Question: Does anyone know what the spiral and dot on the back of the Pirates of the Caribbean medallion mean/represent?
Questions about specific movies, TV shows and more
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Question: Was there any reason why Tong Po is listed as being played by himself when he was played by Michel Qissi? This is in the film's credit, I know IMDB listed Qissi as the actor. And if this was just a mistake, was there an explanation given as to how it was made or got past editing?
Answer: He didn't want to use his real name.
Answer: This is a mistake that has never been explained.
Question: If predator and prey live in harmony, why do they still make fox repellent?
Answer: Same reason we humans have pepper spray. I think there's some sort of repellent for each animal just for safety reasons.
Question: Does Stan Lee have his usual cameo in this film?
Chosen answer: No, no one from the film asked him to do a cameo. Stan Lee has said he never requests a cameo and waits to be asked.
I read on IMDb that he declined to make a cameo in this movie.
I've never heard him say he declined the cameo. I think maybe the entry was made from an assumption of what Lee told Larry King. Lee mentioned he wasn't in one of the X-Men films or this film and said sometimes the films are shot too far away and he can't travel half way around the world to be in a cameo. But this film was shot primarily in Louisiana and did have a scene shot in Los Angeles supposedly.
Question: My question is about radio chatter. Sometimes in the movie McClane talks on the radio and the bad guys hear him, and sometimes the bad guys talk and everybody hears. Now there are times that McClane is talking to the Sergeant and it appears only him and the Sergeant are listening - can everyone listen to them? Also when talking with Theo about the safe, can McClane hear their conversation?
Chosen answer: The gangster/terrorists were using a set of what are called "commercial" or business walkie-talkies which have special, dedicated channels so that they only communicate with other radios within the set. These are typically used by security and event-staff personnel, and they can't be monitored by general-purpose or citizens-band radios. Even the police wouldn't be able to monitor commercial radio traffic unless they had special tuning gear and scanners. The major mistake in "Die Hard" was that John used one of those commercial radios to contact a police dispatcher and then an individual police officer. No can do.
Question: On the phone conversation, Howard Payne claims that it took him two full years of his life setting up that elevator job and investing himself in it. So how is he able to move out of his old retirement home and relocate in an apartment building in downtown LA near Pershing Square, rig 2 city buses with a handheld remote with C4 bombs, rig his old home, cut the hole on the street underneath the garbage can and think of that revenge plot and plan and set up everything else in just a month. That's just not enough time for him to do all that.
Question: What is the name of the soundtrack when Basher is detonating the pinch as a part of the plan?
Question: What is the name of the soundtrack being played when Benedict is watching the tape and rusty is explaining him the escape plan?
Question: What did the car exploding towards the start of the movie mean?
Answer: Are you referring to the Director of the Louvre's car getting killed in the Paris tunnel? He was killed for knowing too much.
Answer: He was on his way to a press conference, probably to "blow the whistle" about the whole plan, and somebody silenced him.
Question: How does Batman (Thomas) kill Zoom? I know that in the comics he doesn't use a gun. But wasn't Zoom supposed to feel/hear the bullet (etc.) and move away at high speed?
Chosen answer: He doesn't have super hearing so no he wouldn't have heard it. As to feeling it, yes he should have. But it could be explained away by him gloating and being totally focused on Barry, or the lower speed force level.
Question: Why did Draco want to gate-crash Slughorn's party? It seems to have something to do with his mission to kill Dumbledore, but Dumbledore was not there.
Answer: He wasn't gate-crashing. Draco was caught in the halls, where he should not have been. He was en route to the Room of Requirement where he was secretly working on repairing the vanishing cabinet. The "gate-crashing" was an excuse he came up with when Filch happened to catch him outside where Slughorn's party was being held.
Answer: Draco poisoned Slughorn's present for Dumbledore.
Question: What year is the film set?
Chosen answer: While no specific date is given, Mel Brooks wanted to do a tribute parody to the classic 1930's horror film, thus the Black and White film and the 30's style film techniques. However, Hans Delbrück (the brain Igor is suppose to steal) was a real-life person who died in 1929. Given that and the cars seen, it's a safe bet it's suppose to be set in the early 1930's.
Answer: Near the end of the film the (now improved) monster is in bed reading the Wall Street Journal. The article in the top left corner refers to the Brown Vs. Board of Education Supreme Court case after 25 years. That puts the film in 1979. (It was made in 1974.) Also, the young Dr. Frankenstein refers to his grandfather, the infamous Dr. Frankenstein. The original movie was made in 1931. That places the movie two generations later.
Question: Nora goes out with Julian. She asks him where he wants to eat. He doesn't speak. Nora stares at him over sunglasses and says, "Food. Manja." What does manja mean?
Question: I know that I've seen a clip of Narcissa telling Voldemort that he will always be welcome at the Malfoy's house (she does not say this in the book). Is there an extended version of the scene somewhere?
Answer: I have not seen this scene in any version of HP and the Death Hallows 1. Movies often film more scenes than what end up in the final version. If they are seen, it is usually in the DVD "Extras" of deleted scenes, in movie trailers shown in theaters, are posted online, or are added to extended versions of the movie. I suspect this particular scene was shown in a theatrical trailer.
Question: At the beginning of the final segment, the American Flag is flying upside down outside the beach lodge. Since it is pretty clear that Red would not being trying to elicit support/backup for the deeds that he and his female accomplice were about to undertake, what is the significance of this widely accepted distress signal?
Question: Benny gave a hat to Smalls to replace the fish hat. What team and what year was the hat?
Answer: It's a blue hat with a yellow/gold capitol "C" for the logo, which doesn't correspond to any major league teams. It could be a minor league or school team hat. Benny refers to it as his "old" hat, so he may have replaced it with the Dodgers hat he's wearing.
Question: Does anyone think that Meg, Madame Gerty's daughter is a love child with the Phantom?
Answer: It is conceivable, I suppose, but extremely unlikely. The role of Madame Giry (the correct spelling) in the opera house, and her relationship to Erik (the Phantom) and Christine Daae differ somewhat between the book, the stage musical, and the 2004 film. But never is a romantic connection between Madame Giry and Erik, past or present, even implied. She functions more as a knowledgeable intermediary and is more or less employed by the Phantom to represent his interests to the Opera House administration, even though she had never seen him, but had only heard his voice. Also, if Meg were his daughter, it wouldn't make sense, given his personality, that Erik would have absolutely no apparent relationship with her. Further, given the dramatic payoff that could be added to the story by revealing that Meg is the Phantom's love child, it is all but inconceivable that such a relationship would be salient in the mind of author Gaston Leroux, but that he would never make it explicit. Ultimately, anything is possible. But in the absence of any evidence to support the theory, I would say it's a pretty clear bet that Meg Giry has no blood relationship to the Phantom.
The theory of Meg being the Phantom's daughter would not be at all an explanation as to why he is not interested in her as he is with Christine. This would only make sense if you were implying that he was a pedophile which I can tell you that he most likely is not because in the short song ("I have brought you to the seat of sweet music's thrown...") between 'The Phantom of the Opera' and 'Music of the Night' he says "You have come here for one purpose and one alone. Since the moment I first heard you sing, I have needed you with me to serve me, to sing..." This shows that he brought Christine to his lair because of his attraction to Christine and her talent or whatever (but absolutely not because he is attracted to young girls), the talent which Meg lacks is shown due to her mother's reaction/attitude/actions when Christine goes up to sing 'Think of Me' - in the movie, she looks at Meg and touches her hair, giving her that look of disappointment on the DL; in the theater version, after the performance, she scolds Meg (and the other ballerinas), speaking to her as if she were somewhat unworthy or not as good as Christine. I hate to ever use Love never Dies references to back up my statements when discussing tpoto, but I am sure that Madame Giry would not allow Meg to have affection towards the Phantom neither seek equivalent attention from the Phantom as he gave Christine if you understand what I'm saying. Like Meg was crazy obsessed with winning the Phantom's attention.
Question: What year is this film set in? The clothing and architecture don't make it clear. Is it meant to be timeless?
Chosen answer: Theodor Seuss Geisel, or Dr. Suess as we know him, published most of his books between the late 1930's and the late 1980's. "The Cat in the Hat" was first published in 1957. Dr. Seuss' works generally tell the stories of fantastical characters in imaginary places, meant to be timeless. Illustrations and animated adaptations show buildings and objects with unusual proportions, odd shapes and bizarre functions. The live action film of "The Cat in the Hat, " however, is rooted to reality by its decidedly human child protagonists in an ordinary house in an ordinary neighborhood. The production design, costume design and set decoration of the 2003 film seem also to have the goal of achieving a certain timelessness. No date reference is given. However, there a decidedly stylized quality of 1950's-1960's suburban architecture and design, complete with its generic forms, chimneys, picket fences, and colors such as yellows and avocado greens, reflecting the common decor of the time. Similar to the 1971 TV short, which seems to provide a reference point for the design aesthetic of the film, nothing appears exceedingly futuristic nor rooted in period styles like victorian or colonial. I have also posed your question to Rita Ryack, the film's costume designer, whom I found on Facebook. If she sees my questions and decides to respond, I will add her insights to this answer.
Question: Why did lieutenant Kale reopen the investigation? He already got away with murder.
Answer: He's a dirty cop and if you remember, a former con knew Kale killed his late partner and was blackmailing him. They'd arranged to meet at the place where the crime occurred for the payoff. So he had to have a good excuse for being at the scene of the crime when the police would come after he'd killed the ex con.
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Answer: The symbol on the back is called the "chimali". It's a symbol of harmony, similar to the yin yang.
Greg Dwyer