Question: We all know that Marlena is bitten by one of the smaller monsters in the subway. When the group finds the military hospital, Marlena is escorted behind a curtain because of the bite. We see blood suddenly spray onto the curtain, meaning there was a small explosion to kill her. Was the explosion caused by the monster bite, or did the military have to do it to her?
Myridon
1st Jun 2008
Cloverfield (2008)
18th May 2008
Annie Hall (1977)
Question: I couldn't understand the joke in the beginning ("In such small portions"). Can someone explain it to me, please.
Answer: Woody says "There's an old joke - um... two elderly women are at a Catskill mountain resort, and one of 'em says, "Boy, the food at this place is really terrible." The other one says, "Yeah, I know; and such small portions." Well, that's essentially how I feel about life - full of loneliness, and misery, and suffering, and unhappiness, and it's all over much too quickly." The 2nd old lady is complaining about the small portions of terrible food, as if large portions of terrible food would be better.
Answer: It's a buffet.
5th May 2008
Iron Man (2008)
21st Apr 2008
Saw III (2006)
Question: Why did Amanda return and suffocate Adam? Was it to shorten his suffering or to make sure he wouldn't find a way to escape?
Answer: There's a scene in the Director's Cut edition of Saw III, in which Amanda was having nightmares about Adam and him getting out of the bathroom and killing her. He says something that translates to "How could you do this to me?!" when the audio is reversed. With the knowledge that he's just sitting there in agony probably waiting to die, she goes back and kills him out of guilt so he doesn't die a long death. There is also a deleted scene in Saw III, where Adam and Amanda actually meet and he takes a photo of her before she sneaks into his apartment and abducts him.
Answer: Amanda returned to kill him because she felt guilty of the whole key screw up thing, and she didn't want Adam to die a slow, long and painful death, therefore if she kills him now, he'll be put out of his misery and die quicker.
Answer: Saw is testing people and allowing them to live if they show they are able to change. Amanda has decided that no one is able to change and is therefore killing everyone even if they passed the test.
Answer: I've read elsewhere that it was a mercy kill. To put him out of his misery. After all Adam had zero way or chance of escaping or survival - especially after the key to his chains/shackle were down the tubes, so to speak. And his means of egress - that sliding door - was locked, too.
10th Feb 2008
Ratatouille (2007)
Question: When Linguini brings Remy to his apartment for the first time and Linguini falls asleep on the couch, there is an old movie playing on the television. Is this little segment we see about dreaming in Paris a nod to an actual movie or is it just something the Pixar team made up?
Answer: The film is 1945's "Brief Encounter" - see: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0037558/.
5th Feb 2008
Muppet Treasure Island (1996)
Question: When they're singing "Professional Pirate" to Jim, the bald human says, "And me, I could have been a contender." Everyone laughs, and the crustacean gives him a dirty look, they even cut to him to show it. Am I mishearing? What's he saying, what's the joke?
Answer: You heard it right. "I coulda been a contender." is part of a famous, often quoted line spoken by Marlon Brandon in "On the Waterfront."
29th Jan 2008
General questions
I saw a movie recently on tv. It was a British or Irish movie and it had a young woman on it that worked in a bakery for her father and she had a friend that was dying and bedridden. Her dying friend had a video of the young woman singing but there was no sound. Her dying wish was to hear her friend sing. The young lady sang for her friend just before she died and at her funeral. Does anyone know the name of this movie?
Answer: That's 2001's "Very Annie Mary" starring Rachel Griffiths. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0188128/.
9th Jan 2008
Family Guy (1999)
Mr. Griffin Goes to Washington - S3-E3
Question: In the episode there is a scene where Peter is dressed up as a girl wandering around a big city with music that goes "that guy, it's that guy". Is this a spoof of something? If so, what is it a spoof of, and where could I find the original video clip that the episode spoofs.
Chosen answer: It's the opening of Marlo Thomas's 1966-1971 series "That Girl". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRaMIKRZ19M.
15th Dec 2007
Star Wars (1977)
Question: During the trash compacter scene, Luke gets sucked under by the one-eyed monster thing, which leads to Han and Leia trying to find him. But if the water's only about knee deep, why is it so hard for him to be found?
Answer: Presumably because the monster has pulled him through the lair of whatever they are standing on into whatever space the rest of the body of the monster lives in. Obviously, the monster doesn't live in the part of the part of the compactor that does the compacting or it would be already compacted.
13th Dec 2007
The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005)
Question: What's the deal with the song Paula sings to Andy in the scene at the store. I have a feeling there's something comical behind it. Does anyone know what she's singing?
Chosen answer: The words translated are "When you clean my room, I can't find anything. Where are you going in a hurry? The football game." Even if you can't understand a foreign language, the last word of the love song is recognizably "football".
5th Dec 2007
South Pacific (1958)
Question: Why was Bloody Mary's singing voice dubbed, given that Juanita Hall was a strong singer who had performed the role on Broadway?
Answer: Richard Rogers preferred the vocal performance of Muriel Smith who played the part in London. Since the vocal tracks for musicals was recorded separately from the filming back then, dubbing occurred for many reasons other than lack of singing ability of an actor, scheduling problems, budget, etc.
Answer: Richard Rodgers was just being Richard Rodgers. He allowed her to sing in 'Flower drum Song' on stage the following year, 1958/9, and allowed her to use her own voice in the film of 'Flower Drum Song' in 1961. He had his own demons then and was just reacting.
4th Oct 2007
South Pacific (1958)
Question: I have heard that the role of Bloody Mary was dubbed in this movie. Who dubbed her, and why isn't that person listed in the credits (given that Giorgio Tozzi, who dubbed Emile de Becque, is credited)? Also, were Nellie and Lt. Cable dubbed? Again, no one is credited, but their singing voices sound dubbed to me. Can anyone shed some light on this?
Answer: See http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052225/fullcredits#cast. Bloody Mary's singing voice is Muriel Smith, Lt. Cable's is Bill Lee. Mitzi Gaynor (Nellie) does her own singing. For most of these "on-location" musicals, the singing is recorded in a studio, so even the actors who do their own singing are, in effect, dubbed by themselves.
1st Aug 2007
Snakes on a Plane (2006)
Question: I live in Southern California and I can hear the snakes 50 yards away. Knowing that there were rattlesnakes on the plane, wouldn't people on the plane have heard them?
Answer: Rattlesnakes only make a noise when they are disturbed and some rattlesnakes will even strike without starting to rattle first.
5th Apr 2007
Suicide Kings (1997)
Question: I cannot find the soundtrack listing and artist's names. What are the titles and artists of the songs? Thank you.
Chosen answer: See http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120241/soundtrack.
18th Mar 2007
General questions
Who knows the movie in which the character played by Michael Douglas says the terrific line 'I find myself knee deep in bohemian cache'? I thought it was 'The Game' but it isn't. It's driving me nuts.
Answer: It's "A Perfect Murder".
15th Apr 2007
General questions
I am looking for the title of a foreign film I saw in the late 60's or early seventies about a man with three testicles. I believe it may have been an Italian comedy. My recollection was that it was titled "Man of the Year", but I am only coming up with the contemporary movie of the same title.
Answer: There's an Italian comedy from 1971 about an over-sexed man called "Homo Eroticus". The English title is "Man of the Year" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067212/.
14th Jun 2007
General questions
Google can't seem to help me with this, so I'll have to ask you. A movie I saw sometime in the early 2000s, I think, featured a woman who has a little girl. This girl, who's autistic, is obsessed with building towers from playing cards or building blocks, to reach her father, whom she thinks is in the moon. The father had died in a climbing accident. Ring any bells? The movie's probably filmed between the years 1995-2002.
Answer: It's called "House of Cards" from 1993. See: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107148/.
13th May 2007
Blades of Glory (2007)
5th Apr 2007
Aquamarine (2006)
Question: I'm confused about the ending. Aquamarine didn't find romantic love, but she did find friendship love with Claire and Hailey. However, doesn't Aquamarine's father already believe in family or friendship love? He obviously cares about Aquamarine, since he was angry when she ran away, and he and her mother named her after a "rare and precious gemstone".
Answer: Many people treat their children like possessions. You would be angry if your TV disappeared, but that doesn't mean that you love it like it was your child.
Answer: I think her father's anger was more specific: she refused to marry the boy that he wanted her to marry, as was their custom. He probably agreed to the deal - her finding love in three days - because he expected her to fail anyway. Then she actually made some progress by developing a friendship with two humans. Apparently this made an impression on her father, even if she didn't find romantic love.
31st Jan 2007
Rome (2005)
Question: Who is the mother of Pompey's children? His new wife can't be their mother, since they are too old compared to Niobe's son who's an infant when the show starts. And they can't be Julia's children, since Pompey is worried Caesar might kill them, and Caesar wouldn't murder his own grandchildren.
Answer: According to wikipedia, Pompey's children are all from his third wife, Mucia Tertia. Julia is his fourth wife. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompey#Marriages_and_offspring.
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Answer: It's very unlikely that the military would have to resort to exploding her, given they not only had guns, but access to all of the hospital's drugs and sharp instruments. While we can't say for sure, it's most likely an extreme reaction to the monster bite.
Myridon