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.

Show generally

Question: This actually applies to every Star Trek series but it features most prominently here: Exactly what purpose do the little dots seen moving across the bottom of every bridge main viewer serve? There's no mention of them in any technical manual or website that I've seen yet they seem to be a fairly standard feature of Federation starships from any era.

Answer: According to Micheal Okuda (technical supervisor of Trek) they are the future's version of a computer monitor's "refresh rate".

Grumpy Scot

Question: What is the riff played in the scene where the guys are about to attack the Stella's brother beside the road (e.g. one of them takes off his belt and Jam takes out his drumsticks)?

Answer: It is the intro to Black Sabbath's "Iron Man".

Twotall

Question: This question is more about the book, but I'll ask it here anyway. Are Elladan and Elrohir, the Sons of Elrond, men or elves? The timeline in the appendix of the book says they were born at the beginning of the Third Age, 3000 years before the Ring was destroyed, and yet they fought in the war. However, the book implied that Legolas was the only elf to travel the Paths of the Dead with Aragorn and the Grey Company, which the Sons of Elrond were a part of.

Answer: Elladan and Elrohir were twins, and half-elven like their father. They returned to Rivendell after the War of the Rings, and were given the choice of going into the west or staying and becoming mortal. It is not known which choice they made.

scwilliam

Answer: Since Elrond had chosen to be of Elven kind when given the choice by the Valar, his children were of Elven kind too. But they were given the choice of either and leaving Middle-earth with him, or remaining and becoming mortal. "Elladan and Elrohir remained in Imladris well into the Fourth Age, and since they did not accompany Elrond over Sea they seem to have chosen to become Mortal." Robert Foster, "Complete Guide to Middle-Earth" (2nd edition p. 144).

Answer: It's a time where Networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, etc.) have their ratings for a season tabulated. This is a time both in the late fall and again in the late spring where shows usually have a cliffhanger or a wedding in order to attract more viewers and get better ratings.

Tobin OReilly

Question: Sam Raimi always puts his 1973 Oldsmobile Delta Royal in his films, (save one) and I did not spot it in this one. Did anybody else see it?

Answer: I spotted it twice. Once towards the beginning when Peter goes to his surprise birthday party at Aunt May's, and the second when Aunt May is moving.

T Poston

Chosen answer: Yes. A "googol" is the number 10 raised to the 100th power, or a 1 followed by 100 zeroes. A "googolplex" is an even larger number - 10 raised to the power of a "googol", or represented as 1 followed by a "googol" zeroes.

BGraz

Replacements - S1-E4

Question: When Bull is hiding in the barn after being hit by shrapnel, he takes something from the end of his rifle and bites a big chunk off it and starts chewing. What is this?

Kara

Answer: He bit off a piece of a cigar.

Chosen answer: It's chewing tobacco.

Paul Plesser

Question: The Hungarian woman who is excecuted is referred to by two slightly different names. When she is about to be hung, she is called one name, but everywhere else she is called something else. What IS her name?

Answer: The character's name is Katalin Helinszki but they refer to her as The Hunyak, the Hungarian.

Kara

Answer: A movie director. Was married to Sharron Tate, who was murdered by Charles Manson's followers. Won an Oscar for Best Director for the Piano. Any search engine will give you more info on him.

Jane Doe

Question: What poem does Peter try to recite to MJ?

Answer: "The Song Of Hiawatha," the same one he was reading in the laundromat.

Xofer

Question: Does anyone actually know how old Wolverine is? When Jean is telling the X-men after his physical, she mentions that he may actually be older than the professor.

Answer: According to the comics (which may differ from the films), Logan was born James Howlett, in the latter part of the 19th century, most likely around 1890.

Tailkinker

Question: What happened to that huge apartment Peter and Harry shared? Now Peter lives in a very small room in a boarding house.

Answer: When Norman Osborne died, Harry moved into his apartment. Peter was not able to keep up rent on their old apartment so he had to move to the smaller room.

Nick N.

Question: I don't understand what that look Mary Jane has at the end of the movie is all about. Is it something for the next movie, something from the comic books? If they had ended the movie just before that, it would have been a plausible ending, so I'm curious as to why that look was put in there.

Answer: She's happy to be with Peter, but she also recognizes that he has a duty that he can never set aside. For the rest of their relationship, he'll be keeping odd hours, constantly in mortal danger, and an indirect threat to her life if his identity is discovered by his enemies. She's not happy that he has to be Spider-Man, but she does understand and is ready to face a long, hard relationship.

Phoenix

Question: Does Peter know that Norman is the Goblin before he takes his helmet off near the end of the movie?

Answer: It doesn't appear so, no. While he knows that Norman has been acting a little weirdly, it's a big leap from there to suspecting that Norman is the Goblin.

Tailkinker

Answer: From his initial reaction I'd say not - he was shocked that the green goblin was indeed Norman Osborne after all he'd been fighting he's best friends father all along, so his look of confusion is understandable.

Question: I got the feeling with Aunt May's speech that she knew Peter was Spider-Man, but it never specifically said if she did or not. Does she?

Jack's Revenge

Chosen answer: It's never specifically stated, but the general impression is that yes, she knows. In the classic Spider-Man comics, shortly before her (natural) death Aunt May tells Peter that she's known he was Spider-Man for a long time, and that she was very proud of him. We never know exactly when Aunt May makes the connection but it's safe to say that, based on the speech she gave Peter in the movie, she knows now.

Chosen answer: Probably in Washington. He rejoined active duty in 1940, was assigned to consult with industry re aircraft manufacture; also a trip to England on special mission to evaluate other countries' air power. He requested a return to flying status but was refused. He then was asked to assess feasablity of a air attack on Japan from carrier based planes, and when he asked to lead the mission his request was accepted.

Question: It is known through articles and interviews that Mel Gibson is considered a traditional Catholic, one who rejects Vatican II. Since there are many traditional Catholic sects (ranging from those are affliated with the Pope to those who reject his authority), who does Gibson represent?

megamii

Chosen answer: Gibson is a member of a small independent congregation called "The Holy Family" - total membership is about 70, and they worship in a chapel that was paid for by Gibson himself. As with pretty much all the traditionalist groups, they celebrate Mass in Latin, not abolished, but the mass was now to be celebrated in the vernacular, by the Second Vatican Council in 1964/65. They appear to be quite moderate by the standards of traditional Catholics - the more extreme elements regard the Vatican as a hotbed of heresy - Gibson previewed his film for the Pope, which implies a certain amount of acceptance. The Holy Family has, at one point, had a falling out (reasons unclear) with the Society of St Pius X, the largest traditionalist group, so it's unclear precisely where they lie within the Catholic spectrum.

Tailkinker

Question: Is is a coincidence that Claudia wears blue dresses so frequently? I was wondering if it is because blue is a color that Louis loves so much.

Answer: Given that Claudia is very fond of Louis, I suspect that you've hit the nail on the head with your suggestion.

Tailkinker

Question: When Neo and Trinity reached the Machine City, or really got close to it, couldn't they have blown an EMP thus destroying all the machines and causing the war to end? In fact, couldn't one ship from the fleet have done that some other times before this event?

Answer: Trinity and Neo's ship is very badly damaged in the approach to the Machine City, so there is no guarantee that the EMP still works. They don't know the exact location of the Deus Ex Machina either, so any blow could just knock out a few hundred Sentinels instead of causing lasting damage. No other ship has ever penetrated the Machines' defensive grid, the one that Neo destroys through his connection with the Source.

Phoenix

Chosen answer: The Lizard (not Lizard Man) is Dr. Curt Connors, Peter's professor, or at least, he will be. Dr. Connors, if you remember, has no right arm; he becomes the Lizard (in the comics, anyway) trying to use reptile DNA (or something similar) to replicate reptiles' regenerative powers (since some reptiles, like skinks, can regrow their tails).

Xofer

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.