Is it really true that to shoot an IMAX film, the camera has to be reloaded with film every 3 minutes, and the reloading takes half-an-hour? Why on earth wouldn't they have fixed this yet to use high resolution digital capture (which could then be printed to film), for instance?
Moose
13th Jun 2005
General questions
8th Jun 2005
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Question: During the film, Padme mentions that "the Queen" of Naboo must be asked to approve something, implying that she is no longer Queen herself. So given that her mother was no longer a Queen, and her original past had to be hidden anyway - why was Leia a Princess?
Chosen answer: This was because when Senator Bail Organa (Leia's adopted father) returns to Alderaan following the Clone Wars, he becomes the Viceroy and First Chairman of Alderaan, and his family thereby become the Royal Family of Alderaan. Incidentally, Padme finished her term(s) as Queen of Naboo sometime prior to Episode II and later becomes a senator of Naboo, which is the position she holds throughout Episode III as well. Since Leia was adopted by the Organas, however, this change in Padme's status (from Queen to non-Queen) became irrelevant as Leia took on the social titles of the Organas and was really no longer connected to her mother.
Also, the Queen of Naboo is not a family thing. Naboo elects its King and Queen, usually young women. Therefore, if the Queen had any children, they would not necessarily be given royal titles. Being the Queen of Naboo would be more like being President of the United States than the Queen of England.
1st Jun 2005
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Question: In this film, two Jedi show they have the power to block Force Lightning: Mace Windu does it using his lightsaber, and Yoda does it unarmed. Given this, is there any reason why Yoda would not have taught this to Luke in Episode 6, especially since - having fought him - he would know that Palpatine had that power? Even if Luke wasn't as powerful as Yoda, he still could have done the Mace Windu version since he had his lightsaber with him.
Chosen answer: Yoda's got his work cut out condensing what would ordinarily be a lifetime of Jedi training into, at most, a few months, so it's hardly unsurprising that he wasn't able to cover everything. That being said, it's quite possible that Yoda did explain the lightsabre technique for blocking the Force lightning, but Luke doesn't have his lightsabre available to use - he throws it away when he tells the Emperor that he's a Jedi like his father was (after he cuts off Vader's hand). When he's subsequently being hit by the lightning, he's in too much pain to focus enough to pull his sabre back.
13th May 2005
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
7th May 2005
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1981)
2nd May 2005
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
21st Mar 2005
The Simpsons (1989)
Question: In the intro to the show, just before Homer's car arrives at the garage, there is a crash pan across several screens-worth of characters. Are these characters significant in any way or are they just random people?
Chosen answer: Actually it looks like many are large characters but I guess it's a quick way to show as many of the characters as possible. If you freeze frame the shots you can see the characters Milhouse, Nelson, Jimbo, Patty and Selma, Grampa Simpson, Dr Hibbert, Flanders and his wife and many more.
1st Mar 2005
The Incredibles (2004)
Question: At the very end, when the boy walks up to Violet, Violet is talking to another girl and saying something that sounds like "Why do they even have to have cheerleaders." Given the film's many political correctness references, is this also a reference to something?
Chosen answer: Traditional cheerleaders are very un-pc for many reasons. They are basically popularity contests, promote beauty/thinness as an ideal, etc.
3rd Feb 2005
General questions
In many films where the makers wish to show a character as having gymnastic skill, they include a shot of them doing a sequence. In many films this sequence is the same: a cartwheel, followed by a back handspring, followed by a back somersault. Is there any reason why this sequence is used so often (is it well-rehearsed by stuntmen or something)?
Chosen answer: As a gymnast I can tell you why - it's one of the first (and easiest) things to learn that still looks hard to do.
3rd Feb 2005
Team America: World Police (2004)
Question: I know that the musical being called 'Lease' is a reference to 'Rent', but what's the joke behind the song being called 'Everyone has AIDS'?
Chosen answer: The musical "Rent" is based on the opera "La Boheme" in which the main character Mimi dies of consumption (tuberculosis). In the updated story for "Rent", the disease is AIDS rather than TB. Several characters in Rent have AIDS or are HIV positive.
19th Jan 2005
Team America: World Police (2004)
18th Oct 2004
Super Size Me (2004)
Question: UK screenings of this film begin with a 'UK Film Council' credit. Why would this appear when it's an American film?
Chosen answer: Because it probably got some funding from the UK Film Council.
18th Oct 2004
Super Size Me (2004)
Question: Is there a list somewhere of exactly what Morgan Spurlock ate on each day? It seems that on several days, he ate more than a standard meal (you often see multiple sodas visible on desks, or he carries bags larger than a typical McDonalds' meal bag), which rather hurts the point he's trying to make.
Chosen answer: If you were going to eat at McDonald's three meals a day for 30 days, would you actually make 90 separate trips to the restaurant? I'm sure there were times that he got 2 or 3 (or more) meals at the same time and simply reheated them. As for the cups, I know lots of people with old soda cups on their desk and tons of them in their car. The crew may have had food too.
28th Sep 2004
Hero (2002)
Continuity mistake: When the army attacks the calligraphy school, the school leader continues writing at his desk as the wall behind him becomes riddled with arrows. After Snow and Nameless go out to deflect the arrows, the camera cuts back to the school leader, and there are far fewer arrows in the wall behind him than there were before. (00:23:10 - 00:25:40)
16th Sep 2004
Blackadder (1986)
Question: Can anyone hear the (heavily slurred) words of the ending song in this episode - or is it just random garbage?
Chosen answer: Black Adder couldn't hold his beer. The art of boozing he's not mastered. And I, your merry balladeer, Am also well and truly plastered. Black Adder, Black Adder, a bit like Robin Hood. Black Adder, Black Adder, but nothing like as good. Black Ad(hic), Black Adder, I thought that he had died. Black Adder, Black Adder, our writers must have lied.
2nd Sep 2004
Trainspotting (1996)
2nd Sep 2004
Shrek 2 (2004)
Question: A follow-up from a previous question: OK, Best Costume is an Oscar category. However, would the "Costume Designer" for Shrek 2 be eligible to win - given that they didn't design any real costumes, just parts of the animated 3D models?
Chosen answer: Probably not. As stated in the rules (see below), there must be a costume designer who is recognized as such by other costume designers. The Shrek artists are not likely to be considered costume designers. From the official Oscar rules at www.oscar.org: "To be eligible for the Costume Design Award, the costumes for the picture must have been conceived by a costume designer. It is the intention of this rule to recognize the designing of costumes for their special use in motion pictures. Eligibility shall be determined by the costume designer members of the Art Directors Branch present at a meeting called specifically for that purpose prior to the mailing of nominations ballots."
2nd Sep 2004
Hellboy (2004)
Trivia: The soundtrack for this film includes a very unusual instrument: a precision-played theremin. The theremin was traditionally used to create spooky sound effects, but it this film it's actually used for playing melody, which requires exceptional playing skill. It's most heard in the scene where the portal closes and Rasputin dies.
1st Sep 2004
Shrek 2 (2004)
11th Aug 2004
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
Question: During the gambling game at the beginning, one of the rules is 'an open man can't see a blind man'. This seems an insane rule - it means that as soon as one player has their first win, and thus has more money than everyone else at that instant, he should always play blind. If others play open, they can't call him (that would be 'seeing' him), they lose if they fold, so all they can do is raise - and since he has more money, he can then raise back, and keep going until they are unable to raise further (and have to fold, because they still can't 'see' him). The only way to prevent this is to play blind themselves, so after the first win, EVERYONE would play blind. Is this really what's intended?
Chosen answer: If you are playing blind, you obviously aren't allowed to see your cards, nor exchange any cards. So if I'm playing open, I've seen my cards (and only me) and after the first round of betting I can exchange some or all of my cards. Statistically I'm now going to have a much greater chance of having a better hand than the blind man. Both players know who's likely to have the best hand, so it's a very brave gambler that plays blind for more than a couple of rounds. Imagine betting hundreds or thousands of pounds on cards that you haven't seen versus a hand that your opponent has managed look at and change. The rule an open man can't see a blind man tries to even up the odds, and make the game more interesting. It's literal seeing, rather than poker terminology.
They are playing 3 card brag. Nobody can exchange cards regardless of whether they see or not.
Answer: The open player can still "cover the pot", which means they bet all the money they have left and then place their cards face down on top of all that has been bet so far (hence cover the pot). The rest of the players then open a new pot and place their bets there. Once the new pot has been resolved, the player who won it compares their hand with the cards covering the old pot - the better hand wins the covered pot. This means if you keep playing blind you will likely lose those covered pots.
Chosen answer: From the research I've found, yes. And here's a few websites to view, and you have to realize how much bigger and realistic IMAX films are. http://www.georgianhousehotel.co.uk/imax_cinema.htm. http://www.bfi.org.uk/showing/imax/explained.php. Even the highest resolution digital cameras available don't come close to the quality of IMAX. Hope that helped!