communications to or from Dunbar).

Twotall

Answer: So why was his journal so important to him? He knows lots of soldiers and many other whites are coming.

Answer: Because it documented his time at the fort and with the Indians and also what he learned from them during the period when he arrived before the Army did show up - This would have been crucial if there had been any trial which there was not as the Sioux rescued him from the situation.

Question: What was the picture Evan drew all about? He didn't kill anyone, he had no recollection of drawing it and it seems to have only been put there so he would start his journals.

SexyIrishLeprechaun

Chosen answer: The picture depicts the scene in the prison where Even stabbed the inmate.

Pilot - S1-E1

Question: When they're flying on the plane, Scully starts breathing deeply and looks like she's afraid of flying. Has this ever been explained later? In all the later episodes, they never say she was afraid of flying.

Answer: She's afraid in this scene because the plane has encountered turbulace and is diving down. No fear of flying has ever been mentioned.

Question: Jack Sparrow was never cursed by the "aztec gold medallion" until near the end of the movie, he grabbed one gold medallion. At that time, he and Will started to fight the cursed pirates and it has been shown to all the watchers that he, Jack cannot be killed, after Barbossa stabbed him. Knowing that the cursed pirates were looking for William Turner's blood (he wasn't cursed, nor was Elizabeth Swan) to disenchant the curse, how come Jack Sparrow cut his hand too? If Jack is cursed, how can he bleed?

Answer: It's shown on at least one other occasion (when Elizabeth stabs Barbossa) that those under the effects of the curse do bleed when stabbed. They have to in order to lift the curse, which requires a sacrifice of blood from each person affected by it, or, in Bootstrap Bill Turner's case, a close blood relative (namely his son).

Tailkinker

Question: During the "Burly Brawl" battle, does the chanting of the chorus actually mean anything in some language?

Answer: Lyrics can be found in the Matrix: Revolutions soundtrack. They don't have a major meaning.

Question: Admittedly the sound on my copy of this movie is lacking somewhat but when Paul is researching Arrakis and Gurney et all enter I swear I can hear the trailer for the movie playing in the background. Am I correct on this?

Answer: No. At least, not on the DVD I have. It does play the title tune in the background, though.

Zaphod Beeblebrox

Answer: The beginning narration is playing softly, as if it's coming from whatever computer Paul was doing research on. Like he was watching a movie about the world he is living in, which is sort of odd.

Question: Why did Van Helsing blow that knockout dust into Anna's face? It seemed to have no connection to the plot of the movie.

Answer: To prevent her from going off to find Dracula or his brides - she was refusing to wait until the next day to go with Van Helsing as he had repeatedly asked.

Kaite13

Question: Why did Vermeer's wife call the painting obscene? I'm sure there's more than 1 interpretation of it.

Answer: As with most paintings, there are undoubtedly different interpretations - everyone has their own views. In the movie, Vermeer's wife felt that it was obscene - that's her interpretation. A number of art critics have commented on a 'subtle eroticism' in the painting, and this may be what is being alluded to, using Catherina to carry the message across. It's worth pointing out that a number of Vermeer experts have disagreed quite vehemently with the portrayal of Catherina in the film - surviving historical evidence would seem to indicate that Vermeer's marriage was a happy one.

Tailkinker

Answer: Because her mouth was slightly open.

Answer: Because it was a picture of a servant.

Question: In the middle of the movie, one of the doctors tells the others of John Merrick, aka The Elephant Man. They show him for a few seconds Disrobed.. What is the point of showing Merrick in the movie? This scene seems totally isolated from the rest of the plot. It almost feels like they had an extra minute to kill and decided to add it in.

Answer: In the original book, Merrick's appearance is used to show William Gull's education, expertise as an anatomist and that he recognises and respects cultural diversity - Gull assures Merrick that, had he been born in India, he would be worshipped as a descendant of the elephant-headed god, Ganesa. In this spirit, Gull even offers the victim of his first Ripper slaying to Ganesa as a sacrifice, as Indians make a sacrifice to Ganesa at the beginning of an important enterprise. Merrick is present as a vehicle to establish the rich nature of Gull's character. When it comes to the film, however, this subtlety is completely lost - it seems very much that the scriptwriter noted Merrick's appearance in the book and felt that it would be cool to include the character in his script. As such, as you point out, it does feel that Merrick's presence, stripped of the subtleties of the book, is almost entirely pointless.

Tailkinker

Show generally

Question: Counting his role on Cheers, Kesley Grammar has played Fraiser for twenty years. Is this the record for the longest portrayal of a character by a TV actor?

Answer: It equals the record of James Arness of "Gunsmoke" for the actor who's played the same part on TV NOT in a soap opera. If you include soaps there are two main contenders - William Roache, who's been playing Ken Barlow in "Coronation Street" in the UK since 1960. Don Hastings has been playing Robert Hughes in US soap "As the World Turns" since 1960 as well.

The One With The Jellyfish - S4-E1

Question: When Ross and Rachel are fighting, Chandler hides behind the door and bursts out saying, "I knew it!" When Rachel says, "It's not that common, it doesn't happen to every guy, and it is a big deal!" is this just a Chandler moment or is there another joke I have missed?

Answer: The statements that she's contradicting (that it is common, it happens to every guy, and it's not a big deal), are the things that a woman commonly says to a man who is suffering from erectile difficulty, typically to assuage his bruised ego. However, most men do not believe that these statements are true, as evidenced by Chandler's outburst. He's so caught up in the proof that women are lying about it that he gives himself away.

Rooster of Doom

Question: Are the pizza delivery guy and The Caller two different characters? I was always under the impression that they were one and the same.

Answer: The pizza man is intended by the Caller to be a decoy so he can get away. The Caller sends the pizza man to the phone booth so that Stu will identify him later in the apartment, giving the police a convenient answer to the mystery while the real Caller escapes. In fact, at the end of the movie, the Caller comes to visit Stu - obviously he's not the dead pizza delivery man.

Phoenix

Show generally

Question: What was the name of the episode (I think it was in season 9) where Abby, Susan, Carter, Kovac, and Gallant open a bag that a hooker brought in and start playing around with the toys inside? They got sent to a seminar on sexual harrassment, but the lecturer never showed up, so they spent the whole day sitting around and talking.

Answer: It was in season 8, it was called Secrets and Lies. It first aired on 3/07/02.

Bowling255

Answer: The 6th of May.

don_corleone

Question: In the resurrection scene, the stone rolls away and Christ walks out of the tomb. According to the gospels, didn't Christ arise and leave the tomb, then an angel rolled away the stone? The gospels later say that he appeared in a room where the apostles were, even though the doors were locked. This is one basis of the constant Christian teaching that the resurrected, glorified bodies of Christ and the saved in heaven are no longer subject to the laws of physics.

Answer: The gospels don't say anything about the order in which the events happened. In each case, the stone is found rolled away and Christ already risen (as in Mark 16:3-5. http://scriptures.lds.org/mark/16/3#3).

Garlonuss

Question: During Rex Harrison's entire performance as Julius Caesar his arms and legs are covered by garments underneath his military garb and robes, even while in Egypt. The other Romans as would be expected have bare legs and arms. Was Harrison suffering from some skin condition or was he too shy or embarrassed of his limbs to show them in the film?

Answer: The people of higher rank would usually have more or better armor so in his case that would probably be extra armor for his legs and arms.

Answer: In the TV show, they are 13-14 years old. Assuming this is after the TV show, and we never see Lizzie, Gordo or Miranda celebrating their 14th birthdays (we see Kate celebrating her '14th' birthday and Gordo celebrating his Bar Mitzfah a year late), Lizzie and Miranda are 13-14, Gordo is 14 and Kate is 15 (it is mentioned in an earlier episode that she was held back a year in Kindergarten.) This is only an assumption, due to the TV show.

Question: What is the point of including a weakness like the crotch vulnerable spot on your robot? Ivan opened himself up for that one.

Answer: There's never a "point" to including a weakspot, by definition they are a flaw in the design that is either unforeseen or unavoidable. Maybe they could not find a way round it when building the robot, or any solutions simply created other weakspots.

Question: When the jeeps are outside the t-rex paddock there is a sign on the concrete wall with the word NO written on it, the rest of the sign is too small to read. What does it say?

Answer: On the DVD it says, "Feeding, Flash Photography, Yelling", from top to bottom.

Question: In the scene where Neo fights the Frenchman's vampires, he is able to control some of the weapons on the wall and brings them to his hands. How is he able to do this, and why doesn't he just remove the weapons from his enemy's hands?

Answer: Neo has developed a form of telekinesis - the ability to move things with the mind - and uses this to bring the weapons to him. This is the same ability that allows him to stop bullets. As to why he doesn't simply take the weapons from his enemies, this would require tearing the weapons from their hands, which might be difficult - I don't think we ever see Neo using his telekinesis directly against sentients, so possibly he can't. Taking weapons from the walls, which won't put up a fight, and engaging the enemy in direct combat is an easier option.

Tailkinker

Answer: Within the Matrix, Neo is manipulating the very computer coding that is the foundation of the cyber-world itself. Neo could not only stop bullets and fly, but he could at first erase or overwrite this coding at will, resulting in the instant destruction of his enemies (as seen in the first movie, when Neo overwrites Agent Smith's coding and utterly disintegrates him). The artificial intelligence of the Machine Mind, however, was constantly revising and self-correcting its code (as seen at the beginning of the second movie, when Neo realises the Matrix Agents are even stronger than before, and he muses, "Hm...Upgrade."). The Machine Mind was upgrading all the time, trying to keep up with Neo's abilities; thus, we see Neo still stopping bullets and defying cyber-gravity in the Chateau Brawl, but one of the Frenchman's baddies manages to actually injure Neo with a sword, drawing blood from his hand. This makes it apparent that Neo was always playing a game of chess with the Machine Mind for control of the Matrix code, and the Machine Mind sometimes got the upperhand. The Trainman's coding, for example, was unbreakable, and Neo was helpless against him in the Train Station scene. Outside of the Matrix, in the Real World, Neo's abilities are harder to explain, as they appear literally supernatural.

Charles Austin Miller

Answer: He is in a computer simulated world and is the chosen one because he can use his will to control and manipulate it, like moving objects and flying.

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