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: What is a Balrog, why is it there, and how did it get into Moria?

Answer: Balrogs (or "Valaraukar") are demons of fire. In the really ancient times, shortly after the creation of Middle-earth, they were created as spirits of fire but were corrupted by Morgoth (the "Evil God" of Middle-Earth, if you will, Sauron's boss) and became evil. Most of them were destroyed in the wars between Morgoth and the other Vala, but some escaped into the mountains and went into hiding. The Balrog of Moria had hidden in slumber under the Misty Mountains for many years, until the dwarves dug to deep down and awoke it. It then destroyed the Dwarven settlement in Moria so utterly that no-one knew precisely what had caused it, it was just known as "Durin's Bane". Later, Balin attempted to create a new settlement, but were overrun by the Orcs of the mountains before they could figure out or send word about what "Durin's Bane" was.

Twotall

Question: Perhaps an opera aficionado could help me with this one. During Il Muto, we see the story of a count and countess. But when we are taken to the ballet from act three, the ballet doesn't seem to go along with the opera. Is this common in opera and why, or was it a director's decision?

Answer: What we see of Il Muto is the very beginning of Act 1. The ballet they switch to is somewhere in Act 3, so a lot of stuff happened in between that we don't know about, so the story might have taken us to a forest at some point, similar to "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

Question: Why did Dudley order the killings at the Nite Owl in the first place?

Answer: To get rid of Stensland and take over the drug racket. Dudley knew if he killed Stensland seperately the police would start looking into why they would want to kill a cop. Killing him and everyone at the Nite Owl then making it look like a robbery would just make it look like Stensland was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but as we find out later it was set up to look like that and also could easily be placed on the black criminals.

Lummie

Question: During Wallace's execution, he stares at a child in the crowd, who stares back and smiles. What does the child symbolise?

Answer: I think the child symbolizes purity. Overall, Wallace is a pure man in the sense that he's uncompromising and fights for his convictions without wavering. He's not tainted with compromise, politics, and other things that other men succomb to. By seeing the child, he's reminded that he has to stick to his pure ideals of freedom, and not crack under the strain of torture.

Krista

Question: I never understood what happened to Kurt Wagner in the end. Did he stay in the mansion?

Answer: For a while, yes, but at some point, he leaves because the X-men are too violent and he prefers a peaceful life.

Brad

Answer: In the tie-in video game X2, which is canon (can't remember the full title), it states he left for a peaceful life.

Answer: It is never made clear. The last we see of him, he is in the Oval Office with the rest of the mutants. He is never mentioned again in any of the other movies, until X-Men: Apocalypse. However, he is a young boy in that movie as that is a prequel, so that doesn't shed any light on what happened to him after this movie.

jshy7979

Answer: No, it's an urban legend. Mythbusters did a really good bit on it. Look on Discovery.com for the DVD.

Grumpy Scot

Silent Partner - S1-E6

Question: I believe it is in this episode where a song is played near the end, that goes something along the lines of "I'm on the outside, I'm looking in, I see your true colours" can any one tell me what the song is called, who it's by and where I can find it?

Answer: It's called 'Outside' by the band Staind. It's on their Break the Cycle CD.

ChiChi

Answer: Broq is a Yorkshire Terrier.

Season 1 generally

Question: When Claire is pregnant with her baby, her belly looks very realistic. Does anyone know how they make it look so real?

Answer: Using a mold, a realistic pregnancy belly is made of latex (rubber), including the distinct belly button, to suit the proportions of Emilie de Ravin who plays Claire. It is then painted with a special paint/adhesive compound that adheres to the surface and for shots of the actual belly, additional veining and stretch marks are airbrushed on.

Super Grover

Chosen answer: This is untrue. Read the reason at http://www.battleroyalefilm.net/movie/banned.html.

Mortug

Show generally

Question: Are lithium crystal ever mentioned in Star Trek Enterprise? I stopped watching the show after the first season but am curious if this was mentioned. I know that the first few episodes of TOS mentioned the use of "lithium crystals" instead of dilithium crystals and am just curious if that was explained in Enterprise.

Charles Fraser

Chosen answer: No, they are referred to as lithium crystals in one episode of TOS and dilithium after that. The name was changed as producers wanted something that wasn't found on Earth.

Grumpy Scot

Question: Its not really to do with the film but I didn't know where else to put it. Does anyone know who Hermione Granger shares her dorm with at Hogwarts? I don't know whether it's in the books or not. Thanks.

Kirsty Marshall

Chosen answer: Hermione shares her dormitory with Parvati Patil, Lavender Brown, and two other girls whose names are never revealed during their sorting in "Philosopher's Stone."

Cubs Fan

Chosen answer: It was done to capitalize on the success of "The Silence of the Lambs," which made Hannibal Lecter a household name.

K.C. Sierra

Question: During the scene where Dandridge is enthralling and dancing with Amy in the nightclub, the song they're dancing to sounds similar to REM's "Personal Jesus", but I don't believe it is that song. I can't tell what song it might be or even if it is on the soundtrack listing on IMDB. Does anyone know the name of that song and what group/person/composer is playing it?

Diana Lucas

Chosen answer: First of all, REM didn't record "Personal Jesus," Depeche Mode did. The song I think you're referring to is Ian Hunter's "Good Man in a Bad Time." The other song Amy and Jerry danced to was Evelyn Champagne King's "Give it Up" which could never be confused with "Personal Jesus." I hope this helps!

Question: How did Elsa and Donovan get across the second challenge to where the grail was? Indy knew that one had to step on the tiles which spelt Iehovah, but they didn't. I was gonna submit this as a goof, but I am sure there is some logical explanation.

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: Dr. Jones senior (Sean Connery) is talking to himself while Indy is going through the traps. He would know what the trials consisted of, and mutters the solutions out loud as he goes over them in his mind. He even makes a statement that "But in ancient Latin, Jehovah begins with an 'I'" just before Indy takes his first step onto the wrong tile.

Twotall

Answer: After Indy falls through the "J" and pulls himself up, you can see Elsa and Donovan standing in the background behind him. It's a very quick shot but they are there. They simply watched him and he didn't see them. Also, Indy called out each letter he stepped on, so they knew the correct path.

Question: I have wondered about this for some time. Did Elsa deliberately choose the wrong grail for Donovan (resulting in his death) cause she knew that Indy would know which one it was and they would both get it without Donovan getting in the way? The smirking expression on her face during the whole scene would definitely imply this but I was wondering if anyone knew for sure?

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: Yes, this was a deliberate action on Elsa's part.

Steph_Jared

Show generally

Question: In two episodes I have seen an automobile license plate on a vehicle parked on Wisteria Lane that has on it the slogan "The Eagle State." I have looked this up on the Internet and the only state I can find that is "The Eagle State" is Mississippi. Surely Wisteria Lane is not in Mississippi. Is California also "The Eagle State"? Is there any explanation for this automobile license tag?

Kathleen Albers

Chosen answer: The state is purposely left unsaid and only referred to as "The Eagle State" - this is done to imply that Wisteria Lane could be in any suburb in America. The vehicle could be from out of state.

Steph_Jared

Question: It seems like a glaring factual error that Balian is able to read and write, given that he was raised as a peasant in the Middle Ages. Did I miss some mention as to how he became literate?

Krista

Chosen answer: As Sereenie said in the corrections, Balian has spent months travelling with his father, during which time he has learned many things, including sword-fighting, and how to read and write.

STP

Question: When Nicholas and Mr. Squeers arrive at the school, Nicholas asks, "Is this Dotheboys Hall?" and Squeers replies something I can't understand, followed by, "We call it that in London because it sounds better." Anyone know what he says?

Krista

Chosen answer: Squeers says, "No need to call it a hall up here" and then he says "We call it that in London because it sounds better."

The One With The Dirty Girl - S4-E6

Question: When Joey asks why he can't give Kathy the pen, Chandler says, "Because she's not eleven. And it's not the seventh night of Chanukah." What is Chandler talking about when he says, "It's not the seventh night of Chanukah?"

Answer: Usually by the seventh night of Hanukkah you don't know what to get the other person, and you will probably resort to getting the other person something insignificant. Chandler is basically saying that the pen is a stupid gift.

Answer: Chanukah is a Jewish celebration that occurs around the same time as the Christian Christmas. The celebration lasts for eight days and it is customary to give a small gift on each of the eight days. There is no special gift required and the line about it being "the seventh night" of Chanukah is just Chandler's sarcasm.

Guy

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