Question: Does anyone think that Meg, Madame Gerty's daughter is a love child with the Phantom?
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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.
Question: I am confused by Darth Vader's attitude in this movie. In Episode V, he asked Luke to join him and get rid of the Emperor. He seemed quite confident and happy about this idea. Now, in Episode VI, he tells Luke that he "must" obey his master, that the Emperor is Luke's master now, etc. Why does he now want himself and Luke to be the Emperor's servants?
Answer: There are a few possibilities. One is that Vader's proposal was always a ruse - note that even the Emperor offers himself as bait to tempt Luke to turn. Another is that Vader's plan was genuine but he abandons it after Luke rejects his offer. Afterwards Luke's resolve has only gotten stronger, and at that point the only hope to turn Luke to the dark side will require the assistance of the Emperor himself. In either case it's probably best to see Vader's demeanor here as an extension of his final scene in The Empire Strikes Back, where we last see him quietly retreating in disappointment.
Answer: Vader was always the emperor's servant. In ESB, he was ordered by the emperor to turn Luke. Vader (as a Sith) was attempting to convince Luke to follow him (his father) so that they could overthrow the emperor. Once that failed, he could no longer keep his plan a secret from the emperor. Vader most likely suspected the emperor planned to replace him with Luke anyway.
Question: What is Valchek's last sentence in the show as he is being promoted to commissioner by Nerese Campbell? Looks like a joke, but no subtitles and it is pretty difficult to hear.
Chosen answer: As he's trying on his new hat, Valchek says, with a smile, "fits like a glove!"
Question: Near the end when Indiana and Marion are tied to the post and the Germans are about to open the Ark, Indiana closes his eyes and tells Marion to close her eyes so they can't look. But how did he know when they should open them again? He wouldn't know the Ark had been sealed again afterwards unless he took a risk and opened his eyes to see.
Chosen answer: The events were quite loud. Once the noise had stopped, and the sound of the ark slamming shut had been heard, he slowly opened his eyes to check it was definitely safe.
Question: At the end, Zoil refers to Paul as 'Short Round.' I know that Short Round was the nickname of the kid in the movie, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. But why did Joil refer to Paul as the kid's nickname?
Question: Why would Blackbeard take so long to stop the mutiny? Sure he gives the ones responsible their punishment, but if it really bothered him or made him angry enough, then why not come out sooner, or be more angry? He seemed pretty calm during this scene.
Answer: He took his time because he knew the mutiny would fail because has complete control over his ship. Better to make sure he knew who he couldn't trust.
Question: Four questions; One, why the hell would Angelica be dressed and acting like Jack, and how could she think she could pull him off? Second, wouldn't Angelica and Blackbeard find it suspicious that Jack keeps asking questions about the Fountain of Youth? He claims that he's been there, and yet they don't find it weird that he's asking about something he's supposedly seen? Third, how was Syrena gonna save Phillip when she drags him underwater? Is there an undersea hospital or something? Fourth, why did Jack leave Angelica on an island by herself? I never understood that.
Answer: Angelica merely wanted to create the "illusion" that it was Jack Sparrow in order to shanghai a crew for her father's ship to search for the Fountain of Youth. They would be more willing to follow Jack Sparrow than Blackbeard. Most had never seen the famous Jack Sparrow in person and were half-drunk most of the time, and likely wouldn't notice the deception. Angelica and Blackbeard may have been suspicious about Jack, but he was their only means to finding the Fountain. The mermaids appear to have magical powers that would allow Syrena to save Phillip, possibly by transforming him into a merman, though this is never explained. Although Angelica claimed to love Jack, he did not trust her motives, and that was why he left her on the island. Jack knew Angelica had the ability to escape. He would not leave her to die.
Question: How did Billy survive a bullet in the mouth?
Chosen answer: Tommy doesn't actually shoot him...he's viciously pistol-whipping him and at the end of the beating does aim the gun at Billy's mouth and say he's going to shoot him, but Jimmy, pulling him off, says "We're done." Tommy then winds up and gives Billy a final whack, so hard the chamber dislodges and the bullets spray out. The noise that sounds like a gunshot is the chamber slamming into the hardwood floor.
Question: What made Sao Feng assume that Elizabeth was Calypso? Nobody told him who she was or at least what her human form was/looked like. Did I miss something?
Answer: Sao Feng simply made a mistake. While Barbossa is bargaining with Sao Fen, he tells him that Calypso is bound in human female form and that she is aboard the ship with them. Sao Feng, who appeared to be attracted to Elizabeth's beauty, quickly jumped to a wrong conclusion by assuming that she was the female he was referring to.
Question: Why does Henry freak out when he realises that Opposite Piper and Henry's dad are going to be eliminated? When the opposites are eliminated, does that mean that the real versions will be eliminated too?
Answer: No.
Question: In the beginning sequence when Riggs is in the cube with water pouring in, it is leaking through the bottom. Why does he just not pull the rubber gasket from around his neck and allow the water to flow out?
Question: How did it end, because I missed that part in the movie. Does Sarah die or did her sister die in the forest?
Answer: Sara spends much of the convoluted ending of this film in the midst of vivid hallucinations. Eventually, Sara dies, accidentally, at her own hands. She cuts her own wrists during a delusion where she believes she is cutting away the grasping fingers of her father's ghost. As she is dying, her body is dragged under the forest floor by Japanese "yurei." (ghosts). Her spirit remains to haunt the forest, lunging at Michi, the search party's forest guide, in the final frames of the film. Meanwhile her sister, Jess, has been rescued alive.
Question: Dogs are immune to the disease being airborne, how did they ever get infected then? Did the infected humans bite the dogs? Seems an odd thing to do as that would likely mean the lions and deer would also be infected. 2. Why did the head mutant allow Will Smith to live (alternate ending)? Once he's got his mate back why didn't he just kill them? Was it a sign of mutual respect? Why don't they show that compassion when they first appeared? Smith takes the head mutant's mate, so in return the head mutant kills his dog and best friend, trashes his lab and destroys his research and stops any progress of a cure that Smith had made. Why not go the extra mile and just kill him, as they basically made humans extinct by doing that? The Darkseekers are smart as we know (setting traps and so on) so why not kill them now, as the next night the Darkseekers are going to search for him again and he doesn't have that big defence anymore. Seems rather pointless to let him live another day.
Chosen answer: 1) the cure was probably tested on animals before being let out into the public. 2) torture, they killed his dog and any possibility of curing the virus. Killing him would have stopped the suffering.
Question: Where does Frankenstein go / what happens to Frankenstein at the end? He just seems to go off into the middle of the ocean on a tiny raft.
Answer: It's unknown where he's going but it's plausible he's going to find a place he can live alone and as far away as possible from people who would judge and fear him.
Answer: In the original novel by Mary Shelley, "Frankenstein," The Creature leaves Europe and settles in the Arctic. Not saying that that's what happens in the "Van Helsing" universe for sure, but I think the raft certainly nods in that direction.
Question: Two things in this make me think they have some meaning behind them. At the cemetery, after the memorial for Billy's mom. Costigan is standing by the grave when everyone's gone already and looks up to the flowers sent by Costello. The note signed by Costello has been shot twice (it switched to Costigan in between). And if you look closely the signature and the picture of Mary changes, as if it would be two completely different notes. And I have no idea why Scorsese would do that. The second shot that bothers me takes place in Sullivan's apartment, while Colin is unpacking Madelyn's boxes. Right before he picks out Madelyn's graduate certificate there's a very short clip where television showing a woman's hand reaching for a phone is filmed. What's that?
Answer: While I love this film (and anything Scorsese touches for that matter), there are many continuity issues throughout the whole movie. It's easy to think that there is meaning behind every shot in a film, but sometimes it is simply sloppy continuity (which doesn't necessarily reflect on Scorsese). Jack Nicholson's scenes in particular seem to always have glaring continuity issues - this probably has something to do with his acting style. At the end of the day, the movie rocks. And that's all that really matters.
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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.
Michael Albert
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.
debbi.ee