Audio problem: In the scene when Eddie goes to give Maroon the fake will, Maroon says "I'm a cartoon maker, not a murder!", when he says "Murder" his lips aren't moving at all. (01:06:35)
Carl Missouri
2nd Dec 2010
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
10th Jan 2010
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
Question: When Eddie is fighting Doom at the end he spots a box with a singing sword in it. He whips it out and sure enough, the sword starts singing. My question is, why would there even be a singing sword? Is this a reference to something else?
Chosen answer: One of the legends of Excalibur says that the sword sang when Arthur pulled it from the stone. Bugs Bunny went on a quest for the singing sword in a cartoon once, so there's historical AND cartoon precedence for singing swords.
Answer: It's likely just meant to be a nonsensical gag. Notice how Eddie and Doom both give the sword a questionable look, like they're also confused as to why such a thing even exists.
Answer: This is also a gag factory where such things like that would be made for cartoons.
10th Jan 2010
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
Question: I never understood the "shave and a haircut" trick that Doom uses to lure out Roger. Why does Roger burst through the wall and yell "Two bits!" just to get caught? I never got it and its never explained.
20th Dec 2009
Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004)
Question: Why did Elle kill Budd? Was it really just to get her hands on Kiddo's sword? or was it more to it? As poor as he was seems like she could have just offered him a small amount of money for it. Why kill him?
Chosen answer: The way she talks to Budd as he lies dying, seems to indicate that she has disliked and hated him for years, plus the fact that she feels that he was not "worthy" of killing Kiddo (seeing how Kiddo was a fantastic warrior, while Budd is an alcoholic hick). However, it would be difficult for her to get close enough to kill him earlier, as he would not buy any excuse why she just came visiting. But when Budd actually invites her over, she gets a chance to get back at him, and in the same while take the credit for killing the Bride and retrieving her Hanzo sword for Bill. Vengeance and personal gain in one swoop.
14th Dec 2009
Halloween (2007)
Question: From what I understand in this movie Michael Myers is some psycho kid that grew up to kill again. How is he surviving direct gunshots? Is he somehow bulletproof? I don't get it.
Chosen answer: In the original "Halloween" movie series, the Michael Myers character is evil personified. He is SO evil, in fact, that he is bulletproof and killproof. He survives all attempts to destroy him much like Jason Voorhees in the ALL the "Friday the 13th" a series.
Yes, but that is because of all that cult of Thorn crap that is revealed in part 6, The Curse of Michael Myers. In Rob Zombie's version, Michael seems to be a "normal," as in human, kid.
But the cult storyline wasn't in their wheelhouse when they made the original. Michael would have had to been a regular child before the murder of his sister. He wasn't regarded as super human in the first two movies. In the original and Rob's remake, Myers survives being shot multiple times.
Answer: He is still a human, but in John Carpenter's version he can't die because of the curse, and in Rob's version though, he's practically a tank.
14th Dec 2009
Shrek (2001)
Question: In a movie with talking ogres, pigs, mice, wolves, and all sorts of animals, why is everyone so surprised to find a talking donkey?
Chosen answer: Who is "everyone"? The only person surprised he can talk is the one human who is processing the fairytale creatures for banishment, and this was used as a plot device to highlight a joke (between him flying and talking).
16th Nov 2009
Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)
Question: When Abbot is walking down the aisle at the wedding, everyone says "Good morrow Abbot", but one guys says "Hey Abbot!" and Abbot says "I hate that guy!" Is this a reference to something? I never got the joke.
Chosen answer: The scene is an homage to the late, great comedy team, Abbott and Costello. Bud Abbott was the straight man and Lou Costello was the goofy laugh-getter. Part of their act was Costello getting frustrated trying to understand Abbott and yelling "hey Abbott" at him.
16th Nov 2009
The Fifth Element (1997)
Question: During the scene when the blue alien is singing at the opera, Leeloo begins her fight scene with the big aliens. She fights them one by one. Why don't the aliens simply shoot Leeloo? They all simply stand around as if they don't know what to do. One finally takes a couple shots at her and he quickly runs out of ammo. Three or more turn up and they too simply stand there as Leeloo winds up a punch for like five seconds while one big alien is standing right behind her watching the whole thing. This enitre scene never made any sense to me.
Chosen answer: As demonstrated several times throughout the movie, that particular species isn't particularly intelligent, that they didn't do the obvious thing that you mentioned further enhances their status as being quite stupid. They are also planting a bomb and need to remain quiet or risk alerting security.
Plus it's just a well sequenced and choreographed fight scene highlighting the uniquely artist and fun vibe of this movie. And maybe a small reference to the typical sitcom type shows from that era. Where it's always a group of enemies that seem to wait to take turns to fight the hero, or only in small groups, when they could easily swarm the them. This allows for a show casing of different knock out moves, which we all enjoy when done right.
21st Oct 2009
Home Alone (1990)
Question: Maybe I missed it, but did the McAllisters even bother to call home? I don't remember them calling the house at all. Why wouldn't that be the first thing they do? Kevin seems to be pretty independent for his age. He might have not answered the door, but I'm sure he would have answered the phone.
Chosen answer: They did but the power and phone lines were down due to a tree branch that had fallen on them the night before the family left. A flight attendant on their plane mentions that attempts had been made to call the McAllisters' home but "the phones are still out of order".
But how did he call the police at the end if the phone lines were down.
That was several days later. Clearly the phone lines were repaired over the course of the film.
It's ridiculous though that the phones are apparently working by the time they land (Kate's SIL calls everyone on their street). Yet none of them try the house again.
Answer: That is also how Kevin was able to order his cheese pizza from Little Nero's.
Answer: The phone lines were fixed by the end of the movie. Remember, this takes place over the course of several days.
Answer: It's also possible they don't think he's at the house still since the cops did attempt to stop by and see if he was home, but received no answer after ringing the bell. Or they did try to call and left a message, but Kevin may not have thought to check the phone messages if he was out of the house and didn't expect anyone to call. He also didn't want anyone to return until the day prior to Christmas, by which point the mom was already en route and the dad and remaining kids had a plan to come home on Christmas morning.
Answer: The next day, after the cop shows up to check the house, while the Wet Bandits are in the house next door, the phone rings and the answering machine picks up, allowing Peter to leave a message. If the next-door neighbor's phone is working, wouldn't it only make sense for Peter to immediately call his own house? Even if Kevin hasn't returned home from shoplifting a toothbrush and doesn't answer the phone, Peter should still be able to leave a message on an answering machine and most likely keep calling over and over until Kevin answers the phone.
20th Oct 2009
Home Alone (1990)
Question: Why does Kevin scream when he slaps the aftershave on his face? He didn't shave so he doesn't have any cuts, so it wouldn't burn at all.
Chosen answer: Kevin did shave his face. His skin is sensitive from his first shave so the alcohol in the aftershave makes his face sting. Hence, the screaming.
Answer: The high alcohol content could hurt/sting a very sensitive (such as a kid's) skin even without cuts or abrasions.
20th Jul 2009
The Goonies (1985)
Question: At the end, when they see the ship floating away, Data says "Wow" followed by something in Chinese. However, what he says is subtitled in Chinese instead of English. Why subtitle Chinese dialogue with Chinese? Was there a reason the filmmakers did that? Some joke I missed?
Chosen answer: "Wow" is English, its simply a film joke. Whenever Datas parents speak in their native tongue, it puts English subtitles onscreen, and as a joke when Data responds in English it puts the translation in Chinese.
9th May 2009
Back to the Future Part III (1990)
Question: When they discover they have no gasoline for the DeLorean, they go through all sorts of trouble to get it up to 88mph. Now it's obvious things fade away and into existence in this movie, as it did with the newspapers and matchbook. Wouldn't it have made more sense to go to the mine where the time machine was buried and write on the wood, "Bring can of gas"? Wouldn't a can of gas then materialize in the trunk of the DeLorean and they could go home?
Chosen answer: There's already been enough meddling with the timeline without deliberately resorting to that sort of thing. If they can get the car up to speed with the stuff they've got available to them in that time period, it's the safest option to take.
9th May 2009
Back to the Future Part II (1989)
Question: We see Biff groan in pain as he returns to 2015 with the stolen DeLorean. In a deleted scene we actually see Biff fade away as he is erased from existence by his actions. I assume this is because an alternate Biff now exists (or could have been killed) and so he is erased from time. If this happens to Biff, why doesn't this happen to Marty, Doc, and Jennifer? They too are replaced by alternate versions of themselves when they return and even before they return to 1985a. 1985a Biff even says in the film that Marty was in school in Switzerland, and Doc has been committed, so they too should fade away as Biff did, shouldn't they? I would say "time" was giving them time enough to correct things like in the 1st movie, but Biff faded away almost a soon as he arrived back in 2015a.
Answer: I read somewhere the reason Biff faded away was Lorraine shot him in the alternate timeline for murdering her husband, George.
I hadn't heard that one, could be in a novelization or something. This is entirely my own speculation with nothing official to support it; however, it could be that because Doc and Marty are trying to correct the timeline, he and his siblings' removal from history happens gradually, as they get closer or further from the act of their trying to set things right. Biff doesn't know or care and is actively trying to change history, so the moment he returns to 2015, he vanishes all at once.
If you have the DVD or Blu-ray, watch the deleted scene of Biff vanishing and turn on the commentary. It will confirm that Biff was murdered, which is why he was erased from existence.
Chosen answer: Biff faded away because he completely changed his own past. When Marty, Doc, and Jennifer return to 1985, they're returning to the alternate timeline that Biff created. They still exist and remember their own history because without it, Biff's timeline couldn't exist and a paradox would be created.
Answer: The comics answer this question. In 1986 in the alternate timeline, Biff forced the committed Doc Brown to send him forward in time to get more sports results, but Doc tricked him and sent him back to 1884 instead, where he was shot by his own great-grandfather Buford. When he reappeared in his current time (that's how the time machine worked in this timeline), he was dead. Old Biff faded from existence because Biff never grew up to become Old Biff (because he was dead), so Old Biff no longer existed.
30th Mar 2009
Smallville (2001)
Question: Whats the deal with Michael Rosenbaum? Did he leave the show? I find it strange that he is nowhere to be seen in the show or in the opening credits. If that is the case, is it known why he left? Or is this just some plot device to build suspense?
Chosen answer: He simply chose to leave the show. He wanted to move on; seven years is a long time to devote to a single project, so he felt it was time to move his career onwards. As a result, the character of Lex, which they'd taken as far as they realistically could anyway, was written out of the show. It's certainly not out of the question that he could make a guest appearance in a future storyline, much as Kristin Kreuk, who also left the show at the end of season seven, did in the middle of season eight, but so far this has not occurred.
7th Jan 2009
Weird Science (1985)
Question: At the very end when Lisa is a gym instructor, when they pan from her feet up, on VHS and on my DVD the Rocky theme is played. But whenever I see it on cable, the Weird Science theme is played instead. Why is this?
Chosen answer: They probably only had permission to use the song at the cinema and take home releases, so when shown on broadcast TV they'd have to use another song.
20th Sep 2008
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000)
Question: OK, why does the title song have nothing to do with the show? It keeps saying "haaaawaii!" over and over, yet the show takes place in Vegas, not Hawaii. I never got that.
Chosen answer: It's actually "Who Are You," which is the title of the theme song by The Who. A bit more fitting for a crime show's theme than constantly saying Hawaii.
20th Aug 2008
Back to the Future Part II (1989)
Question: One thing I never got is why Marty is so shocked that the Cubs won the World Series in 2015. He was then going to say something like "It's just that Miami..." but stops and asks another question. Was it ever said anywhere what he was going to say about Miami? That always perplexed me.
Chosen answer: The Cubs aren't exactly known as World Series contenders. Put it down to bad luck, but over 100 years, they only have one World Series championship. The last time they won the Series was in 1908, and the last time they were even IN the Series was in 1945. Being a Cubs fan myself, Marty's reaction isn't that much of a stretch. The Miami reference is because they didn't have a baseball team in 1985, which is all Marty knows of course. Since the movie was made, however, Miami has acquired an MLB team called the Miami Marlins (formerly the Florida Marlins).
22nd Jul 2008
The Dark Knight (2008)
Question: How is it that nobody would notice a school bus driving out of a broken wall to a bank? People and cars were going by as the bus drove out of the rubble and mangled building as if nothing was out of the ordinary. I know this is Gotham, but wow.
Chosen answer: Some of the cars would have seen it, but what matters is that the police arriving did not see it. By the time the police start taking statements from people on the street or inside the bank (they would have seen the bus too), the bus would be long gone.
21st Jul 2008
Next (2007)
Question: I don't get the joke Chris told Liz in the cabin motel about the Zen master that ordered a hotdog with everything. What was funny?
Chosen answer: The Zen master tells the hotdog vendor to "Make me one with everything," a pun, of sorts, on the Zen philosophy of becoming one with the universe.
17th Jul 2008
Police Academy 5: Assignment: Miami Beach (1988)
Question: Is there a reason why Mahoney wasn't in this movie? Was it stated why Steve Guttenberg didn't return to the series?
Chosen answer: He had two other movies come out that same year (High Spirits and Cocoon). He chose to do those movies over Police Academy.
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Answer: Valiant also shares his name with Arthurian comic strip hero Prince Valiant, who wields a singing sword, Flamberge.