Question: When Jack Crawford is explaining to his team about the Tooth Fairy's note to Lecktor, there is, very prominently in the foreground, what looks like a paperweight on his desk. What exactly is it, and why is it so important as to be in the foreground? (00:43:20)
Answered questions about specific movies, TV shows and more
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Question: What is a Balrog, why is it there, and how did it get into Moria?
Answer: Balrogs (or "Valaraukar") are demons of fire. In the really ancient times, shortly after the creation of Middle-earth, they were created as spirits of fire but were corrupted by Morgoth (the "Evil God" of Middle-Earth, if you will, Sauron's boss) and became evil. Most of them were destroyed in the wars between Morgoth and the other Vala, but some escaped into the mountains and went into hiding. The Balrog of Moria had hidden in slumber under the Misty Mountains for many years, until the dwarves dug to deep down and awoke it. It then destroyed the Dwarven settlement in Moria so utterly that no-one knew precisely what had caused it, it was just known as "Durin's Bane". Later, Balin attempted to create a new settlement, but were overrun by the Orcs of the mountains before they could figure out or send word about what "Durin's Bane" was.
Question: During the bank heist, where did the three men's large weapons come from? They could have tucked them in their suits as they did while leaving after the robbery, but the weapons would have been very visible. Where did they come from?
Answer: The CAR-15 type rifles the bank robbers have can be fitted with telescopic stocks. With the stock collapsed and a 11.5 inch barrel (which is what it looked like DeNiro had when he used his rifle to shoot through the windshield of the car he was in) it is relatively easy to conceal the rifle beneath a normal suit jacket. The only thing visible may have been the flash suppressor at the end of the barrel, but most people wouldn't recognize that anyway.
Answer: They have the rifles slung over their shoulders underneath their jackets. You can see the impression if you look closely.
Answer: No, that's a mistake. A carbine style rifle with an 11.5" barrel still has too much length, even once the stock is collapsed. See imagine here: https://c5.staticflickr.com/2/1649/25492440284_c3ba0c97cf_k.jpg It's a long, heavy piece of machinery that would easily profile under a sport coat.
Question: Is "Captain Antilles" (the officer whom Senator Organa orders to wipe C3PO's memory) the character "Wedge Antilles" in the original trilogy, or is he Wedge's father?
Answer: He's definitely not Wedge and most likely not his father. According to George Lucas "Antilles" is like the "Smith" of the Star Wars universe, it's very common. The interesting this is that in A New Hope C-3P0 says that his last master was Captain Antilles. This is most likely the man that we saw. He is also captain of the same model ship as the one that C-3P0 and R2-D2 escape from in A New Hope. It's probably the same ship, the Tantive IV.
Question: Spoiler: If I remember correctly, in "Return of the Jedi" when Luke asks Leia if she remembers her mother, she says she does and that she was very beautiful but very sad. The assumption is that she is speaking of her birth mother and Luke's mother as well. How is that possible if Padme dies in childbirth? Was she talking about Bail Organa's wife?
Answer: The question is not answered in the movies. Leia is either mistaken (possibly remembering her adoptive mother) or, Jedi heritage that she has, she is remembering things from visions of the past: things she did not participate in.
Question: Obviously there's some background on the Sith Lords that isn't explained in the movie. There is the implication that they ruled before the Republic was established. Is there more to this backstory?
Chosen answer: The best place for this is the official Star Wars Databank: http://www.starwars.com/databank/organization/thesith/index.html. There's also a lot of information in Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sith.
Question: I heard this movie was banned in the U.S. Is this true?
Chosen answer: This is untrue. Read the reason at http://www.battleroyalefilm.net/movie/banned.html.
Question: In the Attack of the Clones DVD commentary, Lucas promised that in this third movie we would finally find out who Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas is, and how he managed to place the order for the clone army without the Council's authorization. I didn't notice any explanation at all - was there one given?
Chosen answer: There was no explanation in the film. An explanation appears in the (authorised) book called, I think, Labyrinth of Evil, which was released shortly before the film and deals with events leading up to the events of the film. To sum it up, Sifo-Dyas was a respected Jedi who had become disaffected with the policies of the Jedi Council. Encouraged by his colleague, Count Dooku (by then secretly studying the Sith arts), he placed the order for the clone army before being killed by Dooku to prevent anyone from finding out about it.
Question: Don't the impregnated hosts have to be alive in order to incubate the aliens to term? Lex kills the impregnated Italian guy to prevent him have the Alien rip out of his chest, which would imply that the Alien needs to be in a living environment to survive. Not the case with the Alien/Predator hybrid that emerges at the end of the movie, when it's clear that the Predator had died some time ago . . .
Answer: Killing the host doesn't necessarily kill the Alien. Its like human fetuses - if it is far enough along in its development, it can survive even if the host (mother) dies.
Question: In the film, at the theater house, everyone was watching "Faust or the Devil's Bargain." What was the deal that Faust made with the devil?
Answer: 1. To serve Dr. Faustus for as long as he should live, 2. To provide Dr. Faustus with whatever information he might request, 3. Never to utter an untruth to Dr. Faustus. The Devil agreed to these particulars, on the condition that Dr. Faustus would promise that after twenty-four years to surrender his body and soul to the Devil, to confirm the pact with a signature written in his own blood, and to renounce his Christian faith.
Question: This question applies to most of the Star Wars films: why do Light sabres turn themselves off when they are dropped, thrown etc?
Answer: Normally the on/off switch is pressure sensitive. So when someone lets go of the switch, the blade shuts off, for safety. However, most lightsabers also have a lockable switch, meaning the switch can be locked in the "on" position, so someone can thrown the saber to cut things (with the blade on). Of course, they are also Jedi, so they can use the on/off switch with the Force.
Question: I've always been bothered by the pronunciation of Raoul's name. Based on the spelling, I would have thought that it would be pronounced "Ra-ool", but for the most part in the movie, it's pronounced "Ral" (like 'Ralph' without the 'ph'). Which way is correct?
Answer: It all depends on the native language and dialectual region of the person with the name. In Spanish, the name would be RA ool, but in other regions, it's rowl, ral, and other things. As another example, Ralph is pronounce rAfe in many regions.
Fifteen Minutes of Shame - S2-E12
Question: When Stewie makes the prank call to the talk show, he asks about "Prince Albert in a can." What does that mean?
Answer: This is a reference to one of the oldest prank-call jokes known - young people calling up a tobacconist's and asking if they have "Prince Albert in a can," (Prince Albert being the name of a moderately famous brand of loose tobacco). If the shop owner replies positively, they then say "Well you'd better let him out, he's suffocating!" or the like.
Question: Why is the director credited simply as "McG?"
Answer: Joseph McGinty Nichol is his real name. McG is most probably a nickname.
Question: Directly before Wallace is beheaded, he sees his dead wife in the crowd. Is this meant to be her ghost or is he imagining it?
Answer: I prefer to think that her spirit is actually there to welcome him to the afterlife.
Its all left for us to figure it out.
Answer: He is imagining it. He is trying focus on the fact he will see his wife again soon, in the after-life, rather than the pain of torture and his impending death.
Worldwide Recorder Concert - S3-E17
Question: Is there actually a real sound frequency known as a "brown noise?"
Answer: No, it's an urban legend. Mythbusters did a really good bit on it. Look on Discovery.com for the DVD.
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Chosen answer: It's the plaster cast of the Tooth Fairy's teeth made from the bite impressions he left on past victims.
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