Question: When they're singing "Professional Pirate" to Jim, the bald human says, "And me, I could have been a contender." Everyone laughs, and the crustacean gives him a dirty look, they even cut to him to show it. Am I mishearing? What's he saying, what's the joke?
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: I don't know New York's geography, so I'll not post this as a mistake. But is it possible that after 3 years there are deers and tigers and lions roaming around the city? Where could these animals come from?
Answer: New York has a number of zoos from which these animals could have escaped.
Question: Is Brian's line "Hey, is that a beer hall?" a joke on how tour guides seem to be obsessed with beer halls? I was on a tour in Salzburg, Austria, and the tour guide just wouldn't shut up about the Salzburg beer hall, so I was wondering if this was a common thing amongst tour guides.
Chosen answer: While I am not sure whether it's a common thing, the joke was Brian trying to change the atmosphere of the situation he just created. Brian was trying to get the tour guide to admit to the fact that the history missing in the pamphlet was during the Nazi regime. Due to the Denazification in many European countries, it is generally an area that is still very controversial. The fact that the tour guide made such lame excuses on what had actually happened and then blew up when Brian continued on about it meant it was an issue he should just leave well alone.
Actually, it refers to the "Beer Hall Ptsch in 1923, where Hitler initially tried to grab power. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_Hall_Putsch.
Question: Can somebody please tell me the joke that Lynn keeps trying to tell.
Answer: The grandmother takes her grandson to the beach and falls asleep, while she is sleeping a huge wave comes in and sweeps the boy out to sea. Grandma wakes up to find the boy gone and begins to pray "Lord, if you bring him back, I will do anything you want." Another huge wave comes in and deposits the boy safe and sound in front of the grandmother and she looks to heaven and says "he had a hat on, you know!"
Question: The movie does not have a soundtrack at all, yet during the end credits, music is heard. What is the name of that music?
Answer: "Blood Trail (end titles)" By Carter Burwell, the Coen's frequent composer. The Film does not have a soundtrack, but you can listen to it in Carter Burwell's website: http://www.carterburwell.com/projects/NCFOM.html.
Question: Before Neville is caught in the Darkseekers' trap, you see the "Fred" mannequin from Neville's viewpoint when he's still driving the car. Is it just my imagination, or is "Fred" actually moving like/being played by a human actor? Wouldn't be a mistake as we're seeing through Neville's eyes (and his inevitable mental breakdown), but this is bugging me all the same.
Answer: Yes, he does move. As you said, we're seeing this through Neville's eyes and it's done to show he's on the verge of a breakdown.
Question: Where is Estaban from? He doesn't look like he came from America.
Question: When Brian's at Tom Tucker's house, Tom calls him Benjy. Who is Benjy?
Chosen answer: Benji is the name of a famous dog(s) in a number of films from the 70s through today, including "Benji" and "Oh Heavenly Dog."
Question: Can someone please tell me how to get to the "Half Blood Prince" sneak peek on the "Order of the Phoenix" DVD, because I've tried everything and cannot find it! Thanks.
Answer: Note: The following instructions apply to the Region 4 DVD. They may or may not apply to DVDs of other regions. Insert Disc 2 into a PC. Use InterActual DVD player if you have it, because the following instructions may or may not be relevant to other DVD players. After it has loaded, you will see the same menu you see on a normal non-computer DVD player. Beneath the screen, you should see some options: 'Extra Credit', 'Daily Prophet', 'Newsletter' etc. Click on 'Extra Credit', and a different menu will be shown on the screen. This menu has options 'Hogwarts Timeline', 'Magical Trading Cards', 'harrypotter.com' and 'Harry Potter Sneak Peek'. Choose 'Harry Potter Sneak Peek' and you will be shown another menu, where you are able to watch five videos. The first two videos are the HBP sneak peeks.
Question: I've seen this movie many times, however I noticed something different when I was it on TV in the UK recently. In the cargo hold, Riggs is dodging in and out of cover behind shipping containers and shooting bad guys. In the TV version I saw, as Riggs breaks his cover and walks forward shooting we hear a voice-over from Riggs, repeating the names of those victims killed by the South Africans ending with Rika and Vicki. I have never noticed this before in any of the DVD / VHS releases. I checked my DVD and no voice-over. Am I going mad?
Answer: Prior to the 2010 Blu-Ray release; this scene was always heavily edited in the UK (in both the theatrical and all home video releases - including so the 'Director's Cut') thanks to the BBFC, to remove a lot of the violence. The voice over was still there but severely truncated as the corresponding footage had been removed. Some TV airings from 2000 onwards however used the original 'uncut' (i.e. No BBFC cuts) versions, which featured the violent footage and voice over in full. It's possible the version you saw on TV was the uncut version, while your VHS and DVD copies were the cut versions. Another indicator of which version you were watching is the scene right after Riggs emerges from the water having freed himself from his straitjacket and discovered Rika's body. If this scene was followed by Riggs climbing aboard the dock and taking out 2 South Africans in a violent rampage, you were watching the uncut version. If it cut straight to Riggs on the dock, 're-locating' his shoulder on the car (with noticeable soundtrack skip) ; you were watching the cut BBFC version.
Question: It isn't that important to the plot but what does the back of the bus say? The second word looks like "rules" but I can't distinguish the "M" word.
Answer: The writing on the window of the bus says "Mongrels rule". That is the name of the school mascot statue, a mongrel.
Question: Shane tells Lulu a story about a family of elves that's a little obscure. Is it just meant to be another demonstration of Shane's obsession with military action, or is the story based on anything?
Answer: He is telling a story of one of his missions and just changes soldier to elf.
Question: There are many instances of these characters manipulating time (i.e. Chris comes back to change the future so Wyatt is good, and there's all that back and forth in the series finale to make things turn out the way they want). Is there ever any explanation given as to why they never manipulated time to go back and prevent Prue from dying? Obviously it was necessary for the production, since Shannen Dougherty left, but is it ever addressed by the characters, plot-wise?
Answer: The witches' time travel spells could never be specific enough. They had to rely on the Source to reverse time more accurately to save Piper and keep magic from being exposed. It's assumed that Chris has the knowledge to go back to the right time. In the series finale you see that Piper has trouble going to the right periods of time (Going back to when Patty was pregnant with Phoebe, going to the future where she's the grandmother when she wanted to get to grams etc.)
Answer: If you take away Shannen Doherty's departure, it was Prue's time to die. Piper and Leo would have put off having a child. Which means Wyatt wouldn't have been born under the Equinox, the Witch's Sabbath and the Northern Lights, thus the prophecy of the twice blessed child being born.
Question: What island did they film the scenes in Greece?
Answer: According to the IMDb, filming occured on Santorini (also known as Thera or Thira), part of the Cyclades island group.
Question: Both the main characters are named after cowboys, Dalton and Wade Garrett. Was this intentional?
Answer: Only in the sense that the writer wanted them to have very masculine names.
Question: Is the skin-peeling that Goldmember does a reference to something or is it just a running gag?
Answer: It is meant to be just a gross joke.
Answer: I think this is just a joke about how fair skinned Dutch folks are, i.e. they burn/peel easily. And very gross, yes.
Question: During the song "Poor Jerusalem" Christ says "Neither you Simon, nor Judas, nor the twelve". Simon and Judas ARE two of the twelve. Is this some sort of screw-up, or was it written this way for a purpose?
Answer: It's not a screw up, it was probably written that way so that we knew he was referring to the twelve apostles; is he had said "nor the ten", some people would have had no idea who he was talking about.
Question: Does anyone know what Mr. Boy's power is?
Answer: I'm pretty sure he has super jumping as you can see when there was an explosion in the science lab and also when he catches Josie in the school gym at homecoming.
Answer: He doesn't have one. Like Will in the beginning, he was assigned as a sidekick because he didn't have a power.
Question: I am a little curious about the filming techniques in the show. A lot of it is filmed in focus and out of focus to get different people's reactions. But in other shots they just pan to the people or move closer. Why do they use such a way of filming?
Chosen answer: They do this because the show is suppose to be a documentary, all the filming is suppose to be on the fly, so they are reacting to what is going on at that time. Sometimes that would mean moving the camera around fast, and capturing someone in the background.
Question: In what episode of "One Foot in the Grave" does Mr. Meldrew pick up the sausage dog belonging to the next door neighbour as a telephone?
Chosen answer: The episode is 'The Pit and the Pendulum' The first episode of series 4.
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Answer: You heard it right. "I coulda been a contender." is part of a famous, often quoted line spoken by Marlon Brandon in "On the Waterfront."
Myridon