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: Why in this movie is Mr. Frankenstein's first name Henry and not Victor (like it is in the book)? If it was changed to Henry so it would not be confused with the Frankenstein's family friend Victor Moritz, why not just call Moritz something else, and keep the original name of the main character in the movie?

Answer: There seems to be no officially stated reason why the name was changed, but it's possible to theorise. There were numerous changes between the original book and the film. One theory is that these changes were to make the story more accessible to the mass audiences, and altering the name of the main character to a more common one could be seen as part of that. Another (possibly more likely) reason is down to alterations in the characters. Unlike the book, the film ultimately seeks to redeem Frankenstein's character, making him a more human and sympathetic character. Conversely, the character of Frankenstein's old friend, named Victor in the film, but Henry in the book, has been made a much less pleasant character. As Victor is quite a harsh, martial name and Henry comes across as rather more amiable, the filmmakers might well have decided that it would be more appropriate to the characters that they were trying to portray to switch the names round.

Tailkinker

Question: In the first movie Frodo sees the sundering of Hobbiton in the mirror of Galadriel, yet in the third movie this doesn't happen. Does the mirror only show one possible version of the future and not necessarily that which will come to pass?

Answer: Galadriel says to Frodo upon him seeing the Shire burning, "It is what will happen, should you fail." Frodo didn't fail in his quest, and so the Shire was saved.

Question: When the horses of Aragorn and Legolas are spooked and run away from the entrance to the mountain cavern, Aragorn's horse gets away with the scabbard to his new shiny sword still on the saddle. Does he ever get his scabbard back for battle or just have to carry the sword unsheathed for the next scenes?

Answer: He probably carries it unsheathed for however long it takes to locate a scabbard that will hold the sword. Brego also must have returned to the camp of the Rohirrim, since Aragorn has him back in later battles and that particular scabbard was likely retrieved then.

Phil C.

Question: What happens to Saruman? I know that he is in his tower, but we never really finds out what happens to him. We also know that the burning of the shire scenes are not in the film, so we don't see him get killed. Is this one for the Extended DVD?

Scrappy

Chosen answer: The extended edition may have Peter Jackson's version of what happened to Saruman but it won't have the book's version. In the book, Sarauman is defeated by Gandalf and expelled from Isengard and goes to the Shire where he takes command and enslaves the hobbits. Merry, Pippin and Sam return to the Shire and organise a rebellion. Saruman leaves, thoroughly defeated, and is killed by Grima Wormtongue. None of this was filmed for the movie. In the extended version of the movie Saruman stands on the top of the tower and has an argument with both King Theoden and Gandalf when Grima Wormtongue appears and is realizing he had been in the wrong with a few encouraging words from the group below. Saruman then belittles Grima Wormtongue hitting him to the ground. Enraged Grima Wormtongue then stabs Saruman in the back several times causing Saruman to fall and lands torso first onto a spike on a water wheel that is still continuing to turn with all the extra water from the dam burst. This is why the Ent, Treebeard, says "the filth of Saruman is washing away" also the Palantir falls out of his robes and that's why Pip finds it in the water.

jle

Question: In the scene with the Fellowship outside the walls of Moria, Frodo asks Gandalf, what the Elvish word is for 'friend.' Why didn't he ask Legolas, the only Elf, in their group? Or was he just asking in general and Gandalf answered first?

Answer: I think since Gandalf had just translated the Elvish it seemed only obvious to ask him.

troy fox

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.

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.

Answer: In order to keep people away from the set of the Matrix and keep spoilers from getting out, the movie was under the name "The Burly Man", which gave way to the Burly Brawl.

T Poston

Question: Is Detective Kincaid the second killer? Two pieces of evidence spring to mind that he could be. One, he borrows Dewey's phone and soon afterwards Sydney is rung up by the killer and two, Roman Bridger has a bulletproof vest.

Answer: Those are misdirects/red-herrings to make you suspect Kincaid. Not actual pieces of evidence. But Roman is confirmed to be the only killer in the film. Originally, there was going to be a second killer (as there is in the three other films), but the idea was dropped during production to change-up the formula slightly and keep audiences guessing.

So how could Roman call her in that moment?

Answer: No, remember, the detective says something along the lines of "In the third movie, all bets are off." Meaning that you can't expect the same formula (ie two killers) as the first two movies.

Grumpy Scot

Answer: The line, "In the third movie, all bets are off," means to expect the unexpected. That anything goes, the hero could die, the killer gets away it or the boyfriend dies. There is an ending but not a predicable one.

Question: Is there a definite answer as to why this is called "Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone" in the US?

Answer: Both the book and the film were retitled because Scholastic, the publishers, were worried that American children wouldn't have heard the legend of the "philosopher's stone", and would think the book was about philosophy. They wanted to rename it to something that made it obvious that it's about magic, so they used "sorceror's".

Moose

Question: Pennywise, the Singing and Dancing clown, is dressed in bright colors in the movie. The clown in the book wore silver. Does anyone know why this change was made?

Answer: Silver costumes would have reflected studio lights and looked odd.

Grumpy Scot

Answer: She has superpowers, ergo fast movement. The reason she outruns him so easily in "Touched" is that she stops trying to actually fight him and just dodges instead.

Shay

Question: This is a question for the extended edition DVD. Does anyone have a translation of the insult Gimli says to Haldir in Lothlorien?

Answer: According to Elvish.org, Gimli says in Dwarvish, "Ishkhaqwi ai durugnul." It translates into "I spit upon your grave."

cullothiel

Question: When Bobby's brother calls the police, he has some news thing on the computer. What was on it?

Piemanmoo

Chosen answer: It was a news story about the mutant attack.

Sol Parker

Question: Why was there adamantium in Nightcrawler's flashback? We saw a needle too, implying he was being injected. Does this fit with any comic/movie interpretation?

Piemanmoo

Chosen answer: The needle in the flashback relates to the drug that Stryker placed on the back of his neck so that he could control him. The adamantium in the flashback is most likely because the flashback relates to events at Alkali Lake.

Boring - S1-E3

Question: What is the name of the band playing in the pub? They sing 'Welcome to the House of Fun' and seem very familiar to me, but I can't figure out how.

Answer: Madness.

jle

Answer: Madness also appeared in the episode "Sick", where they performed their song "Our House", which was their biggest (and only major) hit in the US.

zendaddy621

Flood - S1-E6

Question: The Prisoner from the opening sequence is credited as being played by Arnold Brown. Can anyone tell me what else Mr. Brown has been in? He appears very familiar for reasons unknown...

Answer: His IMDB entry is at http://uk.imdb.com/name/nm0113055/.

jle

Question: In the end credits, Peter Capell is credited for playing "The Tinker" and Peter Stuart is credited for playing "Winkelmann." I have no idea who these characters were in the movie. Does anyone know which characters they were?

Answer: The Tinker was the wierd looking old man that tells Charlie "You see, nobody ever goes in and nobody ever comes out." outside the gates of the factory (he is pushing a cart, that looks to be full of knives). Winkelmann was the little boy that told Charlie's teacher (Mr. Turkentine) about the Golden Ticket's contest (when the teacher dismisses class).

Bruce Minnick

The One With Ross's Teeth - S6-E8

Question: Maybe I'm just stupid or this is an American joke, but in the scene where Chandler tells Monica he needs to be in a guy place, she says something like: "Girls don't have pillowfights in their underwear." and he gets all shocked. Why? Does he want them to? Or not?

Answer: It's just a typical bloke fantasy - when women are together and in a playful mood they have pillow fights in their underwear. We all like to think it's true, so Monica telling him it's not gives him a scare.

Jon Sandys

Answer: Men generally fantasise that women who have sleep overs have pillow fights in their underwear, and she nearly ruined that myth when she told him women don't actually do that. Just a weird lad fetish basically :).

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.

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