Question: What were the red vines for?
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: I was a little confused. Why did the aliens die? I know it had to do with micro organisms but the answer doesn't come clear to me. Can someone please explain this for me?
Chosen answer: It's similar to how the Native Americans were decimated by smallpox and other diseases when America was colonised by Europe - They had never encountered that virus before, so they had no immunity to it whatsoever, and many of them died. The aliens would have no immunity to any diseases, or even a basic hereditary immunity to default earth viri. Basically they all caught some disease or other (maybe even a cold), and died because they had no immunity at all to it.
Question: It seems like a glaring factual error that Balian is able to read and write, given that he was raised as a peasant in the Middle Ages. Did I miss some mention as to how he became literate?
Question: I'm unclear about the mother of the young girl who died. Did she intentionally kill her daughter or was it accidental? That is, was this supposed to be a Munchhausen by Proxy Disorder situation where the mother only intended to keep her daughter sick enough so she was under constant medical supervision?
Answer: At best, it was Munchhausen by Proxy. However, it could have been a well-planned murder of one, and then the other child. But the mother's reaction when everyone is looking at her seems a little more mental than criminal.
"But the mother's reaction when everyone is looking at her seems a little more mental than criminal." This is personal opinion. I've never interpreted her expression that way. I've seen it as someone who intentionally killed the child having the first realisation that she's been found out.
Question: Is there a reason why Hayden Christensen replaced Sebastian Shaw as the spirit of Anakin at the end of this movie on the DVD release? It doesn't seem to make sense, because the spirits of Obi-Wan and Yoda appeared as the same age they were when they died.
Answer: This is explained by George Lucas in the audio commentary. When Anakin passes on into the Force, he is able to assume his previous identity (that is, Anakin Skywalker the Jedi Knight, before he turned to the Dark Side and became Darth Vader).
Question: How accurate is the portrayal of the Untouchables, when it comes to names and numbers? Were there actually only four of them? Do Garcia, Connery and Smith play actual people or fictive ones?
Answer: It's about 50% truth and 50% fiction. Ness, Al Capone, and Frank Nitty are real, of course, but the characters played by Connery, Garcia, and Smith are fictional. Ness started out with 50 candidates for his 'Untouchables' force. This was whittled down to 15 finalists and from that he selected 9 agents (none of which has the same name as the characters played by Connery, Garcia, and Smith). It's true that Capone was convicted for tax evasion. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison, but received an early release because he was in the last stages of syphilis. He died shortly after being released from prison.
Capone lived for 8 years upon his release from prison. The 8 years being slightly longer than the actual prison time he served, which was just over 7 years. He died, having the mental capabilities of a 12-year-old.
Question: Luke calls Owen and Beru 'Aunt and Uncle.' Is he just referring to them as close relations, or did Anakin's mother have other children?
Answer: Owen's father married Anakin's mother, making the pair step-brothers, so, even though it's not actually a blood relationship, uncle is an accurate way of describing Owen's relationship to Luke.
Question: In the scene where Will Ferrell is talking to his wife he says "They were running around like whirling derbishes, and I don't even know what that is" or something to that effect. What is a derbish and why does it whirl?
Answer: An actual dervish (not derbish) is a member of any of various Muslim ascetic orders, some of which perform whirling dances and vigorous chanting as acts of ecstatic devotion (hence the term "whirling dervish"), though in general 'a whirling dervish' is used for anyone who moves with an unfocused, almost frenzied energy.
Question: If Padme and Anakin's marriage is supposed to be a secret, why is she shown to be pregnant during her funeral courtege? Wouldn't questions be asked about the identity of the father? Surely it would be easier to cover up the existence of Luke and Leia if Padme's pregnancy is not made public, even after her death?
Answer: Yes, from some points of view, it probably would have been. On the other hand, there's a lot of sense in making it appear that the children were never born, that they died with their mother. After all, the existence of at least one child is already known to Anakin. If Padme had not appeared to be pregnant at her funeral, it would at least suggest to him that his child might have survived - if he thought that was a possibility, he'd have come looking for his offspring, which could have wrecked everything. Better to put up with a few awkward questions being asked than risk having a Sith Lord chasing after the galaxy's last hope.
Question: Jordan's pregnancy test is negative because the stick turned blue. Isn't it supposed to turn blue if you are pregnant?
Answer: Some tests turn blue, some tests turn pink, some get blue lines, some get red lines, some get a + or a -, there's even one that says "Pregnant" or "Not Pregnant".
Question: At the beginning of the movie, during the auction, when the chandelier rises, the seats in the opera house are dusty. At the end of the movie, it is seen that the seats burn when the chandelier falls. Is this a mistake, or did they rebuild the opera house after the accident?
Answer: Considering the fact that nearly 50 years have passed between both sets of events, it is conceivable that the Opera House could have been rebuilt, at least partially, at some point before being abandoned for good.
Question: Which state is "Springfield" supposed to be in?
Answer: Its the most asked question of the show and there has never been an definitive answer. Despite clues in certain episode no one has been able to link which state the Springfield in the show is in. Many fans believe Springfield is based on Portland, Oregon where Matt Groening grew up because of certain similarities in the show.
Question: What was the significance of the scene on the boat? To me it always seemed quite irrelevant, albeit scary (for a child), and now when it is shown on TV, most of the time this scene is edited out anyway. So why was it in there in the first place? Was it more important in the book?
Answer: In the book there is very little about the tunnel. They go very fast and there are many doors along the way, but nothing scary. I think it is to illustrate how weird and frightening Wonka can be. He does sing the little song in the book. Also, in the book, Wonka offers Grandpa Joe and Charlie a cup of chocolate from the river. Charlie and his Grandpa have been starving, so the fact that he takes notice and gives them chocolate that no human hands should ever touch is very significant. Also, at this time with the boat going so fast, everyone is really scared, in the book they start calling him a million names for crazy. Grandpa Joe stands up for him. Additionally, the book shows that the Oompa Loompa's are cracking up, and this falls right before they hit the Inventing Room where Violet meets her demise, so it kind of foreshadows that something is about to go down.
Question: In the credits it lists "Michael Smith as Javva The Hut." The only problem is, I don't remember this character from the film. Who/What is he/she?
Question: When Aragorn is giving his speech at the Black Gate, just after he says, "This day we fight!", it zooms up a little bit on someone who looks ALOT like Gamling. But I've been told multiple times that Gamling dies at Pellenor fields, so why is he at the Black Gate, assuming it's him? In addition to this, who is Grimbold? And where's a good shot of his face?
Answer: Well, the simple answer to the first part is that it's not Gamling - there is a resemblance, but it's somebody different. Grimbold is one of Theoden's captains, leading one of the Rohirrim groups during their charge at the Pelennor Fields. He hails from the Westfold, and can be seen at the gathering at Dunharrow, he can be seen there, informing Theoden that he has brought around 500 men. He's not particularly clear in that shot, but it's the best one I've found that's definitely identifiable as him.
Wherefore Art Thou, Bobby? - S2-E5
Question: What does scenery chewing mean?
Answer: It is another term for bad acting. Over-emoting, hamming it up...
Question: The Nightmare on Elm Street films often make reference to Freddy committing numerous child murders before his death, but getting off 'on a technicality.' Are any details of this ever provided? Are we ever told why or how Freddy killed all these children?
Answer: Nancy's mother tells her in the first film that "someone forgot to sign the search warrant, and Krueger went free". In other words, the basement where he had killed his victims was searched illegaly, so the case against him was rejected. Nancy's mother then goes on to showing her Freddy's knife-glove that she had taken from the place they lynched him, so we can safely assume that he used the glove on his first victims as well. As for why he did it... In the sixth film we are shown glimpses of Freddy's childhood, growing up without a mother, with an abusive father, bullied and harassed at school etc. This is a typical example on how to create a violent sociopath, and many (but not all) serial killers come from similar backgrounds.
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.
Chosen answer: If my memory serves me correctly from the radio play and the musical (as well as other sources, although I've never read the book), the reason Mars is red is not from the "rust" that we accept now, but from red vegetation. The aliens came and brought this vegetation with them, perhaps to give the earth a more suitable atmosphere (for them).
Gary O'Reilly