Sierra1

22nd Apr 2004

The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)

Question: After the black and white ball, TC takes Katherine to his home for sex. While they are frolicking in his home the camera pans to a painting on the wall above them depicting a woman sitting at the bow of a sailboat with her dark hair blown back. Could anyone kindly tell me what the name of the painting is and also that of the artist?

Answer: The painting is "Certain Uncertainties" (1997) by Christian Vincent. The only image I could find online was here: http://www.forumgallery.com/b_vincen.htm.

6th Jul 2005

Star Trek (1966)

Question: How in the world did Hikaru Sulu, whom under all circumstances is Japanese, end up with that last name? Even in the novelization of the Star Trek IV, he meets his great (great.) grandfather named Akira Sulu. (Question is aimed more for a production explanation than a story-based one.)

Answer: Production explanation: Gene Roddenberry took the name Hikaru from the legendary Japanese novel "Tale of Genji" and Sulu from the Sulu Sea, located in Southeast Asia. Roddenberry wanted a universal-Asian name and said, "[Since] the waters of a sea touch all shores," the name Sulu was perfect. Story-based explanation: presumably somewhere in Sulu's family line there was a non-Japanese (probably Filipino) male whose surname was passed on.

6th Jul 2005

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)

Question: In the audio commentary with the director and 'the real Lemony Snicket' on the DVD, who is voicing Lemony Snicket? Is it the actual writer or a stand-in, which is also plausible, seeing as how the whole commentary is like a long joke.

Answer: It's the actual author of the Lemony Snicket books: Daniel Handler.

13th Jun 2005

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)

Question: We learn that the Clone army was secretly being created, raised and trained on Kamino, without the Jedi's knowledge. What about all the Republican starships, cruisers and walkers we see at the end of the movie? Where were they built, and how did Sidious and Dooku manage to keep that a secret as well?

Chosen answer: The assault ship, gunships, walkers and tanks were built by Rothana Heavy Engineering (a subsidiary of Kuat Drive Yards) who were contracted to the Kamino cloners to secretly develop and build the war machines for the clone army. RHE had hidden shipyards over the planet Rothana, which is why the Republic was unaware of the project.

6th Jul 2005

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

Question: Near the end of the film when they are coming into the Shire, the old hobbit shakes his head at the 4 of them, he's also seen in the first movie. Does he have a name in the books or anything?

Answer: The grumpy old hobbit was named Odo Proudfoot in the books, but was renamed Everard Proudfoot in the movies.

6th Jul 2005

Back to the Future (1985)

Question: I always wondered: Is there any footage of Eric Stoltz playing Marty McFly available somewhere?

Answer: The release of the DVD was delayed because of legal issues over the Eric Stoltz footage, which was eventually removed. Stoltz can, in fact, be glimpsed in the final film: in the scene where Marty jumps into the DeLorean to escape the Libyans, that's actually Stoltz.

Answer: There are (or were) clips of the Eric Stoltz footage on YouTube.

Answer: There's also the scene where Marty is driving the Delorean in an attempt to escape from the Libyans. A close look at the driver reveals that it's Eric Stoltz.

Answer: Yes, in the final film. When Marty punches Biff in the cafe there is a quick shot focused on Biff. If you put it on extreme slow motion the hair is darker, unlike Fox's brown hair and a slightly different skin tone, unlike Fox's bright skin.

6th Jul 2005

The Simpsons (1989)

Simpsons Bible Stories - S10-E18

Question: In the episode when Bart dreams he's in David vs. Goliath, there is a montage of him working out using sheep. The music is from an 80's movie, but I don't know what movie it's parodying or what the song is. Can someone please tell me?

Answer: The music is from "Over the Top", starring Sylvester Stallone as a champion arm-wrestler. I kid you not!

30th Apr 2005

Neighbours (1985)

Question: Who does Sky live with? Does she live with her Grandfather, Harold?

Answer: Yes, Sky lives with Harold at 24 Ramsay Street.

4th Jun 2005

The X-Files (1993)

Question: Does anyone know the actual events that this episode was based on?

Answer: The title screen on the pilot episode actually said "based on documented accounts" not "actual events" which is kind of true - there are many claims of alien abduction - so technically the caption isn't false, but the episode was entirely fictional and not based on any real occurence.

29th Jun 2005

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)

Question: In the credits it lists "Michael Smith as Javva The Hut." The only problem is, I don't remember this character from the film. Who/What is he/she?

Answer: There is a small coffee hut on the ILM campus called "Javva The Hutt", run by Michael Smith. ILM staff are so grateful for its services, they have credited Smith in the recent Star Wars movies.

18th May 2005

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)

Question: At the end of one episode, Picard orders the helmsman to set course for "Archer 4." What TNG episode did Picard say this in?

Answer: It's the beginning of "Yesterday's Enterprise".

13th Jun 2005

Red Dragon (2002)

Question: What did Dolarhyde mean in his letter to Lecter that if Lecter responds next time Dolarhyde will send him something wet?

Answer: It means he will send Lecter a fresh body part from one of his victims.

13th Jun 2005

X-Men (2000)

Question: In the scene where Bobby and Rogue meet in the classroom, what subject was Storm teaching?

Answer: The blackboard has "THE ROMAN EMPIRE" written at the top, so presumably it was a history class.

13th Jun 2005

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)

Question: Something I never quite figured out when watching the film was what the shields in the corridor were for? The shields that separate Darth Maul from Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan during the fight. There are dozens of them and all they seem to do is benefit the fight in the film without having any real purpose.

Chosen answer: According to "Inside the Worlds of Star Wars: Episode I" by Kristin Lund, they are "laser doors which lock into position in response to potentially lethal power outputs that occur intermittently during plasma activation process" (the fight takes place in a plasma energy processing plant). There are six laser doors in deference to an ancient Naboo legend in which Chaos is held back by six inpentrable gates. As you say though, they're really just a plot device to add dramatic tension to the duel!

13th Jun 2005

Star Wars (1977)

Question: What exactly is or was the "Shadows of the Empire?

Answer: "Shadows of the Empire" is essentially Episode 5.5: the story of what happened between "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi". It was a multimedia project created by Lucasfilm in 1996, with a novel, comic series, computer game, RPG sourcebooks, toys and even its own soundtrack - everything except an actual movie.

13th Jun 2005

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)

Question: When we see four astrodroids fixing the ship trying to get past the blockade one of them is R2-D2, but out of curiousity, what are the names of the other three?

Answer: There was a set of astromech droids included with the Naboo Royal Starship Playset from Hasbro which named two of the others: R2-B1 and R2-R9.

13th Jun 2005

Star Wars (1977)

Question: Five ships survive the destruction of the Death Star: Vader in his custom TIE, Han and Chewie in the Millennium Falcon, Luke and Wedge in their X-Wings, and a Y-Wing. Who's in the Y-Wing?

Chosen answer: The "X-Wing" computer game implies that the pilot of the surviving Y-Wing is the game's lead character, Keyan Farlander.

13th Jun 2005

The Simpsons (1989)

Brother From the Same Planet - S4-E14

Question: When Homer is at the Bigger Brothers place, he looks at a book of children who want a Bigger Brother. When he looks at one of them he says "Zooie. Zooie." What exactly does he mean by this?

Chosen answer: Homer is imitating a pig's squeal, implying that the kid in the book is too fat for his liking (he can talk!).

Answer: Alternatively, the kid in question could just look like a pig in general.

18th May 2005

Futurama (1999)

Question: Sometime during the third season, the animators changed their alien substitute code for a more difficult one. I can't remember what it was called (Modulator 6? Something like that.) but I remember that each symbol could represent any letter depending on the letters/symbols that came before it. I still want to translate the secret messages myself, but could someone please explain to me (in layman terms) how this new code works?

Answer: Each symbol in the second alien alphabet (AA2) corresponds to a number from 1-26, so you'll end up with a series of numbers. The first number corresponds directly with an A-Z letter on another lookup table, but each subsequent letter is the corresponding number from the original numeric series subtracted from the number preceding it. The lookup tables and a tutorial on decoding AA2 is available at http://tfp.killbots.com/?p=aa_02.

19th May 2005

The Queen of the Damned (2002)

Question: What is the music the music box plays (the tune is heard during the Jesse dream sequence mostly)? Was it written for the movie? If it was, what is it called and where can I find it, and if it isn't, is it possible it uses some of the same chords as another song and I am picking up on that one? If this is the case, what is the other song that it sounds like? I've heard of such things happening, for example one of the songs from Aladdin. I've searched and I can't find the answers to anything.

Answer: The music box tune was specially written for the movie by composer Richard Gibbs. It is also used as the background music for the DVD menu. The track is available on the Queen of the Damned Score CD (not to be confused with the rock soundtrack), it's called "Jessie's Dream".

Answer: But what is the name of the instrument song of the DVD main menu? I can't find it any where on YouTube can someone help find it I want it for a ring tone fory cell.

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