Answered questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

These are questions relating to specific titles. General questions for movies and TV shows are here. Members get e-mailed when any of their questions are answered.

Question: A question was asked of what kind of drink Pernod was. It was answered that Pernod was a aniseed aperitiv. What does that mean exactly? What is the definition of aniseed aperitiv? Also a question was asked what difference did the drink make when the waiter added water. The answer given was very unsatisfactory. It was answered by saying water turned the drink from clear to cloudy white. This is obvious as we can see it in the movie but how does adding water to this drink affect the drink itself (besides changing color)?

SAZOO1975

Chosen answer: What was meant was an anise aperitif. Anise is sort of a licorice flavor, while an aperitif is an alcoholic beverage served as an appetizer or with finger foods. I believe it turned cloudy white because the waiter added sugar water. It makes the bitter alcohol more palatable. This drink tradition was begun with absinthe, which was banned in many countries and Pernod is a similar-tasting replacement.

Grumpy Scot

Question: What is the food the two women are serving at the fair?

Answer: It's called a "Low Country Boil".

Answer: It's a combination of potatoes, corn on the cobb, shrimp and crawfish and seasonings usually called a shrimp bake.

Boobra

Yummy. I'm an Aussie so that is something I've never heard of.

Question: What war is Phoebus returning from?

Answer: That's a good question. France actually fought no wars between the Battle of Castillon in 1451, and the Italian Wars which began in 1494. Seeing as the movie takes place in 1482 it seems strange that Phoebus would have fought in any war, unless he is at least 45 years old.

Answer: There are several stories behind it. Read about them at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Rider_(comics).

Mortug

Show generally

Question: I missed the last few episodes, but I caught a snippet of the finale and Alice mentions having a lot of children because she didn't know how condoms work. How many children does she have?

Answer: They have 10, one for each year they've been married...

john sale

My Unicorn - S4-E11

Question: In the scene when Murray is chasing JD with his remote control plane, and JD is running through the field, what is the name/artist of the song playing?

Answer: The episode is called 'My Unicorn', the song is 'Learn to Fly' by the Foo Fighters.

Ictoabu

Question: What was the "substance" in the eye drops that was dispatched into the water?

Jason Riley

Chosen answer: The substance is Visine Eye drops which is an old bartender trick for obnoxious drunks. Just a couple of drops in a drink will indeed make the person feel ill.

Damian Torres

Question: Why do the transformers blink and move their mouths when talking? Obviously this is unnecessary for robots, and I found it quite annoying. Is there any rationale behind this?

Rosco

Chosen answer: They're metal-based lifeforms, not just "robots". Presumably the blinking and mouth movements serve some purpose, we just don't know anything about Transformer physiology to know why it's necessary. They're also designed, by their nature, to take on the characteristics of things around them (as proved by how their forms change quite radically from the bland appearance they have when they first land). This generally applies to other machines, but it's not entirely unreasonable to speculate that, in the case of the Autobots at least, they might also configure themselves to take on certain human mannerisms, to better interact with the humans that they need to deal with.

Tailkinker

Question: What were the scientists at the lab doing with the pile of sand?

Answer: It's never been explained. The cartoons and (both) the comic book series, which are really the only other sources, never mentioned what was going on either.

Ictoabu

Question: Is there a website, books or vhs/dvd that tells the entire documentary of Robert Shaw and the 54th Mass that the movie is based on?

SAZOO1975

Chosen answer: The History Channel has a DVD you can buy called, The Civil War Journal, one of the episodes is about the 54th Mass. http://store.aetv.com/html/product/index.jhtml?id=74565.

pross79

Question: At the end of the movie the remainder of the 54th Mass top a cliff, look down and see a bunch of soldiers waiting for them who then fire on them. My question is what happened to the rest of the 54th Mass? did they die in this scene? Did they survive? It is never explained and during the burial at the mass grave none of the soldiers who ended up at the cliff are seen being put into the grave nor do you see their bodies on the ground.

SAZOO1975

Chosen answer: While the film deals with factual events, the only real character is Robert Gould Shaw, so, historically speaking, it cannot be stated exactly what happened to the characters based on historical grounds. However, only about a quarter of the regiment were actually slain in the real battle, with slightly more captured. Bearing that in mind, it's not unreasonable to speculate that the characters on the cliff were either captured by the enemy or managed to retreat.

Tailkinker

Answer: The movie states that over half of the 54th perished in the battle. As for your question regarding the soldiers in the fort: if you are referring to the group consisting of Forbes (Cary Elwes) and Rawlins (Morgan Freeman), while no definitive answer is given, it can be assumed that they died as well, likely as soon as they were fired upon.

jshy7979

Chosen answer: Helm Hammerhand was the ninth King of Rohan who used the caves and their accompanying fortifications (built many centuries earlier by the Gondorians) as refuge during a war against the Dunlendings. The caves, and the valley leading to them, were named Helm's Deep as a tribute.

Tailkinker

Question: Does the Mouth of Sauron actually have Sauron's mouth, or is that just a name given to him because he is Sauron's messenger?

Blibbetyblip

Chosen answer: The latter; it's just his title.

Tailkinker

Question: I heard somewhere (quite possibly on this site) that there were references to the chapter names of the book in this movie. Could someone tell me where these references are?

Blibbetyblip

Chosen answer: This is from the Encyclopedia of Arda: At least three of the chapter titles from the book have made it into the film, as part of the dialogue. Look out for 'a long-expected party' (the title of chapter I 1), 'a short cut to mushrooms' (chapter I 4) and 'the bridge of Khazad-dûm (chapter II 5). Gandalf also uses the phrase 'riddles in the dark', which is the title of the chapter in The Hobbit that sees Bilbo acquire the Ring.

Zwn Annwn

Chosen answer: There doesn't seem to be anything in particular shown. You can see Saruman's reflection and those of the spires at the top of Orthanc; there don't appear to be any concrete images actually within the palantir itself.

Tailkinker

Question: This applies to all the movies and books. Why is Dumbledore the only one Voldemort ever feared?

Blibbetyblip

Chosen answer: Because Dumbledore is extremely powerful and utterly unintimidated by Voldemort. Voldemort, while extremely powerful himself, relies on fear to weaken any opposition to him - through fear, he gains a measure of control. Dumbledore, who has no fear of his ex-student, stands as a strong opponent who cannot be weakened through psychological tactic - as such, Voldemort fears him.

Tailkinker

Answer: In addition, Dumbledore has a reputation of defeating powerful dark wizards, such as his defeat of Grindelwald, who yielded the elder wand.

Question: Near the end of the film, how does Bond deduce Vesper is in danger after she says she is needed by Mathis?

Cubs Fan

Chosen answer: He suddenly realises that he told Mathis about Le Chiffre's 'tell', and that that must be how Le Chiffre was able to beat him. With the realisation (or assumption - we never find out either way) that Mathis can't be trusted, he comes to the conclusion that Vesper could be in danger and goes after her. Of course, he fails to consider that he also told Vesper herself...

Tailkinker

Question: Why could Eowyn and Merry defeat the Witch King when it seemed that no-one else could? It seems as though Eowyn can kill him because she is a woman but why does it make any difference?

Blibbetyblip

Chosen answer: It was prophesied centuries earlier that no man could slay the Witch King. Since then, the Nazgul's power and martial ability have ensured that to be the case, however, it's also built up his arrogance and sense of invulnerability. As such, he fails to pay enough attention to his surroundings in battle, bragging to Eowyn about his supposed inability to be killed. This leaves him wide open for Merry, who he either simply didn't notice or never considered to be a threat, to take him down, then Eowyn to slay him. It's not so much that a man could not have slain him, more that a far-seeing elf looked into the Witch King's future and saw that it would not be a man who finally did.

Tailkinker

Question: What is the reason for Aragorn falling off the cliff? Most people who see this movie would at least know that the next installment is called "Return of the King" so they would know that Aragorn cannot die until the third movie. I wondered whether it was just a plot device so that Aragorn could see the army of Uruk-Hai later and report their numbers to Theoden.

Blibbetyblip

Chosen answer: You're quite right in that, no, I doubt anybody seriously would have thought that Aragorn was going to die, but the scene functions as a way of showing the peril that the characters are facing, plus, as you say, it allowed Aragorn to report on the approaching enemy force, putting the main characters in the thick of the action rather than having a nameless scout character make the report. Plus it also allows them to reunite Aragorn with Brego the horse.

Tailkinker

Question: Why does the Eye of Sauron look so different in this movie? In 'Fellowship', it's a round eye with a thin slit but in this movie it is more oval shaped and has a considerably wider slit.

Blibbetyblip

Chosen answer: The Eye gradually changes throughout the films, getting noticeably larger and more dynamic - a sign of Sauron's growing power.

Tailkinker

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