Answered questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: The very first episode of Friends includes Rachel leaving Barry on their wedding day and coming to live with Monica. The rest of the group are already friends. But I know I've seen an episode which has Phoebe moving out of Monica's, Joey moving in with Chandler and making a move on Monica. It also shows Central Perk as a bar, before it gets turned into a coffee bar and Ross anouncing him and Carol have broken up. In which episode does this happen?

Question: When Marty arrives back from the past, but a bit earlier to try to save Doc's life he sees himself disappear into the past. So for a few minutes we have two Deloreans and two Martys. What happens to this Marty who obviously goes back to 1955? Is he going to relive the whole film?

Answer: Basically, yes. We never see the looping effect, but we have to assume that's what happens. The Bill and Ted argument of "time is always running" doesn't seem to apply in the BTTF films - the Marty who goes back to 1955 is about to do exactly what we've seen Marty do throughout the film.

Jon Sandys

Question: In the Barbarian Horde battle, why on earth is there a gas cylinder in the chariot to begin with? What significance does it have for the "prop" (i.e. the chariot)?

Answer: It's full of compressed air, used to flip over the chariot.

Jon Sandys

Question: At the end of the movie, Frodo mentions something about the journey lasting 13 months. He then says his chest wound occurred four years ago to the day. If this is the case, why did he and the others wait 3 years to leave Middle Earth on the ship?

Answer: In the book it takes three years because the Hobbits are repairing the Shire (wrecked by Saruman in the book). In the movie it may have taken three years because the elves and Gandalf may have been attending to buisness in their lands (leaving for them would be a big event as Galadriel and Celeborn are the oldest elves still living in Middle Earth.)

Question: How long exactly did the whole journey take up until Aragorn became king? In both the movie and the book?

Answer: In the movies, the journey alone lasted 13 months, until the Ring was destroyed. In FotR, it was only a short amount of time between Gandalf leaving after Bilbo's party for Minas Tirith to look up the scrolls of Isildur and coming back to Frodo to warn him. Once the Ring was destroyed, it was not that long until Aragorn was crowned either. Now in the book, it's very different. Bilbo's feast was the year 3001 and in this year Gandalf and Aragorn start searching for news on Gollum. Between 3004-3008, Gandalf sees Frodo in intervals. During 3009-3017, Gandalf and Aragorn hunt for Gollum, who at some point during this time was captured by Sauron. In 3017, Gollum is released and captured by Aragorn and taken to Thranduil in Mirkwood, Legolas' father. Also during this year, Gandalf reads the scroll of Isildur. In April 3018, Frodo leaves the Shire. March 25 3019, the Ring is destroyed. May 1 3019, Aragorn is crowned King Elessar. In September 3021, Bilbo, Frodo and the Keepers of the Rings leave the Grey Havens.

Super Grover

Question: At the end of film, when the hobbits and Gandalf go to the Grey Havens, Elrond, Galadriel, and Celeborn are also there. Behind them is another person who disappears after the others board the ship (I assume he boarded also). He looks to me like one of the elves who received the three rings, shown in the prologue of the first film. Could this perhaps be Cirdan or Gil-galad?

Answer: It would be Cirdan the Shipwright. Gil-Galad was killed in the Last Alliance.

cullothiel

Question: When Wayne exits Jason's ranch by guiding his horse backwards (a display of fine horsemanship and/or animal training, by the way), you may notice that he is holding his right hand exactly the same way as he does later in the movie when he has the bullet-against-the-spine problem and is temporarily paralyzed toward the end of the movie. Perhaps he did have a problem with his hand at that time, and the script was altered accordingly?

Answer: He is holding his gun hand ready. Just in case any of Jason's men get any ideas, hence the line "hey fancy vest". He was just being ready.

Answer: Cole was ensuring his gun hand was ready if someone tried something. In this scene he does hold his right hand up close to his chest, but the difference is that, in this scene his palm is not showing. With his palm not showing he is basically telling Bart Jason's men, "I'm ready to draw so don't try anything stupid." When he had the spasms in his arm, he would hold his hand palm up.

Question: Is that Sean Penn in the surf shop, reprising his Spicoli role? (It's a very brief cameo - blink and you'll miss it).

Answer: There is no record that I could find that indicates that he was in that movie.

Josh Appelbaum

Question: Since I am deathly afriad of spiders, I closed my eyes for this scene. Can someone tell me how the spider is killed? Also, can someone briefly explain how Gollum and Sam play into the whole scene?

shortdanzr

Chosen answer: Gollum framed Sam with the Lembas crumbs, so Sam stays down below. Gollum leads Frodo into the cave then disappears. He then watches as Frodo is caught in Shelob's web and taunts Frodo loudly. He then sees Frodo fighting and cutting the web, while Shelob moves closer. Frodo runs out of the cave and is attacked by Gollum. Frodo fights him and Gollum falls down the side of the cliff. Frodo is surprised by Shelob who appears on the rocks over him. Shelob then stabs Frodo with her venom and starts wrapping his body in the web material. Sam suddenly appears, having seen the 'missing' Lembas down below and coming up to help Frodo. Sam goes after Shelob. Sam fights with her and stabs her and she then crawls back into her lair. It's not made clear if Shelob dies, but she is badly wounded.

Super Grover

Question: Does anyone know why there is so much green in this movie? The doors, the painted walls, the furniture, clothes, cars, the school uniforms, lamps, why are they all green? There has to be a reason.

troy fox

Chosen answer: It is the director's favourite colour.

gandolfs dad

Question: Can anyone tell me about the strange flag (sort of a blue lozenge in a white field) the Surprise flies in her disguise as a whaler?

Ioreth

Chosen answer: The flag is a signal flag, and is probably meant to signal that the ship is a whaler or engaged in fishing operations. Such flags were part of an international code, which, with some modification, is still in use today. (The flag is similar to the modern-day "Foxtrot".)

Question: When The Central Park Rangers are called in action it mentions the Simon and Garfunkel concert and their actions being under speculation - was this a real event (their questionable actions), and if so what was the problem, or was it just a fictional jokey reference?

Answer: This was a real event. The Simon and Garfunkel free concert drew a crowd of over half a million people and the Central Park Rangers were investigated for being a little "over-enthusiastic" in their methods of crowd control. It was 1981 though, not 1985 as stated.

Absolutely correct and thank you - I was there at the concert and it was 1981. I love the movie Elf but that incorrect reference is a slight irritant - LOL.

Answer: I believe that this refers to an incident I was involved in. I was a new ranger riding Captain Cutter, an ex-race horse that we had Nick named Captain Goofy due to his propensity to suddenly spin in circles without warning. We were leading buses of handicapped people through shoulder-to-shoulder crowds when Goofy did his thing sending people scattering in all directions. It was over pretty quickly. I did not realise at the time that it was news.

Question: What does Gimli say, after Legolas so spectacularly defeated the Mumak and slid down its trunk? The cheering in the theatre tends to drown out the dialogue...

Ioreth

Chosen answer: He says "That still only counts as one" (As they are keeping score).

Zaphod Beeblebrox

Question: In the beginning of the film Galadriel says that Bilbo's finding of the ring was something that "the ring did not intend." Later in the film Gandalf tells Frodo that Bilbo was meant to find the ring. I have not read the books, but both statements can't be true. So what's the real story with Bilbo and the ring?

Nick N.

Chosen answer: One does not contradict the other. The ring didn't intend to be found by Bilbo, but Bilbo WAS meant to find it, by forces other than the ring. Gandalf explains this by telling Frodo that not only evil forces are at work in the world.

Zaphod Beeblebrox

Chosen answer: Presumably to Teddy.

Sereenie

Question: So how is Neo able to control (or just disable) the machines in the real world? I mean, what's this "source" talk about?

redbaron2000

Chosen answer: By picking the left door when meeting the Architect, he has been forever connected with the "Source," the machine main-frame. As such, he can tap into it at will to disable any machines in the real world.

Show generally

Question: How come neither good nor evil want Charity and Miguel to be together? I only started watching this show a year or so ago but I still can't figure out why at least good forces wouldn't want the two to be together.

Answer: I don't know about good not wanting them to be together, but I know the evil side doesn't want them together because once they sleep together, then Charity's powers will multiply, and she will be a driving force against the evil darkside.

Question: When the brothers go into the bank for the first time Bill overhears the manager call Sara by her name. Bill then goes over and says "Sara? Sara Collins?" And she says yes, and later she askes Bill if they know each other. He says they do not, and she walks away. But why didn't she ask him how he knew her last name when no one told it to him at the bank?

Answer: She was busy at work and did not care how or why he knew.

Answer: Obviously it is because the actors are from different places. But you can explain it away by saying that the hobbits are from different families. From Bilbo's speech at his party it is clear that the Hobbits are split into a small number of large extended families - the Bagginses (Frodo, obviously), Tooks (Pippen), Brandybucks (Merry) etc. The families differ in obvious ways - the Tooks are large, the Bagginses are eccentric, the Proudfoots have large feet. Perhaps accent is another family trait?

jle

Question: At the end, where is it that Frodo, Gandalf, Bilbo, Elrond, Galadriel and Celeborn are sailing to, and why are they all going there?

Answer: They are sailing to the Undying Lands. Elrond, Galadriel, and Celborn are leaving because the time of the elves has enden and for them to stay in Middle Earth would be pointless. Bilbo leaves because he was offered and accepted Arwen's place. Frodo because there is nothing left for him in Middle Earth and I believe that Gandalf leaves because he has fully filled his promise to help Frodo destroy the ring. An additional part of Frodo's reason for leaving Middle Earth is because his wound (from the Nazgul) will no longer pain him in Valinor, the Undying Lands. Bilbo and Frodo also earned the privilege as Ringbearers. In fact, Tolkien says that because he bore the Ring for even a short while, Sam Gamgee also was later permitted to journey to the West.

bessytheevilcow

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