Middle Man - S6-E7
Question: What was the costume guest star Melissa Claire Egan wearing?
Super Grover
16th Oct 2025
Criminal Minds (2005)
29th Dec 2020
Conan the Barbarian (1982)
Question: When Conan is learning how to use a sword, why did the teacher slap Conan in the face and then kick the other student in the chest?
Answer: Like an Army Drill Sargent, he was berating them for not doing it better. Toughening them to become the best they could be.
Also, the other student laughs at Conan's punishment, so the teacher kicks him to teach him some humility.
What exactly did Conan do wrong to make the teacher slap him?
This war master is reinforcing in Conan the "discipline of steel." The war master's gestures imply that he was not pleased with Conan's focus, his stance, and his sword/blade control. So the slaps were to further ingrain his rigorous training, in pursuance of Conan's mental and physical discipline.
9th Apr 2025
Batman Returns (1992)
Question: What did Danny DeVito eat instead of a raw fish during the scene where Shreck pushes the Penguin to run for mayor?
Answer: He was actually eating raw fish.
Do you have a source for that? It seems unlikely.
Danny DeVito has stated in interviews that he ate fresh real bluefish (think of it like bluefish sashimi minus the soy sauce, wasabi, and ponzu).
Why would you think it seems unlikely? Lots of people eat raw fish. As long as it's treated properly to kill off bacteria (usually by flash-freezing it), it's perfectly safe. Heck, I even eat raw fish all the time. You just have to make sure it's sashimi-grade. Getting some raw bluefish seems cheaper and faster than going through a whole hullabaloo making a fake prop and concoction for the scene.
19th May 2023
Friends with Benefits (2011)
Question: Dylan and Jamie are sitting on the Hollywood sign discussing life. I didn't think it was possible for anyone to sit on that sign?
Answer: In real life, and since it's restoration in the late 1970s, it is illegal and impossible for anyone to climb and/or sit on the Hollywood sign. It is fenced off and electronically monitored by security 24/7.Unless they found a way to bypass the security, this is movie fiction.
But the question is how they managed to sit on that sign and not how they managed to get in.
As to "how they managed to sit on that sign," in the past, others have climbed and sat on different letters of the sign. Each of the steel corrugated panel letters is attached to vertical steel girder structures, which have multiple horizontal bracing steel beams attached behind the letters. Every individual letter also has 2 to 3 steel ladders behind the steel panels. Jamie and Dylan climbed up to the lower inner part of the second "O," and both of them sat on one of the horizontal steel beams that has a depth of 8 inches, enough room to accommodate them sitting.
3rd Oct 2016
World War Z (2013)
Question: On the plane, as Gerry is wrapping her stump and right after he admits he hadn't known cutting her hand off would work, Segen says something quietly, then adds "Now I'm just a liability." What does she say right before "Now I'm just a liability"? I can't hear what she says (it might not be English) and it's not in the closed captioning or in any transcript I've been able to find online.
Answer: Segen says in Hebrew, "עכשיו אני סתם עול" (phonetically pronounced, "achshav ani stam ohl"), which means "Now I'm just a burden." Then Segen says in English, "Now I'm just a liability."
11th Jan 2025
Home Alone (1990)
Question: What did Kevin's parents do for a living to afford that house and a trip to Paris for nine people?
Answer: Adding to the other answer, it was a trip to Paris for more than 9 people, it was for a total of 15 people. Also, it was Peter's brother Rob (he got a job promotion with transfer to Paris) who actually paid for those 15 plane tickets to Paris. Tickets for 2 of Uncle Rob's kids: Heather and Rod, who were still in school in the States (3 younger siblings are in Paris with parents, Rob and Georgette). Six tickets for Uncle Frank, Aunt Leslie, and their 4 kids. Seven tickets for Peter, Kate, and their 5 kids: Buzz, Megan, Linnie, Jeff, and Kevin (his unused ticket was accidentally tossed in the trash during the pizza dinner mess).
Answer: It's never revealed in the film, but director Chris Columbus recently did an interview in which he said that he and John Hughes had discussions about it and imagined Kate is a "very successful fashion designer," and Peter worked in advertising (though Columbus said he couldn't remember if they had a specific job in mind for him).
11th Jan 2025
The Day of the Jackal (1973)
Question: Before the Jackal makes an impression of the Paris apartment key, he deliberately rubs the key against his chin. Why?
Answer: Chins have sebaceous glands (natural oils). He rubs the key on his chin to lightly coat the metal key as a lubricant, so it does not stick to the mould. It will make a perfect impression in the mould to create a flawless cast.
29th Feb 2020
A Quiet Place (2018)
Question: Where is the mailbox with the Abbott's name on it?
Answer: While Lee and Marcus are at the river with the fish traps, Lee begins explaining to his son about safe sounds. It then cuts to Regan walking away from her house, and in the next wide shot facing Regan, the Abbott family mailboxes are on the left side of the screen, with their house in the background (00:36:27).
15th Oct 2024
Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated (2010)
Question: In this episode, it mentions that the groups are always 4 humans and an animal. What was the Darrow Family's animal?
Answer: Their animal was a white cat. In "Come Undone," the last episode of season 2, right at the start, there's a shot of "The Mystery Fellowship and their cat, Whiskers"; also in this shot is young Danny Darrow with his family.
22nd Sep 2024
Bird Box (2018)
Question: In the market, Tom gives a pack of diapers to Malorie for her baby shower. He says, "My sister is expecting her fourth, so..." "Oh, my God. She's a saint," she answered. What does she mean, "She's a saint"?
Chosen answer: Well, with Malorie being quite pregnant at the moment, and her fear of giving birth, Malorie is using the word "saint" unconventionally, and it's a compliment for Tom's sister. For the woman to have gone through the many long months of pregnancy and already given birth three times, and is now pregnant a fourth time, Malorie considers the woman to be *saint-like*, meaning unselfish, good-hearted, kind, etc.
12th Sep 2024
A Quiet Place (2018)
Question: In the beginning, at the abandoned market, the dad gives something to his daughter right before the family leaves the place. What was it and what for?
Chosen answer: Of the things Lee has collected, Regan first picks up an old circuit board that Lee says may help boost their radio signal; then Regan picks up a new package of a Leatherman Skeletool CX, a 7-in-1 multi-tool, which Lee says is for her. It's a handy tool for her to have that includes a knife, pliers, wire cutters (we see her using it later to cut a sound wire in the toy space shuttle), etc.
Answer: He gives her a pair of pliers, but I don't know why he gives them to her. My guess is that they are for her to use when she fixes things.
12th Sep 2024
A Quiet Place (2018)
Question: The father keeps his daughter from going down to the basement. Why?
Chosen answer: The basement is filled with electronics, and if Regan goes down to the basement, there's a risk of potential dire consequences if any accidental sounds occur.
12th Sep 2022
Daria (1997)
Question: At the end of the episode why does Daria look down and say "Damn" to herself?
Answer: Earlier, Quinn prods Daria to imagine having the object of her infatuation, Trent, as an actual boyfriend, and to picture her dream exactly the way it will be. Then, Daria's imagination turns her dream of being with Trent into an extremely unpleasant future, and Daria says, "I think I just got over something," which means she got over her infatuation with Trent. At the end of the episode, Trent tells Daria that it's too bad she's not older, so he could take *her* out, then Trent leaves. Daria then envisions a romanticized future with her perfect Trent, and in this dream Trent tells her, "Daria, you're the best thing that ever happened to me." And just like that, Daria's infatuation with Trent is back, and Daria exclaims, "Damn," in frustration.
17th Apr 2024
Emergency! (1972)
School Days - S2-E14
Question: Who are the two baseball players that walk up to the nurses' station to talk about their teammate and discuss his relationship status with his girlfriend to Dixie?
Answer: I was rewatching a few first season episodes of Charlie's Angels (1976), and in S1xE6 "The Killing Kind," I recognized the same actor. So, to finally fully answer your question, the two baseball players in School Days are played by Rod Perry and Sean Fallon Walsh.
Answer: I took a screenshot of the two actors, with Rod Perry on the right (https://imgur.com/GCW1myD). Hopefully someone will know the name of the actor on the left. Both actors are uncredited in the episode's credits.
Answer: The guy on the right is actor, Rod Perry. Two years later he played Deacon in the 1970s TV show S.W.A.T. As for the actor on the left, I recognize his face and voice, but I can't recall from what.
21st Mar 2024
S.W.A.T. (2003)
Question: When they were hanging out in the empty swimming pool just before the sniper card game challenge, Hondo sings something. What were the words?
Answer: We hear Hondo sing, "Hambone, hambone, have you heard?" at 00:42:25. Hondo was (and always will be) a United States Marine, and served in Vietnam (late '60s, early '70s). I believe Hondo is singing a snippet of his old Marines marching cadence (a common cadence), which itself is taken from songs with different variations of Hambone lyrics.
1st Feb 2024
General questions
What are some movies that took an unusually long time to film and release?
Answer: The movie "The Plot Against Harry" was shot and completed in the late '60s. It didn't get a proper release until 1989.
Answer: The Outlaw. It was made in 1941 but was not released because the Hollywood Production Code didn't like the way it featured Jane Russell's breasts. It was released for seven weeks in San Francisco in 1943, but pulled because of complaints from the Legion of Decency. It was released in 1946, in Chicago, Georgia and Virginia, with six minutes of footage cut from the film. They had trouble advertising it so it ran in a limited number of theaters. However, it sold out all showings making a tidy profit. It was released again at the beginning of 1947, in one theater by the end of the year it made $2 million. It was released again in 1950 in 25 theaters. There was a release in 1952. By 1968 it had grossed over $20 million.
Answer: The John Wayne movie, "Jet Pilot", was made in 1950 and didn't get released until 1957. David O'Russell's "Accidental Love" began production in 2008 and was released in 2015. Another is "My Apocalypse" that was filmed in 1997 and released in 2008. "Tulip Fever (2017) " also took several years to reach theaters after undergoing extensive editing and recutting. It failed at the box office.
Answer: The film, "The Other Side of the Wind," by Orson Welles, currently available on Netflix. It was shot between 1970 and 1976, then only partially edited by Orson Welles (due to many complications) before his sudden death in 1985. His final film was completed and released in 2018.
Answer: "Roar," written and directed by Noel Marshall, took five years to film. It wasn't worth the effort.
Answer: Boyhood from Richard Linklater comes to mind, which was filmed over 11 years from 2002 to 2013, so a child growing up could be depicted accurately with his own and parents' aging, etc.
Answer: Castaway. They filmed Tom Hanks' scenes as a chunky, middle-aged executive, then paused for a year while he lost weight and got buff for the scenes where he had been stranded on the island for a while.
Answer: There is a movie called "Dark Blood". It was released in 2012, but they started making it in 1993. Unfortunately, the star of the movie River Phoenix (older brother of Joaquin Phoenix) died due to a drug overdose when the movie was 80% finished, and the movie was shelved for 19 years. They eventually finished the movie when the director pulled the negatives out of storage to prevent them from being destroyed because the insurance company refused to keep paying for the storage.
20th Dec 2023
Superman (1978)
Question: What did the man that Lois interviewed mean when he said that he hoped Custer paid for the land?
Answer: The Indian Chief sold the "worthless piece of desert" for a "stupid high price" to an unknown buyer, and the Indian Chief made an earnest sarcastic joke that he hopes it's Custer, as in George Armstrong Custer, who had been a Cavalry Commander during the Indian Wars.
20th Dec 2023
The Karate Kid (1984)
17th Dec 2023
General questions
What soap opera (or maybe another type of show) had a young woman character called "Mouse" in the early 90s? I know someone who went to high school with the actress. She got the role shortly before graduation.
Answer: On General Hospital, in 1989, when the character of Frisco Jones (played by Jack Wagner) returned to the show, there was a new teenaged character named Mouse (played by Melissa Hayden) who slept inside the catacombs in Port Charles. Mouse and Frisco had numerous scenes together for about a year on GH. Perhaps this is the young woman.
Thank you. I spoke to the person who knew her, and they do think it was "General Hospital".
10th Oct 2023
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
Question: Isn't it weird that during the duelling match between Snape and Lockhart, Snape executes a perfect "Expelliarmus" spell on Lockhart, knocking him off his feet but doesn't disarm him? He is still holding his wand as he falls to the ground. Isn't the Expelliarmus spell a disarming spell?
Chosen answer: Yes, it's a disarming charm. Rewatch this scene. Snape intently casts Expelliarmus at the blustering fool, and at first Lockhart has the wand in hand. Then, it cuts to a wide shot just as Lockhart lands, and note the wand is twirling in midair at the top center of the screen, so he has been disarmed. It then cuts to a shot from behind Lockhart's head, and the wand is back in his hand. But as he gets up, the wand is not in his hand. This is listed as a continuity mistake on this website.
Answer: Her character was an exotic dancer and wore a sexy costume for that. Is that what you're referring to?
raywest ★
But what exactly was the costume she wore?
In this role, the outfit she's wearing includes: a padlock golden necklace; a lace bra with a modern style bustier that has front decorative buckles; booty shorts (or something like it); a pair of long fishnet fingerless gloves on her arms; ripped hosiery and knee-high boots. Not quite the "Chelsea" wardrobe ;) lol.
Super Grover ★