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: Did the filmmakers gave a reason why there were numerous biblical references in the trilogy?

Onesimos

Chosen answer: The movies are about the coming of savior (Neo/Jesus), a war to end the world (Armeggedon), an evil force that enslaves mankind (machines/AntiChrist), etc., etc., etc. Since the Bible is greatest common point of cultural reference in Western culture, it would be extremely hard to make a movie with this plot without making a Biblical reference to some degree. Even if it had been made by Bollywood about Vishnu and Krishna, when shown in the West it could have had Biblical comparisons drawn.

Myridon

Chosen answer: Yes, Brenda is both the daughter and the half-sister of Tina.

Sereenie

Question: Rasputin and Hellboy each say Hellboy's real name towards the end. I didn't catch it properly, what exactly do they say, and what (if anything) does the phrase/name mean in English?

Gary O'Reilly

Chosen answer: According to the comic books, his name is Anung Un Rama, or 'World Destroyer, The Great Beast.'

Question: Considering Luke's severed hand was replaced by one which looks exactly like a normal hand, why does he wear a glove? Is it explained in the books?

Jon Sandys

Chosen answer: It's explained in the film, although not terribly clearly. Luke's hand takes a direct blast during the fight on Jabba's sailbarge, putting a rather unsightly charred hole in it. As they leave Tatooine, Luke is seen pulling on a glove to cover the hole - he then wears it, I believe, for the remainder of the film. Presumably, with visiting Yoda and all the preparation for the assault on the Death Star, he hasn't had time to go and get it fixed.

Tailkinker

Answer: Additionally, from a story standpoint, when Luke cuts off Vader's hand to reveal it to be completely mechanical, he looks at his own gloved hand and is reminded what lays ahead if he turns to the Dark Side. That shot would not have worked as well if he just stared at what appears to be his normal hand, thus they found a reason to put a glove on it early on.

Question: Did Creasy really shove C-4 up Fuentes' arse, or did he just attach it to the gas tank of the car?

Answer: If the c4 enema were true, the explosion would have been blood and guts and smaller than the fireball depicted. Maybe the filmmaker thought that too realistic and gave the viewer the explosion that is more palatable.

Answer: Creasy explained to Fuentes that he used a suppository dispenser popular with drug mules to load the C-4 into Fuentes. And Fuentes had to have known what happened to his corrupt policia federale in the car and what happened at the rave, so he knew for certain that Creasy was authentic. Fuentes knew that his life was in jeopardy. As such, he tried to talk his way out - "Hey, take it easy", "I'm sorry about the girl", "I'm a professional." He tried to threaten his way out - "I'm the Presidente of La Hermandad." Fuentes was trying to buy time, to talk his way out of his impending enema. He needed enough time for Creasy to free him and for him to extract the C-4. And Creasy knew that, which is why he replied, "I wish you had more time."

Question: How did Rick got the tattoo on his arm in the first place and how did he know the reply for the riddle given by Ardeth?

Answer: In the movie, when Ardeth - after being given the correct answer to the riddle - claims that Rick has the "sacred mark" making him a "warrior for God", Rick says something like: "Nah, I got this slapped onto me while I was in an orphanage in Cairo." The explanation is simple: Rick was an orphaned child who was raised in Cairo, in an orphanage which belonged to the Medjai (who were very much infiltrated in the city, as evidenced further by the fact that Mr. Bey, the curator of Cairo's Museum of Antiquities, was a Medjai himself). Children in this orphanage were given the wrist tattoo which all Medjai are marked with when they come of age at sixteen, and were taught the riddle since the moment they were brought there. However, they were not told about the meaning of the riddle, nor were they made aware of the Medjai's existence as a society; the response was simply repeated to them until it was so ingrained in their memory, that upon hearing the riddle they would automatically offer the correct answer, thus allowing the Medjai asking the riddle to recognize them as part of their society. The reasons for the Medjai to own that orphanage to begin with are shrouded in mystery, but it can be speculated that they simply used it as a way to even further increase their numbers.

KrystalFlare

Chosen answer: Eliza is Eliza Hutton. She was Brandon Lee's fiance at the time of his death. They were supposed to be married only weeks after Lee died.

T Poston

Question: Does anyone have any idea what the bit with the security guard at the end was about? Even if Alice could somehow "fire" a virus into someone, there's no way she could have known where in the building the guard was just by looking at the cameras. She might be part computer, but she's not psychic. As far as I can tell, this isn't drawn from any of the games.

Phoenix

Chosen answer: The T-virus was causing her to evolve at a very fast rate. She developed psychic powers and used them on the guard.

Grumpy Scot

Question: Okay, I don't get what happened to Victor exactly. Was he tortured? I get that his fingers were somehow used for fingerprints, but I don't get what else. And if he was (technically) still alive, why would all of those air fresheners seen in his room be necessary? What was done to him to make him be only technically alive? And - which victim was he and do we learn what exactly he'd done to earn the killer's malice?

Answer: John Doe simply strapped him to the bed for a very long time, keeping him alive while his body wasted away. Even though Victor isn't dead, the smell would probably be pretty horrendous - he won't have washed for a year and parts of him would start to decompose, hence the need for the air fresheners, to avoid the stench drawing unwelcome attention prematurely. The psychological effect on Victor would be horrific - trapped, unable to move, at the total mercy of a lunatic, fed only enough to keep him just above the point of death. There would have been no mental stimulation at all, except to wait in fear for Doe's next visit - Victor's mind would have snapped long before he was found. His body was alive, barely, but any capacity for rational thought would be long gone. Victor was the Sloth victim, hence the method of killing him by trapping him in a bed. His crimes were listed by Somerset (Freeman) once his prints are matched up. He's the drug dealer John Doe (Spacey) mentions in the car at the end.

Tailkinker

Answer: Doe was forcing Sloth to continue his stagnant life, as attrition.

Answer: I believe that Doe had Victor drugged constantly as well, contributing to the mind-mushing.

Question: Why did they use actors who couldn't sing in the leading roles? Wouldn't it be easier to cast people who could sing instead of dubbing with other singing voices?

Answer: People would not come to the theater to see Marnie Nixon despite the fact that she has sung the lead roles in West Side Story, The King and I, and My Fair Lady. They'd rather see that darling girl from "Miracle on 34th Street" again (or Deborah Kerr or Audrey Hepburn) than an unknown with actual talent.

Myridon

Answer: Natalie Wood was more well-known. And Wood actually COULD sing, she just couldn't hit the high notes perfectly. In fact, she was told only some of her singing would be dubbed.

Question: I used to have a book that was a sequel to "E.T." called something like "The Green Planet." I am not sure what it was about, does anyone know about this book?

Answer: The book was about E.T. returning to his home world and pretty much shunned for getting left behind. He comes to believe that Elliott is growing up and in doing so forgetting about him. E.T. decides he can save Elliot from growing up and forgetting about him by building a ship and returning to Earth.

Mitchel Hall

Question: What does the Latin chant in "Oh What a Circus" translate to? (The "salve regina" bit?)

Answer: As I recall they sing the English right after the Latin, but, in any case, it's a variation of a well known Gregorian Chant. The English from the movie is: Hail, oh queen, mother of mercy / Our life, sweetness, and hope / Hail, hail, oh queen / To you we cry, exiled sons of Eve / To you we sigh, mourning and weeping / Oh clement, oh loving one.

Myridon

Answer: Diane Lane played Christina Cotter, Bobby Shatford's girlfriend. As of 2007, Christina was living with her new boyfriend in the White Mountain area.

Question: I don't get the joke where K pokes his finger inside the alien globe and the little alien guys running away from it screaming, "All is lost." Can anyone tell me the meaning?

Answer: The tiny globe is an entire alien world. His small investigative action threatens to destroy them all.

Phoenix

Question: What was the song being played during the montage showing Highland winning the football games and Gil dancing in jail with Eddie Griffin?

Answer: That's SR-71 covering Gap Band's "Let It Whip."

Answer: Bill Murray played the character of Bosley and it was no secret in terms of the gossip from the entertainment shows like Extra, Access Hollywood and so on that Bill and Lucy Liu did not get along. From what I heard this was the reason that Bill did not reprise his role in the second film and Bernie Mac took over as Bosley.

Tobin OReilly

Question: Does anybody know what state this movie takes place in?

Answer: The director states in the commentary that supposedly "this is a nice private school in Long Island."

Question: Where are the hieroglyphs of C3PO and R2D2 in the Well of Souls? I have spent years searching for them, but have never been able to spot them.

Answer: Here's a picture so you'll know what to look for: http://www.starwars.com/episode-i/snapshot/1999/11/snapshot19991102.html. They're not hugely prominent - they're to the left of a man and a dog-headed man, and to the right of a man in a chair. C3-P0 is facing left, reaching down to R2-D2.

Myridon

Question: What is going on with George Clooney during the scene on the diving board? Where did all the blood come from? Did he kill himself?

Answer: He was presumably shot by the double agent. Which is why he tells Barry 'It's up to you now.'

Question: The theme at the end of the movie sounds so familiar, but I cant seem to remember where its from. Can anyone refresh me?

Answer: The song is "dancing with myself" by Billy Idol. For the movie, the girl band The Donnas are singing it.

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