Question: I can understand why they would use code when talking about positions, objectives, etc. but when they call in the air strike from the battleships, what's the point of using code? Also, later in the film, when the same situation arises, they don't use the code. Seemed like it was just a silly way to introduce the whole premise for the movie.
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.
Answer: They used the code to call in the strike so the Germans couldn't get the U.S. to bomb their own troops. I don't know why it wasn't used in the other situation.
Answer: The first time that it's clear that Will knows the details is on the Black Pearl after the destruction of the Interceptor, when he threatens to shoot himself. There are two possibilities - either Jack told him en route to the island, or Elizabeth told him after her rescue. Bearing in mind that Jack was hoping to use him as leverage, it seems unlikely that Jack would have told Will the full details of the curse, in case Will did something stupid and mucked up the deal, so the most likely possibility seems to be that Elizabeth told him about it.
Answer: Will may not have known the exact details of the curse, but, he did see them when they were preparing to have Elizabeth return the coin, as they talk about being freed from the curse, saying they needed her blood, and dropping the coin. Once he realised she had the coin, and that the coin was sent from his father, he was able to at least deduce that they needed his blood for something. It is, however, possible that Elizabeth informed him, although I find this unlikely.
Question: At Jack Jr's birthday party, you don't see Shelby's head at all... It was her 'body' because later that day she is wearing the same shirt when she gets her hair cut. Was there a sit in for Julia Roberts in that scene?
Answer: I believe it is because the child playing Jack Jr. was basically crying through this whole scene, as you can see. It's most likely his (actually her, as the real baby was a girl) real mother holding him to calm him down. Also, when the family is saying "Blow, blow," you can hear a female voice that is neither Julia Roberts or Sally Field.
When she is sitting with Jack Jr, it is before she goes to get her hair cut. When she tells M'Lynn she wants to cut her hair, she is wearing it in a banana clip and you can see the hair past her shoulders. When "she's" sitting with Jack Jr, there's no hair to be seen. Total stand in.
Daniel Camp is the actor who played Jack Jr.
Along with Daniel two other children played Jack Jr, C. Houser and Clara Gabrielle.
Answer: I believe that Jack Jr is being held by a man. When you freeze the scene, you can see facial hair on the chin and when the person says "blow, blow" it sounds to be a man trying to sound like a woman.
I actually think it's a man, too. The person's hands seem to be deliberately hidden.
Answer: I agree with the other answers that this was probably the child's real mother and not Julia Roberts. It was probably because the boy was upset, but major movies do use second and third-unit directors and often shoot scenes using a body-double as a stand-ins so that other scenes can be filmed simultaneously with the principal actors. It shortens the film's production time and is more economical. It's possible that Roberts was shooting another scene elsewhere. Also, it's definitely not Jack's father (Dylan McDermott) holding him as he is sitting next to Shelby and is saying "blow." It was also not Shelby's father (Tom Skerrit) holding Jack, as he is videotaping the party at the opposite end of the table.
Answer: Yes, there was a sit-in. My mom was Julia's double for this movie. Jack Jr. was played by two babies, my brother being one of them. My brother was upset during this scene and was being held by our mom.
Answer: It was said that the child actor was crying, so they had his real mother sit with him in that scene instead of Julia.
Answer: No. It wasn't a man. It was the child's real mother holding her kid during the scene. The kid wouldn't shut up with the crying and only would calm itself sitting on the mother's lap.
Answer: It's Shelby's father that is holding him.
Shelby's father is across the table taking pictures.
Question: Whenever Amy speaks in Chinese, does she actually say anything or is it gibberish?
Answer: As the commentaries say, she's actually saying something that's relevant to what's going on.
Question: When Mr. Sir goes to the warden's house with Stanley to tell her he stole the sunflower seeds, he puts something green in his mouth, what is it?
Answer: He's eating a candy 'fruit' wedge. I remember him holding them when Stanley is first shown into his tent so I assume that he confiscated them from Stanley.
Question: In the tape, we see some fingers in a box and something white running down a black screen (a comb through the hair maybe?), but what is the relevance of this to Samara?
Answer: Seven fingers in the box represents the seven days she was alive in the well. The hair combing represents Samara's view of the world, since her hair always covered her face.
Question: What happened to Ben? He's been missing ever since series 7 or 8.
Answer: He's hardly "missing" - he was only ever an occasional guest character. He has appeared once or twice, but since none of the plots really involve him, Carol or Susan, he hasn't been in it that much.
The whole storyline with Emma would probably replace Ben because the show wouldn't be able to handle two of Ross' families.
Question: I've just watched this movie, but I'm a bit puzzled by what happens with Dorian Grey...what's the thing with the painting and why does he decompose at the end? I'm not up on the novels these characters come from.
Answer: In The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian has a painting that reflects himself. But while the painting grows older, Dorian remains young - the opposite of real life. In the movie, another benefit of this was that Dorian remained impervious to harm while the painting was preserved. When he finally looks at it, the pattern reverses and his body finally reflects the reality depicted by the painting, causing him to age past his own death very quickly. The other characters are from Dracula (Mina Harker), King Solomon's Mines (Allan Quatermain), The Invisible Man (Skinner, in concept if not in person), 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Captain Nemo), The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Tom Sawyer), and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Jekyll/Hyde). Some other characters also reflect classic literature, but these are the primaries.
Question: Is this movie related (ie producer, director) to the Austin Powers films? The main character's name is Scotty, and the old lady in the confessional is from Austin Powers.
Answer: There doesn't appear to be any significant overlap. Scott is hardly an uncommon name and seeing an actress from one film in another isn't exactly uncommon either - neither implies any greater link.
Question: In the scene where Bart was about to get kicked by the Australian Prime Minister Bart jumps forward. After that he says "...and this is for the United States of America." He shows his butt with the words "Don't tread on me" and hums the American national anthem. Does this imply that America can get away with anything or was there a different message being implied?
Answer: During the American Revolution one of the early flags used, known as the Gadsden Flag, was a coiled rattle snake on a field of yellow, with the words, "Don't Tread on Me", written below. This a good site for a more in depth story into the origins. http://www.gadsden.info/history.html.
Question: During the film class scene, Mickey states that Stu Macher & Billy Loomis patterned themselves "after two serial killers who have been immortalized on film." Who are these serial killers?
Answer: You're mistaken. Mickey was stating that the person or persons who killed Omar Epps and Jada Pinkett were patterning themselves after Stu and Billy.
Question: People are saying that Neo is dead. But the Oracle said to Sati 'it is likely that we will see him one day'. Is she talking about the next version of the Matrix? I feel kind of sad about the ending, I wanted a happy ending, not a horrible sad ending.
Answer: It is not clear whether Neo is dead or not, so the Oracle may be alluding to the fact that he is still alive or that there will be a future "One".
Question: Where can I watch JUST the tap dancing footage without the courtroom scenes interrupting?
Answer: You could tape VCR-VCR and edit out the courtroom scenes. You just aren't going to find a DVD or VHS of any musical with only a few scenes removed to keep dance numbers in one piece.
Question: Jack mentions twice that eunochs have wonderful singing voices. Why would a eunoch have a wonderful singing voice? And is calling someone a eunoch a really bad insult of something? And how can all the French be eunochs?
Answer: Primarily in the Middle Ages, but both before and after as well, preadolescent boys had their testicles cut off to preserve their voices by preventing the sexual changes of puberty. They then maintained the high voices of their youth through adulthood, though they never physically matured. So to call someone a eunoch is to say they are a person with no balls, and all the connotation thereof. Hence the insult to the French.
Question: When Blackadder is taunting Dr. Johnson with his knowledge of the English language, are any of the words he says legitimate words? If so what are their definitions?
Answer: None of them are actually real words, although, in most cases, they're close enough to genuine words that some sort of plausible meaning can be determined. Good examples would be "interludicle", which is obviously a variant on "interlude", "velocitous", a play on "velocity" expressing Edmund's desire that Dr Johnson leave as soon as possible or "anaspeptic" which could be drawn from the prefix "ana", meaning "up" and "peptic", which refers to the stomach - possibly some sort of vomit reference.
Question: Where did the original zombies come from? I understand that if you were bitten, you became a zombie, but how did the very first zombie come about?
Answer: The very first zombies would have been dead people that rose from their graves, but part of the horror of the story is that we don't know exactly why this is happening or how to stop it.
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.
Answer: The point of using the Navajo code to call in air strikes was to encrypt what the Marines were requesting without the Japanese being able to decipher what was said. This is critical because during the Battle of Saipan, the Japanese made extensive use of caves and reinforced earthworks to support their artillery positions and machine gun nests. The delay between requesting artillery support and the act of carrying it out allowed the Japanese to withdraw their infantry to relative safety before the fire mission could commence. By using PVT Yahzee and PVT Whitehouse, they were able to circumvent this and request attacks without the Japanese knowing what was coming. The only time Yahzee does not use the code is when he uses the Japanese radio to call off the artillery strikes that were falling short and hitting Marines. This situation required immediate attention and it would not have been appropriate to use the code.
Invader_Gir