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: What is the name of the song that is played in the boat, while they have a party, at the end of Fantastic Four?

Answer: That song is "New World Symphony" by Miri Ben-Ari.

Question: I heard the reason this movie is so popular and gets shown on TV a lot is that due to a copyright error it is free for TV stations to show. Is this true?

Answer: Essentially, the answer is no. While there was indeed a clerical error in 1974 that caused a lapse in the copyright television stations were still required to pay royalties. While a box-office flop the film was lauded critically from the start and was nominated for multiple Academy and Golden Globe Awards. Its popularity grew over the years as the movie gained the status of a Classic Holiday Favorite and won the favor of new generations through annual airing of the movie and the success of DVD sales.

OneHappyHusky

Question: What is the creature that roars at the maid in the Leaky Cauldron scene?

Answer: We're never told. This scene is not in the book, and it is never elaborated on in the film. It was just added to be amusing.

Phixius

Question: Is there any particular reason why the chorus lyrics were cut from a number of the songs? They used all of the lyrics in the verses, but not the chorus', which I found odd.

Answer: From what I heard, the chorus songs (known as "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd") were cut due to time and inability to make the chorus work on-screen. Actors were set up to play "ghost narrators" at first, so that indicates that the filmmakers did want to include the songs. They were just not able to find a way to make them work satisfactorily for them. Also, I think (can't verify) I also heard that Stephen Sondheim, the show's original creator and composer/lyricist, agreed that these cuts needed to be made for the film to work.

Question: In the scene where Jack, Barbossa, Elizabeth meets with Beckett, Davy Jones, and Will on the little island. Beckett tells Jack that he honored their deal to bring him to the Brethren court and lure the pirates out, but then why does Beckett then hand Jack over to Davy Jones? wasn't the deal that he would keep Jack safe from Jones if Jack led him to Pirate's Cove? He even says "come collect your reward." was he just being sarcastic?

Answer: Beckett's ruthless and untrustworthy. He's simply not keeping to the deal. The reference to a reward is entirely sarcastic.

Tailkinker

Question: What is meant by Crouch Jr's line "I'll show you mine if you show me yours" and Dumbledore's sudden lurch to reveal Harry's scar (The scar that Wormtail makes, not his thunderbolt one)?

Blibbetyblip

Chosen answer: Crouch, Jr. is referring to the fact that both he and Harry now have marks on their arms given in service to Voldemort. At this point Dumbledore doesn't realize that Harry has been cut and had his blood removed to bring Voldemort back. Given his immense knowledge however, Dumbledore is probably aware of the spells that can be used to bring someone back. When Crouch, Jr. says this (referring to his own Dark Mark), it triggers the recognition of what might have happened to Harry and Dumbledore rushes to confirm Harry's forearm scar for himself.

Guy

Question: It's obvious that both Giselle and Edward know that jumping back into the sewer will get them back to where they came from, so why doesn't Giselle jump back in right away when she is first tossed into New York?

Answer: Obviously, Giselle didn't know. She was shoved into the wishing well by the hag and had no idea what had happened to her. Edward, being familiar with his stepmother's magic, was better prepared.

Super Grover

Question: Near the end of the film, what was the "zombie" who was on the roof trying to do? was he trying to get out? Make a bigger hole for others to come in? I didn't get this part.

Answer: He was making a hole big enough for the others to get in. When the final "assault" happens, you see all of the zombie/mutants climbing up the building, presumably to get into that hole.

Gary O'Reilly

Butters' Very Own Episode - S5-E14

Question: I would have sworn the first time this episode aired, the group of alleged murderers (Ramseys, Condit, and Simpson) were chanting (or mentioned) the "Got Away With It Club" in the restaurant. I just saw a rerun and this time, Condit was saying something nonsensical while the rest chanted "one of us". Was it changed, or was it just my imagination?

Rlvlk

Chosen answer: During them all chanting "One of us", Condit is saying "Gooble Gobble," a reference to the chant from the movie Freaks. I have seen the episode a few times and I don't think there is anything different.

Lummie

Question: In the scene with Cutler Beckett, Davy Jones, and Will Turner, when they are discussing the brethren court and the first meeting, Davy Jones speaks to Beckett like he was there. Does this mean that Beckett was a former pirate and is this what Jack Sparrow meant by leaving his mark on Beckett?

Answer: No, Beckett is not a former pirate. The first meeting of the Brethren Court, from all indications in the film, was well over a hundred years before the events shown here, long before any of the human characters were born. Exactly how Jack left his mark on Beckett is never explained in the films; given Jack's ability to outwit people, Beckett may be referring to something psychological rather than an actual physical scar.

Tailkinker

Question: How did they manage to film the deserted New York city scenes? Was it a mixture of studio/CGI work?

Answer: They actually shut down and cleared the streets in New York to film some of these scenes. in an interview with an Australian Magazine Will Smith admits he was not very popular after doing this and recieved "a lot of middle fingers".

Simpsonholic

Question: The question is if all the bridges and tunnels to Manhattan are destroyed, how does one drive from New York to The Colony in Vermont? How do Anna and Ethan drive to Manhattan to meet Robert Neville in the first place?

Answer: In the alternative ending Dr.Neville, Anna and Ethan are seen driving a car over a bridge that wasn't destroyed. The army would need to leave a entry/exit point, but it would have been heavily guarded until everyone died.

Question: When Matt Damon is ambushed by Mark Wahlberg in the end of the movie, just before Mark shoots him he says "Okay". Does this mean "Okay, shoot me" or "Okay, I admit it"?

Answer: It's like he's acknowledging he can't escape the original lie that brought him to this moment. There's no way out once you buy in. He's tired of lying and killing his way out of problems, and recognizes that he's reaping what he sowed, hence the resigned "okay."

Answer: "Okay, shoot me."

Question: When Sonny and Layla are in the Laundry, why does Layla put coins in 3 different washing machines? I'm guessing it's because she has a lot of laundry but that would have to be a lot of clothes to wash in one go.

Joe Mc

Chosen answer: I used to have to use the local laundromat and I would use anywhere from four to six machines at once. When you have to leave your home to do laundry you tend to put it off as long as possible. She's also probably separating the different types - light, dark, delicates, etc.

Phixius

Chosen answer: Unreasonable Doubt aired as the fifth episode, on July 14 2002, with Netherworld airing as the eighth episode on August 4th. One possible explanation is that the networks are sometimes known to air episodes out of their actual production order. In cases like this, the DVD release usually uses the production order, thus placing the episodes in the order which they were intended to be watched.

Tailkinker

Question: The premise of "Santa Clause 2" is that the new Santa must find a wife or he goes back to being a normal guy. So, what happened to the prior Mrs. Claus, the one that was married to the Santa that fell off the roof in the first movie - or for that matter, the ones married to any of the prior Santas? Do they just disappear when their husbands are no longer Santa?

Answer: They become widows, presumably, stop being "Mrs. Claus", and go back to living a normal life.

Phixius

Answer: When a Santa dies, the previous Mrs. Claus goes back into the human world and loses all memory of the north pole and Santa.

Answer: The previous Santas probably didn't have wives and then would die or retire before the elves could find out about the marriage clause.

But that doesn't make sense because Scott Calvin, the current Santa, automatically started to reverse naturally without the elves doing anything.

Question: This is a strange question, but is it possible that Isolde could sleep with both the King and Tristan so many times and not get pregnant? Was there any kind of birth control at this time?

Answer: Without going into detail, two possible birth control options would be the withdrawal method or earlier versions of condoms. It's unlikely that Marke and Isolde were using these methods, because Marke, as a king, would probably want children to be his heirs. But Isolde might have at least been taking precautions with Tristan, especially during the time that she was betrothed to Morholt. There would be trouble if she became pregnant while her betrothed was away. Also, as Tailkinker wrote, maybe she simply did not conceive.

Answer: Yes, it's entirely possible. Even in this day and age, with our relatively detailed knowledge of the processes and timing involved, couples trying for children can sometimes try for months or even years before a successful conception.

Tailkinker

Answer: Three answers. ONE: Manuscript medical texts survive from Anglo-Saxon England. These describe folk wisdom and empirical medical tradition handed down from generation to generation. Herbs and herbal products were used as cures and prophylactics. These say little about contraception (they were written by monks or nuns who lived celibate lives) but it could be inferred that women used herbs and herbal products for women's issues (including contraception), knowledge refined over generations and handed down orally that has been lost or forgotten. TWO In the middle ages diet, nutrition and health conditions were such that, in general, people were not as healthy as they are today, so women may have been less "fertile" and less likely to become pregnant after sex. THREE: The legend of Tristan and Isolde is not accurate history. It began to circulate in the twelfth century, but even then it was a story, told to entertain, and this cinema version is a fictional, fantasy re-imagining of medieval life (similar to Game Of Thrones or Lord of the Rings) so such logical details do not necessarily apply.

Rob Halliday

Question: **END OF MOVIE SPOILER WARNING** At the end of the film, Will Smith dramatically sacrifices himself with a grenade, just after telling Anna and Ethan to hide until dawn. However, they are currently below ground in his basement, meaning no natural light. Wouldn't this mean that any Zombies surviving the grenade would still be able to attack Ethan & Anna?

Answer: He may have installed an escape tunnel in the old coal chute. Being a virologist, he'd know the protocol of having two exits from every lab. Therefore they could have escaped out the top of the coal chute once it got bright. Also, the implication is that the main mutant was only after Robert. Once he (and Robert) was dead, they wouldn't have bothered chasing Anna.

SexyIrishLeprechaun

Show generally

Question: Does anyone know if Robert Maschio's (The Todd) 'DOC' tattoo is real? If so, is there any known meaning behind it?

Answer: No, it was a fake, they used a stamp.

It is real.

Mr. Monk Bumps His Head - S4-E11

Question: The man who crashes through the beekeeper's fence and purposefully gets himself stung claims that he was drunk. Later that day, he is back at work. In Australia, where I live, drunk driving is a big enough offence to put you in jail, but the man is never put in jail. Is this a mistake, or are American laws more lenient?

Blibbetyblip

Answer: He wasn't actually drunk in the episode and without solid evidence of drunk driving he would not be placed in jail. Also this was a small town where this individual was "important" so the community police would have to have their "ducks in a row" before taking him in on drunk driving.

Chosen answer: Depends on where you are, your blood alcohol level. Also, having not seen the episode, was he actually drunk?

shortdanzr

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