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: Is Il Muto an actual opera? I rather enjoyed it and thought I would try to see it.

Answer: No. Andrew Lloyd Webber created it for his show's purposes.

Sereenie

Question: During "Think of Me", the camera goes down into the cellars and we get our first look at the Phantom. Can anyone see what he is doing?

Answer: He is merely listening to Christine singing, enjoying her triumph and nodding in approval at his pupil.

Sereenie

Question: Will there be a sequel to Team America, because the ending seemed so open?

Answer: Trey Parker and Matt Stone said that there will never be a sequel and they will probably never do that kind of film again because it was too difficult.

Dr Wilson

Question: What is the title of the music played when Lucy Liu and co. are walking down the corridor in slow motion before the massacre begins?

Answer: It's a really great piece of music, and it is called "Battle without honor or humanity" and is made by Tomoyasu Hotei. Track no. 9 on the Kill Bill Vol. 1 Soundtrack.

don_corleone

All the songs are aptly named for the scene!

Question: This question applies to all three Harry Potter movies. Why is no one allowed to say Voldemorts name?

Answer: There's no actual law preventing it, it's largely traditional, left over from when Voldemort was previously active. He was considered so terrifying that people were frightened simply by the power of his name, so it became the norm to use an alternate method of referring to him if it was necessary to do so. Despite his apparent fall, the tendency remains. Later on, when Voldemort rises to power once again and gets hold of the ministry, a taboo is placed upon his name. Meaning that those who speak the dark lords name will immediately be attacked by death eaters. Some speculate the taboo was placed so as to find Harry more easily, as after Dumbledores death he was the only one brave enough to speak the name.

Tailkinker

Question: When Shrek, Donkey and Puss find the "Happily Ever After" potion on the glass-enclosed shelf in the Fairy Godmother's factory, Puss uses one of his claws to cut the glass and get the bottle out. But I've heard that the only substance that can cut glass is a diamond. Were Puss' claws made of diamond? Or was this just for dramatic effect, since it's a fairy tale?

Answer: It was just a dramatic effect, since it was a fairy tale.

Disney-Freak

Question: Is it true that Harrison Ford stapled his hat to his head so that it would not fall off? I've heard its a myth but also that it was true.

Answer: This started because of an outtake from the movie. Harrison Ford pretends to staple his hat to his head because it keeps blowing off for a particular scene, then they show the scene again and his hat doesn't blow off. Being that Harrison Ford is neither insane nor displays masochistic tendencies, I think it's safe to say that this is untrue.

Ingabritzen

Question: I understand why Ocean's group had to botch the heist at the end but why did they have to drag Tess into it if they already had the real egg? This would have removed the interesting twist where Julia Roberts plays Julia Roberts but other than that the second heist attempt seems unnecessary. Am I missing something?

Answer: As evidenced from the first film and the sequel Danny Ocean was meticulous about every part of his heists and these botched attempts would fool Toulour into thinking they were failing to steal the "fake" egg. If the crew didn't make any attempts Toulour would know something was up. This was a large wager they had going between them and Toulour would be very suspicious as to why they weren't trying to steal the egg. Making them very public just enforced the fact that the crew had probably failed.

Lummie

Answer: When Danny and Rusty are shown visiting Le Marque to talk to him about the Night Fox and the whole elaborate plan, Le Marque says to them that they will have to keep up an elaborate show or the Night Fox will become suspicious. He (The Night Fox) was watching Danny and the others the whole time.Like mentioned above, if they didn't put on a show he would have become suspicious. The Night Fox had them arrested twice and was trying to trip them up at every chance he had. Remember he called Danny and said it was the Front Desk with his wake up call at 5am when it was 11:30 the night before? Then him and Rusty spent the rest of the night drinking wine and watching bad Italian-TV with reruns of Happy Days.

Question: I know practically nothing about submarines, so this seemed a bit strange to me. When there's that huge storm, why do they keep staying at the surface, only going down for an hour at a time?

Answer: U-boats also travelled much faster on the surface...about 18 knots, vs only 8 knots or so beneath the surface.

Answer: Because that's what the U-boat was designed to do. Unlike modern nuclear boats, they didn't have the capacity to stay submerged for long periods - basically just as long as the air lasted; there wasn't atmosphere control equipment. They would 'snorkel' near the surface, recharge the batteries with the diesel engines, and then dive for a few hours at most before having to come back up and repeat the process.

Rooster of Doom

Question: In the special edition there's a lot of mentioning of Randy Quaid's younger son being ill and having to take his medication. It's implied that the mother died of the same illness. What is he ill with?

Answer: The reference to the boy's adrenal cortex, and the few symptoms that appear, sound like Addison's Disease.

scwilliam

Question: When we see four astrodroids fixing the ship trying to get past the blockade one of them is R2-D2, but out of curiousity, what are the names of the other three?

Answer: There was a set of astromech droids included with the Naboo Royal Starship Playset from Hasbro which named two of the others: R2-B1 and R2-R9.

Sierra1

Question: Why does Mace Windu have a purple lightsaber when every other good guy has green or blue ones?

Answer: Samuel L Jackson wanted a distinctive lightsaber, so asked George Lucas if he could have a purple one - Lucas decided that there was no hard and fast rule that said that Jedi had to go with green or blue, so he allowed it. As for the story rationale, Mace Windu saw a vision of himself with a purple lightsaber and travelled to the planet Hurikane where purple lightsaber crystals naturally grow, and was gifted several as a gift for helping the local populace.

Tailkinker

Question: What is the name of the first song in the end credits? It sounds a lot like it's by Shania Twain.

Answer: It is, it's called "You've got a Way".

Tambil

Question: Do the holes in the shower-room wall serve any practical purpose, other than as a plot device? I've never seen a real shower with them.

Answer: They are not supposed to be there - they were drilled by someone so they could look into the girls' shower.

pross79

Question: In one scene, Hugh Grant and his crazy roommate are talking, the roommate says something about Pandora's Box. He then goes on, "I knew a girl called Pandora, never got to see her box." I understand the no seeing box joke but what is 'Pandora's Box'? I've heard it mentioned before.

Answer: It's a tale from mythology. Details can be found here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandora's_box.

Tailkinker

Homer's Barbershop Quartet - S5-E1

Question: In the scene where the fans turn against Chief Wiggum in Moe's Cavern, Moe says something to the Be Sharps manager about paying girls to scream. When the manager says "I didn't pay any girls to scream" Moe has a shocked look on his face and then turns off the Cavern's neon light and drives away fast. I've tried very hard but cannot get this joke. Can anyone explain it to me?

Answer: Not as much a joke as it is Moe is so surprised that this small, unknown band is gaining that much support without needing to pay them to do so.

Lummie

Question: When Shaun asks Dave and Diane about tranport, Diane says she's only past her test. Shaun then looks at Dave, but I can't make out what Dave says, and my DVD deosn't have subtitles. Can someone please tell me what he says?

Answer: He says "I don't see the point of owning a car in London".

Tailkinker

Question: Exactly how powerful is a Balrog? Could it defeat a Nazgul or a Witch-king?

Answer: It depends on whose Balrog you're talking about. The Balrog were never more than a few in number, since they were Maia, just as Gandalf and Sauron were. Although the movie Balrog (Durin's Bane) was huge and fearsome, Tolkien's were much more man-like, although exuding fire and darkness, spreading terror among Melkor's enemies. It is unlikely that a Nazgul, even their leader, the Witch-King of Angmar, could have defeated a Balrog, although Gandalf did.

scwilliam

Question: When the lawyer told Nisi that Mr. B. "already knew" she wasn't Lily's granddaughter, did he know from the first day they showed up or from the day the lawyer came over to tell Mr. B. about what his nephew said about Mickey and Nisi?

Answer: He knew right away, because he knew that Lily didn't have any children, so Nisi and Mickey could not be Lily's granddaughters.

Question: A friend and I were talking about the movie and about how Masquerade has a deeper meaning than just a party. She then tried to convince me that the phantom wrote all three operas based on how he was feeling. I think that the phantom only wrote Don Juan. Can someone enlighten me?

Answer: The phantom only wrote Don Juan, the others are just being performed by the characters. The film takes place over a year and it is set in an opera house that needs to make money, so they put on other operas. The phantom tries to have input into the staging of the operas and enjoys watching them, but has not written all of them.

em

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