Question: Toward the beginning of the movie, on Phil's first day at the bed and breakfast, he turns on the shower and it is very cold. He asks the lady in the hallway why there is no hot water. The lady answers "Oh no, there wouldn't be any today." Why not?
Answer: Likely because there are a lot of people staying there and using up the hot water.
Question: When Ren is driving with his friends at night, he is told about the circumstances behind the death of Ariel's brother. It was quite clear that it was driving while under the influence of alcohol that was responsible for his death so why blame it on playing loud music?
Answer: The belief was that rock and roll was the root cause of the accident. The adults who supported the ban believed that rock and roll influenced the teens to do things they wouldn't normally do, such as drinking and driving.
Answer: One of the kids answers the question during the conversation by saying something along the lines of there's three things involved, and the adults didn't wanna get rid of two of 'em, which left dancing/music.
Question: If Eric and Shelley were fighting tenant eviction, why did T-Bird and his crew show up with a list of complaints about the conditions of the building?
Answer: Top Dollar (the main villain played by Michael Wincott) sent them over there to talk them. He sorta explained at the end. He 'believed' that he owned the building. I think he said something along the lines of: "Hell, nothing in this area happens without my say so." I guess Eric and Shelly's complaints were going to attract attention with the authorities and Top Dollar did not want that.
Question: What is the video game young Josh plays at the beginning of the movie?
Answer: According to imdb: Though some believe it to be Colossal (Cave) Adventure or an early Sierra Game, no known game up to 1988 accepts the commands "melt ice wizard" or "throw thermal pod" (as used in the movie), therefore one can assume the game screen was simply created for the movie.
Question: In the scene where Elliot signs the contract, there is a magnificent red fountain pen on top of the papers. Does anybody know what the pen is, or if it is even a real commercial pen?
Answer: It definitely is a Montegrappa Oriental Zodiac pen, this brand has been making pens in Italy since 1912. I am not sure which of the three red pens in that collection (Oriental Zodiac) is the one seen in the movie, but given its association with the devil, my guess will be it is the Ox fountain pen.
Question: Would someone please explain why they need a huge Gatling gun on the asteroid? Are they scared of aliens or what?
Answer: If you look at the deleted scenes on the special edition DVD, you will see a deleted scene in which A.J. asks what they needed a gun for, and Max explains that it's for debris elimination, in order to take out small rocks in the way.
Question: Near the end, when Dean Wormer and Mayor DePasto are in the grandstand, officially launching the parade, there is an elderly gentleman in the background (also in the grandstand, about 2 levels up, on the left side of the screen) who is making odd, excited gestures and comical facial expressions. His appearance and odd mannerisms are so striking that he draws my attention away from the dean and the mayor every time that I've seen this film, and that's a lot of times. Surely, director John Landis must have been aware of the gentleman and his antics in the background through multiple takes, so it would seem Landis intended the peculiar distraction. Who was that gentleman, and was there any significance to his appearing in the scene?
Answer: Sometimes these things get left in because it's simply the best take. (The child covering his ears before the gunshot in "North by Northwest," for example.) It could also be that John Landis cast the extra because he wanted someone with goofy expressions in the crowd. He simply could have told the extras "Ok, be excited that you're at a parade," and that's how this extra did it.
Question: What is the restaurant Annie and Walter are sitting in that looks out onto the Empire State Building?
Answer: That would be the Rainbow Room which is located at 30 Rockefeller Plaza (Annie rushes out the door and gets into the taxi), the iconic skyscraper in Rockefeller Center.
Question: When Wall-E and Eve are in the repair ward, and Wall-E is misinterpreting Eve's cleaning as torture, what is the second "scene" supposed to be? I understand that the first one looks like Eve is having her arm ripped off and the third looks like Eve is having her head chopped off, but I can't figure out what the second one with the malfunctioning umbrella is supposed to be.
Answer: It's a combination of what WALL-E sees happening to EVE, with her circuitry lighting up and her head bobbing up and down as she laughs, with the noise of the umbrella as the diagnostic arms try to force it down. All WALL-E can hear is something that resembles a mechanical screech, along with EVE reacting - he thinks that she's being electrocuted and is in pain.
Question: When Bridget and Daniel are in bed at the hotel, she says "that thing you just did is actually illegal in several countries". Anyone know what she was talking about? I assume it's a sex thing and I'm dying to know.
Answer: I'm pretty sure you can assume she's talking about anal sex, which is still technically illegal in a number of countries.
Question: What does Harriet say to the Russian sailors as they walk past?
Answer: Real Russian, here. Sailor #1 says "she's a little thin." Sailor #2 says* "she looks really good to me." Harriet says "Yes. Very good." Sailor #1 says "Damn, she understands Russian." Harriet says "See you later, boys." (*Очень даже ничего is an idiom.) Мальчики or "malchiki" is "boys."
Answer: They are saying she is too tall and too skinny, but one says she's still pretty good looking. She sarcastically says "Thanks a lot," or something to that effect. One of the guys says "Oh, she understands Russian." And Harriet replies, "Yes, I do. You fellas have a nice evening."
Answer: I don't know the entire conversation, but it definitely wasn't just "have a good night fellas" she said "malchik gei", which means gay boy in Russian so she was probably insulting them right back.
Malchiki is boys. She says "See you later, boys." Ну пока, мальчики.
Question: When Nikki came to see Terri, he laid his hat and coat in the chair - no package. Later, he went to the chair and got the package that contained the scarf. Was the package placed there at a later time?
Question: In 'Breaking Free' Troy doesn't look at Gabriella until a few seconds after what should have been the start of the first line. Does this mean that Gabriella should have started the song, but Troy encouraged her by starting the song?
Answer: I'm not positive, but that is what I've always assumed.
Question: Is cousin Tilly Bailey, the secretary at the Building and Loan, Uncle Billy's daughter?
Chosen answer: We know that Tilly (Matilda) Bailey is not Uncle Billy's daughter, because when Billy "loses" the deposit money and rushes back to BBB&L, George tells him that Harry's on the telephone and we hear Tilly say, "Hurry up Uncle Billy, long distance from Washington," so presumably she's George's cousin and Uncle Billy's niece. (When there's the run on the bank we see her desk, and there are a few photographs of men, one of which may be her father).
Question: Is it important for the storyline of the movie that Emily (Gwyneth Paltrow) can understand the policeman, when he is speaking Arabic to his wife on the phone?
Question: What is it likely that the stone (an emerald, I gather) was worth in 1984 US dollars?
Answer: Any emerald over 1 carat in that beautiful cut and condition would probably go for over 250 million. Real emeralds over 5 carats are rare and the price goes up exponentially after 2 or 3 carats. 305,000 per carat after 5. So yeah that one was probably like 800 or more carats.
Question: Do Charlotte and Bob end up sleeping together? While the obvious answer is no, when they are going up the elevator the night before Bob is leaving, notice the jacket he is wearing. It's the same jacket that Charlotte gives to him the next morning which he says she "stole" from him. While it doesn't necessarily say they did, they obviously did something together after the elevator scene.
Answer: If they did, it was never said or seen during the duration of the movie. Usually if this happens, it means the event did not occur.
Question: How exactly did they make the whole underwater fight scene work?
Chosen answer: The actors were weighted down with lead plates. Oxygen tanks were kept just out of picture, and the actors used them to breathe between takes. The takes were short enough to allow the actors to hold their breath through them. The short takes were then cut together to appear as one long fight. Sound effects were added post-production.
Question: What happens to the Adam Sandler and Tea Leoni characters? Were there any cut scenes that explained it, or something? Does the marriage fall apart?
Answer: There were no explanations offered. I think the movie was far better in leaving that question, and whether or not he married Flor, unanswered. The focus was on the child and her respect for her mother - not the other relationship.
Answer: Old fashioned hotels have a single boiler for all the hotel rooms. Once the hot water reservoir is used up there won't be any more to use until the reservoir is refilled. This only happens once every few days.
lionhead