Question: Okay, so this is sort of a book question, but I guess you could apply it to the movie. What do the covers of the books have to do with the stories within the books? Is there any real importance to them? And, why wasn't the book cover used for the cover of the DVD?
Questions about specific movies, TV shows and more
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Question: How does the public know they are called "Watchmen"? Was information slipped from the 1966 meeting when Ozymandias calls the group "Watchmen"? I wonder this because I don't know why the public would spray paint, "Who Watches the Watchmen?"
Answer: The phrase "Who Watches the Watchmen" comes from "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?", a Latin phrase from the Roman poet Juvenal, and refers to any group of people who polices the public (especially vigilantes). Basically, it means "they are watching us, but who is watching them?"
Question: Two questions about the scene where Dan is talking to Larry online and pretending to be Anna. First, why did he want to set her up with someone if he wanted her? Also, how could he be sure that she would be at the aquarium at a certain time? I know that he knew she liked to go there, but how could he be certain that whatever guy he played the trick on would meet her there?
Answer: Dan did not know Anna would be there. This is revealed at the art exhibit when Anna tells Dan that she met Larry at the aquarium as well as their nickname for him - Cupid. He unwittingly created an obstacle for himself.
I think he had played the Internet prank/joke a few times before. He knew that Anna liked the aquarium, so if he chatted with multiple men on different days, there was a chance that Anna would actually be at the aquarium when a man arrived to meet her.
Answer: I think he set her up because he wanted to prank her for rejecting him. Just an unlucky fluke for the second part with them meeting up at the same time, I think. Or maybe 1pm is when she takes a break or gets off work at that time? Who knows. It happened, though.
Question: Is Rick Dicker (from The Incredibles) supposed to be a parody of Rick Deckard? Thanks.
Answer: There doesn't appear to be any evidence for that. The names are vaguely similar, but, other than that, there's nothing to link the two.
Question: When Bob Morton is giving his speech just before Robocop is introduced, he touts one of Robocop's advantages as "A lifetime of law enforcement experience." But Murphy's memory was wiped before he was completed. Wouldn't this effectively remove all of his law enforcement experience?
Chosen answer: This can depend on two things: the nature of the memory wipe and what is meant by the term "experience". It is possible that they were able to wipe only those memories pertaining to personal identification and specific case memories. In which case the basic understanding of law and law enforcement could have been left intact. And the "experience" referred to could be referring to instinct. His mind has been working the streets for a long time. That can cause the brain to wire itself more specifically to think in certain ways that help that kind of activity. Even if the memory wipe were complete, it is possible that those rewirings in his brain were left intact, thus giving him a brain already designed for law enforcement. I admit, though, that the statement can appear, on the surface, to be at odds with the methods used to create him.
Question: I never understood why Peter wanted to avoid a relationship with Mary Jane in order to keep her safe from his enemies. Doc Octopus and the Green Goblin already found out about her and captured her before she was his girlfriend, so why avoid being with her if his enemies were finding out about her anyway?
Answer: The Goblin grabbed her only after he figured out that Spider-Man was Peter Parker. Doc Oc grabbed her because she was with Peter and he needed to send Peter to get Spider-Man, since he knew that Peter had some kind of working relationship with Spider-Man. In other words, her relationship with Peter puts her in danger because Peter already has a direct connection to Spider-Man through his pictures. If he were able to distance himself from her as both Peter Parker and Spider-Man, it would reduce the chances of her being specifically targeted, especially if the villain figures out that Spider-Man is Peter Parker to begin with, which seems to happen at an alarming rate. When Eddie figures it out in the third movie, he grabs her again because he knows Peter cares about her. And Harry used her as a pawn to get his revenge on Peter. Clearly, her relationship with Peter puts her in danger.
Question: Why did the king think that Yoda didn't get a fair fight? He agreed to see if Yoda could fight the droids, so why did he think Ventress broke her word after she sent out a bunch of droids?
Answer: I guess that 1) the King assumed that Ventress' droids were meant to capture the Jedi, not kill him outright. When she yells at OOM-224 to shoot Yoda, she evidently failed that expectation. 2) Sending out a bunch of Droidekas after it is plain that Master Yoda has clearly won is not a sign of good sportsmanship, either.
Question: In the trivia, it states that Heath Ledger based his performance on Sid Vicious and Alex from 'A Clockwork Orange'. Can someone tell me in what way his performance was influenced by these people? Did he use their mannerisms, and if so, which ones?
Answer: To get a proper answer we would have to ask Heath Ledger, who is unfortunately dead. Both Sid and Alex were Anarchists as is The Joker so I would say that their attitudes and views were integrated into Heath Ledger's performance, rather than any specific mannerisms or attributes. He did say in an interview that his performance was in part based on Tom Waits, and that seems spot on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsRbhBXPgKk.
Question: Does anyone else think it strange that we don't see a crucial scene with Jamal applying to be on the show, but just a passing reference to the fact that he knew exactly when you would need to dial in? All I saw was the conversation with the Scottish woman. Did I miss something? Was this bit cut?
Answer: We are told (and shown) that Latika watches Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and Jamal's co-workers talk about getting on the show so he knows how to do it. Additional information is given in a deleted scene on the DVD.
Question: At the very end of the movie when the camera is moving away from Coraline's garden two of my friends pointed out that the garden looked like something. I watched it again and thought I saw a face but wasn't entirely sure, anyone know what it's supposed to look like?
Answer: Opinion is divided - it's either Coraline's face, or the other mother. No-one seems able to decide which.
Answer: As the previous question said, opinion is still divided. Although there is a theory going around that the house used to be the Beldam's house that was built in her favor, so it would make sense why the garden's shape was the Beldam's face. Hope this helped to enlighten this question a little more.
Answer: The other mother made a reality appealing to Coraline when she went through the door since she thought her real house was such a bore. Her real house probably already looked like Coraline's face but the other mother planted flowers and plants to colour in the sketch. The other mother didn't really make anything or add anything to Coraline's other house, though she did add her own little twist to it, making it more vibrant, colourful and full of life, unlike Coraline's drab house.
Question: Why did Alice tell Larry her real name, but she never told Dan?
Answer: Probably because she knew Larry wouldn't believe her - would you believe someone as mysterious as Alice was actually called 'Jane Jones', especially when you think you know her name is actually Alice? Larry thought she was mocking him so it was safe to reveal this about herself, but her whole relationship with Dan was about keeping a part of her separate from him.
Answer: Every time she had pink hair, like in the beginning of the film and during her club scene, she was her true self. The other times were guilted facades of who she really was.
When they met, Alice had pink-reddish hair and lied about her name, after having seen the name in one of the tombstones at the cemetery.
Question: Was Series 2 shortened? Series 1 had 12 episodes vs 10 for Series 2. Also some of the subplots in Series 2 didn't really go anywhere and were tied up abruptly, e.g. Tyman killing his brother.
Answer: The show became too costly to produce so they ended the season early to save money.
Question: I recognize one of the paintings parodied in Other Spink and Forcible's show as Botticelli's "Birth of Venus". What is the other one?
Answer: It is probably the painting of the scene where a sea-siren (mermaid) tries to lure the Greek hero Odysseus and his men into the water to eat their bodies and souls.
Answer: It's Van Gogh's Starry Sky.
Question: Throughout the film, there are segues which feature blood seeping through what looks like some kind of fabric. Does that represent anything, and if so, what?
Chosen answer: It represents Al Pacino's character planting evidence on men he knew were guilty. He was planting the victim's blood on their clothes so the evidence would be stronger against them.
In addition, there is a repeated scene where someone (Dormer) is wiping something on or off a fabric.
Question: What is the name of the last song they dance to at the Christmas dance? I know I've heard it before, but I can't put a name on it.
Chosen answer: Auld Lang Syne.
Question: This has been submitted before, but the answer is not correct. Richie, Eddie, Beverly, Ben and Bill don't remember anything about each other or the events in Derry. For example Bev's husband reads one of Bill's books and she doesn't recognise the name, and Bill doesn't know who the architect Ben Hanscome is. Why is it that Stan not only recognises Bill's name and remembers him, but also remembers the Turtle? He remembers all of this long before Mike calls.
Answer: The longer they're out of Dairy the less they remember about the specific incidents. That doesn't mean they don't remember any of it, just that their memory is dim and they've forgotten large chunks of it. They still remember parts of it in their dreams too.
Nightmares and Daydreams - S3-E9
Question: In Aang's first dream, his hair, dress, and movements are supposed to resemble Naruto. In his second dream, he's looks like Vash from Trigun. However in the last dream (the one where Aang tells the Firelord that he is the one without pants), I can't quite place who he's supposed to look like. Any help?
Answer: Aang is meant to resemble Goku from Dragon Ball Z in the first nightmare. Though Naruto's and Goku's outfits are very similar, the hair is the clue here. In the final dream, Aang is a caricature of Jin from Samurai Champloo.
Question: Can Jedi and Sith actually read thoughts? In this movie, Vader was able to realize that Luke was thinking about Leia during their fight on the Death Star. If he could read Luke's thoughts, even though Luke is also a powerful Force-user (not a weak-minded person), how come Jedi in the past couldn't detect the thoughts of other strong Force-users? For example, why didn't Mace, Yoda, or other powerful Jedi find out that Anakin was keeping a secret about his marriage to Padme, the way that Luke was keeping a secret about having a twin sister?
Answer: Jedi Knights and Sith can read thoughts using the Force, and they can communicate with each other that way if they wish, but they can also block others from reading their minds. The Jedi are well trained in mind control. Darth Vader was able to read Luke's thoughts because Luke was not yet a fully trained Jedi Knight; he was unable to block Vader's mental intrusion. Anakin was an exceptionally strong Jedi, and even as an apprentice, he possessed very advanced abilities.
Question: Has Dooku ever officially made Asajj his apprentice? I know he is still Sidious' apprentice, but Sidious secretly trained Maul before he killed Plageous (according to the SW Wikipedia), so Dooku could secretly train Asajj. In "Ambush" he calls Asajj his apprentice when talking to the king of Toydaria, but then in "Cloak of Darkness", he tells Asajj that she has to prove she is worthy.
Answer: Dooku never accepted Ventress as his apprentice, as far as I know; he just kept her as his devoted personal assassin. In Phantom Menace, it is stated that there can be only two Sith at a time, to prevent a power struggle in the lower ranks. To accept Ventress as an apprentice, Dooku would have violated that rule.
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Chosen answer: The publishers had the ultimate control over the books' cover designs, but according to Stephanie Meyer, the author, the apple on the first book represents the "forbidden fruit" which Bella and Edward's love would certainly be. Meyer is unsure just what the ruffled tulip on Book Two represents (it was the publisher's choice), but it could be about Bella's blossoming from a girl into woman. The red on white color may symbolize the blood vampires need to survive and how that is tied to Bella. The broken ribbon on Book Three represents the choices Bella must make between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob, and her ties to both the mortal and immortal worlds. Book Four's cover is a metaphor for Bella's progression throughout the entire saga. She began as the weakest (at least physically, when compared to vampires and werewolves) player on the board: the pawn. She eventually becomes the strongest: the queen. In the end, it's Bella who leads the Cullens to victory.
raywest ★