Question: What exactly was the logic behind Hooper's (incorrect) assumption that Quint had snagged something other than the shark with his fishing line?
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: During the scene in the Poppy field, does the Scarecrow fall asleep or is it just Dorothy and the Lion?
Answer: The Scarecrow does not fall asleep as he does not have a real nose, the same for the Tin Man, although the latter rusts because he is crying.
Question: Besides the Thomas Alva Edison quote at the film's beginning, what could be the scientific explanation for the fact that electronic equipment 'from this side' it's able of capturing sounds and sights from people 'at the other side'?
Chosen answer: I think it is quoted in the movie, but the first Law of Thermodynamics is that energy can be neither created, nor destroyed, it can only change form. We, as humans create energy, so it must go somewhere when we die. Since it cannot be destroyed it is entirely probable that it could change into radio waves, one of the most common forms of energy. So it obviously would be transmitted through a radio, where it gets mixed up with static, creating EVP.
Question: Sometimes it's difficult to tell which events are real and which aren't. Which events actually happened, and which ones did Verbal make up?
Chosen answer: There's no particularly good way to tell - one good rule of thumb is to consider which events the police would be able to quickly check themselves. So, for example, Verbal's description of the attack on New York's Finest Taxi Service would have been substantially factual, as he wouldn't want to risk contradicting anything that the police might have found out from witnesses. Likewise the deaths of Saul Berg and his bodyguards would be largely correct. The most likely scenario is that large parts of what Verbal says are reasonably close to the truth - by doing that, it would make it easier for him to stick to a consistent story.
Answer: I believe everything is factual up to the point they go to L.A. Agent Kujon confirms the lineup and taxi service bust.
Question: Is what Andy Dufresne says about victims biting down when they have sudden brain injury true? Or is he just making it up so the sisters won't stab him?
Answer: It's true.
Answer: It's not true. But he came across as educated and convinced them it was true...He further put reluctance into them by basically saying "try it and see what happens..."
Question: How come with computers and electronic gadgets everywhere they have to use a telegraph to let the world know how to destroy the aliens?
Answer: The aliens had destroyed the satellites orbiting Earth. This meant that the usual hi-tec methods of communication could not be used (as most use satellites now), and a low-tec method had to implemented.
Question: I understand that most living Elves are really old by human standards and are immortal, but I have a few questions about the elf "life-cycle." First, ARWEN is the last Elf born but how old is she? Second, how do Elves reproduce and how often? Given their ages, wouldn't an elf child be a super-incredibly rare event such that most humans would never live long enough to see one? Third, when ARWEN weds ARAGORN, she has presumably given up her immortality. How does that work? Is it a biological change or a decision made by the gods - the ones who created the Undying Lands for the Elves? Fourth, would ARAGORN and ARWEN's son have merely human-like mortality or would he be somewhat superhuman - perhaps live longer? I am reminded of the half-god heroes of Greek mythology. I know Tolkien was fascinated by Norse mythology (dead Rohan Kings go to "their father's" like Vikings). Does Tolkien ever explain the elf life-cycle and the logistical problems associated with immortality?
Answer: Hmm, lot of questions. Okay, here goes. (1) Arwen was born in T.A. 241, making her 2778 years old at the time of the War of the Ring. However, there is no evidence in any of Tolkien's writings that she was the last Elf born in Middle-earth. (2) Tolkien never really goes into Elven reproduction, but there's no indication that the basic mechanisms aren't pretty much the same as humans (after all, elves and humans have bred successfully on several occasions in the history of Middle-Earth, so it's fair to say that the plumbing presumably interconnects). Elves don't reproduce terribly often - in 2401 years of marriage, Elrond and his wife Celebrian only had three children. Celeborn and Galadriel only had the one child in at least six thousand years of marriage. Arwen is only six generations removed from the first elves who awoke at Cuivienen, eleven thousand years before the events of the films. So, yes, it's fair to say that elven children would be pretty rare, enough so that most humans would never have encountered one. (3) Arwen's family are not pure elves - without going into complex lineages, her father, Elrond, is roughly half-elven. Elrond's father and all his descendants were given the option by the Valar to choose whether to be counted among men or elves - Elrond chose elvendom, his brother, Elros, chose to be counted amongst men, founding a bloodline that would eventually lead to Aragorn. So, basically, it's a mystical thing. (4) Eldarion, Aragorn and Arwen's son, will have a normal lifespan for a human of his bloodline (i.e. About two hundred years). His mother's former status as an elf shouldn't have any effect. The elven lifecycle is basically the same as humans, just very, very elongated - despite the prevailing view to the contrary, elves are not actually immortal. While they live long enough that humans think of them that way, Tolkien stated that they do age, just incredibly slowly, making a natural death an eventual possibility for an elf (after tens of thousands of years). Plus, of course, they can be killed in combat or accidents, being arguably less resilient than a human in that respect. So, between that and the very slow population increase, there's no real problem with overpopulation or anything like that.
Question: What department is Roger from? And what does that department do? I mean the Roger that Anita says she has slept with at the begining of the film.
Answer: Roger works in the op/ed department. This department deals with opinion pieces and editorials. You can find an exact definition at this web site: www.freesearch.co.uk/dictionary/op-ed.
Question: Why exactly does Penguin die? He just falls into his "moat" and comes out bleeding and dying. He wasn't hurt by the bats too much. He made reference to there being a "toxic" lagoon earlier in the movie, so are we to assume the water is polluted by toxic chemicals? And if so, how can the penguins swim in it without being hurt?
Answer: The Penguin dies because he must have a cold environment to survive. At the end of the movie, his lair is in flames and Catwoman has blown up his air conditioner. He overheats and chokes to death. He's also no doubt sufferered injuries because of the rocket bombardment.
Answer: The penguin dies because of a) the polluted water (I always wondered why it doesn't poison the animals) and b) his wounds.
Answer: I always assumed when he falls through the glass he gets cut up and bleeds, but maybe we can't see the injury.
Answer: The Penguin dies from toxic water, he let this in when he blasts though the wooden barricades which blocked it off when he gets into his rubber duck mobile, dew to his impatience and frustration with Batman which ironically leads to his downfall.
Question: So is Elektra dead? It seemed like she was still alive, but then again, she could very well be dead, as Daredevil sees her heart stop. And if she is dead, how does she get brought back to life in the spin-off "Elektra"?
Answer: Elektra is dead, at least when DD sees her heart stop. If you had actually seen Elektra the movie you would have known the she is reserected that same night by her future mentor, Stick. Thus leading to the probablity that at the end of the movie when Murdock finds the brail pendent (which says "Elektra", btw) that she has been brought back from the dead at that point, at least for a few days.
Question: When Sylvia is reading through Simon's book, she writes down that Simon died, etc. Then she started to write "Sylvia". Why?
Chosen answer: At this point, she has set her mind on killing the African leader and knows she'll likely be killed immediately afterwards (police, bodyguards, etc). She's writing her name in anticipation of her death.
Question: Am I mistaken, or did Sylvia say she was born in the US before moving to Africa? I'm just puzzled as to why she was deported in the end even if she has dual citizenship.
Chosen answer: Dual citizenship is complicated, and it does not guarantee a person equal rights, privileges, and obligations in both countries. Nor does one country or the other always recognize dual citizenship. Since Sylvia's main residency has been in Africa, the US would consider that her primary homeland and could legally deport her there. Basically, the government is giving Sylvia a way to avoid prosecution in the US by allowing her to leave the country.
Question: How old was Olivia Hussey when this movie was made? Also, what is the name of the guy who plays Romeo and how old was he?
Answer: Olivia Hussey was born April 17, 1951 so she was probably still 16 when the film was being made, but 17 when it was released in 1968. Leonard Whiting was born June 30, 1950 - almost a year older than Olivia.
The One With Two Parties - S2-E22
Question: When Rachel is sitting on the step outside and Chandler runs out chasing a girl saying 'Ok you be shirts and I'll be skins.' What does he mean by this?
Answer: If you're playing team sports and the weather is favourable then one easy way to know who's in which team is to have one team keep their shirts on and the others not. Hence shirts and skins, clearly if girls were playing there was scope for fun.
Join the mailing list
Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. 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.
Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.
Answer: Because Hooper has a good idea of how big Bruce is and the pull on the line simply doesn't look strong enough.
Grumpy Scot