Michael Albert

25th Nov 2018

Charlie's Angels (1976)

Show generally

Question: How is it possible that Kelly got shot in the head two separate times and is still a private eye?

Answer: She had the kind of incredibly fortunate recoveries that only television writers can provide.

Michael Albert

Answer: Christine was extremely close to her father, who spoke to her of an "Angel of Music" whom he would send from heaven after his death. Christine entered the Paris Conservatoire and trained for four years to become an opera singer to please her father. However, by the end of the four years, she had lost her passion for singing and the music. When Christine arrives at the Opéra Garnier, she was described as "sounding like a rusty hinge." That is when Erik, the Phantom of the Opera, began to speak to Christine during times that she went, alone, to the chapel in the Opera House. Erik began to tutor her, telling her that he is the "Angel of Music" of whom her father had spoken.

Michael Albert

20th Jan 2018

Grease (1978)

Question: Who is the guy sitting alone on a picnic table in the school courtyard while the girls are singing "Summer Nights"?

Answer: This man is the high school's kitchen staff. He's wearing a blue shirt, beige trousers, and a white apron. All during this lunch scene we can see him in the background in a few shots, while he's collecting students' trays, etc., even before they start singing "Summer Nights." (00:11:15).

Super Grover

Thank you SO much for this answer! I have recently gone back and looked at the scene, and sure enough - he's a cafeteria worker. What he's doing sitting on the table in the "thinker" pose at the end of "Summer Nights" is another question, altogether. But at least you've answered my question as to who the heck is.

Michael Albert

The Summer Nights scene shows the progression of their lunch - at the end everyone has gone except the pink ladies + classmates. He's probably waiting for them to go so he can clear up, you see him resume work as the girls leave.

Answer: The guy on the table that was just at looking out at the end of "Summer Nights" was John Travolta's brother he was just an extra.

Travolta has 2 older brothers, Sam and Joey, who are also actors and have been involved in the industry. The guy sitting on the table near the end of the song is neither Sam nor Joey.

Answer: I think a school teacher.

Answer: Danny.

Can't be Danny since he was also singing the same song on the bleachers with the guys.

lartaker1975

It was John Travolta's brother he was just an extra.

14th Jul 2018

Sister Act (1992)

Answer: It appears to be just baked beans, likely without meat or spices. Nuns will often eat a very bland diet, especially a poor order dedicated to contemplation.

Answer: It looked to me like a stew of some sort.

Michael Albert

Folks, the food is visible. It's literally just beans.

Answer: Possibly gruel.

Alan Keddie

As I said above, the food is visible and there is no ambiguity. It's literally just beans.

Question: Who laced the cookies that were given to the children with arsenic? It's never shown who applies it, only who takes the cookies to them.

Answer: When the children discover the cookies had been poisoned (revealed by the death of their pet mouse which ate part of one of the cookies), they suspect their grandmother. After all, she was the one who had been cruel to them all along. But eventually, they realise that it was in fact, their mother, Corinne, who was lacing the cookies with poison. She was doing so with the hope that the children would eventually die, seemingly from disease. In doing so, she would secure the family inheritance which was contingent upon her never having had children from her first marriage. They eventually confront their mother on the day of her second wedding, and a struggle ensues which ultimately leads to Corinne falling to her death from a balcony.

Michael Albert

11th Jul 2018

Grease (1978)

Question: Nurse Wilkins is a named character in the film, but the entirety of her role seems to be her saying that her castor oil was stolen in the scene where Sandy was at a reception. Did she appear again (eg. at the gym), and was the castor oil significant in any way?

Answer: Nurse Wilkins, played by Fannie Flagg, only appeared on camera once during "Grease." It was, as you point out, during the scene in the office when Sandy first arrives to register at Rydell High School. She may have been present in other scenes, but never appeared on camera. She may also have had other speaking parts which were sacrificed to the cutting room floor. There is no way of knowing that. Castor oil was used, historically, for a variety of medicinal purposes - most notably as a laxative and remedy for minor digestive problems. It has a distinctly unpleasant taste. Therefore, stealing it would probably be just a minor prank, without any other apparent significance. I suppose one could draw conclusions about other uses adolescent boys could find for an unctuous substance like castor oil, but that would probably be reading far too much into a throw-away line.

Michael Albert

Nurse Wilkins is mentioned a classroom cut scene (available for flu jabs). Speculation, but maybe originally Sandy was originally going to be sick for the dance competition like the stage play (with Nurse Wilkins playing a role), but when ONJ's role got enhanced during filming, this scene was dropped.

8th Jul 2018

Grease (1978)

Question: At the drive-in, Kenickie confronts Rizzo about being pregnant, but she tells him not to worry because "it was someone else's mistake." What does she mean?

Carmen Dawson

Answer: She says it to hurt him.

Absolutely, she said it, like she said a lot of things - out of malice. Kenickie is genuinely distressed, genuinely meant he would stick by her, even if the baby wasn't his.

Answer: The whole meaning behind it is that Rizzo really is pregnant with Kenickie's kid but Rizzo says it's someone else's: "someone else's problem," pretty much giving a chance for Kenickie to be off the hook as not being the father. But Kenickie obviously knows she is lying. And he's upset and says "thanks a lot kid" sarcastically.

Bbanda100

Answer: Rizzo doesn't actually mean someone else got her pregnant. She is just letting Kenickie "off the hook," probably because she figures he wouldn't want to take responsibility, anyway, and she was probably going to have to handle this on her own. Kenickie is hurt by this, however, as we can tell by his expression when he replies, "thanks a lot, kid."

Michael Albert

I always read it as an expression of relief when he says "Thanks a lot, kid".

lionhead

It was not meant as an expression of off the hook. It was meant as in, "that's really a messed up thing to say!" He was hurt by her saying that he was someone else's mistake.

She didn't say he was someone else's mistake. I already said that in a different correction. She says "it was someone else's mistake." Meaning the baby isn't his.

lionhead

Answer: Both Kenickie and Rizzo are upset and being sarcastic. The interpretations of his and her words are debatable, especially since there is no way of knowing if Rizzo did, in fact, sleep with someone else. However, there's no indication that Rizzo was with another boy/man, so it can be assumed Kenickie is the father and both know this is true. My interpretation was that Rizzo, by saying "it's someone else's mistake", was referring to herself - that she was stupid enough to even have sex with someone like Kenickie in the first place. (The second inferred meaning is that she will not hold him responsible because she knows he isn't interested in being a father/paying.) Kenickie's response, "thanks a lot, kid" was returning an insult - the "thanks a lot" part being sarcastic and "kid" meaning immature and not old enough to have even been given the chance or "be lucky enough" for him to (lower himself and) sleep with her, given all the other "better" girls - WOMEN - around from which to choose.

KeyZOid

Answer: I thought Rizzo said it because she was hurt that Kenickie referred to it as a mistake. So in turn she said don't worry about it...it was someone else's mistake.

Answer: She just means that someone else got her pregnant, and that the pregnancy itself was unintentional.

Cubs Fan

Answer: It's been a while, but I thought the quote was: Kenickie: I don't run away from my mistakes Rizzo: Don't worry, you're someone else's mistake. I would agree with others that she's essentially letting him off the hook in the storyline (everybody knows it's his), but this particular quote is basically just a joke implying HE was HIS parents' mistake...as a way to lighten the mood.

She didn't say "you're someone else's mistake." She says "it was somebody else's mistake."

lionhead

Question: What's the significance of the Dalai Lama when Vic wants Hart to smile?

Answer: It is an image Victor Melling conjures in an effort to elicit a calm, zen-like state for Grace. He is trying to assist her to focus on the competition, rather than her fear of walking the stage in a two piece swimsuit.

Michael Albert

25th Jun 2018

Field of Dreams (1989)

Question: At the end of the movie, Ray realises that the messages he had been receiving were about his dad. "If you build it, he will come." Ray built the ball field and his dad appeared. "Ease his pain." Ray played a game of catch with his dad. How does the message "Go the distance" refer to his dad?

Answer: Ray's mission was not confined to easing the pain of his deceased father. Ray himself had a lot of pain and regret over arguing with his father about baseball. Ray was also supernaturally guided to seek out the angry writer Terence Mann (who had always dreamed of playing professional baseball, but never did). When he travels to Boston looking for Terence Mann, Ray and Terence both hear the words "Go the distance," convincing them to travel to Chisholm, Minnesota, looking for an ex-ballplayer named "Moonlight" Graham (who never actually got to bat in the big league, either). As it turned out, Graham was long-since deceased, but Ray and Terence meet Graham's young ghost who returns with them to join the cornfield team. So, "Ease his pain," applied not only to Ray's father, but also to Ray himself and to writer Terence Mann and to Moonlight Graham. "Go the distance" was about traveling to bring both Terence Mann and Moonlight Graham into this magical place where all of their lost dreams could be fulfilled, as well.

Charles Austin Miller

I think "go the distance" has a metaphorical connotation of seeing your choices through in life, and finding the beauty in them. It also implies doing the work you need to do confront your past, resolve your past hurts, and find the strength to move forward.

Michael Albert

Well, in that sense, "Go the distance" is just a generic platitude. What we know is that each of the supernatural messages carried an urgent instructional connotation, calling for Ray to be proactive toward a specific goal: Bringing together these anguished souls (both dead and living) to live out their lost dreams and finally find peace.

Charles Austin Miller

6th Jun 2018

The Birdcage (1996)

Question: Val puts his finger to Armand's cheek or ear and wipes something red on the wallpaper. What is it?

Answer: Make-up - specifically, bronzing foundation.

Michael Albert

16th Apr 2018

Grease (1978)

Question: When Danny is talking to the coach about sports, the coach asks if he likes the rings. After that Danny says something snide about installing rings or something with a hidden meaning. What is he talking about?

Answer: Danny says "yeah I installed a set of rings a couple of weeks ago", rings are a piece on the piston to an engine, something a mechanic would install or fix on your car, Danny was trying to be funny when the coach meant the gymnastics rings.

In this case, would not the "hidden meaning" be an innuendo, such as penis rings? Either he used two rings at once or had sex two times a couple weeks ago (in the back seat of his car)? (This is in a high school setting when norms about pre-marital sex were much stricter and people didn't openly talk about sex toys and the like).

KeyZOid

Answer: Coach Calhoun is actually not talking about Olympic Rings. He is talking about the men's gymnastics apparatus.

Michael Albert

Answer: He is likely talking about installing piston rings or some other car part. Not the Olympic rings the coach is talking about.

ctown28

21st Mar 2018

Grease (1978)

Question: I heard somebody say that Danny and Sandy actually had sex at the beginning, something about how a shot of waves in movies alludes to sex. Is this true? I don't think it is, as it'd go against Sandy, but I'm curious.

Answer: No, they didn't have sex. While water and waves are often used as sexual symbolism, it is unlikely in this case - unless maybe the waves were used as a representation of sexual interest. But right at the end of that opening scene, Danny goes in for a passionate kiss, at which Sandy recoils and says, "Danny, don't spoil it." It's inconceivable that Sandy fears a passionate kiss would "spoil" the romance had they already had sex.

Michael Albert

Answer: They did not have sex as one of the Pink Ladies says something like "you spent all that time together and he didn't even lay a hand on you." Rizzo then says he sounds like a creep.

Answer: They did have sex. In the song, "Tell Me More" Danny sings, "We got down in the sand." While gyrating his hips.

No. They didn't. During the song "Tell Me More", Sandy's version of events are completely different from Danny's. While Sandy is telling her friends what really happened during the summer, Danny lied because he wanted to look cool in front of his friends.

Question: During "The Phantom of The Opera", when the Phantom takes Christine to his lair using the mirror passageway to his lair, it was well lit up with candles but when Meg discovers the passageway, it is dark and filled with rats. Were the candlabras just in Christine's imagination or were they real?

Answer: Almost assuredly real. The candelabras were in the Phantom's control to make appear or disappear. He brought them forward to light their entrance into the lair. However, it was generally in his best interests to keep the passageway dark and shadowy. The rats were always there, regardless. But, as rats are won't to do, scurried away from light and human movement.

Michael Albert

11th Feb 2018

The Truman Show (1998)

Question: What did he see in the picture book which made him suspicious?

Answer: Meryl's fingers were crossed in their wedding picture, which made him think she was hiding something or that it was fake somehow. Later when he sees her, he says "I'll cross my fingers for ya" indicating he realises something is up.

Bishop73

Answer: In addition to what Bishop73 responded, he also notices other oddities. For example, the "Mount Rushmore" they allegedly took a vacation to was, in retrospect, pretty miniature.

Michael Albert

I don't think he suspected much from the mount Rushmore miniature, he probably doesn't really know any landmarks that well. You see him wonder for a moment but that was only what spurred him to look closer at his wedding picture.

lionhead

9th Jan 2018

Chicago (2002)

Question: What is in the bottle that Roxie pays for while she's in jail before she does her hair?

Answer: Given that in the next scene, Roxie presents herself with a newly dyed platinum blonde hairstyle, it's a safe bet that the bottle was hydrogen peroxide. Hydrogen peroxide was the most commonly used hair bleaching agent during the 1920's, when the story of Chicago takes place.

Michael Albert

5th Dec 2017

Winnie The Pooh (2011)

Answer: In the original book, near the beginning when talking about Winnie it says "his arms were so stiff... they stayed up straight in the air for more than a week, and whenever a fly came and settled on his nose he had to blow it off. And I think-but I am not sure-that that is why he is always called Pooh."

Bishop73

Answer: "Pooh" is his name of endearment. If you think about the people in your life, maybe the people you went to school with, you might remember several who were referred to most often by their middle name or their last name, or some nickname or designation other than their first name.

Michael Albert

29th Nov 2017

The Brady Bunch (1969)

The Undergraduate - S1-E17

Question: When Greg and his teacher are going over math in the classroom, they both mention the words "Base 10" in a math problem. What does "Base 10" mean?

Answer: Base 10 refers to the numbering system in common use in the United States and most of the world. Take a number like 475, base ten refers to the position, the 5 is in the one's place, the 7 is in the ten's place and the 4 is in the hundred's place. Each number is 10 times the value to the right of it. That's why the term "base ten" is used. Numbers look very different when the base system changes.

Michael Albert

Question: At the very beginning when the twins are talking to Scarlett it sounds to me like George Reeves says something about the "other 48 states" wanting war. Am I hearing that incorrectly? There were only 34 states when the war began.

William Lanigan

Answer: To answer your question, I looked for on-line versions of the "Gone with the Wind" screenplay. What you are hearing as "other 48 states" is actually "those fool Yankees." The full line is, "Y'know, those fool Yankees actually want a war?" Also, the line is actually said by Stuart Tarleton, played Fred Crane, not by George Reeves as his twin brother, Drew. In writing, it doesn't seem they would sound alike. When I watched the opening scene of "gwtw" on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymbmvQJcLDc&t=6s), I can see how the error was made. I might have misheard it, as well, if I didn't already know what the line was from my research. Mr. Crane's enunciation is rather muddled.

Michael Albert

George Reeve plays Brent Tarleton, not "Drew."

raywest

Answer: I watched this scene several times on HBOmax, both with and without the closed captions. The line, spoken by Brent Tarleton (George Reeves) is: "You know, those poor Yankees actually want a war." It does sound like he says another word just before saying "Yankees," but it's so muffled that it's unintelligible and the closed captions do not record it. It could be "poor fool Yankees," but that's a guess.

raywest

Answer: In the version I am watching it is definitely Reeves' character who say the line, right after he tells Scarlett "War. Isn't it exciting Scarlett?" Then comes what sounds like what I posted. Is it possible there are different versions?

William Lanigan

Question: At what point does Christine realise the "angel of music" is actually the Phantom? At first she doesn't seem to realise, but there is some point where she refers to the angel of music as the "Phantom" with "a face so distorted" To Raoul. So did she know the entire time? Or was there a point where she put the pieces together?

Answer: After Christine's starring debut at the opera house, the Phantom reveals himself to her just after she sings the reprise of "Angel of Music." He then brings Christine down to his lair during the song, "Phantom of the Opera." This is, in all likelihood, the point at which she puts two and two together.

Michael Albert

8th Oct 2017

Family Guy (1999)

Answer: So he doesn't get vomit on them. It's a joke on how people with long hair would have someone hold their hair.

MasterOfAll

Answer: It's just a humorous riff on women who are about to vomit asking their companions to hold their hair.

Michael Albert

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