Grumpy Scot

26th Dec 2003

Spaceballs (1987)

Question: When Spaceball 1 achieves ludicrous speed and overshoots the Winnebago, Barf is heard to remark "they've gone to plaid". Is this just a joke about eighties style special effects or is it a reference to a specific film?

Answer: Its a reference to how the stars streak around the ships in "Star Wars". "Ludicrous speed" had to have a ludicrous color. It is also referencing 2001: A Space Odyssey, where this "tartan" effect occurs when Dave is in the pod towards the end of the film.

Grumpy Scot

Those answers are quite correct and possible, but how about this: Warp and weft are the two directions of yarn in weaving (of plaids and other things). It might be a very meta joke since plaid is at much higher level than warp. On the other hand, it's Mel Brooks. On the gripping hand, he was born in Brooklyn in the mid 20's and might have been exposed to the basics and vocabulary of the tailor at a young age.

Btw, it's also a clear reference to the sentence from Star Trek "They've gone to warp."

Question: Who exactly is the person that Melissa sees behind her before it attacks her?

Answer: The ghost that kills Melissa is the patient Vannacutt was dissecting. When Melissa initially sees them through her camera, what she's really seeing is the ghosts re-living their last moments.

Answer: Just a generic ghost/monster as it has no face.

Grumpy Scot

17th Dec 2003

Scream 3 (2000)

Question: Is Detective Kincaid the second killer? Two pieces of evidence spring to mind that he could be. One, he borrows Dewey's phone and soon afterwards Sydney is rung up by the killer and two, Roman Bridger has a bulletproof vest.

Answer: Those are misdirects/red-herrings to make you suspect Kincaid. Not actual pieces of evidence. But Roman is confirmed to be the only killer in the film. Originally, there was going to be a second killer (as there is in the three other films), but the idea was dropped during production to change-up the formula slightly and keep audiences guessing.

So how could Roman call her in that moment?

Answer: No, remember, the detective says something along the lines of "In the third movie, all bets are off." Meaning that you can't expect the same formula (ie two killers) as the first two movies.

Grumpy Scot

Answer: The line, "In the third movie, all bets are off," means to expect the unexpected. That anything goes, the hero could die, the killer gets away it or the boyfriend dies. There is an ending but not a predicable one.

17th Dec 2003

It (1990)

Question: Pennywise, the Singing and Dancing clown, is dressed in bright colors in the movie. The clown in the book wore silver. Does anyone know why this change was made?

Answer: Silver costumes would have reflected studio lights and looked odd.

Grumpy Scot

Question: Does it ever explain why or how Mr. Gibbs went from not liking pirates in the beginning of the movie to working with Jack and other pirates 8 years later? (00:01:05 - 00:51:40)

Answer: Nope.

Grumpy Scot

12th Dec 2003

Scary Movie 3 (2003)

Question: What is sweeps week (to do with new studios)?

Answer: It's explained quite well here. http://homepage.mac.com/ijball/ratv/FAQL/section-3.6.html.

Grumpy Scot

8th Dec 2003

Hope and Glory (1987)

Question: What is the deal with Mac? Why isn't he in the Armed Services like a majority of the other men in England?

Tobin OReilly

Chosen answer: He could have flat feet or a bad back or many other problems which don't really inconvenience him but make him ineligible for service.

Grumpy Scot

8th Dec 2003

The Ring (2002)

Question: What did Samara's dad mean when he said, "my wife wasn't meant to have a child"?

Answer: She's infertile. She wasn't ever supposed to have children. It's hinted that she made a deal with evil forces to have Samara.

Grumpy Scot

I love your answer and share your opinion. But that's also why The Ring 2 wasn't really good because they made it official: Samara has been adopted. But, if we forget the second and third movies, there is an obvious hint that the Morgans require some sort of evil forces to get a child because Anna couldn't be naturally pregnant. Also, it could be a start of an explanation about why Samara is evil and why she got supernatural abilities.

Answer: http://harrypotter.warnerbros.co.uk/home.html. http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/poapics.html has more pictures.

Grumpy Scot

Question: I am a big X-files fan, but there is something in this movie that I think I may have missed in the series - can someone help me out? We are told in the series that Mulder doesn't drink. One time when he is getting drunk in a hotel room on his own, it is because of a strange planetary alignment and he himself finds it odd that he is drinking. My question is, when did he abandon this and start going out and drowning his sorrows on his own? I'm confused - maybe I missed the memo?

Answer: Mulder has just hit rock bottom and is questioning just about everything at this point, so drinking is not really out of character.

Grumpy Scot

29th Nov 2003

The Iron Giant (1999)

Question: Do we ever hear what happened to Hogarth's father?

Answer: He was in the military. Probably died in the military.

Answer: No.

Grumpy Scot

29th Nov 2003

Donnie Darko (2001)

Question: What is the ending actually about. I think that when the plane engine goes through Donnies room, he dies and the rest of the film is him in a time loop seeing what would have happened but didn't because he died. Frank and most of the characters are vague memories from the last loop, kind of like de-ja-vu, but i'm not sure, so could someone tell me what the actual story is?

Answer: Something, in the form of Frank the rabbit, altered his destiny. Perhaps some benevolent force, we aren't told and it's never made clear, began the time loop. He lived a tangent and fell in love with his girlfriend. He realized in this tangent, that she died, so he went to where the loop began to start it again, sacrificing himself to save his girlfriend.

Grumpy Scot

23rd Nov 2003

The Matrix (1999)

Question: When Cypher is about to betray the team he calls Tank and talks about the car crash: 'All of a sudden BOOM.' Did the agents set it up? How did they know where they'd be escaping from, given the humans weren't expecting to leave so quickly?

Answer: The agents are aware of everything, via their earpieces. When informed that their "inside man" was captured by the police, one could easily possess the police van's driver and deliberately wreck it so Cypher could escape.

Grumpy Scot

27th Nov 2003

The Fugitive (1993)

Answer: It's a cold compress. You squeeze it, and the inner bag breaks mixing chemicals and it gets very cold. It helps to minimize swelling. He gave it to Kimball for all the bruises he had.

Grumpy Scot

Question: After Neo beats Smith, what is stopping the machines from destroying Zion anyway? It's not like they can't go back on their word.

Answer: Twice we see reference to an intriguing quality about machines: they apparently can't break their promises. The Frenchman is trusted in the "Hell" scene when he promises the three safe passage (if anyone is NOT to be trusted, it is him), and the architect's last line "what do you think I am, human?" reflects that same idea - a human would betray his word, a machine wouldn't.

Grumpy Scot

22nd Nov 2003

Heartbreak Ridge (1986)

Question: Towards the end of the movie when Gunny Highway's men first learn that he is a Medal of Honor recipient they are all suitably impressed. Yet when he first reports to take over the platoon he is wearing parade uniform with all of his medal ribbons displayed. The very first ribbon looks like the one appropriate for a MoH - surely the young marines should have been able to recognise it? Is the MoH insignia able to be noticed on his uniform?

david barlow

Chosen answer: I can personally attest, when you see someone in dress uniform, the first thing you look at is their rank. No one really pays much attention to the ribbons, and not many people know what more than a handful of them mean. When you add the fact that Highway put the fear of Gunny into them at the first meeting and that none of them are all that bright, it could easily be overlooked. One thing that is wrong, is as an MOH recipient, Gunny Highway is entitled to a salute from anyone short of the President. Granted he is not the type to point out his awards either.

Grumpy Scot

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