Question: I don't really understand Josh's comment to Mary Marsh on TV ("Lady, the god you pray to is too busy being indicted for tax fraud."). Could someone please explain it to me?
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Question: Anyone know why the clone army is so small? I think the Kamino-guy says there are 200,000 ready and a million more on the way. China's army is almost twice that size. For a galactic war, troop counts in the billions would be necessary. And just one of those droid factories could probably pump out hundreds of thousands in a week.
Answer: Generally speaking, as technology improves, the actual size of an army in terms of manpower goes down. The clone army has not been constructed to fight a war on the galactic scale - it's more intended to be an elite fighting force for putting down planetary scale insurrections. The droid armies would certainly have numerical superiority, but they would lack tactical flexibility, plus have at least one potential flaw (as exposed in the Phantom Menace) - the clones can take advantage of that and should be able to defeat considerably larger forces.
Question: There are numerous mentions of the fact that Depp based his performance as Jack Sparrow on Keith Richards. But I'm sure I saw an interview/making-of programme where he said that Jack Sparrow was a combination of two real-life 'characters'; one was Keith Richards, and try as I might, I can't remember the other one. Did anyone else see this? Who was the other inspiration for Jack Sparrow? (It may have been another actor e.g. Orlando Bloom talking *about* Johnny Depp's influences etc.).
Answer: On Disc 3, Johnny explains, "Take something as solid as Keith Richards and combine it with Pepé Le Pew... I felt... he would resemble a modern day Rastafarian..." Pepé Le Pew is a Looney Tunes cartoon character, based on Charles Boyer's romantic character, Pepé Le Moko. Pepé Le Pew, however, is a romantic amorous cartoon skunk and he has a huge flaw - his 'odor', which he emits in a grand way.
Question: Does anyone know how long the war with the machines has actually been going on or what year it actually is in the real world?
Question: What is the role of Robert Englund in this movie? Is he and Freddy Krueger supposed to be the same (as his picture and disappearance indicate) or two different characters (as the credits indicate)?
Answer: In the beginning he is just Robert Englund, but as the film goes on, the characters start becoming who they were in Nightmare 1, so he begins to become Freddy, and goes away so he doesn't harm anyone. The demon that looks like Freddy isn't Freddy, just a demon who takes the shape of the character Freddy.
Question: Which Smith does Neo fight at the end in the Super Brawl? I ask because at the end you see a shot of the Oracle lying unconscious in the middle of the street in the pouring rain, hinting maybe it was Oracle Smith Neo fought, to rub in the irony that the machine that was most behind the human's cause was the one to do them in. So which Smith was it? Original Smith, Oracle Smith, one of the other programs Neo encountered, or just a generic Smith?
Question: Does Legolas have an age? I've read somewhere that it's 2931, but did Tolkien ever record one? Also, now that I'm on that subject, what is Aragorn's age? Did Tolkien record THAT as well?
Answer: There is no record of when Legolas was born. But it is commonly believed that Arwen is the last Elf born in Middle-Earth, and she is 2,777 years old at the time of the War of the Ring. So Legolas is older than that. Aragorn was born (according to the timeline in the appendix to "Lord of the Rings") in year 2931 of the Third Age, 87 years before the War.
Question: Shouldn't Jay already know that the bus charges for fare, seeing as how he bought two bus tickets in "Chasing Amy" to set up his and Silent Bob's meeting Bethany in "Dogma"?
Question: What film/text/person does Kitty Farmer confuse with Graham Greene when she replies to Rose Darko: 'I think we've all seen Bonanza.'?
Answer: Lorne Greene was the star of Bonanza which aired regularly from 1959 until 1973. He played Ben Cartwright, the wise widowed father of Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe.
Question: Does anyone have any idea exactly how much in common the series is to the movie? As in what details changed, and do the events from the movie even transpire into the series?
Chosen answer: The series followed on from the original script that Joss Whedon wrote, which was in turn radically different to the movie that was released - thus numerous references to Buffy burning down a building at her old school, which never happened in the movie. Basically, the only story that follows over is this: Buffy was a student at Hemory High, quite popular (she compares herself to Cordelia) until Merrick, her first Watcher, discovered her and told her her destiny. While fighting a group of vampires, Merrick ended up dead (according to Whedon, he was trapped by a group of them and was forced to kill himself to avoid being turned); Buffy later trapped the vampires in the school gym and burned it to the ground, resulting in her expulsion from Hemory and her move to Sunnydale.
Question: At the beginning of the movie, the brother is a loser who works at Burger King. At the end, he wears a suit and work at an office. As a presumably successful business man, wouldn't he have moved out of his parents' house?
Answer: Who says he didn't? Perhaps he lives close enough to come over for breakfast each morning. There isn't enough information in the scene to show that he still lives there; he is simply sitting at the table.
Answer: Even though the brother now has a steady career and would normally have his own place, this is a movie-plot device using a "suspension of disbelief." The audience needs to be able to see Marty's reaction and surprise as to how every McFly family member has changed for the better. We just accept the premise.
Answer: If we presume he's living at home, wearing a suit to an office job doesn't really reflect on his success or wealth, and he's still just 21 or 22 years old. He may still be in college and just working on the weekend and living at home to save money.
Question: Can anyone tell me if Santa Anna really ran away from Houston's forces as it shows in the movie? And was that battle really over in 18 minutes? (Not being an American or a Texan for that matter, I have very little knowledge about what happened at the Alamo, I'm just curious).
Answer: Yes, the battle of San Jacinto really did last 18 minutes. Houston's army surprised the Mexican army while they were taking an afternoon nap.
Answer: The defenders of the Alamo held off Santa Anna's troops for 13 days before a final assault on 6 March 1836, where the complex was stormed just before dawn. The battle ended by sunrise. Santa Anna was captured at the Battle of San Jacinto in April of the same year, and Texas won its independence from Mexico. Also check www.thealamo.org for detailed information and links.
Answer: In a way. Santa Anna tried to pass himself off as a common soldier, but when he was captured, his men spilled the beans by calling him by his title.
Question: Wasn't sure where to put this question but can anyone tell me who Mara Jade is? Where did she come from? How does she fit into the whole Star Wars story?
Answer: Mara Jade only appears in the books dealing with the time period after Return of the Jedi, although, according to those books, she was undercover at Jabba's palace during the events of ROTJ - a particular woman seen in those scenes has been picked out by the fans as being her, although there's nothing from Lucasfilm on the subject. According to those, she was a Force Sensitive who worked as one of a number of special covert agents for the Emperor (known as the Emperor's Hands). She was able to hear his orders over galactic distances, and passed those orders on to others. After the fall of the Emperor, she hooked up with a smuggling ring, where she eventually came into contact with Luke Skywalker. Initially, she wanted to kill him, in accord with the final instruction embedded into her psyche by the Emperor, but never went through with it (generally because she found herself in situations where she needed him alive, but partly because, despite her service to the Empire, she was not a fundamentally evil person). Eventually, through a complex set of circumstances, she was able to eliminate the last command from her head. For the next few years she came into sporadic contact with Luke, who gave her Jedi training and the two became firm, if somewhat wary allies. Ultimately, they married and now have a son, Ben.
Question: I read somewhere that Kirsten Dunst had a cameo in this film...does anyone know where it was?
Answer: I've read it is when Sam calls his father to tell him the sewer has backed up into the school, she is supposedly standing at his elbow with a sweater pulled up over her nose and mouth.
Question: I haven't seen the majority of all the BtVS episodes, so I could have missed something, but in the last episode Giles states that there are other Hellmouths' if that's true, and there is only one slayer (before Buffy had all the potentials powers unlocked) then are all the other people that live on them screwed? What keeps vampires from running rampant and killing everyone?
Chosen answer: Several factors restrict the demons besides the Slayer. The Watchers' Council is obviously much larger than it would need to be to simply guide the Slayer; much of their energy is directed toward gathering information for their own use against the demons. They have elite teams (seen in season 3) for Special Forces-style offensives. There are also innumerable witches and warlocks around the world, some of whom fight for good (like Giles' coven from the end of season 6) and all of whom would be attracted to the energies of the Hellmouth. Some demons like Whistler (end of season 2) exist to balance the forces of darkness with the forces of good and would handle their share as well. The existence of The Initiative (season 4) shows that the world's powerful elite are aware of the demon world to some extent and take measures to address it. Lastly, there are always some civilians who take part in the battle because they become aware of the existence of demons, like Kain from "Phases", Gunn's gang from Angel, and Wood from season 7. Obviously, there's a whole lot more than just the Slayer defending the world, but no one else can really match her firepower.
The Leap Between The States - September 20, 1862 - S5-E20
Question: Is this the only episode where Sam leaps to a time outside the 20th century?
Answer: Yes. He can only leap within his own lifetime (per the 'rules' of quantum time travel). This episode was an exception, as an anamoly allowed him to make the jump into the life of a distant, but genetic, relative.
Question: Can someone please explain how exactly a Watcher knows who the chosen one is? In the season 2 episode "What's my line" Kendra explains that her parents gave her away to her watcher when she was young because they believed it would be best for her. How did they know about the slayer mythos and how did they know Kendra could be one? I always thought that when a new slayer is born it could be anyone; and that was no discernible factor in who would be the next one to become the slayer.
Chosen answer: From what we see in the series, certain girls are identifiable as potential Slayers - Kendra clearly fell into this category. The identification method is presumably mystical in nature, but the Watchers' Council are pretty effective at that sort of thing, so they're quite good at tracking down the potentials ahead of time. Not perfect, though - it does appear that Buffy herself may have slipped through the net - certainly she had no inkling of what she was until she'd already taken on the role of Slayer. It is possible, however, that this was actually cultural - an American family would hardly be likely to turn over their daughter to some strange man for 'training', so the Watchers might have chosen to keep an eye on her covertly, whereas some other cultures (like Kendra's Jamaican parents) might be more willing to believe.
Question: I seem to remember there was an episode of 'Spaced' where Tim (Pegg's character) plays 'Resident Evil 2' for too long and starts seeing zombies everywhere as a result. Did that influence this film in any way or is it just an interesting coincidence?
Answer: In an interview I saw recently they stated that the Resident Evil scene in Spaced was the beginning point of the film but not the inspiration. They decided to use the idea of zombies in a full length film.
Question: In the scene in the car just before the car crash, we see Tyler driving and the Narrator in the front passenger seat. Since we know that they are the same person, we know that the Narrator must be driving, with no-one in the passenger seat. However, during the conversation between the two of them, the crew members in the back seat seem to be reacting to the questions that the Narrator is asking Tyler by repeating "The first rule of...", and the Narrator keeps telling them to shut up, which they do. If the crew members only see the Narrator driving, with nobody in the passenger seat, how is it that they are taking part in a conversation that is not even happening, except for in the Narrator's mind?
Answer: The Narrator when talking to Tyler in the film is obviously talking to himself out loud, so the crew members would know that because he talks to himself that if they are asked a question they must answer. Also the conversations he has could not be in his mind as they would not answer his questions unless he said it out loud. The image of Tyler is in his mind, but the conversations are real. Like a schizophrenic talking to himself.
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Answer: It's in reference to the many televangelists and revival ministers usually associated with the right-wing that have been convicted of tax fraud (Jim Bakker and Tamy Faye being a more famous set). Occasionally, the more unscrupulous ministers have bilked millions from believers all in the name of God.
Nikki