Question: If Malcolm was dead, how did he know all about Cole, and that he needed help? Where did he get all the info?
Tailkinker
3rd Apr 2004
The Sixth Sense (1999)
Answer: In his notes, it says referred September 1998, so I am guessing he had been referred to Willis, but they never met, but when he suddenly finds himself sitting outside his house, drawn by whatever forces do such, he would naturally assume he was there to meet with his new referral, or perhaps he imagined it, one part of his mind telling him he was there to meet his patient, and one part conjuring up a note pad that would have the notes of the referral.
Answer: The dead need to finish things on Earth before they can move on. In Malcolm's case, he needs to help Cole - making up for his failure to help Vincent Grey. In order to do this, he needs the relevant information, so it is supplied to him by whatever agency controls these things. As the dead are unaware of their condition, Malcolm receives the information as if it were another case file for him to work on.
3rd Apr 2004
Pitch Black (2000)
Question: When Fry is trying to get out of the cave (when searching for Zeke's body) and she's being pulled down by the aliens...why are we shown shots of Riddick pulling hard on his restraints? Is it to attempt to distract the aliens through vibration?
Chosen answer: Doesn't seem very likely - while Riddick could reasonably assume that somebody would be going into the hole to look for Zeke's body, he has no way of knowing what's currently happening and that the aliens would need distracting at that point. Most likely he's using the fact that nobody else is in the ship at that point to test the strength of the restraints that are holding him captive.
15th Mar 2004
Monsters, Inc. (2001)
Question: In the beginning of the sushi restaurant scene, two monsters walk in and everyone yells, "Get a paper bag." What's that about?
Answer: In Japan, it's traditional for staff to say "irasshaimase" when customers enter a store or restaurant. This particular scene is a reference to that - while "irasshaimase" doesn't sound much like "get a paper bag", the cadence is not dissimilar, so it's quite plausible that the phrase has gradually mutated over the years through the mistakes of monsters who haven't been listening properly.
Question: Does anybody know where I can get a script/transcript of the film?
Answer: There are several places that it's available. It's here - sfy.iv.ru/pdf/pirates_of_the_caribbean(2003).pdf - as an Acrobat file, which is the full script, containing directions and so forth. A transcript can be found here - http://www.hostultra.com/~vampfiles/piratesscript2.html - all the dialogue but much less detail on actions and so forth.
22nd Mar 2004
Die Hard (1988)
Question: Can someone please explain the scene where McClane and Hans are alone near the roof. Hans says his name is "Bill Clay" and the camera zooms in on a board with the name Clay on it. What is the significance of this? Does this give Hans away? And if so how?
Answer: No, this doesn't give Hans away - the zoom represents McClane checking the board out - getting proof that there is indeed a person in the building with that name (listed as W. Clay, for William). Hans has obviously done his homework, but McClane doesn't trust him anyway, hence the trick with the empty gun.
The zoom to the board occurs before McClane turns around to glance at it. Most likely Gruber was improvising here - he heeded a name, scanned the board quickly and picked one off it.
He doesn't turn - the name board is just behind Hans to his left, in John's direct eyeline.
Answer: John already knew what Hans looked like. He saw him through the vent on the top of the elevator (after sending Karl's brother down wearing the sweater) - He also saw Hans shoot Takagi (which is why he says "Just like you did with Takagi" after Hans says he's gonna count to three).
Answer: It ties in to the earlier scene when McClane first enters the lobby and has to look up his wife in the fancy directory. It seemed like a pointless scene, but it establishes that the ONLY people left in the building are on the 30th floor. Bill Clay works on the 29th floor, and so isn't actually in the building at all. Gruber doesn't know this, he just picked the name, and that is how McClane knew he was lying.
The people on the 30th floor were attending the party, regardless of what floor they worked on, so Clay could have been there. I agree with Tailkinker's answer about Hans having done his homework. It appears that Hans had noticed Clay's name on the board and improvised a cover. As the others indicated, McClane wasn't fooled, though I don't think McClane was positive it was Hans. He'd previously only caught glimpses of Hans while in the elevator and also when Takagi was shot, but he did not see his full-face or close-up. McClane likely recognized his voice, even with the American accent.
22nd Mar 2004
The Bourne Identity (2002)
Question: What is the significance of Bourne's and The Professor's headaches? The Professor might have explained it just after he mentioned them, but I didn't catch what he said.
Chosen answer: It's something to do with the conditioning that the Treadstone agents go through. The precise cause isn't clear. It is mentioned more in the sequels, but not to any great extent - either PTSD or medication seems to be the root of it.
18th Mar 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Question: Frodo is pricked by Shelob in the torso. However he is at the time wearing a mithril coat which are supposed to impervious. How is he stabbed then?
Answer: The stinger actually comes in quite high, presumably above the rather low neckline of the mithril coat. An injury can be seen high up on his chest later in the film, presumably the stinger wound.
18th Mar 2004
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
Question: Why doesn't Anakin wear the normal or really traditional Padawan outfit?
Answer: There is no Jedi 'uniform' as such - Jedis tend to wear variations on a given look rather than going for a regimented appearance. Anakin has presumably chosen his costume himself - it's quite an extreme variation, but could be seen as along the same lines.
18th Mar 2004
Alien 3 (1992)
Question: I've been told that the original script for Alien 3 was quite different then it turned out to be, but due to costs/times it was revamped. Is this true?
Chosen answer: There are umpteen different scripts for Alien 3 available on the net, some of which are very different to what was eventually made - some of the early ones are set in a monastery, rather than the prison colony that was eventually used.
15th Mar 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Question: How long do hobbits live? Bilbo was 111 and that was old for a hobbit but in this section someone answers that Frodo was 50 and he didn't look that old to me.
Answer: In the books, Bilbo becomes the oldest hobbit that ever lived at the age of 131. In the books, Frodo is fifty - but the main events of the storyline occur seventeen years after Bilbo's birthday party. In the film, the gap is unstated, but seems to be less than a year, so the film Frodo is probably intended to be in his early-to-mid thirties, considered a young adult in hobbit terms.
8th Mar 2004
Face/Off (1997)
Question: Even with biological proof Archer has a difficult time convincing his own wife that he is Sean Archer. How does Castor Troy manage to convince Pollux that he isn't Sean Archer when the two don't even meet until Pollux is out of prison?
Answer: Given that they're brothers, Castor probably reeled off a lot of family history that Archer wouldn't know. Add to that the fact that "Archer" is not acting in a way that the real Archer has any reason to act, and eventually Pollux would be convinced.
8th Mar 2004
X-Men 2 (2003)
Question: When the X-men are trying to escape Alkali Lake we see Rogue flying the X-jet but why is she flying it in the first place?
Answer: The jet was originally left some distance from the base to avoid detection - when it became apparent that things were going to hell, Bobby and Rogue decided to try moving the jet closer to the base in order to rescue their friends.
Question: Does anyone have even a ballpark clue on what year this movie took place? I'm thinking mid to late 1700s.
Answer: They didn't deliberately aim at any particular year, but, according to Jerry Bruckheimer, they aimed at the time period between 1720 and 1750 (although he also says that they didn't worry too much about precise historical accuracy due to it being a fantasy). If you want to narrow it a bit further - at Norrington's promotion ceremony they're playing "Rule Britannia", which was composed in 1740. Bearing these two points in mind, you could fairly say that the film occurs at some point in the 1740's.
3rd Mar 2004
Minority Report (2002)
Question: What is the story behind the cop who seems to enjoy chasing Anderton? He talks to Fletch in the Hotel (the Spyder scene) about Fletch not trusting him alone with Anderton, because he might (according to my subtitles) 'futz' him. He also seems to take some delight when they arrest Anderton at the cottage near the end. I never understood this.
Answer: He's the one who Anderton rode around on during the jetpack chase and who was eventually knocked out by Anderton. As such, he understandably feels somewhat aggrieved towards his old boss.
26th Feb 2004
Angel (1999)
Question: Faith uses the term Five By Five when someone asks her how things are. What does this mean?
Chosen answer: "Five By Five" is a term originally used in radio communication to indicate that the signal is good, and is now occasionally used to indicate that things in general are okay.
27th Feb 2004
X-Men 2 (2003)
Question: Does Rogue have a crush on Logan because Bobby seems awfully jealous at times?
Answer: She certainly feels close to him, because he looked after her during the events of the first film. It never really comes across as a full-blown crush - Rogue's old enough to know better - but it's enough to worry Bobby. Given that there's only supposed to be about a month between the two films, Bobby and Rogue's relationship is in the very early stages, so it's quite normal to worry about such things.
Question: When Norrington and his crew successfully win back their ship from the pirates when the curse is lifted, the soldiers begin to chant something. What are they chanting and what does it mean?
Answer: They're shouting "huzzah", which was a traditional sailor's cheer. The modern-day cheers "hurrah" and "hooray" derived from this word.
25th Feb 2004
X-Men 2 (2003)
Question: Is a third X-men already being/been made? When will it be released?
Chosen answer: It's in the pipeline. The script is being worked on, Bryan Singer is expected to direct again, and a number of the cast have the third film included in their contracts. Expect it in 2006.
25th Feb 2004
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Question: Does anyone know who decided on the musical scores for the movies? I know that Enya and Howard Shore contributed most of the music, but were there any other choices that were considered? Mostly I'm wondering if The Lord of the Rings Symphony (by Johan DeMeij) was ever considered, or if there was some kind of copyright issue surrounding the usage of the symphony.
Answer: An original score was the only thing ever considered.
Question: In one of the deleted scenes on the DVD, Elizabeth asks Jack if any of his stories are true. In answer he lifts his sleeve and shirt to show her lots of scars. Does anyone know how he might have got those scars or what stories Elizabeth is referring to?
Answer: No - it's not revealed. The references to stories and his scars are merely there to show that Jack has had an eventful career and gained a considerable amount of notoriety. The closest we get is the story about escaping from the island, which turns out to be untrue anyway, and the interestingly varied list of charges being read out at his execution - "impersonating a cleric of the Church of England" sounds like a particularly bizarre tale.
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Answer: It's never explained in the film, but the implication seems to be that he was just sort-of compelled to help Cole. Given the film portrays the dead as only "seeing what they want to see" and trying to resolve unfinished business from life, it's entirely possible that Malcolm falsely believes he was assigned to Cole's case, even though he wasn't. It's just his way of trying to move on.
TedStixon
I'd like to add that despite the ghosts not knowing they are dead, they do know they can interact with Cole and others who can see them, they are even drawn to them, for help. This happened with Malcolm too and him being child psychiatrist connected with his ability to communicate with Cole, not asking Cole for help but helping Cole help himself. The info he has is probably a collection of his previous encounters with him, perhaps even being there at past psychiatrists. Its also possible he was his next patient, before he got shot. The dossier could have already been at his house and he remembers it.
lionhead