Questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

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Question: I saw a rough cut of Cold Mountain, and in the scene with Natalie Portman, her baby dies, and she kills herself, as in the book. In the movie as released, the scene stops after Portman shoots the yankee soldier. Why did they cut the baby's death and her suicide?

Answer: SPOILER: The director is building up to the peak of pathos of Inman being killed. While it is good to have many other sad scenes prior to this to foreshadow it, he probably felt that a dead baby and its mother's suicide might actually trump the hero's death in the sadness stakes which would make the real ending an anti-climax.

Oscar Bravo

Answer: Yes, he says so in the movie. He explains that it gets too messy. Also, it shows that he is stronger than using an easy weapon like a gun. People like to see fist fighting, rather than gun fighting.

Josh Appelbaum

Question: Are the real Schindler Jews in the end accompanied by younger relatives or by the people who played them in the movie?

Answer: It depends, some are accompanied by younger relatives, and others have the actor who played them. The majority have relatives though.

David Mercier

Answer: While filming The Whole Nine Yards with Matthew Perry, the two actors made a bet in which if Willis lost, he would have to appear on FRIENDS for free. Willis did lose, but the studio still paid him. To keep the terms of the bet, Willis donated the money to a charity.

Question: In the scene where Christof touches the large green screen on which Truman is shown sleeping, what is the name of the piece of music that is played by the man on the keyboard to the left of Christof?

Answer: It's just a piece from the soundtrack. I think it's called "Truman Sleeps".

David Mercier

Answer: Pacey.

Nick N.

Question: At the very end of the movie after Dorothy says "Oh, Auntie Em, there's no place like home," normally, it fades out to the credits, but once - and only once - when I was very young, I thought I remembered seeing the camera pan away from her face and down to the foot of the bed where you see the ruby slippers tucked underneath the bed, then a fade to the credits. It is obviously a black-and-white shot, but there were the glittering shoes. Has anyone else seen this version of the ending?

Macalou

Answer: Another fine example of the Mandela Effect. None of the "making of" books reference this alternate ending. The original book ends with Dorothy losing the slippers on her journey back to Kansas.

wizard_of_gore

I also remember this scene; however, I remember it in a television movie, and it was at the beginning, not the end, of an entirely different movie.

Chosen answer: Yes. I'm sure I've seen that version. It shows that Dorothy didn't just dream about Oz and makes for a more satisfying conclusion. This version was original but edited out because it didn't follow the book's storyline for "Return to Oz" and the other long series of Oz books. The sequel pertains that she loses the slippers in transit back to her home and falls to the gnome king who destroys Oz which in turn causes Dorothy to return. So seeing the slippers at the end of the bed, while more satisfying, wouldn't really stay true to the Oz series.

I absolutely remember that version with the shoes at her bedside, but nobody I know remembers it.

Thank you! I remember that too but everyone I know thinks I'm nuts.

I remember that version and after that I expected to see the same ending but no I never saw that ending again. I got the response that no-one I know saw that ending of the movie where the ruby slippers being on her feet in her bed. Thank you for that answer. This was a long time mystery.

I absolutely remember that scene.

I remember that too - and I've asked so many people and they said no, I must have dreamed it. Thank you.

I saw that version once when I was a little kid too! I remember it vividly. Now I know I'm not crazy.

Answer: https://criticsrant.com/mythbusters-dorothys-ruby-slippers/ This website gives some confirmation it's one of those myths that spread around and get mixed up in people's memories to being convinced they have seen it despite no evidence of it existing. In a film as big as the Wizard of Oz where die hard fans have collected original scripts, notes, and "lost" imagery over the years; we certainly would have something to back this up other than eye witness memory. Especially if it supposedly made it to the final print for viewing audiences as the original Wizard of Oz footage has been carefully preserved, as it's considered one of the most important films of all time. This footage wouldn't be completely lost if it made it to final showing print. Surely somebody would have posted it by now on YouTube. It is possible somebody made a skit or parody of this though contributing to the idea that it was actually in a print of the real movie.

Answer: This seems to be one of those mass examples of people remembering something that never happened. There are also other variations, like people claiming to remember the film switching to color as the shot pans down to her slipper-clad feet, or the slippers being in color against the sepia-toned B&W footage. But sadly, it seems no officially released version of the film has had such an ending. It's similar to how everyone thinks Darth Vader says "Luke, I am your father," or how everyone thinks Humphrey Bogart says "Play it again, Sam!", even though neither of those lines are real, and people are merely incorrectly remembering them. The film is so ingrained in pop-culture, that people think they know it forwards-and-back, and false memories are created.

TedStixon

I agree that people think they remember things that never happened, but usually for things like this, remembering a scene wrong misquoting a movie lines, it comes from parody versions and people are (correctly) remembering the parody. I've never seen "Silence of the Lambs", but I know the line "Hello, Clarice" from films like "Cable Guy" and not from a false memory of the film.

Bishop73

Answer: I remember this being part of a special that was hosted by Angela Lansbury in 1990 and they showed that this ending was considered for the movie. For many years I couldn't remember why I remembered that ending and Angela Lansbury until I looked it up. I wish that it had been left like that. Kids always want their dreams to come true.

Answer: I and a friend of mine remember seeing the ruby slippers under Dorthy's bed at the end of the movie. Glad to know we didn't imagine it.

Question: We find out in the beginning of the film that Will was found at the age of 10 and it's been about 8 years later so he's about 18. Well obviously Jack is older but does anybody know exactly how old? or at least a decent guess?

bessytheevilcow

Chosen answer: Given that Jack is a contemporary of Bootstrap Bill Turner, Will's father, it's a safe guess that he's about 20 years older, so maybe 38?

Question: The Witch King says "No man can kill me", and Eowyn replies "No man am I" when she kills him. Is the Witch King actually somehow protected against the attacks of males (or male humans, since a male hobbit hit him just fine) but not females, or was he just trash talking and she scored the payoff line? (With reference to the book if necessary).

Moose

Chosen answer: It was prophesied that no man would kill him. And seeing how prophecies often are very literal, no male being could strike him down. Merry managed to do so because his blade was Numenoréan, and forged in the early fights against the Witch-King and his kingdom in Angmar.

Twotall

Chosen answer: At www.tvtome.com there is a little summary of every episode of The Simpsons.

don_corleone

Question: Its an American film, set in America, with American kids in an American way of life...so why the HUGE Union Jack on the inside of Ferris' bedroom door? What's the significance with Britain?

pierpp

Chosen answer: The British flag was a trendy item in the mid-80s. You had it on t-shirts, on pants, on all kinds of items, and kids would draw it on their sneakers (remember Converse's rubber toes? That was perfect to draw a British flag!) or on whatever they could draw on.

Sereenie

Answer: It's tribute to the Beatles. Ferris sang the Beatles version of "Twist and shout" at the parade.

Question: After Nightcrawler saves Rogue, there is a scene in the forest where she comes up and says "Thank you." He responds in German - according to AltaVista's BabelFish he says: "Ask Beautiful" but that doesn't make sense. Does anyone know what he really says?

Asdfaeou

Chosen answer: "Bitte Schon". When someone says "Danke", it is polite to reply "Bitte" (ie. 'you're welcome'). Similarly "Danke Schon" ('thank you very much') is replied to with "Bitte Schon". Translated literally the words mean 'please beautifully' but the phrase means 'you're welcome'.

jle

Season 1 Episode 6 - S1-E6

Question: In this episode Brian addresses Den Perry as Dennis, but in another episode in series 2 he calls him Denzel, I'm sure as they are rivals that they would know each other enough to get each other's name right, so why did Brian call him two different names?

troy fox

Chosen answer: He doesn't have a longer name eg. Dennis or Denzel it's simply Den. Brian simply says this to make Den annoyed by giving him a long name. Another theory is Brian is so stupid that he just doesn't know Mr. Perry's name or is unsure of it but I'm sure it's the first one.

Question: At one point in the movie, Pippin has to sing for Denethor. I've heard that while the music was composed by Billy Boyd, the lyrics were actually from the book. Does anybody know which song in the book they were taken from?

kendra jackson

Chosen answer: The song is called "A Walking Song." It's in Chapter three (Three is Company) of Book 1 in Fellowship of the Ring. Mainly they used the last stanza in the movie.

cullothiel

Question: Why is the word "Packy" insulting to Jess?

Answer: May only be a UK thing, but it's a racist term (short for Pakistani), which is applied by some people to anyone non-white, irrespective of where in the world they actually come from.

Question: What are the little red things that Cody's partner puts all over inside the bad guys' hide-out?

Answer: Those are the charges for the big bombing scene at the end.

Stefanie

Question: What is the translation of what Mac says to Han when he thinks his name is Ahkbar?

Answer: Mac says 'Asalamu alaikum Akhbar' This is the Islamic greeting and means 'Peace be with you'. Akhbar is a Muslim Name so Mac would have said this to him.

Question: Is there some reason that we are considently seeing planes fly over her house? Is that supposed to symbolize something?

Answer: Jess' house is supposed to be on the main flight path of Heathrow airport. Her mum and dad work there.

Answer: I doubt it; it's probably because the film is set in the Borough of Hounslow, which is in the flight paths of many London airports, including Heathrow.

David Mercier

Question: When Frodo has been taken captive by the Orcs, and Sam kills three Orcs to get to him, for the first two he says "That's for Frodo." and "That's for the Shire.", but I couldn't make out what he says for the third. What is it?

Answer: And that's for my old Gaffer.

jle

Show generally

Question: I've heard that the original name for this show wasn't "The Powerpuff Girls" and that the original name had to be censored. Anyone knows what was the original name of this show and why it was censored?

Answer: The original name of the show was "The Whoopass Girls", so called because their father accidentally spilled a can of whoopass into the sugar, spice, and everything nice. The reason that this was changed should be obvious. You'll never be able to sell a bunch of toys to children if these toys have the the word "whoopass" on the front.

tromatic

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