Questions about specific movies, TV shows and more

These are questions relating to specific titles. General questions for movies and TV shows are here. Members get e-mailed when any of their questions are answered.

Question: Why are the flags on the soldiers' uniforms backwards? They're American flags, but the stars are on the right hand side of the flags. Was the scene just flipped post-shooting or is there some other reason?

Answer: According to the Department of Defense website, the flag, when worn as a patch, should be placed on the sleeve so that the flag gives the impression as if it is flying in the breeze, as the person wearing the patch moves forward. That means the blue/white field of stars should be in the forward position with the stripes trailing. That is why there are "left" patches and "right" patches made for the left and right sleeves. It is only the "right" sleeve patches that appear backwards when seen on the uniform's right sleeve.

Super Grover

Question: I know that Tom had to kill Peter because of Meredith's family being there and all, but what exactly does this end mean? Is Ripley caught as a liar? Does he stay as Dickie for the rest of his life? What exactly does this end suggest?

Answer: He slips back into the original lie he was telling Meredith, so he can be with her. Peter would know he was lying, so Tom must kill him.

Question: In the scene where Iris walks into Amanda's room with the entertainment center, she picks up a DVD with a heart on the back before she is interrupted by the front gate ringing. What is the DVD?

Answer: To me it looked like Punch Drunk Love, starring Adam Sandler.

Question: Does anyone know for sure if Harrison Ford wears the same hat in each movie or are there multiple copies. I'd like to know for sure, not speculation or guesses.

Grumpy Scot

Chosen answer: Not only does he wear a different hat in each movie, he wears several different hats within the same movie. After Raiders of the Lost Ark, Harrison Ford was given the original hat, which he personally helped the costume designer give its old and worn but well-loved appearance, to keep for his own.

Phixius

Answer: There were not only multiple Indy hats used in each movie, but multiple styles and sizes of Indy hats used for various scenes. In "Raiders," for example, Herbert Johnson hatters in London produced 45 copies of the hat for use in that movie alone. Those hats were used by Harrison Ford himself, his stand-ins and stuntmen. In dark scenes, where lighting was critical, Ford wore a version of the hat with a modified brim to accommodate facial lighting; and, in the daylight "Basket Chase" scene in Cairo, the style of hat is noticeably different with a slightly wider brim. The hats vary greatly from movie-to-movie, as well, with variations in brim, crown and felt color. By the last movie, "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," the hat is distinctly different from the original used in "Raiders of the Lost Ark."

Charles Austin Miller

Question: Is the first telmarine who agrees to go through the two trees at the end the same guy who assassinates Miraz with an arrow?

Answer: The one who stabs Miraz with the arrow is one of the Lords that promises support when Miraz is ordained King. He dies on the bridge (that the Telmarines built) when Aslan causes the waters to 'come alive'. The Telmarine who walks through the 'doorway' (to the world of men) with Miraz's wife and their infant son is Miraz's General. Earlier in the film, Miraz ordered this General to kill three of his men (after the Narnians stole the weapons), and during Miraz and Peter's duel Miraz ordered him to kill Peter if the dueling was not going in Miraz's favor, but the General chose not to. On the field, during the last battle, the General had an opportunity to kill Caspian, and again he chose not to.

Super Grover

Question: I've heard that there are frames of some old films in the movie. Can anybody give me the exact times that they show up, as I can't find them. Thanks in advance.

Answer: The three hidden frames are showcased on http:www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F-7izRuv8k.

Brad

Question: When Bubba told Justine about the bill for the motel, why did he think she would tell Phil about them? They were never at the motel.

Answer: Bubba was afraid that if Phil confronted Justine about the hotel bill that, not only would she confess about her affair with Holden, but that she might also tell Phil about what happened with Bubba.

ChiChi

Question: When Jake and Freddy are running to apologize to Janey, when they are at the prom, why is there a girl at the bottom of the steps?

logan crews

Chosen answer: This is a prom. So most likely she is laying at the bottom of the stairs from having snuck to much of the bottle.

Question: Did any of the actors know what the monster looked like while they were filming the movie?

Brad

Chosen answer: The actors and crew were kept in the dark as much as possible, unless the information was needed for their performance. They didn't know what the parasites looked like until they began filming the subway scene. Actual-size, realistic puppets had been made for filming but were decided to look too artificial and slow on camera, but it gave the actors a chance to see what they would be running from, how their jaws and legs worked, etc. As for the main monster ("Clover"), actors would only know what was in the script and what the director told them.

Chosen answer: No. The DVD features show he isn't most of the time. Pro camera men did his camera work, and they would have Hud's clothes on to show his feet and pants when the camera pointed down. Miller is an actor, not trained in how to get the most from the camera, so pros did that. Ironically, he couldn't be trusted to make the camera work look amateurish enough!

johnrosa

Question: Is it necessary to view Hulk before seeing this film? Or is it stand-alone with a self-contained storyline?

Cubs Fan

Chosen answer: It's entirely self-containing - effectively the film acts as a relaunch of the franchise rather than a continuation, although it doesn't really have any continuity issues with the first.

Tailkinker

Question: I don't understand what the women in the Porsche were on about. What's so significant about lights at 32 miles per hour?

Answer: They are moving thru city streets where the traffic lights are setup to sequentially change so that a vehicle traveling at 32mph will get a green light all the way through the area, never having to stop.

johnrosa

Question: I could never understand this in any of the Matrix movies. They need to go to a phone that is ringing in order to leave the Matrix and go to the real world. The guy in their command center tells them where they can find that phone. Why can they not use any phone in the Matrix? Why do they have to go so far to get to a ringing phone? And why can't they just use their cell phone they have on them in order to get back to the real world?

SAZOO1975

Chosen answer: It has to be a hard line phone, one that is part of the matrix code, that's been previously hacked by the rebels. There's a network of them throughout the city, and the operator directs them to the nearest one after activating it. Their cell phones won't work because they aren't part of the matrix; they're loaded in just like the guns and clothes. It's possible the "hard" aspect of the phone also translates to a literal physical connection in the real world which the rebels can connect to.

Phixius

Question: Does anybody know if the "Our Town" song was written just for this movie, or was it a pre-existing song? Who performs it as well? Thanks.

Carl Missouri

Chosen answer: The original song 'Our Town' was created for Cars by Randy Newman and sung by James Taylor. It was nominated for the 2007 Academy Award for the best Original Song.

Super Grover

Question: If Bootstrap Turner took a coin from the chest, then how did he die? He should be cursed and therefore invulnerable. I know they later show that he is with Davey Jones, but that means that he is dead, or if he isn't dead, wouldn't the curse demand his blood, not his sons?

Simpsonholic

Chosen answer: When the curse was lifted he was still at the bottom of the sea (alive due to the curse), Davy then offered him 100 years of serving him or death, and he chose the 100 years.

Disney-Freak

No, he says in the second movie that he was "unable to move, unable to die" as he was tied to a cannon and being crushed by the weight of the water. Davy came along and offered him a way out. Technically you could say he was dying, just not able to die, and dying or being dead doesn't necessarily seem to be a requirement to join Davy's crew since Will was able to wager his soul in servitude to Davy during the dice game. As for needing Will's blood and not his father's, the pirates didn't seem fully sure it would work. But since it's doubtful they bothered to mark where in the ocean they dumped Bootstrap, they had to go for their best option.

Chosen answer: According to the episode commentary, it is literally just frame by frame editting of a sequence from the film "Anchors Aweigh", in which Gene Kelly dances with Jerry Mouse (from Tom and Jerry). They drew Stewie over Jerry in each frame, which is why he seems to stretch oddly in some parts (they had to match Jerry's movements exactly).

Gary O'Reilly

Question: During the scene when the Titanic's engines are reversed as soon as the iceberg is in sight, the stokers close all the dampers to the boilers just before the engines are reversed, why is this?

Answer: Not closing the dampers would make the boilers still burn and keep the Titanic going forward. The shock of cold water hitting the burning coals could also cause explosions.

Question: In the trivia section it says, one of the cars leaving during the "Our Town" song is the one and only Christine. Who is Christine? I don't remember anyone mentioning any Christine in the movie.

Carl Missouri

Chosen answer: Christine was a 1957 Plymouth Fury from the movie "Christine" based on the book with the same name by Steven King.

papajim

Chosen answer: Best explained here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playfair_cipher.

Rlvlk

Question: I saw this movie in the theaters and then rented it on DVD when it came out. There are a few scenes missing from the DVD, most noticeably where Barton Blaze tells Johnny about the helicopter jump and where Blackheart and the Hidden attack the grave keeper. Any idea why this happened?

Answer: Those scenes were never in the theatrical version and were only on the Director's Cut DVD.

Brad

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