Answered questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: I am trying to discover what Henry's boat actually is. Obviously a yacht, but the stern is unusual and I have yet to identify it.

Answer: It's a Formosa 51 ketch.

Question: When the swimmers are running out of the water, why does Brody shout: "No whistles?"

Answer: Brody didn't want to panic all the beach goers and cause a splashing commotion which would excite the shark.

Answer: When the shark attacks fist began, Brody began reading up on shark behavior. It is believed that loud vibrating sounds can attract sharks. Brody believes that multiple people blowing loud whistles could bring the shark closer into shore.

raywest

On the contrary, high frequency noises (such as those produced by whistles) barely penetrate into the water and seem to have no effect on sharks or any other fish. Low-frequency noises (such as concussive splashing) travel a great distance in water and are a definite attraction for marine predators. Ultra-low-frequency noises (such as the songs of whales) can travel hundreds of miles through water. The U.S. Navy even uses extremely-low-frequency (ELF) transmissions for communicating with submarines far out at sea. So, no, there is no documented scientific reason for Brody to think that high-frequency noise would attract sharks. Either the movie's screenwriters were badly mistaken in their assumption that whistles attract sharks, or the character of Chief Brody was deliberately written to be mistaken in that assumption.

Charles Austin Miller

Question: After passing the Bouncer, when Constantine first enters Papa's Lounge, what type of entity is inside the "sack", apparently being picked apart and eaten alive?

Answer: A pig, you can hear it squealing better in the deleted scenes without the background music of the club.

Question: After reading what really happened, I am still not understanding why they killed her husband. Did he know something that he should not have known? I do understand the need for his coffin to hide the bombs...now why did they need to take her daughter as a 'hostage' for the sake of the $50 million dollars?

Answer: If there's no dead husband, there's no coffin to hide a bomb in. Without the daughter's disappearance, Kyle won't have reason to unlock the coffin (only she knew the code; the terrorists didn't). When the captain initially refuses to have the hold searched, the marshal suggests it would be a good idea for him to take Kyle down there and look. This would be for the purpose of having her open the coffin, and allowing him to access the bomb.

Question: What is the picture on Pink's wall (about 33 minutes in) that some people claim is an Obama Hope poster?

Answer: It's a portrait of Bob Dylan by Andy Warhol.

Answer: He's suppose to be the same age as in the novels, so about 16. "Voyage of the Dawn Treader" takes place 3 years after "Prince Caspian", so 2306 (Narnia year). He was born 2290 (NY). However, since Caspian is around Peter's age, they chose an older actor to play Caspian to match William Moseley's age.

Bishop73

Question: At one point during the interrogation Fenster says "he'll flip ya, flip ya for real..." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rntm3yDAQuM. I recently watched a documentary about Thelonious Monk in which he makes a near-identical statement at 1:07:41 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9udeWOjjls. Was either the actor or director making a reference to the musician?

Answer: From what I've heard much of Fenster's dialogue was ad-libbed by Benicio del Toro, so most likely he'd seen the same documentary, or is a Monk fan and came up with that himself.

Answer: Composer Jonathan Wolff used a synthesizer, although in seasons 7-9, a real bass is used in addition. Wolff also recorded himself making hundreds of mouth noises, pops, and slaps to add to the synthesized bass licks so that each episode has a different theme. The only real "back-story" is Jerry Seinfeld was having trouble coming up with a theme song and talked to a friend who happened to know Wolff. They wanted to avoid that cheesy late 80's sit-com theme song and Wolff came up with what we enjoy now. Jonathan Wolff has also talked about this further in interviews, recently Reed Dunela interviewed him, so for a fuller account of his story; check out "The Wolff of 116th street".

Bishop73

Question: Maria's father tells her that Joaquin will only stay in their city, San Angel, if she marries him. Otherwise, if Maria doesn't marry him, Joaquin will have to leave. San Angel is also Joaquin's home city. Why would he have to leave?

John Ohman

Chosen answer: Because it was mentioned that Joaquin goes from town to town saving people from bandits. It's likely that everyone was under the assumption he would leave again to help other people, and he has nothing other than Maria and General Posada tying him to San Angel (except maybe Manolo).

Question: In the scene just before Erin dies, they are talking about if anyone else was on the ride and Ian makes a comment about a guy in a black cloak and how the ride attendant took his sickle, (or whatever), before the ride started. I know it's supposed to be a joke but what's a "sickle" and what did he mean by his comment?

Answer: A sickle is a harvesting tool with a crescent-shaped blade (with the sharp edge on the inside) as seen on the old USSR flag (along with a hammer). It's a reference to Death, who is most often seen dressed in black cloak with a scythe. On rare occasions Death has a sickle, but more often it's people confusing the two tools or thinking the words are synonymous. Plus, it's easier for some people to say "sickle" than "scythe." Ian is saying Death is on the ride.

Bishop73

Question: In the scene just before Ashley and Ashlyn die, Ashlyn, the brunette, (I think), asks Ashley why she's wearing underwear and Ashley says it's because Simon gets off on tan lines. Now I know who Simon is but, what does she mean by "he gets off on tan lines"? Is this a turn on or something?

Answer: For some guys yes, it is a powerful turn on. Tan lines appear when the sun hits the legs, etc. but not the bits covered by clothing, hence "tan lines" appear where the skin goes from bronze to white.

The_Iceman

Question: When Quint and Hooper are comparing leg scars, they are sitting near each other with legs overlapping. The shot moves to Brody, then back to Quint and Hooper at the table, sitting apart. Quint is fastening his pants, buckling his buckle, and zipping his zipper. He obviously showed them something that was edited out of the movie. What was it?

Rick Neumann

Answer: Possibly a scar from having his appendix removed, I've been told.

The appendix shot is Brody - he is feeling inferior as the other two share tales of the sea and the only scar he has is from his appendix being removed.

Chosen answer: I just watched this on DVD. As the men were supposed to be comparing their body scars to one another, it appears that Quint had just shown one that was hidden beneath his pants. Whatever this was, it was edited out. When movie scenes are originally filmed, they are usually much longer in length than what is in the final version. After editing, some actions, dialogue, and character movements are deleted either to shorten the running time, for better storytelling flow, or the action was considered unnecessary to the scene. Also, film censorship at this time (mid-1970s) was far stricter than it is today, and it may have been that a review board deemed it inappropriate to have a character unzipping his pants in that manner and insisted it be removed from the final version.

raywest

I believe it was Brody, not Quint that was looking down his pants. And I believe that he was embarrassed that his (maybe appendix) scar was not as big or impressive as Quint and Hoopers.

Watch it again and as Quint is scooting back over to his spot he's fastening his pants, but no explanation is given.

I thought Brody had been shot as a cop in the big city (and that was why he took the job in a quiet, small town) and that in this scene he was looking at the scar and comparing it in his mind to the scars the other guys were showing but not saying anything to them about it.

Answer: After Brody looks down at his abdomen scar (probably an appendix scar) the camera switches back to Quint and Hooper. As Hooper starts talking, watch Quint. He is buttoning his pants and then struggles to zip them up. He leaves his belt unbuckled. I've seen Jaws more times than I can count - starting the year it premiered in 1975 - and I didn't notice this weirdness until a few years ago.

Answer: This question makes no sense. The Lone Survivor doesn't get killed. That's why he's the Lone "Survivor".

wizard_of_gore

Question: During the number "I've Got A Dream," the thugs ask Flynn to share his dream, but Flynn refuses to tell them with the excuse "I don't sing." Is that line a reference to Flynn's voice actor or is that just an excuse Flynn is making?

John Ohman

Chosen answer: It's just Flynn.

Phixius

Question: Why did Troy shoot Archer's kid again? I just watched the movie for the first time from start to finish so I really didn't get that part.

Answer: Michael wasn't the target. Caster was trying to shoot Sean, but the bullet went through him into Michel. It was collateral damage.

Quantom X

Question: When Mav meets Charlie in the bar, she makes a joke about his name and then he informs her it's his call sign. And she says "Oh, you're a pilot!" Considering the fact that she is an "important" civilian adviser at Top Gun and Mav is wearing his wings, wouldn't that have been obvious?

Answer: Charlie is playing dumb because she knows Maverick is trying to chat her up - he has no idea who she is and as she says later she sees a lot of pilots in there come and go.

Question: Why is Professor McGonagall so shocked that Harry would accuse Draco of cursing the necklace? She knows that Draco's father is a Death Eater, as well as some of his friends' fathers. Professor Snape is there, but they are both in the Order of the Phoenix (and she has no reason to not trust Snape yet).

Answer: She's likely incredulous at the idea that Draco could perform a curse that well.

Captain Defenestrator

Question: What I cannot understand about this movie, having watched it 3 times, is why there is no response to Crouch senior's death by anyone. Having read the book, I assumed it would be made clear at some point that he had been killed by his son, but in fact it's left hanging as a huge loose end. Is it conceivable that the tournament would just continue when the referee and judge has been found dead close to the castle?

Answer: You're right, and there is no real answer to this. The way Crouch Sr.'s death was handled did not make much sense and it is yet another example of how the movies glossed over many plot details that were explained in the books. It would be completely unrealistic that an important official's murder during the event would be overlooked. It's unfortunate that the overall story arc of the series has so many gaping holes in it and the filmmakers expected the audience to "fill in the blanks." That is why there are so many questions about the HP films on this site.

raywest

Actually it wasn't overlooked. In the next scene, just after Crouch's body was discovered, Dumbledore, Fudge and fake Moody are discussing the matter and are unsure what they should do about it. Moreover, in one of deleted scenes Harry, Ron and Hermione talk about Crouch's death.

Answer: But his death is explained in the book. Barty Crouch Jr. explains having killed him, transfiguring him into a bone and burying him in Hagrid's garden. As for why there was no announcement, Barty Crouch Sr. Was believed to be ill and had been out of sight for some time now. Percy Weasley, his assistant still had continuous messages from him via owl. At the end of the Tournament however and upon revelation, Fudge might've been acting out of fear and kept the entire incident low. Not to mention how he had limited proof considering he had Barty Crouch Jr. immediately kissed by a dementor. The movie plot for this is definitely flawed but the book, admittedly, allows proper assumption of the aftermath of his death.

Not quite flawed. After Crouch's body is discovered in the forest by Harry, there is a scene where Dumbledore, Fudge and fake Moody debate what actions should be taken due to this incident. Fudge, being afraid of losing his position of Minister Of Magic, refuses to cancel the Tournament because he doesn't want to be perceived as a coward.

Answer: It actually makes some sense. Fudge refused to cancel the Tournament because he was afraid of losing his position of Minister Of Magic.

Question: Why was Captain America unable to hold Thor's hammer? He fought to protect his country. He saved the lives of innocent people and wasn't afraid to back away from any kind of danger so he should have been able to lift it. Ultron said that the reason none of them could lift it is because they were all killers but that's really just speculation.

Answer: He can pick up the hammer, he didn't want to upset Thor.

brianjr0412

Answer: He's able to move it just barely, enough to impress Thor. It's an enchantment on the hammer that requires a combination of strength and righteousness. He might not be there yet, but he's on the way. Thus the hammer moves more than anyone else could.

Captain Defenestrator

Question: What is the make/model of the airplane used in the skydiving scenes?

Answer: The plane is a Beech 65-A90 King Air.

Sierra1

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