Question: Is the beer that HB and Abe drink a real brand name or fictitious?
Questions about specific movies, TV shows and more
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Question: One of the jokes I've never really gotten - on Quahog's news show, why do Tom and Diane point out that other reporters are Asian, Hispanic, etc?
Home For The Holidays - S8-E11
Question: Was Jonathan Taylor Thomas' guest appearance a surprise for the cast, or did they all know he would be returning?
Chosen answer: Seeing as this is *scripted* television, they of course knew.
Question: Still can't quite get this to make sense: why would the citizens of Gotham buy the story that Batman killed the five people, as planned by Gordon and Batman in the effort to maintain Dent's status as a hero, so as to keep hope alive? Last word from Harvey was to the reporter: "Batman saved my ass." Other reasons the fake story might not be believed are that Batman has never killed anybody before. As well, what would his motivation be? Are they planning to cover up the kidnapping of the Gordons, saying that Batman was there alone with Harvey Dent and killed Harvey? Why would any of that happen? And asking the Gordon family who underwent trauma to lie about how it happened is taking a big chance, especially since there are kids involved, who might slip. Thematically, the ruse makes sense, and it makes sense that Batman would be willing to be hunted. But I don't see why the citizens wouldn't question why he killed the people.
Answer: Harvey's never killed anybody before either, and what would his motivation be? In the absence of direct evidence, people will generally believe what they find it most comforting. The citizens of Gotham will not want to believe that the decent, trust-worthy, law-abiding man that they elected as their protector could have been torn down and turned into a monster, dispensing life or death at the flip of a coin. Batman, on the other hand, is entirely self-appointed, hides his identity and uses tactics that are often very similar to those of the criminals themselves - people would find it far easier to believe that he could somehow snap and descend to killing. Yes, there will always be questions, rumours about what really happened, but the vast majority of people will accept the fake story that they're presented with, simply because it's easier for them to do so than to consider the alternatives.
Question: Why doesn't Wayne Enterprises conduct business in the same building as in Batman Begins? The building is seen in the background during the scene with the Joker firing the machine gun at Batman whilst he's on the Batpod. It was damaged at the end of Batman Begins, but the next day Fox is holding a meeting there when Earle walks in, and after 6/8 months when this film takes place I would have thought it would have been repaired.
Answer: A company the size of Wayne Enterprises would have multiple buildings. As much of Bruce's interest revolves around the applied sciences and research and development divisions, he presumably decided to use the building that contained those areas as the company's main base of operations.
Question: What exactly happened to the FBI agent who got locked inside Jigsaw's room? And how can Hoffman know that Rigg won't escape and give away his true identity? He didn't look that badly wounded to me.
Answer: Recent previews for "Saw V" have revealed that Strahm (the FBI agent locked inside Jigsaw's room) is still alive and will play a role in the upcoming sequel, though we don't know to what extent. Hoffman can be sure Rigg won't escape, because he was shot in the abdomen and was losing a great deal of blood, and by the time help arrives, he will most likely be dead from the wound. Remember, Hoffman is a forensic agent and is probably good at judging the lethality of wounds such as Rigg's.
Question: If Otto can't get his feet out of the wet cement, how on earth does he manage to extract his entire body?
Answer: It was comic license...how did he survive being run over with a five ton piece of heavy machinery or falling off an airplane? Don't read too much into it.
Answer: And how was Archie, covered in whatever was in that waste barrel, allowed on the plane? I forgive it anything. Comic performances never get Oscars™. Kevin Kline pulled one out of the Academy by force.
Question: Was Kristina Wayborn's descent from the balcony (in which she tips herself backwards and slides down using her sari as a rope) really carried out as shown? I would have thought that she should plummet to the ground much faster - too fast to be sure of landing feet first - and risk a broken bone or more. Are we to assume that Bond girls have magical powers or that the sequence was slowed down for dramatic effect?
Question: So what was John Cleese saying in Russian?
Answer: John Cleese was reciting the poem "Molitva" by Mikhail Lermontov. He learned and memorized it phonetically and has admitted that he had no idea what the words actually meant.
Answer: Archie indeed recites the second and third strophes from Lermontov's poem, "The Prayer." "There is a might inspiring Each consecrated word, That speaks the inconceivable And holy will of God. The heavy load slips from my heart, Oppressing doubt takes flight, The soul believes, the tears break forth, And all is light, so light!"
Question: Does anyone know why the seventh season hasn't come out on DVD yet?
Answer: While no official response from Fox as for its long delay, many have speculated the reason is due to the mixed success the series has had on DVD. The second season is generally used as the example, as the DVD set didn't contain any special features whatsoever. Generally a sign the studio is not confident of the DVD's success.
Answer: All seasons have since been released on DVD.
Question: Considering how small her role was (in relation to the film's running time), why did Penelope Cruz earn second billing behind Johnny Depp?
Chosen answer: A star's screen time does not equate to what position they are billed at on a film. It generally relates to the selling power of their name. The film's main star would obviously be Depp. Cruz however would still be higher than people like Liotta, Reubens, etc. as her name is more known. It also helps with selling the film to audiences than just a one actor film.
Question: Why would the filmmakers cast an English actor who tried to do an American accent badly when they could have just cast an American actor instead?
Answer: There's rather more to acting that getting the accent spot-on accurate. The filmmakers would have looked at many possible actors and picked the person that they thought was best. A better question would be "Why would the filmmakers cast an American actor when they knew that there was a Scottish actor out there who would be better in the role?" Has a simple answer - they wouldn't.
Question: If Star Wars: Clone Wars happens between Episode II and Episode III, how can Anakin be a Jedi Master? In Episode II he is a Padawan. In Episode III he has the rank of Jedi Knight. But also in Episode III he says that it is an outrage how he is put on the council but not given the rank of master? So how could he have trained Ahsoka if he is only a Jedi Knight? Isn't that against the Jedi Code?
Answer: Both Jedi Knights and Jedi Masters can have Padawans apprenticed to them; the rank of Master is generally awarded once their first Padawan has successfully passed the trials and become a Knight themselves. While Ahsoka calls Anakin Master in formal circumstances, that's merely an indication of her status as his apprentice; Ahsoka being only his first Padawan, Anakin is still only a Jedi Knight.
Question: When Ricky's mum is looking at his test results, I think his score was 710. I don't live in America, so I have no idea if this is good or not. I'm assuming it is, but if someone could confirm this and just how good (e.g. very high or simply quite good) it is, I would appreciate it.
Answer: The scoring has been changed in recent years, but for the time that is a very poor SAT score, the average was probably between 900 and 1000, and 1600 was perfect. But at the time, you needed to score at least a 700 on the SAT to get into college, so he would have been able to go to school on a football scholarship, had he not been killed.
Question: Regarding Paul and Eli. Are they actually twin brothers or is Paul an figment of Eli's imagination and Eli schizophrenic? As far as I remember Paul is only mentioned three times. At the beginning when he meets Daniel, when Eli attacks his father (and says 'you are as stupid as Paul!' and at the end, when Daniel mentions him. Are there any other bits I've missed? Or is it left open to interpretation?
Answer: There is nothing in the film to suggest anything other than that they are brothers. Paul sells out his family, takes the money and goes away. It is only natural that they would not want to speak of him later on. Daniel on the other hand, keeps a certain track on Paul, especially since he also got into the oil business and became a minor competitor to Daniel.
Question: How are the chandelier and troughs of oils that light the treasure extinguished? If they are left to burn out, there would be no oil left to relight them.
Answer: You could do two things: let them burn out and refill them for the next people, or smother them and remove all the oxygen.
Question: In the trivia section, it's stated that the name Bruce Banner was changed to David Banner in order to avoid misleading audiences on the sexual orientation of the character. In which way is the name Bruce related to being gay? May be to obvious, but I'm not familiar with American pop culture.
Chosen answer: There are many jokes, especially in the late 70's, equating Bruce with "gay." There's nothing that makes the name gay. But like "Lance" or "Percy," it's a stereotype perpetuated by popular culture.
Question: In the swamp, why does Tony hear a song he knows very well, and Virginia hear an animal (wolf?) howling?
Answer: They're both hearing things that they miss. Tony misses being back in his own world, so he hears a song that he knows from there. Virginia hears a wolf howling because she misses Wolf.
Question: Why does Tony hear horses galloping every time his bad luck strikes again?
Answer: It's the sound of his bad luck coming.
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Answer: Tecate is a real brand of Mexican beer.