Question: Does anyone know, or has anyone noticed if Peter Jackson makes a cameo in this film?
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: It is understood that before you die, you see the ring. Noah's coffee cup makes a ring, and Rachel sees the lid of the well before she's supposed to die. But does Katie see anything ring-shaped in the beginning?
Answer: The television activates itself just as Katie is putting the glass to her lips - from her point of view, the rim of the glass would form a ring that filled her entire vision.
Question: As Denethor has the funeral pyre prepared, he refers to the "heathen" kings of old. What sort of religion does Gondor have now that older kings could be "heathens"?
Chosen answer: In Denethor's time, Gondor follows the Vala, the good "gods" of the world, in the manner of the Elves, although religion really is not much of a point in Middle-Earth. The "heathen kings" Denethor speaks of were before Elendil founded Gondor, when descendants of Númenoreans lived in small fiefdoms as little kings in this area. Many of them worshipped Sauron and followed him, and may have used burning as a funeral rite.
Question: Why didn't the sheriff do anything about Packard's gang? Surely someone must have wanted to file a complaint at some point? And if the sheriff isn't doing his job, why doesn't the state police step in?
Answer: After the first race where Augie is killed the sheriff says "I've been waiting to catch you guys in the act. Been waiting and watching." So we can assume there were complaints made however the sheriff may not have had enough evidence to shut them down completly. As far as the state police, I'm not sure. May be a jurisdictional thing.
I agree with this answer. Packard was very careful not to flagrantly break any laws. He even said this to Loomis in the "paper doll" scene later in the movie - Packard says that the gang hadn't done anything except "bust the speed limit."
Question: A baseball writer discovers Stan Ross never actually had 3000 hits because in one game in 1982 he had three hits counted twice. He says the game was called for a curfew and finished later. Does anyone know of any major league baseball game called for curfew, or any other time limit?
Answer: On May 12, 1972, the Milwaukee Brewers and the Minnesota Twins played 21 innings to a 3-3 tie before the 1 AM curfew. Play resumed the next day before the regularly scheduled game. Milwaukee scored in the top of the 22nd to win 4-3. In the regular game that followed, Minnesota won 4-3 in 15 innings.
Question: Near the end of the movie Max figures out that 2004 Mccomb came back to 1994 to make sure that he wins the presidency. Since the first half of the film takes place in 1994, how could 2004 Mccomb travel to 1994 when the TEC hasn't been fully formed yet?
Answer: The fact that the TEC doesn't exist in 1994 is irrelevant - McComb has access to time travel equipment in 2004 and uses it to travel back. There's no apparent limitation on when they can travel to - in the course of the film, we see characters who have travelled much further back than '94.
Question: How do I access commentaries on the Season 1 DVDs? I've been trying for months and can't seem to find them, but the DVD wrapper promises "commentary on every episode."
Answer: There are two ways to do this. On the main menus, you can find them in the Language Selection section of every episode. Or, upon playing the episode, press your audio button on your remote a few times and you should start hearing the commentary.
Question: When the family are going out the door to go to the wedding rehearsal, Tess shouts 'Shotgun.'. What does "shotgun" mean? I'm sure I've heard it in other American films.
Answer: It is a claim to ride in the front passenger's seat, rather than in the back seat. On an American western stagecoach, the guard sat up top with the driver, carrying a shotgun, although that position was only referred to as "shotgun" in westerns, not at the actual time. See here for more info: http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mrideshotgun.html.
Question: Is it ever explained how vampires can have sex when it is stated pretty explicitly that they don't have blood flowing around their bodies? I mean, I've studied biology and I hear it's pretty important for guys.
Answer: It's also stated pretty explicitly that vampires are dead, yet they're walking and talking, controlled by a demon inside of them, which could also control their sexual parts.
Question: What is "priori incantatem"? I'm told it's explained in the books - what's the deal?
Chosen answer: In order to explain "Priori Incantatem" an explanation is first needed for "Priori Incantato." In the book Goblet of Fire, during the Death Eaters' rampage at the World Cup, Voldemort's Dark Mark appears in the sky. Amos Diggory uses the spell "Prior Incantato" to see the last spell that was cast by Harry's wand, which in the book is the wand that created that Dark Mark in the sky. That spell creates an image of the last spell cast by a wand, and it emerges from its tip; this is the "echo" of that original spell, and the echo is different depending on that spell. As for "Priori Incantatem," Harry's and Voldemort's wands share the same core - Fawkes' feathers (Dumbledore's phoenix), and when two wands that share the same core battle each other - as Harry and Voldemort in the cemetery, "Priori Incantatem" takes place. This is a reversal of the last spells cast, and the images of Voldemort's victims of the Avada Kedavra curse appear out of the tip of his wand, which include Cedric, Frank Bryce, Lily and James Potter.
Question: Red is shown in his WWII Naval Uniform. He has three medals on his chest. One of the medals (the far one on the right as you look at him) is a Commendation Medal. I was looking at the episode and it wasn't clear if the medal was a Navy or an Army Commendation Medal. They look very similar - the Navy medal is green and white with the bronze eagle as is the Army's (I have an Army one). However, the Navy's has two broad white stripes near the edges of the green ribbon while the Army's has several thin white stripes near the center of the green ribbon. Has anyone noticed which ribbon it actually is?
Chosen answer: It's the Army Commendation Medal. You can notice the pinstripes in the center of the ribbon. The navy one has no pinstripes.
Question: Exactly how does Katie die? In the scene where Katie gets attacked, in the last second her face turns rotten like someone dying in water, which means she already starts dying. But in the flashback as her mother finds her, Katie is dead in the closet, as if she tried to hide from Samara there. Why would Samara move the dead body to the closet? Or if Katie hid there when being chased by Samara, did she already have the rotten face while still alive?
Answer: Samara's kills her victims by engendering them to fall into sheer hopelessness, ultimately, very literally, scaring them to death. The process is called psychosomatic death and results when someone's sympathetic system produces too overwhelming of a response to an emotional stress (fight or flight) and the body falls into cardiac arrhythmias and vascular collapse (heart attack). Https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voodoo_death.
Answer: A possible explanation is that when you see Katie's face start to rotten, we are looking at her from Samara's point of view. Let's remember that it was already 10:00 PM by the time the phone rings, so most likely, Samara had already come out of the TV in Katie's room and was only scaring her into going upstairs. Also, the doorknob and the floor were soaking wet which indicated that Samara was extremely near. As for the location of her body, it seems like Samara likes to place her victims elsewhere as Noah died on the floor but Rachel found him on the chair.
Answer: They never explain how anyone really dies. But it can be guessed that what happens to you physically is similar to what happened to Samara as she died. The fact that the body was in the closet isn't really significant. Samara's spirit simply placed the body there to be found. It may have to do with it being a dark, closed space, like the well where Samara died.
Question: What is the significance of the seven word code used to activate David?
Answer: The seven word code was used to activate David's imprinting protocol which would make him recognize Monica as his mother.
Answer: Spielberg is Jewish, the seven word code relates to the Jewish legends of the Gollum, whereby reciting an enchantment can bring these dolls to life.
Answer: I think the significance is that there is no significance. David's manufacturers programmed him with these specific words because they are indeed very random. The chance of someone speaking these exact words, in that exact order, for any reason other than the intended purpose would never happen. Therefore, there would be no "accidental" programming.
Question: When Charlie and Steve have their discussion about the gold and Charlie punches Steve in the face, Charlie takes several bills out of his pocket, puts them on the table, then leaves. What does he put money on the table for? It's not like he broke anything with his punch, and surely not to pay for Stella's meal, and especially not for Steve's meal either.
Answer: Actually, it almost certainly is to pay for Stella's meal. It's a point of principle - they don't owe Steve anything, so they won't even let him pay for the meal that she ate. He's the one who owes them, big time - paying for the meal makes the point that there's no debt of any kind going the other way.
Question: During the striptease scene in the tent with Paris Hilton and Robert Richard, what is the name of the song playing in the background?
Answer: The name of the song is Brothers Conti - Automatic.
Question: After Special Agent Donovan is shot and killed, the remainder of the episode is played out over an extremely haunting tune. I think the title may contain the word "Hallelujah." Does anyone know the actual title and the artist?
Answer: Yep, It's called Hallelujah it was written by Leonard Cohen, and performed on this occasion by Jeff Buckley (from his album Grace), although it can also be heard it in Shrek, The O.C. and Scrubs performed by various different artists.
Question: What did Miller mean when he said, "Give me Rieben on B.A.R."? What is "B.A.R."?
Answer: The BAR is the Browning Automatic Rifle; it was the automatic rifle of this area for US forces, when he says, "Give me Rieben on B.A.R." he is picking squad members, he would want people with certain specialties in the squad, a medic, a sniper, a demolitions expert, a automatic rifleman, which is the BAR, etc.
Join the mailing list
Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.
Answer: He appears as one of the biplane gunners in the closing sequence. Other cameos in this sequence include Rick Porras, Jackson's co-producer on The Lord of the Rings, and Frank Darabont, writer and director of The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, also both playing gunners, and Rick Baker, make-up artist extraordinaire who played Kong in the 1976 remake, appearing here as one of the pilots.
Tailkinker ★