Question: When Beetlejuice is trying to talk Lydia into marrying him, he says something like "You can say you're hitched if a bachelor from Valentino comes over". What does he mean?
Myridon
5th Mar 2010
Beetlejuice (1988)
3rd Jan 2010
Hair (1979)
18th Dec 2009
A Room with a View (1985)
Question: While in Italy, the Anglican pastor tells a joke, and the punch line is about an American seeing a "yellow dog." Exactly what is he referring to?
Chosen answer: The joke is: The American girl asks her father "What did we see in Rome?" The man says "Rome was where we saw the yellow dog." Explanation: Americans can tour the Eternal City and all they will see that is memorable or of interest to them is a dog.
I don't get it. It doesn't make sense.
What part doesn't make sense? Rome is filled with better things than a dog. To put it another way, it would be like if you went to one of the greatest sporting event live with on-field/court-side/ring-side tickets and when asked about the event you said "I thought the nachos were good."
It's a crude joke about Americans. It doesn't have to make sense. It's a joke that highlights the sense that Americans are crude, illiterate, with no culture. They believe a yellow dog (a common dog in the US) was the best thing to see.
27th Nov 2009
Friends (1994)
Question: I know when the series first aired on TV I saw a opening sequence where the cast hums the theme song from The Odd Couple, but when I watched my DVDs I never saw it. Am I wrong, or was it edited out for some reason?
Answer: It's Season 1 Episode 12 - The One with the Dozen Lasagnas. If it's not on your DVD, there may have been copyright issues with the song. Broadcast rights and DVD rights are separate deals so music is sometimes switched from TV/theatrical releases and DVD releases.
4th Nov 2009
That '70s Show (1998)
Question: Why is Eric 17 for 6 seasons?
Chosen answer: He isn't. Time moves slowly in the show because they didn't want it to turn into "That '80's Show". In the first episode, he say's he's 17 but the second episode was his 17th birthday so he must have been 16. The first 12 episodes are set in 1976, the next 2 seasons are set in 1977, the next 3 seasons are set in 1978, and the remaining shows take place in 1979 with the final show on Dec 31, 1979 when Eric must be 20 as he turned 17 in 1976.
15th Nov 2009
Law & Order: UK (2009)
Question: The defendant in this episode has prior convictions for GBH and HBH. I can deduce that GBH means "Grievous Bodily Harm," however, have never heard of HBH and can't seem to find a definition of it online. Anyone know it?
Chosen answer: You misheard ABH - Assault occasioning Actual Bodily Harm. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actual_bodily_harm.
Ah, thanks.
6th Nov 2009
The Invention of Lying (2009)
Question: I know everybody tells the truth, but why does everyone say what they are thinking? If you don't say what you are thinking it doesn't mean you are lying.
Answer: It's an imaginary world with its own logic. You could theorize that people were raised this way. Also, you could imagine that since they have to say bad things to answer most questions, why not say bad things all the time, i.e. if your wife asks if you like her dress, you have to say you hate it, so why wait to be asked. Really, the film makers did it because it's funny. If you made a movie where people only spoke when they had something nice to say, it would be very boring.
29th Oct 2009
Orphan (2009)
Question: I'm a little confused as to the reason why Esther wore dentures. Obviously she had to conceal her bad teeth to A) have a better chance of getting adopted and B) try to seduce the men in the families she lived with. But why didn't she just let someone in one of the orphanages see her real teeth and take her to a dentist/orthodontist? Seems a lot easier than having to wear dentures all the time, not to mention always being worried about someone discovering them.
Answer: Also, the dentist would have realised her age.
Answer: Esther wanted to look like a young child who still had her baby teeth. Tooth size is not linked to pituitary hormones so her normal sized adult teeth would make people wonder about her age.
Ester's real teeth were baby teeth; people with hypopituitarism retain their baby teeth well into their 40s. She did not wear dentures, she wore veneers to make it look like she had adult teeth like a normal nine-year old, Shirley Temple wore them to hide her braces they are purely cosmetic and not designed for eating which explains why Ester ate funny and didn't want to go to the dentist. She probably murdered the dentist that made them for her in some horrible way.
29th Oct 2009
National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007)
Question: In the legend of Cibola, the ship landed in Florida. Why did they show him the City of Gold in South Dakota? In those days for an entire group of people to travel that far (on foot) would have been deadly.
Chosen answer: You (or the movie) have your legends confused. Cibola was supposed to be somewhere north of New Spain (now Mexico). The Spanish conquistadors explored much of the southwest looking for it. Coronado travelled from central Mexico all the way to the northwest of Kansas and back (without dying!) looking for Cibola and Quivera.
They mention he wrecked off Florida but when they find the city it's under Mt. Rushmore which is in south Dakota.
26th Sep 2009
Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969)
Question: I'm looking for an audio version of the Buying a Bed sketch - where they have to get in a fish tank and sing Jerusalem. Does anyone know which album/CD it appears on? Thanks.
Answer: The sketch appears on their first album "Monty Python's Flying Circus" from 1970. BBC retained the rights to this album and it has not been re-released on CD as the other albums whose rights belong to the Pythons so you will probably only find it on (very used) vinyl.
4th Sep 2009
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
Question: How does Slugworth know where to go and find all the kids that found the golden ticket? I've watched the movies a lot of times and I still don't get how he finds them all so fast.
Chosen answer: "Slugworth" is really an employee of Wonka's named Wilkinson. One can assume that part of this clever plan is that Wonka knows and controls what boxes the tickets are in, when they go out, and where they are going so it's not that difficult for Wilkinson to be on hand when the winning candy is opened.
3rd Sep 2009
The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
Question: Can anyone please explain to me the deal about Nigel not getting a job in Paris? He thought he got promoted then Miranda picked someone else or something and he says something like 'when the time is right, she'll pay me back'. I've seen this film loads of times but I've never fully understood what happened. Thanks.
Chosen answer: Miranda was going to be replaced by Jaqueline and forced to retire. Miranda worked a deal to give Nigel's new job to Jaqueline instead. Since Jaqueline now has a job she wants, there is no one eager or qualified to replace Miranda. Miranda keeps her job. Nigel doesn't get a new job and must remain with Miranda. Miranda gets what she wants, Jaqueline gets what she wants, Nigel gets screwed, but maintains the (most likely futile) hope that Miranda will pay him back by some other means in due course.
Answer: Nigel was going to be James Holt's partner But Miranda made it so Jacqueline got or instead so Miranda could remain Editor in Chief at Runway.
19th Aug 2009
The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
Question: Do the film's writers/creators ever explain why the machines choose to use humans as a power source over other, more efficient power sources such as nuclear power? (Nuclear power would require infinitely less maintenance and produce an infinitely higher power yield).
Answer: Nuclear power requires fuel. If we switched to 100% nuclear power, we would run out of uranium in less than 200 years. Not a very good long term plan for machines who plan to live forever.
5th Jul 2009
West Side Story (1961)
Question: The Jets and Sharks are supposedly in their 'teens, from broken homes, no jobs, and living in poverty. Where then, did they get the money to buy the fancy clothes they wear to the dance at the gym?
Answer: You're making unnecessary assumptions. They are teens so they live with their parents. Tony works at the drugstore. Maria and Anita work at the bridal shop. The others may have jobs that are not shown. Their parents may provide for them. Even if their parents are poor, the mothers and the girls could make the clothes. They could buy the clothes used, etc. Plus of course they're gang members who presumably are capable of stealing money.
4th Jul 2009
Doctor Who (2005)
Question: The Doctor says he's regenerated half a dozen times since last seeing Sarah Jane. This would mean he last saw her in his fourth regeneration. But surely this is wrong? They last saw each other when The Doctor was in his fifth regeneration, during "The Five Doctors."
Chosen answer: The phrase "half a dozen" is often used as a round number, i.e. "half a dozen" is a little more than "a few." He didn't want to pause and figure it out as it's been a long time in his time line so he just estimated. That said, with the 50th anniversary reveal of the War Doctor, making the 10th Doctor actually the 11th, it's now exactly 6 regenerations since the 5 Doctors, making his statement accurate.
28th Jun 2009
Doctor Who (2005)
Question: Does anyone know why the BBC isn't showing these in the States at the same time they're released in the U.K.? The Christmas Special JUST aired on BBC America on the 27 June. I find it odd that they don't just release them on both stations at the same time.
Chosen answer: BBC America is a separate entity. It is not a "station" of BBC. It airs shows from other UK networks (ITV etc). So, for one reason, it must arrange its schedule to show the shows it wants to show. For another reason, the shows shown on BBC in the UK are paid for by taxes on UK TV sets. It wouldn't be very fair for BBC America not to pay for the rights to show the shows after all there are a lot more of us than them. All these payments and broadcast rights must be worked out for every show. In addition, BBC can sell to other networks as well (e.g. Dr Who and Primeval on SyFy, and Dr Who on PBS are generally another year behind BBC America)
25th Jun 2009
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Question: How exactly does the Ludovico technique work?
Chosen answer: It's an extreme form of aversion therapy. The pleasant stimulus (violence in this case) is associated with an unpleasant stimulus (a drug that makes him feel sick). Eventually, it is hard to think of the pleasant stimulus without thinking of the unpleasant stimulus thus making the whole experience unpleasant.
20th Jun 2009
The Dark Knight (2008)
Question: While in the hospital recuperating from his burns, why were there restraints on Harvey Dent to keep him in his bed?
Answer: The restraints aren't to keep him in bed but to keep him from touching or scratching his burns in his sleep/unconciousness. Later, you see him remove his bandages himself. In real life, with burns that severe, it would result in immediate severe infections to expose raw muscle, tendon, etc. to the air.
20th Feb 2009
Hair (1979)
Question: In "The Flesh Failures," they sing "life is around you and in you, except for Timothy Leary, deary". What does this mean?
Chosen answer: The word is "answer" not "except". "Life is around you and in you ... let the sunshine in" is an answer to Timothy Leary - probably to his "turn on, tune in, drop out".
14th Jul 2008
The Dark Knight (2008)
Question: I know this question isn't specifically related to the movie itself, but I thought it was something interesting to ask: There's a lot of buzz that Heath Ledger might get posthumously nominated for his role as "The Joker." If that happens, could he win? Or asked another way, how many actors have won an Oscar posthumously, if any, in motion picture history?
Answer: Peter Finch is the only actor to have won a posthumous Oscar for Network (1977). Sidney Howard posthumously won Best Screenplay for Gone with the Wind (1939). James Dean was posthumously nominated for East of Eden (1956) and Giant (1957) but didn't win.
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Answer: He says, "Think of it as a marriage of inconvenience. We both get something. I get out. You get the most eligible bachelor since Valentino." Rudolph Valentino was a famous movie heart-throb who died in 1926 at the age of 31.
Myridon