Questions about specific movies, TV and more

This page is for questions relating to a specific title. If you have a more general question, please check out the general movie questions section. Click the button below a question to answer it or click "edit" to correct a spelling mistake. Ask your questions here, and hopefully someone will answer soon. Members get e-mailed when any of their questions are answered.

Question: Why does Voldemort call Peter Pettigrew Wormtail?

Answer: Voldemort was a legilliman, someone who could read other peoples' minds. That is how he learned of Peter Pettigrew's nickname for his animagus form of a rat. Voldemort likely calls Pettigrew that because the name is rather demeaning, and he considers Peter one of his most lowly and cowardly servants.

raywest

Chosen answer: That was the nickname he had been given at Hogwarts. He and his three friends, who could transform into animals (James Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin), all gave each other nicknames relating to their animal forms. Peter becomes a rat, and since rats have hairless tails, they chose to call him "Wormtail."

Twotall

But that does not answer why Voldemort of all people calls him by the name given him -in secret, mind you- by his closest friends.

Answer: They call him that because it reminds them of how traitorous and cowardly he is.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)

Question: Why does Voldemort call Peter Pettigrew Wormtail?

raywest

Twotall

But that does not answer why Voldemort of all people calls him by the name given him -in secret, mind you- by his closest friends.

Answer: They call him that because it reminds them of how traitorous and cowardly he is.

Hotel Rwanda (2004)

Question: I believe they mentioned it in the movie, but I missed it. How was it decided who is Tutsi and who is Hutu?

Chosen answer: Generally there were two methods, one they had identification badges that mentioned whether they were Tutsi or Hutu. This is evident when Don Cheadle goes to buy supplies and they want to see some ID. The other was simply that people knew each other. Some people would say who was Tutsi and who was Hutu.

Lummie

Corpse Bride (2005)

Question: In one of the extras, Tim Burton says that he got the idea for Corpse Bride from a story. He said just that it was just a few paragraphs, but what is the story that he is talking about?

Chosen answer: It's a 19th century Russian Jewish folk-tale - the story starts quite similarly, with the lead character saying his vows while putting the ring on what he believes to be a stick. The tale generally finishes with the rabbis annulling the marriage and the living bride vowing to honour the memory of the corpse bride throughout her marriage - which ties into the Jewish tradition of honouring the dead through the lives of the living.

Tailkinker

Field of Dreams (1989)

Question: At the end of the movie, the Voice is credited as Himself. Who was really responsible for doing the voice that sent Ray on his journey?

Chosen answer: It was actually his own voice (Kevin Costner) that sent him on the journey. At the end of the movie there's even the part where Ray is recalling the voices he heard and turned to Shoeless Joe Jackson and says, "It was you". At which point Joe Jackson turns around and says, "No Ray. It was you".

Match Point (2005)

Question: Is Nola really pregnant? She's taking medicine and the police say nothing about a pregnancy to Chris, when they show him Nola's diary.

Chosen answer: No, she's not pregnant.

Stargate SG-1 (1997)

Point of View - S3-E6

Question: I have a question about the correction about the Asgard not beaming Teal'c because they knew about him helping SG-1. This happened in the alternate reality. Would the alternate Asgard know about Teal'c turning against Apophis?

Chosen answer: The Alternate Samantha Carter has travelled to enlist the Asgard's help. It stands to reason that she would have explained the situation to them fully before they arrive.

roboc

Bridget Jones's Diary (2001)

Question: When Bridget and Daniel are in bed at the hotel, she says "that thing you just did is actually illegal in several countries". Anyone know what she was talking about? I assume it's a sex thing and I'm dying to know.

Chosen answer: I'm pretty sure you can assume she's talking about anal sex, which is still technically illegal in a number of countries.

Monsters, Inc. (2001)

Question: I saw Frank Oz's name listed in the credits, does anyone know who he does the voice of?

Chosen answer: He voices Fungus, Randall's assistant.

Andreas[DK]

MAS*H (1972)

Show generally

Question: Did Colonel Flagg have a first name?

Chosen answer: According to both IMDb and Answers.com, just to name a few, Col. Flagg's first name is Samuel.

OneHappyHusky

Jurassic Park (1993)

Question: I am sure I've heard some of the T-Rex sound effects before, particularly the growling noise it makes when Tim shuts the door of the Ford Explorer in the first big T-Rex scene. I thought perhaps they were stock sound effects but was told they were all created for the movie. Can anyone tell me where else they might have been used? I get the feeling some might have been used in one of the Doom games.

Chosen answer: The sound effects were created specifically for the movie and Spielberg has a very strict policy against letting his material be used for stock (because of an incident in which footage from his movie "Duel" was recycled into the Incredible Hulk TV show). Therefore, you could not have heard this particular growl anywhere else. Perhaps it was just very similar. One place you may have heard it was on the software program GoZilla. That used the Rex roar when a download completed.

Roseanne (1988)

Show generally

Question: In the episode where Leon gets married, Dan says at the end that Leon and Scott are "having it out" or something like that. Roseanne says that they're just "two people of the same gender going at it". Then a woman sits down behind her and Roseanne says "Hi there". Then the audience roars in laughter and applause. I don't get it. What's the joke?

Chosen answer: The woman who sits down is Sharon, who was Nancy's girlfriend in "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (season 6) and is played by Mariel Hemingway. In that infamous episode, Sharon kissed Roseanne on the mouth. She returns in "December Bride" (season 8) and makes a brief, but very funny, appearance at Leon and Scott's wedding. You may also be interested in Milton Berle's "drag" cameo, as he catches the bouquet. On Berle's TV show, back in the 40's and 50's, his skits in drag became his trademark.

Super Grover

The Simpsons (1989)

Show generally

Question: Which episode is it where Bart and Lisa are arguing, saying "You're gay for Moleman." "No you're gay for Moleman." And Moleman says "Nobody's gay for Moleman." Is it the one where Frink shpws them their future?

Chosen answer: Yes it is. The episode is called Future-Drama - Season 16, Episode 15.

Andreas[DK]

MAS*H (1972)

Show generally

Question: Who did the paintings that Colonel Potter was always working on?

Chosen answer: Its been said that Harry Morgan or Gary Burghoff actualy did the pictures, from a M*A*S*H special.

Law & Order (1990)

Show generally

Question: How come Briscoe and Greene and every other cop that works in the precinct can wear suits at the scene of a crime but when other cops from other precincts are also at the crime scene they are wearing uniforms?

Chosen answer: An example of this might be easier to give a reason, but the most likely explanation is that those in police uniform are just regular police while Briscoe, Green are detectives. As for the precinct, the area that they work in is where other detectives work so that would be why so many are dressed in suits as well.

Lummie

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Question: If Hannibal Lecter knew all along who Buffalo Bill really was, then why didn't he just come right out and say it?

Chosen answer: Because that would be boring for the doctor. He gets the opportunity to play his twisted mind-games with agent Starling, and manipulate her into revealing her own secrets to him, so he draws the game out for as long as he can.

Twotall

Ocean's Twelve (2004)

Question: In the scene near the end of the movie, when Isabel confronts Rusty at the airplane and he tells her that her father is still alive, He also says "There's nothing back there but a forged 1077." How does he know she forged it? Even if we can assume they were bluffing when Linus' mother showed up at the prison indicating an irregularity with the paperwork (as previously contributed by another viewer), that doesn't explain how Rusty knew it was forged.

Chosen answer: Because he knows her and what lengths she would go to. He also could have gotten inside information.

shortdanzr

Ocean's Twelve (2004)

Question: How does Linus' mother know to get them out of prison?

Chosen answer: The whole thing was planned from the beginning. That is how she knows.

shortdanzr

Memento (2000)

Question: I've read every thing on the Internet i can find and i still don't completely understand the plot. Every explanation leaves questions, such as how does Jimmy (the boyfriend of Natalie that Lenny kills) know about Sammy (he mutters 'Sammy' as he's being dragged down the stairs). How does Natalie know about Lenny (the first time he goes into the bar she says something along the lines of 'you're the memory guy' which suggests she knew he was coming). Can anyone answer these questions or let me know a site where the whole thing is explained?

Chosen answer: There's an official web site: http://www.otnemem.com/, as well as one written by Chris Nolan, Jonathan's brother (Understanding Memento): http://www.christophernolan.net/memento_un.php. There's also very good Movie FAQ here: http://www.designpattern.org/wp/?page_id=13.

Last Action Hero (1993)

Question: During the sequence where Schwarzenegger plays Hamlet, one of the knights looks remarkably like Robin Williams. Who plays him?

Chosen answer: Since there was no name in the credit for this character, we do not know. However it did not look like Robin Williams to me.

SAZOO1975

Join the mailing list

Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Support the site on Patreon