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: Does it seem strange to anyone else that these kids, including teenagers, can't help take care of themselves for two weeks? My family has six kids and we can function for a week or two when Mom and Dad go out of town. In a large family, parents usually raise their children to help out a lot more and be more responsible.

Answer: It seems that the fact the family can't take care of themselves is added to part of the humour of the film. 12 children is a lot, and think about all those rows and all that mess.

Hamster

It's not like they couldn't take care of themselves. As shown with the breakfast scene at the beginning, they seem to function pretty well when they all get along. Tom and Kate were just usually home more frequently than some other parents. It also didn't help that it was the first time that one of the parents was gone for an extended period and the parent that was left home (Tom) had never had to deal with all the kids on his own. Also, the only time we see complete chaos in the house is the first day that Kate has been gone. After that the kids are more behaved (at home).

Answer: http://contactanycelebrity.com - very trustworthy, and you can contact them by post or e-mail.

Hamster

Question: Does anyone know why in some scenes with Malfoy and Crabbe that there's a tall, skinny, nasty looking kid accompanying them instead of Goyle? Did Cuaron think the actor who plays Goyle was looking too cuddly and teddy bear-like?

Answer: The character that you see is actually Blaise Zabini and he is standing with Goyle not Crabbe. Harry turned into Goyle in Chamber of Secrets and Ron turns into Crabbe. The actor who played Crabbe was actually arrested for growing marijuana in his home so the director had to replace him.

Question: During The Ride of the Rohirrim, after Gothmog (Pink Orc Captain) shouts "Fire at will", you can see a black haired and black bearded rider wearing a suit of chainmail with a long axe in the front of the shot (only for a second or so) I think this is Peter Jackson but I am not sure, does anybody know?

Answer: I can see who you mean, but I'm pretty certain that it's not Peter Jackson - the resemblance isn't really that close. Besides, I strongly suspect that the studio would be dead set against anything that put their director (scriptwriter/producer/etc) on a horse in the middle of a charge - I've never read anything to indicate that Jackson is an experienced rider, and there are risks in what's being portrayed in that scene.

Tailkinker

Question: Why in the end credits does it say 'featuring' Sean Bean and Ian Holm? Why are they separate from the rest of the characters who are just plainly listed?

Answer: The 'featuring' credit is often given to an actor who plays a role that could be considered lesser than what they'd normally play. Sean Bean and Ian Holm are both associated with major roles in films, whereas, in these films, Bean appears as a relatively minor part of an ensemble, and Ian Holm also plays a very limited part.

Tailkinker

Question: When they board Air Force One, Bill Pullman tells the pilot that they are ready to take off. He then says something to a female flight attendant, she nods and then walks away. Could someone who has subtitles please tell me what he says to her?

Answer: "Could you please get a blanket for my daughter?"

iceverything776

Question: Did Jesus really invent the table? I don't remember that in the Bible.

Answer: Um, no, he didn't. The Egyptians had tables (that wouldn't look that out of place in a modern house) around 2000 years before the birth of Christ.

Tailkinker

Answer: I believe Jesus was just helping his Father Joseph who was a carpenter.

Well in one verse in the bible it's mentioned he was a carpenter's son, but in another it's mentioned Jesus was a fisher.

lionhead

Nowhere in the Bible does it say that Jesus was a fisherman. Peter, James, and John were fishermen.

Question: Exactly how is Neo able to reach inside Trinity's body when he removes the bullet from her torso, and when he restarts her heart?

Answer: Neo is able to affect things in the Matrix at the code level - he's effectively altering the code that makes up Trinity's 'physical' body.

Tailkinker

Question: In the book, Lupins fear (the boggart) is a Silver ORB, It never says anything about the moon besides the fact that every full moon he transforms. In the movie, it turns to the moon with clouds and everything, was it supposed to be a moon in the book?

Answer: Actually, in the book, Lupin compliments Hermione on noticing that the boggart turned into the moon when he was present. Rowling initially describes it as a silvery orb, presumably to preserve the mystery of Lupin's nature, but it's clearly intended to be the moon all along.

Tailkinker

Question: How is it possible that at the end of the film, when the helicopters are arriving to New York, many people are coming out of the buildings. Aren't they supposed to be frozen?

Answer: The people in the library were able to survive by making fires and so on - obviously these other people were equally resourceful.

Tailkinker

Question: At the end of the end credits, a song called "Let's Bounce" by Chic and Erick Sermon plays. I have checked everywhere for this song, but it is not featured anywhere. Does anyone out there happen to have the song, or does anyone know where it can be bought?

T Poston

Chosen answer: It can be found over on http://www.nilerodgers.com/ playing as the intro music, and also available on there for free download.

alargemango

Question: Why doesn't Styles just carry a fake ID when he is trying to purchase the keg of beer? Although they aren't foolproof, its a bit smarter than resorting to bribery or using a fake gun.

Gavin Jackson

Chosen answer: Fake ID's are hard to come by. Its also difficult to make one look realistic by yourself.

Grumpy Scot

Styles is Mr. Popularity in a small town. Even if he did have a fake ID, chances are just about everyone knows who he is.

Chosen answer: "Deus Ex Machina" means "God out of the machine." It's from Greek plays, wherein a god would appear at the end of the story to solve a problem. Nowadays it basically means that a totally new plot element appears out of nowhere and solves everything. It's an easy (and cheap) way out.

Question: Why does Harry's scar hurt when he looks at Professor Snape for the first time? Obviously this is to arouse suspicion around the teacher, but later, when it gets revealed that someone else was really the host of You-Know-Who, *that* is when Harry's scar hurts again...although Harry looks at that person numerous times - even talks to them, and nothing happens all those other times. What's up with all this?

redbaron2000

Chosen answer: Remember how You-Know-Who is on the back of someone else's head? Well, it is You-Know-Who in the hall who causes Harry's scar to hurt - you can see 'someone else' is facing away from Harry so You-Know-Who would be able to make his scar hurt.

KingofallSamurai

Question: Why does the TV repairman chastise Bud's date for taking an apple off the tree to give to Bud? Even though it's a humorous biblical reference, it doesn't make sense that giving a fresh piece of fruit to someone would be inappropriate in Pleasantville.

Matty Blast

Chosen answer: The repairman wanted things to stay the same in Pleasantville, and Bud's date was supposed to be dating Whitey, not Bud. The repairman doesn't like that Bud is changing Pleasantville.

Jaime Natasha Roberts

Question: In at least one scene of the NYC mayor's office/residence, the flag on the other side of her desk from the U.S. flag appears to be the flag of Mexico. Is this correct?

scwilliam

Chosen answer: That's the flag of New York City - see http://flagspot.net/flags/us-nyc.html. While it does look similar to Mexico, the Mexican flag is green, white, and red instead of blue, white, and red.

Question: Did that animal in Crematoria's prison (during the "feeding") have his eyes change (start glowing) after his contact with Riddick? I thought maybe I had missed something, but it looked like he/it had eyes like Riddick's after.

Michael Westpy

Chosen answer: The animals appear to be somewhere between a minor-class mimic of their surroundings and emotionally-triggered chameleons. As a sympathetic gesture towards Riddicks' dominant nature, it may have been altered purposely, or it was the animals' native eye color, when unstressed.

Question: Why was the ship that stopped in the front of the library empty? Did the crew abandon ship? Or was there something more sinister?

iceverything776

Chosen answer: Hard to tell why, it was not depicted. During heavy storms, most people would be on call, attending watches in the engine room and bridges. They probably died during the storm (several causes, as such heavy trashing, being swept away, the cold) etc., but their bodies were not shown, as it was irrelevant to the plot.

Question: I am told that the film is satirizing Catholicism, what aspect it is satirizing?

megamii

Chosen answer: Many different aspects. For example, George Carlin's character portrays a grandstanding Cardinal who postures for the public. Rufus claims that, as a black man, the Church chose to ignore his role in history, as well as the fact that Christ was black (historians say this is more than likely, but it has never been acknowledged by the Church). The Mooby scene can also be seen as an analogy of the modern Church, obsessed with appearances and maintaining its image more than with the worship of God. Even at the climax, the action that solves the movie involves euthanasia of a terminally ill man, an action that the Church strongly believes is unethical for dogmatic reasons rather than Scripture. There are many more, too many to list here.

Phoenix

Question: I understand that Faramir and Aragorn are both Rangers, but what is a Ranger as depicted in the "Rings" trilogy?

megamii

Chosen answer: Not as simple a question as it sounds, as, while Faramir and Aragorn are both described as Rangers, they're actually different types of Ranger. Faramir is one of the Rangers of Ithilien, a Gondorian group who specialise in using guerrilla tactics against the forces of Sauron in the land of Ithilien, between the Anduin river (which runs through Osgiliath) and the Mountains of Shadow that form the western border of Mordor. Aragorn is the current chieftain of the Rangers of the North, who came into being after the fall of the northern kingdom of Arthedain, ruled over by Isildur's descendants. After the loss of Arthedain, the people survived in the wild as the loose-knit organisation known as the Rangers. The two groups are related - both originate from the Dunedain, the long-lived descendants of the survivors of Numenor - but have been seperated for around 3000 years.

Tailkinker

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