The One With Ross's Teeth - S6-E8
Question: When Chandler tells Monica he needs to be in 'a guy place', she suggests that he goes and 'hammers up some dry wall'. What does this mean?
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Question: In the first battle (The Last Alliance) just before Sauron is destroyed, you see a close up of some solders, Men and Elves. One of them looks like Legolas, is that him in the battle?
Answer: Nope. Had Legolas been present, they would undoubtedly have given his character greater prominence than just one closeup. Tolkien never gave Legolas a specific date of birth, but the implication is that he was not born at the time. Peter Jackson has also mentioned an assumed age for Legolas that backs this up.
Question: During the film's opening, when we see Rings of Power being given to the Nine, they all have characteristics that suggest that they were all leaders in the race of Men. This is continued later in Bree when Aragorn states that they were 'great kings of men'. Can someone explain what makes the Easterling, Khamul, a 'great king of men'?
Answer: Easterlings are men, and Khamul was presumably one of their kings. Simple.
Question: During The Ride of the Rohirrim, after Gothmog (Pink Orc Captain) shouts "Fire at will", you can see a black haired and black bearded rider wearing a suit of chainmail with a long axe in the front of the shot (only for a second or so) I think this is Peter Jackson but I am not sure, does anybody know?
Answer: I can see who you mean, but I'm pretty certain that it's not Peter Jackson - the resemblance isn't really that close. Besides, I strongly suspect that the studio would be dead set against anything that put their director (scriptwriter/producer/etc) on a horse in the middle of a charge - I've never read anything to indicate that Jackson is an experienced rider, and there are risks in what's being portrayed in that scene.
The Springfield Files - S8-E10
Question: When Homer and Bart are looking out for the 'alien' there are 3 frogs croaking something. What are they saying, and why?
Answer: The frogs are saying Budweiser. One frog says "bud," the next one says "weis," and the final one says "er". This is a satire of a popular Budweiser television promotion that was going through America at the time.
Answer: Then the 3 frogs were eaten by a big crocodile that says "Coors", Budweiser's biggest competitor.
Question: At The End of this episode Lister, Rimmer and the Cat are finding out whether Lister is pregnant or not. When Rimmer reads the pregnancy test he says "Oh excellent news, I'm going to be an uncle." Why does he say this if he is to of no relation with Lister? (as far as I know).
Answer: It's quite common for male friends of the family to be referred to as "uncle" by the children, even if they're not actually related in any way - I have at least three old friends of my parents who I refer to in these terms. Rimmer may be stretching the point with the 'friend' thing, but that's what he's referring to.
Question: Does it seem strange to anyone else that these kids, including teenagers, can't help take care of themselves for two weeks? My family has six kids and we can function for a week or two when Mom and Dad go out of town. In a large family, parents usually raise their children to help out a lot more and be more responsible.
Answer: It seems that the fact the family can't take care of themselves is added to part of the humour of the film. 12 children is a lot, and think about all those rows and all that mess.
It's not like they couldn't take care of themselves. As shown with the breakfast scene at the beginning, they seem to function pretty well when they all get along. Tom and Kate were just usually home more frequently than some other parents. It also didn't help that it was the first time that one of the parents was gone for an extended period and the parent that was left home (Tom) had never had to deal with all the kids on his own. Also, the only time we see complete chaos in the house is the first day that Kate has been gone. After that the kids are more behaved (at home).
Question: Do the head orc with the skin over his eyes and the orc with the skulls pile on top of his head have names?
Answer: The lead orc is Gothmog, a briefly mentioned character in the books (mentioned precisely once) - it's not even clear in the books which race he belongs to. The second orc, with the skulls, doesn't seem to have a name.
Question: In the book it mentions that Gothmog, Lieutenant of Minas Morgul, assumed control of Sauron's army after the Witch-King was vanquished. Shouldn't Khamul, the second-in-command of the Nazgul, have assumed control of the army?
Answer: Not necessarily - the precise command hierarchy isn't established in the books and we don't know where the various Nazgul stand. Gothmog is the Witch-King's leftenant, so it would make sense that he would be second-in-command of any army led by his master.
Question: I understand that Faramir and Aragorn are both Rangers, but what is a Ranger as depicted in the "Rings" trilogy?
Chosen answer: Not as simple a question as it sounds, as, while Faramir and Aragorn are both described as Rangers, they're actually different types of Ranger. Faramir is one of the Rangers of Ithilien, a Gondorian group who specialise in using guerrilla tactics against the forces of Sauron in the land of Ithilien, between the Anduin river (which runs through Osgiliath) and the Mountains of Shadow that form the western border of Mordor. Aragorn is the current chieftain of the Rangers of the North, who came into being after the fall of the northern kingdom of Arthedain, ruled over by Isildur's descendants. After the loss of Arthedain, the people survived in the wild as the loose-knit organisation known as the Rangers. The two groups are related - both originate from the Dunedain, the long-lived descendants of the survivors of Numenor - but have been seperated for around 3000 years.
Question: How does Smeagol over time becomes the hideous-looking Gollum? Did the One Ring radically changed his appearance? Also, what kind of Hobbit was Smeagol?
Chosen answer: Smeagol was believed to have been a Stoor, a branch of the hobbits known for being quite large and strong (by hobbit standards). His mutation is because of the Ring - precise reason unclear, but almost certainly related to the fact that it has prolonged his life far beyond a normal hobbit span (Gollum is around 580 years old when he dies, easily five times the normal lifespan)- note that Bilbo, who, while old, is still within a normal hobbit lifespan, looks physically normal. Smeagol, through use of the Ring, has been influenced by the wraithworld, in exactly the same manner that the kings of men who were given the nine rings ultimately became the Nazgul - in time, he would presumably have become a wraith-like being like them. Gollum's current appearance may be some intermediate stage.
Question: I am told that the film is satirizing Catholicism, what aspect it is satirizing?
Chosen answer: Many different aspects. For example, George Carlin's character portrays a grandstanding Cardinal who postures for the public. Rufus claims that, as a black man, the Church chose to ignore his role in history, as well as the fact that Christ was black (historians say this is more than likely, but it has never been acknowledged by the Church). The Mooby scene can also be seen as an analogy of the modern Church, obsessed with appearances and maintaining its image more than with the worship of God. Even at the climax, the action that solves the movie involves euthanasia of a terminally ill man, an action that the Church strongly believes is unethical for dogmatic reasons rather than Scripture. There are many more, too many to list here.
Tabula Rasa - S6-E8
Question: Why did Anthony Head leave for some episodes of series 6? Was it purely a character/plot decision, or did he have other commitments?
Chosen answer: He wished to return to live in England with his family, so made an agreement that he would take a reduced role in the series.
Question: Is there any particular significance to the thieves' color-coded aliases, or did Quentin Tarantino merely assign them at random?
Answer: Not sure if QT assigned the names in any particular order, but I believe that the inspiration to use colours as names was taken from the excellent movie "The Taking of Pelham 123" starring Walter Mathau.
Answer: I'd say probably not.
Question: In the scene where Schindler has just seen the body of the girl in the red coat, and is now talking to Stern about the fates of the workers, it seemed to me that Schindler's eyes were brown and not black and white. It might be just me seeing things, but I thought it might be something symbolic, that his eyes have truly been opened. Does anyone know if this is right or if the eyes are colorless?
Answer: His eyes are colorless.
Question: In theaters, some film reels have subtitles for the scene where Elrond gives Anduril to Aragorn and they say a couple elvish lines - "Onen i-Estel Edain. U-chebin estel anim." - and other film reels do not have subtitles for the elvish. I am wondering what the reason for this would be.
Answer: I encountered this when I saw FOTR the first time in theaters. What happened is that the projector was aimed down too far on the screeen, effectively cutting off the subtitles. They are there on all of the prints, but due to bad projector setup in some theaters, many people didn't get to see these.
Question: What was Tobey Maguire's full process to get Spider-man's body? What was his body and fighting training and food diets? Is there any website where they have it in full writing?
Answer: The following is taken directly from People Magazine May 27, 2002: WORKOUT: Maguire exercised for at least 3.5 hours, six days a week, with his regimen varying "depending on how sore he felt," says Joujon-Roche. Mornings were spent improving his flexibility with yoga and splits, along with building strength through abdominal and lower-body exercises on an oversize ball. "We would just work on each body part until we killed it," Joujon-Roche says. "Then the next day we'd go to another and kill that one." Afternoons were devoted to cardiovascular activities like martial arts and cycling, to burn fat, plus gymnastics. "Tobey did his own flips with that Spider-Man hood on," says Joujon-Roche. "We gave him self-assuredness." DIET: For breakfast Joujon-Roche made the actor, a vegetarian, a "high-protein shake that included nuts, essential oils and vitamins." Lunch, he says, was often "marinated tofu with broccoli and walnuts and dinner a big veggie burger with brown rice." The menu varied with Maguire's output. "If his workout was pure weights," says Joujon-Roche, "he needed protein. If he did cardio, he'd have a shake of all carbs."
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Answer: "Dry wall" is a US term for plasterboard-type boards used for making partition walls between rooms. Basically, she is telling him to go do some manual, physical "manly" work.
Eliza