Onesimos

31st Aug 2005

Moonraker (1979)

Question: Who is the Brazilian woman that provided information on a warehouse to Bond? Is she an intelligence agent?

Onesimos

Chosen answer: Manuela (played by Emily Bolten) is an Intelligence operative assigned to assist 007 in Brazil.

Zwn Annwn

31st Aug 2005

Moonraker (1979)

Question: What is Dolly's (Jaw's girlfriend) relationship with Drax Industries (as evident in her yellow jumpsuit)?

Onesimos

Chosen answer: She doesn't have any official connection to Drax Industries. She only gets to come along to the station due to her relationship with Jaws. That's when she gets the yellow jumpsuit.

Guy

31st Aug 2005

Moonraker (1979)

Question: What did Bond say in front of Drax which made Jaws reluctant to send Bond to his death in space?

Onesimos

Chosen answer: His comments to Drax were about the physical and mental perfection that Drax required for those chosen to repopulate the Earth. As Dolly (Jaw's girlfriend) needs glasses, she falls short of those criteria (as, quite probably, does Jaws himself), which makes him wonder whether Drax won't simply get rid of them once he's carried out his plan. As such, he chooses to ally himself with Bond rather than risk Dolly being harmed.

Tailkinker

Question: Why does the archvillain Ernst Blofeld want to eliminate the diamond smugglers (including Tiffany Chase) via his two assassins?

Onesimos

Chosen answer: Blofeld and Spectre has enough diamonds for the laser he is building to hold the Earth hostage. In typical Spectre fashion, since he is finished with the operation, he wants to leave no loose ends that could tie Spectre into the mix.

Zwn Annwn

13th Jun 2005

General questions

Some films were shot in areas where there are so-called "right-to-work" laws or not supported by the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). Why do some productions do not want to be associated with SAG or labor laws?

Onesimos

Chosen answer: Because it is cheaper to use the non-union workers.

pross79

13th Jun 2005

General questions

How does one define a "blockbuster"?

Onesimos

Chosen answer: The term originated with the premire of "Jaws" because the lines for the theaters were around the corners, hence the term "blockbuster". Now, movies with huge fan followings (such as "Star Wars") or those with extreme media coverage and the potential to gross over $100 million (such as "The War of the Worlds") are immediately considered blockbusters.

weetie21

Question: Even though many Jedi warriors were killed in the Jedi Temple, are there still many Jedi alive throughout the galaxy other than Yoda and Obi-Wan?

Onesimos

Chosen answer: Though the exact number is not given, it is described as "less than a hundred Jedi survived Order 66" Though Vader and the Emperor killed many of the survivors, several more survived other than Obi-Wan and Yoda. Rahm Kota for example.

Chosen answer: Absolutely correct. Similarly, the Episode I dispute between Naboo and the Trade Federation was an excuse for Palpatine to become Supreme Chancellor. And in Episode II, the separatist movement was an excuse for him to be given emergency powers, so he and Dooku could get the Clone Wars started.

Matty Blast

17th May 2005

Star Wars (1977)

Trivia: George Lucas decided to release "Star Wars" in May 1977 instead of the start of the summer movie season (in the 1970s, it was a new concept as the result of the success of "Jaws" in 1975) in June because he wanted kids still in school to talk about it so as to spread word-of-mouth.

Onesimos

17th Jan 2005

General questions

Some people (through correcting some goofs) state that it is illegal for film producers to imitate U.S. military officers (in use of medals, insignia, where they are arranged, etc.) in their films. What civil or military code states this?

Onesimos

Answer: There is no law that says that a movie has to have permission from the military to use their uniforms, or any punishment if they are wrong. A long time urban myth.

stiiggy

17th Jan 2005

General questions

Since film preservation is required for old films, why is the film material very fragile?

Onesimos

Chosen answer: Film contains chemical substances which deteroriate and "bleed out" over time. When this happens, the picture is washed out; even to the point where it is unrecoverable. Preservations means transferring the picture from the old film (which in the old days were flamable) onto a new media (digital nowadays), frame by frame.

17th Jan 2005

General questions

Why is it so significant that a film in the ending credits mention that animals were neither harmed or killed during production?

Onesimos

Chosen answer: Because people tend to care about that sort of thing. While it can be safely assumed that filmmakers aren't going to inflict actual harm on human beings during the making of their films (intentionally, anyway - James Cameron notwithstanding), it's something more of an open question as to whether the same hesitation would apply in the case of an animal. As such, the relevant organisations tend to monitor the film production process for evidence of such cruelty - the notice at the end of the film simply certifies that those organisations are satisfied that nothing along those lines occurred. As such, any animal-lovers who might be watching the film won't feel the need to phone up and complain.

Tailkinker

17th Jan 2005

General questions

In film production, there are different levels of producers from "producer" "co-producer," "executive producer," and even "executive co-producer." What is a producer, and what separates the different levels?

Onesimos

Chosen answer: A producer is the person responsible for acquiring money to make a film. They talk to investors and deal with the studios for big films, or sometimes have invested their own money on smaller films. They are basically the business end of filmmaking, while the director and on-set crew are the creative side. The executive producer is head producer; the buck stops with him. Other producers work under him just like in any company, and there are various "co-producers" or "associate producers" that sometimes have little or nothing to do with the film itself. Sometimes it's someone who just writes a check or gives money to the production. IIRC, in the film "State and Main" they offered the mayor of the town they were shooting in an Associate Producer credit if he allowed the town hall to stay open late for them, or something to that extent. So someone credited as a "producer" can be a huge part of the production, or essentially have nothing at all to do with it.

Krista

17th Jan 2005

General questions

I am aware that different aspect ratios were used by studios since the early 1950s, but why is it that dramatic or action films are usually shot in 2.35:1, while comedies are usually shot in 1.78:1?

Onesimos

Chosen answer: The correct ratio's actually 1.85:1 (1.78:1 is 16:9, which is what's used for home widescreen). The simple answer is that 2.35:1 (cinemascope) gives a broader picture, ie. more screen space to work with, which lends itself better to more visual presentations, be they action-packed or period dramas. Cinemascope is also more expensive, so lower-budget films will opt for the more regular format. I'd also argue that your generalisations are incorrect - just looking at the technical specifications for the first two films I thought of on the IMDb, 21 Grams was shot in 1.85:1, while Dodgeball was shot in 2.35:1.

11th Jan 2005

Titanic (1997)

Question: Since Rose in the "present" scenes is depicted as an old woman, what year did these scenes take place?

Onesimos

Chosen answer: 1996. Old Rose says "It's been 84 years, and I can still smell the fresh paint." 1912+84=1996.

K.C. Sierra

Question: In the ending credits, the name Cameron Duncan is mentioned. What is so significant about this now-deceased filmmaker?

Onesimos

Chosen answer: Cameron was a highly promising young filmmaker, who won several awards for advertisements that he directed - this brought him to the attention of Peter Jackson. He spent time with the cast and crew of the films, where he gained their respect and affection, to the extent that two of his short films are included on the extended edition DVD. Jackson spoke at his funeral and the song "Into the West" was inspired by him and is dedicated to his memory.

Tailkinker

Question: In the Extended Edition, Eomer found Eówyn lying after the battle of Pelenor Fields and believed she is dead. What injuries did she suffered that required her to be sent to the House of Healing?

Onesimos

Chosen answer: When Éowyn (as well as Merry) stabs the Witch-king of Angmar, a serious and deadly malady described in the book as, "The Black Shadow, for it came from the Nazgûl" begins to afflict them. Those who are stricken are taken to the Houses of Healing. Old Gondorian lore states, "The hands of the king are the hands of healer." Aragorn, as the rightful king, has the power to heal Éowyn and Merry with the aid of the plant athelas which is also known as kingsfoil.

Super Grover

Question: In the flashback scene where Jesus stopped a group of men from throwing stones at Mary Magdalene, it reminds me of the "woman caught in adultery" scene from John 8:7 where Jesus told the crowd: "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her" (ESV). Even though most of us are familiar with Jesus' saying, but what made it to compel the woman's accusers not to stone her?

Onesimos

Chosen answer: Although it's never made clear in the Bible, the obvious answer is, each of them knew that they were not without sin. Therefore, no one cast the first stone. Another suggestion is that in the midst of all this, they realized that they were using this woman and were not at all concerned about justice: else they would have brought the man to be stoned as well. And a third explanation is that this never happened: it was an addition to the original gospel of John and does not belong in the Bible. Take your pick.

K.C. Sierra

Question: In the "Fan Credits" section, I noticed that Sean Astin's (Samwise Gamgee) name appear on it. Are there other actors whose names appear on the fan credits?

Onesimos

Chosen answer: Yes, there are quite a lot of them, but I wouldn't want to deny you the pleasure of looking for them yourself. I'll give you Dominic Monaghan, Cate Blanchett and Christopher Lee - see how many others you can spot.

Tailkinker

Question: In the Extended Edition after Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli escaped from the falling skulls, they saw an outside scene of Corsair ships and two burning towns on a river. Aragorn saw this and became very sad. Is he sad because of the burning towns, or is the fact that he was unable to get the Army of Dead to fight for him? Also, what is the importance of the burning towns on the river?

Onesimos

Chosen answer: Aragorn believes that he's failed - Elrond told him that he needs the Army of the Dead in order to defeat Sauron's forces, and, at that moment, he thinks that they're not going to join him. The burning towns are Gondorian settlements that the Corsairs have already attacked on their way up the river - probably intended to represent the haven of Pelargir, an important Gondorian port. In the book, the Dead helped Aragorn to defeat the Corsairs at Pelargir and were given their freedom there - they never came to Minas Tirith. The ships were then crewed by a party of Rangers (who did not appear in the films) on their run upriver to relieve the besieged Gondor forces.

Tailkinker

Trivia: In the Extended Edition the Gondorian soldier who was shot by an Orc in Osgliath was a cameo appearance by film's stunt coordinator, according to director Peter Jackson on the director/writer audio commentary.

Onesimos

Trivia: Originally, Frodo was to push Gollum into the lava in Mt. Doom, but director Peter Jackson was against it because it made Frodo into a murderer and was out of character.

Onesimos

Trivia: According to the commentary, Peter Jackson said that he shortened the scene of Smeagol strangling Deagol for the theatrical version because if he had not, it would not have given the film its PG-13 rating. The full strangling scene appeared in the Extended Edition.

Onesimos

17th Dec 2004

Castle in the Sky (1986)

Trivia: Director Hayao Miyazaki had said in interviews that he was ignorant that the word Spanish word "Laputa" means "filthy whore." If he had been aware of the word's meaning, he would not have used it in the first place.

Onesimos

Factual error: Father Gionetti gives Father Merrin a copy of the Rituale Romanum (Roman Ritual). (The administration of exorcism is in Title X of the Rituale Romanum.) The title of the book embossed on its leather cover is "Roman Ritual", in English. Later in the film, Father Merrin asks Joseph to help him by reading passages of the book, and we are shown a couple of printed pages, the text of which is also in English. The Rituale Romanum would have been printed in Latin in 1949, when the film is set, because non-Latin translations of liturgical texts were not authorized until the promulgation of the Sacrosanctum Concilium (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy) by Pope Paul VI on December 4, 1963, as part of the Second Vatican Council.

Onesimos

27th Nov 2004

Starship Troopers (1997)

Question: What are the themes of the film and the novel it was based on?

Onesimos

Chosen answer: Mainly the book is about the war against an alien enemy in a facist society. It goes into considerable detail about the facist society being fully functional, unlike those in the past.

Grumpy Scot

Question: This may be a stupid question, but is it just me that thinks the Gondorian soldiers are poorly-trained to fight or in poorly defensive formation against the Orcs and trolls? Also, are the soldiers of Gondor conscripts, as it seems that there is no able-bodied male civilian in Minas Tirith, and those who are able-bodied are soldiers?

Onesimos

Chosen answer: That's because they were under the rule of Denethor who was very foolish and didn't care about the consequences.

Question: In the Extended Edition of "The Two Towers," it obvious that Denethor has a liking of his now-deceased older son Boromir and a disliking of his younger son Faramir. This is more evident when Denethor boldly said to Faramir in the throne room that he wished that Faramir and Boromir had switched places so that the former dies and the latter live. Is there a reason in the original novel why Denethor has an unfavorable opinion towards Faramir, his younger son?

Onesimos

Chosen answer: No, no really. Denethor's wife, Finduilas died early, and the grief turned him into a grim and humourless man - one suggestion is that Faramir takes heavily after his mother, and Denethor dislikes him for that reminder; another suggestion is that it's actually Boromir who takes after the mother, and that Denethor favours him for that reason. Whatever the issue is, it seems likely that it started early on - Boromir translates to "Faithful Jewel", whereas Faramir seems to translate to something like "Adequate Jewel". As even their names appear to reflect the prejudice against Faramir, whatever the problem is, it goes back a long way. Maybe, once Boromir was born, giving Denethor an heir, he really wanted a daughter and was disappointed by the arrival of another son. Compounded by the death of his beloved wife (making a daughter impossible), that disappointment could easily grow into the dislike that he shows in the film. There's also the point that, although unseen in the film (unless the Extended Cut touches on it), Denethor has been using a palantir, which has allowed Sauron to affect his mind - it's not unreasonable to think that Sauron could have determined that Faramir was actually the stronger-willed of the brothers, and had deliberately influenced Denethor's mind against him to hamper the younger man's efforts against Mordor.

Tailkinker

12th Nov 2004

A Beautiful Mind (2001)

Trivia: According to a 2001 Entertainment Weekly (American entertainment magazine) article on this film, the filmmakers originally wanted to mention Nash's homosexuality, but they feared the film will make the wrong connection between homosexuality and schizophrenia, so they abandoned it. This connection, according to the article, was based on several now-discredited psychological studies that first appeared in the late 1950s.

Onesimos

Question: In the next few months, the Extended Edition version will be released. Why did Peter Jackson remove about fifty minutes of footage (which will appear in the Extended Edition) for the theatrical release?

Onesimos

Chosen answer: The movie was already 3 hours long and he removed footage not strictly necessary to make it that length. Movies are shown to test audiences for things like length, proper ending etc. His said that while good, it was just too long.

Grumpy Scot

26th Oct 2004

Star Wars (1977)

Question: I understand that purists are up in arms over this scene, but why they are very upset on the Han Solo-Greedo scene?

Onesimos

Chosen answer: Originally, Han shot Greedo outright. The next releases of the films were altered, the first with Greedo firing roughly a second before Han does, and in the subsequent release, Greedo firing just slightly before Han does. Many fans felt that Han seemingly shooting in self-defence took away from his scoundrel character.

Darius Angel

Question: Did the filmmakers gave a reason why there were numerous biblical references in the trilogy?

Onesimos

Chosen answer: The movies are about the coming of savior (Neo/Jesus), a war to end the world (Armeggedon), an evil force that enslaves mankind (machines/AntiChrist), etc., etc., etc. Since the Bible is greatest common point of cultural reference in Western culture, it would be extremely hard to make a movie with this plot without making a Biblical reference to some degree. Even if it had been made by Bollywood about Vishnu and Krishna, when shown in the West it could have had Biblical comparisons drawn.

Myridon

2nd Oct 2004

South Park (1997)

Conjoined Fetus Lady - S2-E5

Factual error: When Mr. Mackey, Principal Victoria, and Nurse Gollum are eating dinner with the Broslofskis, notice pork on the table. Since the Broslofskis are practicing Jews, they would have not allowed unclean food (such as pork) in their home.

Onesimos

1st Oct 2004

Elizabeth (1998)

Trivia: The film rolls two conspiracies against Elizabeth into one. The first was the Ridolfi plot of 1571, in which the Duke of Norfolk was executed and Arundel arrested. The second culminated in 1586 when a priest named John Ballard was sent by the Pope to coordinate an English Catholic rebellion that would clear the way for an Italian invasion. As far as we know, Sussex and Dudley were not involved in any treachery as alleged in the film. Importantly, the film makes scarce mention of Elizabeth's cousin Mary, Queen of Scots (as a Catholic it was she who the rebels wished on the English throne and she played a central role in all the conspiracies).

Onesimos

27th Sep 2004

Anchorman (2004)

Factual error: Although the film is set in the 1970s, the Emerald Shapery Tower can be seen in several skyline shots of the city of San Diego throughout the film. It was built during the mid 1980's.

Onesimos

27th Sep 2004

Anchorman (2004)

Factual error: Although the film is set in the 1970's, Petco Park (The San Diego Padre's ballpark) can be seen in a skyline shot of the city of San Diego. It wasn't built until around 2001-2002.

Onesimos

27th Sep 2004

Elizabeth (1998)

Trivia: The scene where Elizabeth asks the Spanish ambassador to marry her to Dudley at a firework party did take place, but the assassination attempt that followed is fictional. (Although it is true that many attempts were made on her life.)

Onesimos

25th Sep 2004

Anchorman (2004)

Factual error: Throughout the movie, there are shots of downtown San Diego, which is supposed to be set in the 1970s. Yet, there are shots of One America Plaza, the tallest building in San Diego, which was built in 1991.

Onesimos

25th Sep 2004

Anchorman (2004)

Factual error: Although the film is set in the 1970s, the San Diego Convention Center can be seen in several skyline shots of the city of San Diego throughout the film. It was built during the mid 1980s.

Onesimos

21st Sep 2004

Elizabeth (1998)

Factual error: The parliamentary bill to establish the Anglican Church was forced through the first session of Parliament by Cecil (not Walsingham), using more complex means than that portrayed in the film. He effectively became the first government whip, using many techniques, the most important being a procedural device that limited debate to that which was justified by Scripture alone. The Catholic MP's walked out in protest. The two ringleaders of the protest were taken to the Tower of London.

Onesimos

21st Sep 2004

Elizabeth (1998)

Factual error: Queen Mother Mary of Guise did garrison Scotland with troops, but Elizabeth sent a fleet, not an army. And this fleet was not an invasion force, but was sent to back up the Protestant landlords in their battle against the Catholic Mary.

Onesimos

21st Sep 2004

Elizabeth (1998)

Factual error: The real Duke of Anjou did not become Elizabeth's suitor until 1571, long after her accession to the throne, when relations with France had improved greatly. He was not the nephew of Mary of Guise (as in the film), but the son of Catherine de Medici.

Onesimos

Question: While the characters mostly spoke Latin or Aramaic, the DVD version mentions that Hebrew was also spoken. In what scenes in the film was Hebrew was spoken, as I could did not distinguish Hebrew from Aramaic?

Onesimos

Chosen answer: The Hebrew was mainly spoken among the Sanhedrin (Jewish high priests) and other Jewish characters including Simon and the Jewish temple guards.

Question: I am told that characters, events, objects, etc. that did not appear in the four Gospels, but from Christian tradition were incorporated into the film. What are they?

Onesimos

Chosen answer: The following are things in the movie that are not mentioned in the Bible: the snake in the garden, Jesus being dropped off the wall by his chains, the woman offering him drink during his walk, the cross hovering above the ground, not all of the dialogue between Pontius Pilate and his wife is documented, Satan himself was not mentioned during the crucifiction accounts, Mary Magdalene is not confirmed to be the woman caught in adultery, only speculated. There are a few more which likely happened because of the historical documented process of crucifiction. Additionally, some are not Christian tradition but rather artistic interpretation.

Sol Parker

Chosen answer: There are not as many as have been rumored, but a few prominent ones include the portrayal of the devil, the stations of the cross, and the miracle of the floating cross.

Sol Parker

Where is the miracle of the floating cross in the film?

When the Romans flip Jesus' cross over to flatten the nails. The cross hovers in the air and you can see Mary Magdalene staring in awe at it. It's at 1:39:47.

LorgSkyegon

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