Question: If only three of the guys are sprinters, and Sanka Coffee is not, how can Sanka keep up with the others when they're doing their push-starts?
Matty Blast
29th Apr 2004
Cool Runnings (1993)
28th Apr 2004
Dead Poets Society (1989)
Question: While Robin Williams is packing his things in his small room, he waves down out the window at whom I believe is the Latin teacher, walking along a snowy sidewalk. What is the teacher doing, exactly? It appears that he's giving a guided tour of the campus, but he's also muttering Latin words. It can't be a classroom exercise because there are only 4 or 5 people with him. Does anyone know what he's doing?
Chosen answer: It is a classroom exercise. He is being followed by pupils and is reinforcing their latin vocabulary by taking them on a tour of the garden and showing them the things that the words actually relate to (edificium = building, flora = flower etc.) This contrasts with his earlier behaviour when he simply had them mindlessly recite conjugations (amamo, amamas, amabat). The point is that this illustrates how the Latin Master has been affected by his contact with Keating and has become a better teacher as a result.
Answer: I thought it was a punishment for the pupils involved in the scandal.
27th Apr 2004
Star Wars (1977)
20th Apr 2004
Titanic (1997)
Question: Why were many of the lifeboats intentionally lowered down to the water without being filled to capacity?
Chosen answer: This is what really happened - it was at first feared that the davits used to lower the boats would buckle under the weight, or that the boats themselves would break in the middle, and so many of the ones lowered first were not filled to capacity - one of them, with space for forty, had just twelve people on board. Later, as it was realised that there was not nearly enough life-boat space for all the passengers and crew, boats were filled to capacity, or even over-filled (one boat carried seventy).
20th Apr 2004
Miracle (2004)
Question: I'm curious to know how people in Russia, the Ukraine, and other parts of the former Soviet Union feel about this movie. Do they detest it, love it, like it... do they think any part of it is an exaggeration? Where could I go to see their opinions on Miracle?
Chosen answer: My name is Anastasiya and I am from Moscow, Russia. I am married to an American and we visited his family in New York, America and saw the movie Miracle in the theatre. My opinion on the movie was very good. I thought it was a good movie and although their views on the Soviets weren't very good at parts, I think that was how it really went and I think it was true to the real story. Overall, I liked the movie, and it was not hurtful in any way to me at all, as a Russian. Sincerely, Anastasiya Yakovlev-Burke.
19th Apr 2004
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
Question: I've seen the full-screen version of the film several times on television now, and I'm wondering why the very last shot before the closing credits shows the wide-screen shot compressed into the full-screen viewing area (making everyone look tall and skinny). Is it because all five characters wouldn't be able to fit, or is it because the closing credits are about to be shown?
Chosen answer: It's probably the former. Pan and scan isn't possible in a static scene like that one, of course. Just another reason why "fullscreen" is misleading.
15th Apr 2004
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
Question: Obi-wan ordered the people on the ship to "send no reply" when the cries for help were being received from Naboo ("It sounds like bait, to establish a connection trace," he explained). That being the case, how did Darth Maul know they were on Tattoine? Darth Sidious even asked him, "Are you sure your trace is correct?" or something like that.
Chosen answer: As a Sith, Maul has methods of tracking that would not be available to non-Force users. When Obi-wan ordered them not to reply, they're not aware of any possible Sith involvement - his precautions would be secure against technological means of determining location, but not against a Sith Lord.
Answer: It is stated in the novel that they did send a brief response. I see no reason why they could not have defied Obi-Wan's advice and done the same off screen in the movie.
23rd Mar 2004
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
Question: Is it possible for a 10-year-old kid with straight hair (Episode I) to develop a natural curl within the next 8-10 years (Episode II)? I can understand Anakin now having a darker hair color because he no longer lives on Tattoine (where the two suns were constantly lightening it), but where could the curl have come from?
Chosen answer: Absolutely - my cousin as a child had straight blonde hair, but around puberty (also soon after the Chernobyl explosion - draw your own conclusions) his hair went dark and curly. I'm sure someone can expand on the specific reasons why it might happen, but it's certainly possible.
18th Mar 2004
Flatliners (1990)
Question: Just before Lebracio goes to the subway to find the ghost of Billy Mahoney, he crosses the street and about a dozen bicyclists come whizzing past him. Was this a hallucination? If so, why would he have a hallucination like that? If it wasn't a hallucination, what the heck are a bunch of racing bicyclists doing on a wet street that late at night?
Chosen answer: No hallucination. It was Halloween night, so everyone was acting a little crazy. That's why one of the med students shows up in a skeleton suit. Going further, the 'hum' of the bikes were used not only to throw the viewer off as the same humming noise Nelson describes with coming back from the dead, but to confuse Nelson with death and reality and these new sensations/feelings he is experiencing since being brought back to life. The cyclists are used, in a sense, to scare Nelson and viewers. The same 'hum' can be heard when Nelson first finds Billy Mahoney in the dingy tunnel.
1st Mar 2004
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
Question: Is there a reason why they are not (yet) called "Storm" troopers?
Chosen answer: The Empire renamed the soldiers when it started accepting cadets into the Imperial Navy. Since they were not all clones, the name had to be changed.
25th Feb 2004
Minority Report (2002)
Question: When Anderton, after his eye surgery, has his dream about the day he lost his son, look carefully at the people shown at poolside after Anderton discovers that his son is gone. For about a second, the camera follows a suspicious-looking man wearing a fairly wide-brimmed hat, and a towel around his shoulders. While we see this man, the video suddenly becomes "choppy," as though something significant were happening. The camera also zooms in toward his face. This all happens in about one second. Are we to assume that this is the man responsible for kidnapping Anderton's son?
24th Feb 2004
Voltron: Defender of the Universe (1984)
Question: Is Pidge a boy or a girl?
Chosen answer: I don't think it's ever said. I always assumed Pidge was a boy, and I'm not sure why. I think because it was a man who did the voice.
She is a girl it is made clear she is a girl in episode 5 season 1. It is also made apparent she is a girl in season 8.
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Chosen answer: They are sprinters and so can run very fast on dry land whilst not pushing a huge metal bobsled. They can pushstart faster than most teams but nowhere near sprinter speeds. Sanka is used to pushstarts like this from his pushcart races and so is able to keep up over the short starts. Also, he is routinely shown struggling to keep up with the other three in all around training.
roboc