Question: During the scene when Naomi Watts allows her ex boyfriend to watch the video for the first time, she wanders out to her apartment balcony. She observes several neighbors in the apartments surrounding her. At this point the music becomes intense - is there a hidden message or hint that we are supposed to see here?
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: How come I never saw how Charlie's thumb got retrieved from the water? Is this another deleted scene or part of some director's cut?
Chosen answer: If you watch until after the end credits, you see it get eaten by a fish.
Question: In Roger Ebert's review, he says "...Mathayus intones, 'As long as one of us still breathes, the sorcerer will die.' See if you can spot the logical loophole." I can't - what's the problem with that line?
Chosen answer: By the way Mathayus is saying it, it sounds like he is saying as long as him or the sorcerer still breathes, either he or the sorcerer will die, but he is trying to say as long as one of the Akkadians are breathing, they will not stop trying to kill the sorcerer until he is dead.
Question: Does anyone know why this is the only Tim Burton film for which Danny Elfman hasn't written the score? All I can think is that time-wise it might have clashed with Black Beauty, but I'd like to know a definite reason.
Chosen answer: According to Tim Burton in an interview at the time, they were "taking a little vacation from each other", - he also said that he was not sure what the situation between them was, which certainly implied a falling out. Danny Elfman is a bit more open, describing what happened as "a family feud" - he says that after working on six films together in ten years, they had a bit of a creative fallout, which led to Howard Shore doing the music for Ed Wood. Afterwards, according to Elfman, they realised that they missed working together and went back to collaborating happily.
Question: Maybe I need to read the book, but can someone explain the whole ending sequence to me. Why all the flashy over dramatized pictures? It's artistic but is there some other meaning to it?
Chosen answer: All the flashing images are supposed to represent Bowman travelling past far and distant galaxies, this is what happens in the book, where he travels to that white house place.
Answer: At the end, in the Arthur C. Clarke's story, both Dave Bowman and Frank Poole (who survived) went to a moon of Saturn to investigate the second Monolith. Dave Bowman tried to touch the Monolith with his space pod and was sucked into a wormhole that transported him to a star on the other side of the universe - at which point, Dave's last transmission is "My God, it's full of stars!" All of the "slit-scan" visual effects by Doug Trumbull (based on effects created by John Whitney years earlier) represent an almost instant voyage to the other side of the universe. Whether this is supposed to be a quantum-jump is not explained, but it's millions of times faster than anything ever depicted in Star Trek or other space fantasy knockoffs.
Question: No matter how many times I watch this, I don't count all 10 plagues. Do some end up on the cutting room floor?
Answer: The featured Plagues are: locusts, flies, water turning into blood, fiery hail, the sun turning black, boils and sores. The missing Plagues are: cattle disease, wild beasts, frogs, and death of the first-born sons.
Chosen answer: The plagues stop when they 'destroy' the mummy's powers. The good guys are trying to stop the mummy before the death of the first-born plauge (which they suceed in doing, as Jonathan survives the movie), as well as preventing the mummy from becoming all powerful and impossible to destroy - which would happen after the tenth plague. Some of the plagues, too, could have been happening while the good guys are in Hamunaptra and therefore not experiencing them themselves, bringing the total of plagues experienced by the outside world closer to nine.
Question: What is the "Spcial Meat" that is sold in the butchers? Most people believe it to be human flesh, but it's never specified.
Chosen answer: The members of the League refuse to admit what it's actually supposed to be, but have stated that it's possible to work it out from clues in the series. Human flesh seems like the most likely candidate, probably supplied by Edward and Tubbs from their general butchery of any non-local who sets foot in the place. Another theory is that cocaine is involved in some way as its effects seem to match most of the things that the special stuff is supposed to cause. So, combining the two, and why not, the "special stuff" is non-local human meat sausages impregnated with cocaine.
Question: I listened to the scene where Harry goes to visit Ron and Hermione at the end after he gets out of the hospital wing. Ron and Hermione apparently have a conversation that's not appropriate for a PG rated movie, and I turned it up as loud as I could, and I heard Ron say something like, "I have this black shirt." Can anyone tell me what he really is saying?
Chosen answer: While he stands at the top of the stairs with Hermione, Ron says, "I had a resurrection!!", referring to his 'near death' experience on the chess board earlier in the film. Some people mis-hear it as a reference to "an erection" which is why you may have heard people think it's inappropriate.
Question: Why all the build up of John having sent the Russian eye-surgeon guy to jail, suggesting that he will hurt John; only to have him successfully complete the operation, and take care of John afterwards?
Chosen answer: It's what's known as a McGuffin; a plot element that seems to be important when introduced, but serves no purpose other than to intrigue/distract the audience. The term was popularised by Alfred Hitchcock.
That's not *quite* what a MacGuffin is. A MacGuffin not only seems important, it *is* important; in fact, one of its two diagnostic characteristics is that a MacGuffin is something around which the entire plot revolves. The other property fundamental to what makes something a MacGuffin is the fact that the origin, purpose, function, and, in some cases, even identity of the object is left either vague or completely undefined. The briefcase in Pulp Fiction is a classic example (although there *is* a compelling argument that the object in the briefcase is in fact a specific artifact).
Well, according to the doctor when the operation is beginning, the doctor reveals that in prison, he spent all of his time in the library, including books on medicine and technology. As a result, he found his "true calling", and is thankful to John for helping him see that.
Question: Why is your face blurred in pictures one you've seen the tape? Just a sign that you'll be dead soon?
Chosen answer: Yes, the blurred faces do indicate that you've been cursed by the video. It has to do with Samara's face always being covered by her hair, which is also the reason behind infected people unconsciously scribbling over the faces of people in pictures. It also foreshadows the victim's fate (hence the distorted face) if they don't copy and send the cursed tape to someone else.
Question: What was the deal with all the horses drowning? Was it just because Samara was evil and she was causing it? What about the horse Rachel sees on the ship that freaks out? Is it scared of Rachel because she's been "infected" by the tape? She's already showed the tape to Noah, so she should be okay at that point, right?
Answer: After Samara was released from Eola, she returned to the Morgan's house but was sent to sleep in the barn because Richard wanted to keep her as far as humanly possible from Anna who was suffering from horrible hallucinations caused by her. Since the horses kept her up at night, she drove them to suicide, but she had also told her doctor that her daddy loved the horses not her, so she probably drove them crazy out of childish jealousy as well. As for Rachel, she was affected by the curse and by Samara and as a result her presence drove the horse crazy.
Question: The phantoms can kill with the merest touch and can reach through any material - floors, walls, aircraft fuselage etc. Why then do the soldiers bother to don heavy, clunky body armour whenever they go out to battle? They'd do just as well in T-shirts and fatigues.
Chosen answer: The environment has become too hazardous for humans to tolerate.
Question: When Michael is doing his first "godfather-job" they are in a very big church/cathedral. Does anyone know what that is named?
Chosen answer: The church is St Anthony's in Staten Island. It's no longer in use.
Answer: Mount Loretto Catholic Church. It burned down in 1973 and rebuilt later on with just the front stone kept of the original structure.
Question: When Aragorn is crowned at the ceremony, he sings a hymn in what I beleive is Elvish. What are the lyrics? I am currently reading The Lord of the Rings but it will be a while before I get to that part of the story.
Chosen answer: The Elvish text is: "Et Eärello Endorenna utúlien. Sinome maruvan ar Hildinyar tenn' Ambar-metta." This translates as: "Out of the Great Sea to Middle-earth I am come. In this place will I abide, and my heirs, unto the ending of the world." It is a Gondorian tradition, echoing the words of Aragorn's ancestor Elendil on his first arrival in Middle-earth, and shows that Aragorn has fully accepted his heritage and is at last willing to claim the kingship.
Question: During the fight on top of the truck, Morpheus loses his balance and grabs onto the agent's tie to keep from falling. Why didn't the agent simply allow himself to fall as well? Agent Smith stood in front of a train in the original Matrix in an attempt to kill Neo.
Answer: Because the Agent's main job at the time is to kill the Keymaker - if he's got to find another body (who then won't be on top of the truck) the Keymaker will have time to escape.
Question: In the scene where Marty is being chased around Twin Pines mall by the Libyans why is Marty driving straight towards the 1hr Photo Booth? I'm assuming he doesn't realise the time circuits were on, as he accidentally engaged them when changing gear. If he DID know, why drive 88+ mph knowing you don't have enough plutonium to get back from 1955? (00:30:00)
Question: I have a question about the scene where Sidney receives the ham from the President. At the theatre I believe someone read the note aloud, but my video cut that part. Does anyone know what the note said?
Answer: Sydney mouths the words to the note and laughs, but she doesn't say the words outloud.
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Chosen answer: The Samara virus is transferred through the televison. See how the televisions are on in each of the apartments? This is a bit of forshadowing to the end where Rachael realizes that the only way to avoid death is to make a copy of the tape and show it to someone else.
Timothy Cheseborough