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: Is there a romantic relationship between Galadriel and Gimli? Also, it seems foolish, but is it true that Galadriel seems to have some sort of infatuation with Frodo? She seems pleased (by her come-hither looks) that Frodo is coming with her to the Undying Lands in the Grey Havens scene.

megamii

Chosen answer: Galadriel and Gimli? Bizarre mental image. Um, no, there's nothing going on there. Gimli does fall for her beauty, true, and she's flattered, but there's nothing else there. Do bear in mind that Celeborn, her husband, is around as well. No, she doesn't have an infatuation with Frodo either - her initial rapport with him would be down to them both being Ringbearers. Come-hither looks at the Grey Havens? I don't really see those - what I see is that she's excited about returning to Valinor, the land where she was born, and that she hasn't seen for seven thousand years. Nothing to do with Frodo going along, or any desire for hobbit lurve...

Tailkinker

Answer: Because Halloween episodes are not considered part of the Simpsons' series continuity (not that the writers care much about series continuity to start with). I'm surprised that you singled out this particular Halloween episode. Remember the nuclear holocaust, aliens enslaving humanity, or Homer's head becoming a donut? None of them had any lasting effect on the Simpsons' universe either.

J I Cohen

Chosen answer: The Corsairs of Umbar are a piratical group, originally of Gondorian origin, whose founder, Castamir, was ousted as ruler of that land (he usurped the throne and had a vicious and cruel reign lasting ten years) some 1500 years before the events of the film. Since that time, they've held a great hatred for Gondor, fighting against them as much as possible. As a trivia note, forty years prior to the films, the Corsair fleets were all but destroyed by a devastating Gondorian attack led by a man named Thorongil. Thorongil was, in fact, Aragorn - he used this alias during his early life and his service to the lords of both Gondor and Rohan (as mentioned in the extended Two Towers film).

Tailkinker

Question: When Jess is being introduced to Mel in the locker room, Mel says to Jess "Welcome to the Harriers," then looks at Jules and says "Paints and decorators are in." It sounds like rhyming slang but I never heard that one before, what's she mean?

Answer: It's not rhyming slang, in this particular case. This is a phrase used (in the UK, anyway) to indicate that a woman is having her period.

Tailkinker

Show generally

Question: Was the Angel spin-off created because it was time for the character to be written out of Buffy but Angel was too good a creation to ditch, or was the character written out because people thought a spin-off would be a better idea?

Jon Sandys

Chosen answer: Joss Whedon claims to have had the idea for a spin-off series while watching David Boreanaz's performance in the late second season episode "I Only Have Eyes For You" - he began to feel that Boreanaz would be capable of carrying his own series. From that point on, taking Angel off to his own show was on Joss's mind and many of the events of the third season were written with this intention.

Tailkinker

Answer: The theme is a cover of The Smiths' 'How Soon Is Now' by a band called 'Love Spit Love'. The Soundtrack is available if you search around for it.

umathegreatstationarybear

Question: I know about Peter Jackson's cameo on the Corsair ship, but does he do another cameo in the film? I thought I spotted him for a second in the charge on the Pelennor Fields.

Answer: He's been very quiet about it if this is true, and he's generally open about his cameo appearances. It's unlikely, I think, Jackson didn't really have the time to throw himself in all over the place - he seems to have stuck to one cameo per film. There was at least one false report of an additional cameo in the Two Towers, which would imply an actor who bears a resemblance to the director - maybe the same actor was used in the Pelennor Fields shot that you saw.

Tailkinker

Question: Why does Mort Rainey want the screwdriver back from Tom Greenwald's head, and doesn't take his axe back too?

Answer: The screwdriver could be used as evidence to convict him if the body would ever be found. And he may have taken out the axe as well. It is not shown, but that doesn't mean that he didn't take it.

Nelleke Rietvink

Question: In the first movie (Fellowship), Galadriel says that she will 'diminish' and go to the west. What happens to the elves after they reach the Undying Lands. Do they lose their super-natural powers?

Answer: In Valinor, the elves will live with the Valar, their 'gods', in peace and tranquility. Elves don't really have supernatural powers - they have abilities appropriate to their species, which are strange to us, but not actually supernatural - these should remain the same. Galadriel will lose some of her abilities, yes, but this isn't because of relocating to Valinor, it's mostly down to the power of her Ring being lost. Whether those elves with magical abilities (spell-casting and so forth) will keep them is unclear - it's fairly questionable that they'd need them.

Tailkinker

Question: Are there hidden allegories (Christian, political, social, etc.) behind the stories of the Ring trilogy?

megamii

Chosen answer: None whatsoever. To quote Tolkien "As for any inner meaning or 'message', it has in the intention of the author none". He was strongly opposed to those who tried to read deeper meaning into the books.

Tailkinker

Question: Is it ever specified in this movie or in any of the books or biographies written about the Blues Brothers exactly where, when or how Jake dies?

rabid anarchist

Chosen answer: No. We only know that he died sometime during his jail term. There's no more explanation after that.

Gavin Jackson

Question: In the trivia section it says that the whole movie was dubbed due to bad weather conditions. Surely this cannot be correct: why would bad weather affect sound equipment when they are filming inside, e.g. at Edoras?

Answer: Any kind of rain on the roof or howling winds, etc. can affect sound, especially if it's a specially built structure and not on a sound stage. (Things like planes, trucks, and motorcycles cause problems, too.)

Krista

Question: Does anyone know which Scottish loch Harry rides over on Buckbeak, assuming it is a real loch and not CG?

Answer: According to the IMDB, they filmed at Loch Shiel.

Tailkinker

Chosen answer: "So goes the nation" seems to have been used on many occasions, with various different US states in the "As .... goes" section. Most commonly it seems to be California that's considered to lead the way, but probably most other states have appeared in the lead role at some point or another. Other things have also been used - no less a person that Pope John Paul II said "As the family goes, so goes the nation...". The origin of the quote format is unclear - in US politics it goes back into the 19th century, when it was Maine that held the title spot, but, while no definitive origin is known, it seems highly likely that it goes back considerably further than that.

Tailkinker

Question: Did the real battle for the Alamo happen during the day or during the night?

Answer: The siege of the Alamo lasted thirteen days, so events would happen both day and night. The actual final assault began at around 5am, and took no more than ninety minutes - it was over by sunrise.

Tailkinker

Question: I know this film was made before "Temple of Doom", which was a prequel. Thus the character of Shorty did not exist when this film was made. I'm wondering however if Spielberg or Lucas have ever said anything about where they assume Short Round is during the events of "Raiders..."

Answer: In all my years of watching interviews and behind the scenes footage of the 3 Indy films, I don't think this has never been addressed. Perhaps they might tie up this loose end in the new Indy movie...

Lynette Carrington

Question: Does anyone know why they decided to call Aragorn's horse Brego? In the books Aragorn rides two horses: Hasufell and Roheryn. Brego is actually the name of a former king of Rohan. It's strange that the film-makers don't use one of the "real" names when they are mentioned in the books.

Answer: Aragorn does ride Hasufel - just as in the books, he is lent to Aragorn by Eomer when they meet on the plains and Aragorn rides him until they reach Edoras. As for Roheryn - in the books, this is Aragorn's own horse, brought to him by a group of Rangers who join him for the fight. As this doesn't happen in the film, an alternative horse was needed. Choosing to use the "kingly-named" Brego, former steed of the late Theodred, the heir to the kingdom of Rohan provides a subtle reinforcement of Aragorn's gradual ascendancy towards the kingship.

Tailkinker

Question: How much truth is there to the claim that if the G.I. Joe movie had been released first then Optimus Prime would not have died in this one?

Answer: The reason for this is the intent of both movies (G.I.Joe and this one) to kill off the old group and bring in a new group for younger kids. You noticed how most of the dead are from the old cartoon. The backlash was so bad that the G.I.Joe movie was changed to not kill off anyone (if you watch it you can see where characters were meant to die but the show was changed at the last sec to keep them alive. If G.I.Joe was release 1st then they would have died and if the same backlash happened you would have seen no-one die in this one.

Answer: In the UK we don't have G.I Joe, only action force so thats your first problem, and secondly the UK comics built up to the Transformer movie without no mention of G.I Joe story lines which may have appeared in the US.

Brian Boulnois

Question: When Marlin discovers Mr Ray has taken his class to the Dropoff, he says "why don't we just fry them up and serve them with chips". American "Chips" are not the same as British "Chips." Is this dialogue only in the UK video release that I have, and if so, what is in the US version?

Answer: Even though "chip" as french fries instead of crisps is not an "American" term, we still use it as a description for "fish and chips." There is actually a Fish and Chips stand about a mile from my house and my mom even worked at a fish and chips stand when she was in college. So, it says that on the American version of the DVD as well.

wolfchild

Answer: There's no reason one can't serve actual potato chips with a meal, loads of American restaurants do, some even go so far as to house-fry fresh ones instead of out of a bag.

dizzyd

It's just a saying as "chips" also refers to "fries." It's not technical.

Chosen answer: Nobody knew, not even the writers, until at least halfway through the season when they were writing the end. They wanted to keep all options open.

Nick N.

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