Answered questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: I need someone from across the pond to help settle an argument between me and my wife. In the episode "i Rock the Vote", Wade Collins repeatedly uses the term "hob knocker." My kids asked, "What's a 'hob knocker'?" I said that it was something they made up that sounds somewhat British, probably insulting, and possibly vulgar. My wife insists that she has heard it somewhere else. So, for the record, what, if anything, does "hob knocker" mean?

Answer: In direction translation it means 'Mischievous Spirit'. 'Hob' as in HobGoblin means clown or prankster, and 'Knocker' was an old age term for Poltergeists in mines. Miners would often complain of hearing knocking sounds down mines when there was no-one else down there, hence 'Knocker'. It's not a regular English expression though.

GalahadFairlight

Show generally

Question: I remember the first episode of F·R·I·E·N·D·S that I saw was probably the best one, and I would like to know which season and episode number it is. It is one where Ben says "Monka Bang," meaning Monica banged his.

Chosen answer: It's not available officially on any of the released albums. Google is your friend in this instance.

GalahadFairlight

Death of a Propane Salesman (2) - S3-E1

Question: Why does Kahn act so emotional about Buckley (especially when he criticizes Luanne for not crying)? Even though he says that he sought Buckley out and got to know him, there haven't been any signs of him befriending Buckley until now.

Answer: Because Kahn doesn't like Hank and Buckley annoyed Hank so much.

Captain Defenestrator

Answer: Mainly, Kahn wants to annoy Hank by praising Buckley, because Hank did not like Buckley. Also, when a person dies (or some other tragedy happens), there are often people who "use" the incident to get attention for themselves. They act like they are more involved/close than they really are. At least in my experience.

Question: Near the end, when the Doctor shows Grace and Chang an image of Gallifrey, what's the glowing white underneath the planet?

MovieBuff09

Chosen answer: Likely The Eye of Harmony, the black hole captured and contained by Rassilon and Omega that powers all TARDISes.

Captain Defenestrator

Logopolis - S18-E7

Question: Why exactly is the Watcher present during this story? What's his purpose? Why is he never present during any other of the Doctors' regenerations?

MovieBuff09

Chosen answer: The Watcher is The Doctor in a transitional state between regenerations. He likely shows up only this time because the entire existence of the universe is at stake.

Captain Defenestrator

Chosen answer: The satisfaction of knowing he'll win, the thrill of pulling one over on someone; maybe like Goldfinger, he just doesn't like to lose under any circumstances.

Captain Defenestrator

Question: In the movie Edward, Emmett and Jasper are wearing matching wristbands with a symbol and Rosalie and Alice are wearing the same symbol on necklaces, what is the significance of these items?

Answer: The amulets that are attached to the wrist bands and the necklaces are of the Cullen family crest. http://www.twilightcullencrestjewelry.com/.

Boobra

Answer: Vampires' eyes change color according to their state of hunger. When hungry, their eyes are black. When sated their irises turn red, or in the Cullens' case, they become golden brown because they only drink animal blood. Bella notices that Edward's eyes have changed since she first saw him. Being physically close to Bella, whose blood scent is irresistible to Edward, may have whetted his appetite, causing a color change.

raywest

Question: This part bugs me every time I watch the film. After Batman has crashed the tanker and the Joker is walking down the street, Batman charges at him with the bike. The Joker refuses to move, and Batman then yells and crashes his bike in an almost comically stupid way. I understand that there's supposed to be some form of turmoil in Batman's mind over whether or not he should just mow the Joker down, and at the end he decides not to, but it just seems so blunt and amusingly done. Is there more to it? Was it even meant to be a spot of comic relief?

Gary O'Reilly

Chosen answer: Comic relief? Naah, it looks odd because it's staged. Batman's putting himself into a vulnerable position to let Gordon get the drop on the Joker. Bruce, as a wanted vigilante, obviously can't make a citizen's arrest and he's not going to risk leaving the Joker tied up somewhere until the police get there. So he crashes the bike intentionally, leaving himself vulnerable. He knows that he'll get the Joker's attention that way, which will give Gordon a chance to get close enough to grab him.

Tailkinker

Question: When Will says, "Well, I haven't quite figured that part out yet," is he answering Achoo's question or referring to his botched attempt at sheathing his daggers? I'm inclined to believe that it's the latter; it seems to fit both of them.

Knever

Chosen answer: The latter - he hasn't figured out yet how to sheathe his daggers without cutting his belt holding up his pants.

Zwn Annwn

Question: When Matrix says to his captors "Why not have Bennett do it, looks like something he will get off on"; did he mean it was something Bennett wouldn't go to jail for (considering he was psychotic), or was it some kind of sexual implication?

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: A sexual implication, suggesting that it's something Bennett would find exciting.

Tailkinker

Answer: Not sexual but something that he (Bennet) would find immense joy in doing due to his unstable mental nature akin to a sociopathic tendency.

Question: When Edward and Bella were by the lockers at school, how come Edward couldn't read Bella?

Answer: Edward is able to read anyone's mind "except" for Bella's. He cannot understand why and that confuses and frustrates him. It is learned later that Bella has an unknown ability to block any mental intrusion. That is why Aro could not see Bella's memories and why Jane was unable to mentally inflict pain on her in "Twilight: New Moon."

raywest

Answer: Edward can't read Bellas mind because of an invisible barrier that protects her from mind effects. After she became a vampire, she was actually able to transfer the barrier to protect people. However she had to train to control the power.

Question: Bella, Edward and her friends were getting on the bus, and one of her friends went up to her and was going to ask her to prom. After she said that she wasn't going to be in town, she started walking to get to the bus, and she passed Edward and he started to smile. Why did he smile when she passed him?

Answer: Because Edward has superhuman hearing, he could overhear Bella declining Mike's invitation. Edward is attracted to Bella, and he is pleased that she is uninterested in the other guy and probably also a bit amused over how she awkwardly handled the situation.

raywest

Question: I realise this has been brought up many times, but can it be considered a definite continuity error in the whole series that Obiwan Kenobi is trained by Qui Gon Jinn in this film, despite saying in Empire Strikes Back that it was Yoda who trained him? Some have argued that Qui was working under Yoda, but in Empire, Obiwan said to Yoda, "Was I any different when you taught me?" which to me pretty much says that Yoda was his direct teacher. I'm guessing that Lucas changed the background stories a bit, but I would like to know for sure.

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: No, it can't. As we see in Attack of the Clones, Yoda is in charge of training the younglings, the Jedi hopefuls, the ones too young to have been selected as a Padawan. Yoda trained Obi-Wan when he was a child, then Qui-Gon selected him as a Padawan as he reached the proper age. They both trained him, taking responsibility for different stages of his education. It is entirely possible, of course, that Lucas did originally intend Yoda to have been Obi-Wan's sole master when he made The Empire Strikes Back and thus your guess that he changed the background stories may well be accurate, however, if this is the case, then he made the alterations in such a fashion that no continuity error exists, because it all fits together.

Tailkinker

Also, most Jedi probably had friendships with older Jedi who were not their masters. They could think of any Knight/Master as a teacher, despite not being the official apprentice of that Jedi.

Question: Is there any significance to the pantyhose that the team gives out being encased in plastic eggs?

Knever

Chosen answer: L'Eggs was a famous brand of panty hose that came inside plastic eggs. That's the joke.

wizard_of_gore

Question: Saw the film once in the movies and now on DVD. Still can't figure this out. Bond follows Camille to the dock and watches from a distance as Dominic talks to General Medrano about using Camille, then killing her. Then Camille (not knowing her fate, only knowing that she wants to kill the General) leaves on a boat with Medrano. As the boat leaves, Bond suddenly realizes that he must get Camille away from the General and goes through a series of very dangerous moves on the water to kidnap her away from him. The question: why? Bond could not possibly have heard Dominic's remarks about killing her. Bond's sudden decision to steal Camille away from the General makes no sense.

BocaDavie

Chosen answer: Remember just before that scene? Bond gets in to the car with Camille (Camille thinks that Bond is Slate) and looks through that attache case and finds a picture of Camille, with a gun, and tells her "I think someone wants you dead". So Bond and Camille both knew that Dominic was planning her death, but she had to go through Dominic to get to General Medrano.

RLN

Question: Is this film in the public domain? Thanks.

Answer: No, it's owned by Film Preservation Associates.

GalahadFairlight

Question: If Sidious was trained by Plagueis, how/when was he able to get involved in a political career? Was he already an adult when Plagueis met him?

Answer: Very few details have been released regarding Palpatine's early life, how he apparently escaped the notice of the Jedi Order and came to the attention of Plagueis instead. His apprenticeship apparently took "many decades", suggesting that he was recruited as a child. However, under Naboo law, public service is mandatory between the ages of 12 and 20, so it is possible that Palpatine was already in service when recruited, and chose to continue his political career in order to further the goals of the Sith. Even if recruited at a younger age, Palpatine was reportedly of noble birth, making it relatively difficult for him to simply drop out of sight to train as a Sith full time, so he may simply have decided (or been instructed by his master) to continue with his life in an outwardly normal fashion, while being trained covertly in the Sith arts.

Tailkinker

Question: Since Umbridge ordered the dementors to attack Harry in the opening of Order of the Phoenix, why isn't she punished or otherwise held accountable after it's revealed that she is responsible for the attack?

Blaine

Chosen answer: It was never actually proved that Umbridge ordered the attack, and it is basically her word against Harry and the other students. Also, the Slytherin students would back up Umbridge's claims. The Ministry does not believe anything Harry or Dumbledore says anyway, discounting their claims that Voldemort has returned, that Sirius Black was innocent, that Peter Pettigrew (Wormtail) is still alive, etc, so it's unlikely they'll believe that Umbridge was involved in dementor attack.

raywest

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