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.

Smoke Signals (1998)

Question: In what state is the reservation in the film supposed to be set in? The boy who speaks constantly (can't remember his name) speaks with a Minnesota accent, but I never heard references to Minnesota in the film. Can someone help please help me with this?

1

Chosen answer: Smoke Signals was shot on site at the Coeur d'Alene Reservation in Idaho. The actor who plays young Thomas Builds-the-Fire (the one in braids and glasses) is from Canada.

1

Secret Window (2004)

Question: I didn't really get the beginning. How did Mort know the exact room where his wife was? And when Mort came in, why was Ted mad, shouldn't he be ashamed? After all, Amy WAS Mort's wife and he was sleeping with her. And when Mort was in the car and telling himself not to go back, was that another proof showing he was kinda psycho?

3

Chosen answer: Mort followed Ted and Amy to the motel and watched which room they went into. Ted's reaction was a mixture of emotions: anger, shock, fear, shame, etc. It was a highly charged situation and considering Mort burst in screaming with a gun threatening to kill them, Ted's reaction seems normal under the circumstances. Mort talking with himself in the car is a subtle clue to the audience that his personality has more than one facet to it.

raywest Premium member
1

24 (2001)

Day 4: 10:00 P.M.-11:00 P.M. - S4-E16

Question: What happens to Behrooz at the end? I missed this episode, so I read in the official site of 24 its summary, but it didn't really say if Behrooz was killed or not. So was he killed or not?

Chosen answer: It's never confirmed exactly what happened to him. In a deleted scene, he is rescued by CTU agents. After that, we can assume that he was probably put into witness protection or something.

Nick N.
1

Jaws (1975)

Question: In the scene where Quint is sitting with the fishing pole, Brody is trying to learn a knot. What kind of knot?

1

Chosen answer: Its a bowline. Quint's instructions with the eel coming out of the hole etc., are a common way to teach a bowline with an eel in place of a rabbit. A bowline is a popular fixed loop knot used everywhere.

1

War of the Worlds (2005)

Question: Why did the aliens need the human blood, and why did they spread it around? Also, when Ray and Rachel are in Boston, he breaks a white thing off a statue. What was it? And why was it dying?

Chosen answer: They didn't spread blood around. That was a red fluid seeding the planet with the red vine. The red vine was the first stage in making the Earth suitable for Martians. At the statue, Ferrier broke off a piece of the red vine - dead and brittle. It was the first clue that Martian life wouldn't survive on Earth.

scwilliam
3

The Simpsons (1989)

Show generally

Question: Why did Mike Scully leave the show?

Chosen answer: He left the show to write for Everybody Loves Raymond, but is currently writing the Simpsons Movie.

1

Batman Begins (2005)

Question: In the animated series Ra's Al Ghul's name is pronounced "Raishe" rhyming with race. In this movie it's pronounced "Raaz". Why the change?

3

Chosen answer: "Rahz" or "Raaz" is how the name is pronounced in Arabic. The pronounciation in the animated series was purposfully done to shun the notion of Ra's being Arabic (having a terrorist be Arabic could cause problems for a children's cartoon.)

1

Casablanca (1942)

Question: Why did Ilsa jilt Rick in Paris when she was in love with him?

2

Chosen answer: She was married then, and discovered that Lazlo was still alive.

scwilliam
1

Scrubs (2001)

My Ocardial Infarction - S4-E13

Question: What does the title of this episode mean?

Chosen answer: It is a play on the "Myocardial Infarction," the medical term for a heart attack.

Guy
1

Gladiator (2000)

Question: There is a scene where there is a play fight between 'Maximus' and 'Commodus', but how would the people be able to get away with making fun of their Emperor? Wouldn't guards or someone else like that punish them or tell the Emperor?

Chosen answer: The art of parody dates back to those times - examples exist in both Greek and Roman literature. While it was potentially unwise to make fun of somebody quite as unstable as Commodus, they're not really risking much. It would hardly look good for an Emperor who's trying to win the hearts of his people if he executed a bunch of actors simply because they poked fun at him.

Tailkinker Premium member
1

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

Question: I have read all the trivia for this movie and everyone is talking about "that's from the Disney ride" can someone please explain this to me? I don't understand at all.

Chosen answer: There is a Disney ride in FL, and I believe CA as well, that is called Pirates of the Caribbean. There are some scenes from the movie that are modelled after parts of the ride.

bessytheevilcow
2

Remember the Titans (2000)

Question: Just out of curiosity, they didn't mention what happen to that Alan guy who gave his position to Pete. Did he go on to play college ball?

1

Chosen answer: Alan Bosley was not a real person, just a character they made up for the movie, if you are looking for any info on the real players go to this site, http://www.71originaltitans.com.

pross79
1

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)

Question: I am just curious as to how they make the lightsaber clashing sound. It's the sound made when General Grevious turns on his lightsabers, in Ep. II right before Obi Wan is cut by Dooku's lightsaber, and in Ep. IV whenever Darth Vader and Obi Wan clash their lightsabers and hold it together. It's a shhhhh, clickity, clickity, clack, clack. I just was wondering.

Chosen answer: It is metal on dry ice and the ignition of carbon arc lamps used in old movie projectors (sounds strange but true!).

1

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

Question: In the beginning, Cameron is on the phone with Rooney, pretending to be Mr. Peterson, in the Bueller's kitchen. Ferris then calls the office for homework assignments, and he is on the round, red phone from his room. This movie was made in 1986- were phones with dual lines on them available in 1986?

1

Chosen answer: Yes, they were available back then. Plus it could have been two separate lines not necessarily one "dual" line. They were used a lot in homes with financially well off people as Ferris' parents obviously are.

William Bergquist
1

Mr. and Mrs. Smith (2005)

Question: Sort of a technical question, but what type of camera was used to make this movie, film or digital? Also, there seemed to be a lot of shots made with a hand-held camera, was there any reason for this other than the "cool" factor of the camera moving through the shot? (The hand-held shots are generally the shots that are more "shaky" and such).

Chosen answer: The director, Doug Liman, likes to do hand-held shots.

1

Club Dread (2004)

Question: Why didn't Sam die after being stabbed/drowned/chopped in half? I have no idea.

Chosen answer: This is a joke referring to the numerous slasher movies where the killer survives all most anything and still comes back. Like when the killer is killed of in the end of the movie but then reappears in the sequel.

Andreas[DK]
1

M*A*S*H (1972)

Cease-Fire - S1-E23

Question: General Clayton says that he confirmed the news of a ceasefire with "CINCOMPAC" (according to the subtitles). What the heck is CINCOMPAC?

6

Chosen answer: It is actually Cencompac for Central Command of the Pacific. It is like the headquarters for all military activity in the Pacific Region (Japan, Korea, Okinawa, etc. The newer version of that is United States Pacific Command (USPACOM).

EMTurbo
1

Futurama (1999)

Show generally

Question: Does anyone know the name of the episode where Leela kills a bunch of people?

1

Chosen answer: You are thinking about episode 20 of series 2 – "Anthology of Interest I". She technically never kills anyone, but in the episode she ask a "What if machine" (one of the Professor's inventions) what would happen if she was more impulsive. The machine then shows the more impulsive Leela killing off the Professor to get the money from his will and thereafter killing Hermes, Bender, Scruffy, Cubert, Nibler, Amy and Zoidberg to cover it up. Finally she does something really impulsive with Fry.

Andreas[DK]
1

The Simpsons (1989)

Show generally

Question: In The Simpsons quotes, does anyone know what episode the third quote is from (the one with Jo-Jo Junior or something like that)?

Chosen answer: Its the Season 5 episode "The Last Temptation Of Homer". The quote is from the part when Homer is in the bar asking for advice about his attraction to a co-worker and gives the very unusual Jo-Jo Junior name as cover.

Lummie Premium member
1

Love Actually (2003)

Question: Does anyone know of a website or other source that tells you how to mimic Hugh Grant's dance scene? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

1

Chosen answer: Watching the film would seem to be the best source. The moves don't appear to be terribly difficult and shouldn't be hard to work out.

Tailkinker Premium member
2

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