pierpp

5th Apr 2007

Borat (2006)

Question: What is the crazy church or religion that Borat goes to where people are running around the hall and talking in a strange language? What language are they talking in and why do they look so agressive? What's with all the running around with hands in the air?

pierpp

Chosen answer: This was the Mississippi United Pentecostal Church annual camp meeting of 2006. "The power of Jesus" compels many people to sing, dance, etc...as far as the weird language, it's known as "speaking in tongues" and is generally incoherent to the casual observer. The hands in the air is a symbol of someone literally "lifting" themselves and their hearts to Jesus in worship and prayer. It's all simply an expression of their faith and religious beliefs, nothing more.

Jazetopher

12th Nov 2006

Borat (2006)

Question: There is a scene where Borat is queueing up to see Pamela Anderson, he gets to her, asks her to marry him and when she refuses he puts a large sack over her head to try and abduct her. Now I know Borat is a spoof character, and everyone he meets believes he is real, however that scene was quite dramatic and security would have been tight around her. That action could have got Sacha Baron Cohen in some serious trouble, or even worse, shot by one of her security guards. Was Pamela in the know on this scene, or was it genuinely as we see it?

pierpp

Chosen answer: Pamela has been asked about this and has stated in interviews that she and Sacha had talked at length about what they were going to do. It was all planned out and rehearsed, unlike the majority of the rest of the movie.

roboc

20th Mar 2006

Flightplan (2005)

Question: So no-one saw Jodie Foster bring her kid on the plane, I understand that. The plane was empty when the 2 of them boarded as they were the first to board. There wasn't anyone else on the plane and as soon as they got to their seats her little girl bent down on the floor to play with a toy, so I fully understand that no-one saw the girl. What I want to know, is how did the hijackers know she was going to be boarding first? Had she boarded much later with other passengers then SOMEONE would have seen the kid, and that would have totally foiled the plan. How could they have banked on her boarding first?

pierpp

Chosen answer: He didn't know for sure, but he had a hunch. As far as he could tell she would arrive early to register the body for the U.S. and they would let her board the plane first (as a common courtesy, since her husband died) Plus, he knew that she had knowledge of planes and that it was her interest to see a new model of an aircraft that she helped build before it was to take off.

Jason Riley

Question: With all the deaths there was a clue in the pictures that Wendy took, however I can't see the link in the picture of the two girls that got killed by the sunbeds. What was the clue in the pictures of them?

pierpp

Chosen answer: If you look at the picture when Wendy is at her computer you will see that the photo has a high exposure, as there is a red tint on the girls. This is a clue that they will die by fire. The inflatable palm tree that they are holding also represents the potted Palm tree plant that played a role in their deaths.

cameron davies

24th Feb 2006

The Shining (1980)

Question: One of the corrected entries here says that the film was shot entirely at Elstree Studios in England. Why? I mean with all the possible locations in the US especially Hollywood and all the facilities they have there, why was the entire film shot in England?

pierpp

Chosen answer: Many major US-financed films have been shot in England. Parts of the original Star Wars trilogy, the Indiana Jones opening sequence, the first three Alien films and a great many others were all shot in the UK. The rationale is often financial - it can simply be cheaper to make films outside the US, with Australia being another common choice. In Kubrick's case, part of the rationale may well have been financial, but he also had a fear of flying, so made all his films from 1962's Lolita onwards in the UK, where he lived. Exterior shots in the film were shot at Mount Hood in Oregon and Lake Louise in Alberta.

Tailkinker

Question: Was this filmed at a real amusement park? If so has this film had an adverse effect on the park's attendance?

pierpp

Chosen answer: IMDb gives the information that it was filmed in Playland Amusement Park, Pacific National Exhibition Grounds, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada ('The Corkscrew' rollercoater')".

Hamster

4th Jan 2006

General questions

Can anyone tell me the name of a sitcom that was on BBC1 about 16/17 years ago, it was about a family who lived on a farm and there were 2 daughters in their 40's and one was really frumpy and the other was slim and pretty/tarty. There was a different episode each week and there was only one series.

pierpp

Chosen answer: I think you mean Sitting Pretty. The pretty one had to go and live on the farm with her sister after her husband died and left her peniless.

11th Apr 2005

General questions

What is the film where a mother and her teenage boy live by a lake and the boy is hounded by some gang or organisation and then they send the mother a video tape of her son having gay sex with one of his attackers/kidnappers? She gets revenge on this person/gang?

pierpp

Chosen answer: 'The Deep End', starring Tilda Swinton.

MoonFaery

1st Apr 2005

General questions

I remember a black and white film. It was a horror/thriller and it started with a scene of a car driving up the driveway to a spooky house. The excellent thing was the ending of the film was exactly the same with the same scene of a car driving up the driveway?

pierpp

Chosen answer: This could be "Dead of Night" (1945). It's a good spooky British anthology film about a man who has a recurring dream about going to a party at an old mansion. Within the dream framework, there are other stories about a ghost child, a haunted mirror and a ventriloquist.

1st Apr 2005

General questions

What's the horror film about a boy and girl travelling in a car and he ties her shoelaces together while the parents are driving to the new house? The car has an accident and the girl can't get out. At the new house the boy gets haunted by his sister - I remember a scene of a pizza cutter being run up the walls.

pierpp

Chosen answer: I believe you are referring to the 1982 TV movie "Don't Go To Sleep", with Dennis Weaver and Valerie Harper.

Gavin Jackson

1st Sep 2004

The Office (2001)

Show generally

Question: If David Brent is such a poor unresponsible boss and no good at his job as he is portrayed, then how did he get into such a good position of being a branch manager in charge of so many staff?

pierpp

Answer: In the Christmas specials, David states the documentary crew stitched him up. In other words, he was made to look like an idiot by the way it was put together, but in actuality, he may not have been as bad as the documentary had made out. In addition, it's clear he let his upcoming celebrity status get to his head, something that would not have happened prior to the documentary crew's arrival. At the end of series 1, he mentioned one of his achievements was cutting expenditure without losing any staff.

Chosen answer: This is known as The Peter Principle - the theory that employees within an organization will advance to their highest level of competence and then be promoted to and remain at a level at which they are incompetent.

Myridon

29th Aug 2004

Christine (1983)

Question: How were the scenes that show the car repairing itself filmed? The film was made before the latest computer graphics were around and I would like to know how those effects were done.

pierpp

Chosen answer: Hydraulics and wires were set up inside the body to pull the panels in and crumple them. Then the film of this happening was simply run backwards.

Grumpy Scot

16th May 2004

The Mask (1994)

Question: The question of the car braking is to why is the car actually braking. I understand why it makes a screeching noise as the car brakes, but what I don't understand is why a car would brake automatically. I mean, you have to push the brake pedal to operate the brakes, cars don't brake automatically. When Stanly is driving the car, there wouldn't be a need for him to accelerate and brake like that, so why does the car keep braking?

pierpp

Chosen answer: It's an old car, so obviously a numbr of things could be wrong with it, like the clutch or the engine. Faults with either of these things would cause a car to brake in this way.

14th Apr 2004

The Mask (1994)

Question: When Stanley is driving the old banger of a car he got while his was being fixed, it is running very badly, but you see it keeps braking and the tyres screech. Why would the car keep braking like that?

pierpp

Chosen answer: Its just a sound effect. A car can brake like that if it has worn, uneven pads.

Kirill Ostapenko

Question: Its an American film, set in America, with American kids in an American way of life...so why the HUGE Union Jack on the inside of Ferris' bedroom door? What's the significance with Britain?

pierpp

Chosen answer: The British flag was a trendy item in the mid-80s. You had it on t-shirts, on pants, on all kinds of items, and kids would draw it on their sneakers (remember Converse's rubber toes? That was perfect to draw a British flag!) or on whatever they could draw on.

Sereenie

Answer: It's tribute to the Beatles. Ferris sang the Beatles version of "Twist and shout" at the parade.

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