Question: When the Simpsons are walking down the street and stop outside the sport store Bart says something like "Wow, a baseball made entirely of secretariat" Not sure of the spelling but what's secretariat?
Questions about specific movies, TV shows and more
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Question: This film is also known as ID4. What's the relevance in this (or am I missing something big)?
Chosen answer: ID stands for Independence Day and in the US, Independence Day is on July 4th.
Question: How does Will get out of the sinking Interceptor? He is stuck there, it's full of water. Several minutes later (it must be some time later, because the Black Pearl had time to move away) the ship explodes, and Will shows up. How did he do that?
Chosen answer: Heavy objects are easier to lift when submerged in water. It is quite possible that once submerged, he was able to lift a hatch that he was not able to do before.
Question: Gandalf says "three hundred of the lives of men.... etc." does he mean he is that old? I have not read the book, but plan to.
Chosen answer: "Three hundred lives of Men I've walked this earth, and, now, I have no time." That is an implication of his age. This isn't, though, referring to how long he's been walking the earth as the wizard Gandalf. From the book: "Olorin I was in the days of my youth in the West", Gandalf came to Middle-Earth about a thousand years into the third age, yet he was a Maia, and is much older. He has only been in human form for about 2000 years.
Question: The Welcome Wagon helicopter brings a message in lights. Exactly how would that work, how do different light patterns communicate any message and who decided what patterns there would be?
Answer: The pattern of lights shows that we are an intelligent race. The lights would show a pattern and then become random. There isn't a message to speak of, but a demonstration of our intellect. Scientist would normally use the lights to represent a scientific equation or something of that nature. The aliens would respond by either mimicing the patterns, or producing a variation of the pattern we showed them.
Answer: This is also a homage to Close Encounters of the Third Kind where they communicate with the aliens via lights and sound.
Question: Does anyone know why Belle's 'The Love Is Gone' song was deleted from the UK release of this movie? (It may be in some versions, but isn't in others).
Answer: The song was originally deleted from the theatrical release, but included on the VHS and widescreen version of the LaserDisc. On the early DVDs, it's included in only the full screen versions. It is not included on the original Blu Ray release because the original master and negative were lost. However they were found and Disney has said the song will be included on future 4K releases.
Answer: I have the UK version on video and the song is on mine but I watched it when it was shown on TV and the song wasn't on it, maybe it's something to do with the length of the film? I dunno but it's definitely on the UK release that I've got.
Question: Can anyone explain to me the phrase Rene Russo says to Mel Gibson 'Close is a lingerie shop without a window'. Gibson's character can't make sense of the phrase and neither can I.
Answer: So what does it mean? "Nothing, " says screenwriter Jeffrey Boam. "It's a complete non sequitur. The (original) line was something like 'Close doesn't count, ' or 'Close only counts with horseshoes.' Dick (director Richard Donner) is a fun-loving guy," says Boam, "and this thought just popped into his head. He said, 'Let's have her say something completely off the wall.'" Boam, who wasn't on the set at the time, quickly faxed Donner a dozen meaningless lines that began with the words, "Close is..." Then the whole cast and crew started coming up with them. But the one they used came from Russo herself. "This is like some line from a Beatles song," says Boam. "I guess people are trying to figure it out."
Answer: She means that's as close as he's going to get or as far as they're getting. Like the old saying, "Close but no cigar." He played the game, but didn't win the prize.
Question: One of the deleted scenes has a young soldier relating a story about one of his tough old SNCOs who was terrified of Plumley. This tough old Sergeant arrives on parade naked except for two Medals of Honor. Is this possible? As far as I can work out the last dual recipients were during WW1 - posthumously.
Chosen answer: Smedley Butler and Daniel Daly. Both were awarded the medal of honor twice, and lived to tell about it. Both were also U.S. Marines. More info here at http://www.grunts.net/legends/butler.html and http://www.cmohs.org/recipients/double.htm.
The One Where Monica Gets a Roommate - S1-E1
Question: In the very first episode, there is a scene in which Ross is in his apartment, talking to Joey and Chandler about his failed marriage to Carol, and is worried that there is only 'one woman' for everyone. Joey encourages him to 'grab a spoon' - to which Ross replies: 'Do you know how long it's been since I grabbed a spoon? Do the words 'Billy don't be a hero mean anything to you'? Well the words 'Billy don't be hero' mean very little to me, so I'd be grateful if somebody could fill me in on this. Thanks.
Chosen answer: It's a song released in 1974, earlier than he met Carol (1988) but he's probably exaggerating for comic effect - it's been that long since he grabbed a spoon. It also means that he is unadventurous and too scared to 'grab a spoon' and take the opprtunity. The song was about a kid in the war who wanted to be the hero and get up and fight.
Question: Commander Lock states that he wants to use all the APCs, half the infantry and any volunteers to defend the dock. I was wondering why half the infantry apparently consists of four people carrying a grand total of two rocket launchers. (And . These guys could be taken out by red hot ejected shell casings from one of the other APCs. Even hockey players wear visors.
Answer: The answer is simple. The rocket launcher carriers are all volunteers, the half infantry is the group of people with electro-guns that are behind the doors where the ammo is stored, you can also see them in a large group just as the machines stop attacking. In regards to the A.P.U. (they are not called A.P.C.s) question, the people of Zion probably would not have the needed technology or resources for the extra protection. Anyway, why put up a window to 'protect' them? If it smashed (and it almost certainly would), the driver would be showered with sharp, hot shards of glass or something, putting him in more danger. Plus, it probably would obscure his vision and restrict his movement. It's also shown in the Animatrix that machines would have no problem removing such a cover.
Question: What is the symbolizim of the church at the end of the film? Could it be Heaven? but if you actually believe in Heaven then you might not think that some of those people will be going there. Another possibility is that it could be, well, places in the heart.
Answer: I think the church represents three things: one, showing that we're all one with God, whether we're alive or dead. Two, that those that have died are still in the memories of those that are living (places in the heart). And three, forgiveness, as shown in the last shot with Mr. Spaulding and the kid who killed him.
Question: After Neo beats Smith, what is stopping the machines from destroying Zion anyway? It's not like they can't go back on their word.
Answer: Twice we see reference to an intriguing quality about machines: they apparently can't break their promises. The Frenchman is trusted in the "Hell" scene when he promises the three safe passage (if anyone is NOT to be trusted, it is him), and the architect's last line "what do you think I am, human?" reflects that same idea - a human would betray his word, a machine wouldn't.
Question: I know that in the movie you never get to know, and I've read almost every theory, but has anyone answered, once and for all, officially, what's in the briefcase?
Answer: No one will ever know. Quentin Tarantino has even said so in interviews. It's supposed to be a classic 'McGuffin' - a term spawned by Hitchcock to describe an object on which the plot hinges without being important to the outside viewers.
Answer: It's an orange light bulb.
Answer: I always assumed it was just an enormous amount of stolen cash, although the film never tells us for sure.
Question: I never really got the line "it came with a black dude, but he kept getting pulled over". What was so funny?
Chosen answer: It's referring to the innate racial prejudice some people have - an inflatable black guy driving a nice car got pulled over, whereas an inflatable white guy had no problems.
Past Tense - S1-E4
Question: What time does Tru work her shift at the morgue? In this episode, she was at work when Marco scared her from under the sheet. Then she was eating dinner with Harrison. What time did they eat? Wasn't it already late at night by then? Then she was back at work - I guess a dinner break makes sense for a nighttime shift - and she met Luc. The second time the day happened, she was at work when Marco tried to scare her. Then she was walking somewhere with Harrison and she hadn't met Luc. Was this after the same dinner she had with Harrison the first time? Was she still going to meet Luc later?
Chosen answer: The next episode shows that Tru didn't meet Luc after all, even though she should have been in work by the time he showed up. I think the answer is that the writers don't actually know.
Question: When Cypher is about to betray the team he calls Tank and talks about the car crash: 'All of a sudden BOOM.' Did the agents set it up? How did they know where they'd be escaping from, given the humans weren't expecting to leave so quickly?
Answer: The agents are aware of everything, via their earpieces. When informed that their "inside man" was captured by the police, one could easily possess the police van's driver and deliberately wreck it so Cypher could escape.
Question: Does the word "Merovingian" actually mean something?
Answer: Dictionary.com lists "A Frankish ruling dynasty (c. A.D. 450-751) founded by Merovech (fl. fifth century) and brought to prominence by Clovis I." The Merovingian family believe they are direct descendents of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdeline.
Question: We never found out what the ham and chicken bones had to do with anything. They were ham and chicken until Scooby ate them. Afterwards, Shaggy wonders why the ghost would keep ham and chicken in the fridge. This was never answered in the episode. Why were they important?
Chosen answer: A ghost wouldn't have to keep any food in the fridge - they don't need to eat. So it is one thing that proves the ghost is not a ghost.
Question: Adrian Ricard is credited as Buddy's mother Rose Rydell. How come she doesn't appear in the movie? Has she been cut out of the one-and-half-hour DVD version?
Chosen answer: Yes, there is a deleted scene where Adam, and Jack visit her in the hospital. I'd also like to say that on the DVD, there is a section with all the deleted scenes from the movie, including the bizarre visit to his whacko mom.
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Chosen answer: A famous race horse.
J I Cohen