Question: In the House of Blue Leaves, why does the lady manager switch off the lights during the fight between the Bride and the Crazy 88?
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Question: I noticed that during the whole film, when bullets hit the soldiers' bodies, dust comes out (even on a wet Omaha Beach). Why is that?
Answer: It is eiderdown that blows into the air when they get hit by a bullet. They used eiderdown because it was a very warm filling for their assault jackets. Eider is still rarely used in the manufacture of some sleeping pillows and quilts.
Question: At the end of the movie when Walt is singing the song Summertime, is he lip syncing? If so, who is the singer? I know this song has been covered by any number of people over the years, but this particular rendition was popular in the 60's or 70's. Does anyone know who the singer was?
Chosen answer: Greg Kinnear is singing himself - DVD commentary.
Question: Can anyone tell me who the person is that is conducting the choir at Hogwarts? I thought it was Flitwick but he had long silvery hair in the first 2 films and the person conducting has short black hair.
Answer: The new director, Alfonso Cuaron, changed Flitwick's look to make him look "younger." Now, instead of long grayish hair he has short, dark black hair.
Question: What actually happens at the end of this film? I know that JT escapes down a staircase and therefore is not killed, but why is there a body? You see Halle Berry get shot, but at the end of the film she is on the boat with Travolta. If he is a good guy, why did he kill all those people? Does Halle Berry actually work for DEA? If not then what is the wire for?
Answer: JT is exactly who he says he is. He leaves a body behind to fool the FBI/CIA into thinking he is dead. Jackman would have believed it too had he not seen him heading down the stairs and the surgically altered corpse. Berry was not hurt, the wire, the DEA story and her getting shot were all parts of a ploy for Jackman to trust and confide in her, making it easier for Travolta to make Jackman do what he wanted. Travolta didn't actually kill any hostages directly himself, (though he did put them in that situation, he is by no means Mr. Innocent) - had the police done what he asked, no one would have been hurt at all. So basically, he IS a good guy, but his methods are somewhat morally lacking.
Question: While perusing an art book on this movie I came across several foreign movie posters where the Death Star is shown with the laser dish in the southern hemisphere rather than the northern (almost as if it were upside down). Anyone know why this is?
Answer: Judging from the movies, the laser doesn't seem to have much of an aiming system so the whole Death Star might need to rotate so the dish faces its target and in some cases this could mean needing to be "upside down". Just a hunch.
Wouldn't an upside-down Death Star be problematic for the countless amount of Stormtroopers, Imperial officers etc. on it?
No more than for any other large planetary body. Either artificial gravity or it's large enough to create its own.
No, as demonstrated on the Millennium Falcon and star destroyers, the Star Wars universe has some form of artificial gravity.
It's space, there is no up direction.
When there is gravity, there is an up and down. I think in terms of spaceships north is usually taken as up and south as down, relative to an astronomical body. But only because most maps are made that way. Determining an up and down helps with a sense of direction.
Question: Where were the other Wizards during the fight for Middle-Earth?
Answer: There are only five wizards. Saruman and Gandalf are heavily involved, as we see. Radagast, while not mentioned in the film, has a particular affinity with the birds and animals - it is he who sends the Eagles to the last battle, and to rescue Gandalf from Isengard. The final two, Alatar and Pallando, known as the Blue Wizards, went into the far eastern regions of Middle-Earth and never returned. Tolkien felt that they would ultimately have fallen from grace, much as Saruman did.
Question: What is the song thats being played when Charlize Theron is driving to work, and who's singing it? It starts with something like "I came, I saw, I kicked some...".
Question: In the song "Jesus Christ Superstar" Judas sings "Israel in 4 B.C. had no mass communication". Why is he singing about that specific year? Even with the miscalculation in the Gregorian calendar, Christ still died around 30 A.D. So why that year in the song?
Answer: First, the lyricist is taking a little artistic license to make the line fit the cadence of the song. Second, there has for some time been a debate over the exact year Jesus Christ was born. Traditionally, it is accounted as the year 1 AD. However, the Bible says that Jesus was born in the time of Herod the Great, who died in 4 BC, so he must have been born in that year or before it, assuming that date is correct. Furthermore, the Magi supposedly noted an astronomical event that drove them to visit the newborn Christ; there was an alignment of planets in 6 BC that would qualify nicely. In any case, the line in the song is meant to refer to whenever Jesus arrived in Israel: his birth.
Question: What is the song playing when Carter pulls up at the cafe before Terry gets splattered? Where can I download an mp3?
Answer: It's called 'Into the Void' by Nine Inch Nails.
Question: When firing a missile, why do the pilots always precede it with the word Fox (e.g 'Fox 1.')? Also, what significance does the phrase 'pile the road' mean?
Answer: "Fox One" represents the launch of a semi-active, radar-guided air-to-air missile, "Fox Two" stands for the launch of an heat-seeking air-to-air missile, "Fox Three" is the launch of an active, radar-guided air-to-air missile and "Fox Four" is the firing of air-to-air guns. Source http://www.jimclonts.com/gloss.htm. The President says "Plough the road", meaning he wants a path cleared for Randy Quaid's plane.
Question: What happened to Dr. Jackson? I know that he "ascended," but what does that mean/do? Do the actor plan to permanently return to the show, or is he no longer a part of the regular ensemble?
Answer: Daniel "ascended" meaning he became a being of pure energy on a higher plane of existence. This happened because Michael Shanks was unhappy with his parts and wanted to leave the show. After one season with Jonas Quinn (Corin Nemec) as his replacement, Mr. Shanks returned for (presumably) the rest of the series. In the series this was shown as Daniel violating some major rules of the "ascended" and getting "kicked out" and made human again as punishment.
Question: Is Gandalf really as powerful as everyone claims? He's supposed to be a great wizard yet he barely uses any power and is always doubting everything, even himself.
Answer: Gandalf is extremely powerful, as are all the five Wizards. They were sent to Middle-Earth to aid the inhabitants in the fight against Sauron, but they were only sent to help - they were placed under a specific instruction that they were only to assist, not to lead - the battle ultimately had to be fought by the races of Middle-Earth. As such, they were forbidden from using the full extents of their magics, lest they become tempted to rule rather than advise. Saruman ultimately fell to this very temptation, and Tolkien felt that two of the other wizards (neither mentioned in the films) did likewise in lands far to the east, with only Gandalf and Radagast staying true to their mission.
Question: For those who have the soundtrack, can you tell me the name of the theme when Harry sacrifices himself with the flashbacks of Grace?
Answer: It's called "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" By Aerosmith.
Question: In the scene where Amanda Peet loses her shoe, what's the name of the song playing and the band who performs it?
Question: Does anyone know what Rusty is referencing with his "A Boskie, a Jim Brown..." speech when he and Danny are getting the blue prints for the vault?
Answer: The implication, from the context of the full conversation, is that these are all names for specific types of cons. The Boesky, for example, may refer to Ivan Boesky, a Wall Street trader who served a prison sentence for an insider dealing scam. A Boesky is therefore an inside man claiming to be a wealthy bankroller. A Jim Brown is the confrontation between Linus and Frank, Miss Daisy is the getaway vehicle, two Jethros are the Malloy twins, a Leon Spinks is the disrupted boxing match, and an Ella Fitzgerald refers to the looped tape.
Question: When I was watching an episode the other day, Rachel said Richard, Monica's former boyfriend, gave her a little get-well kiss when she was young. This implies that she already knew Monica, as Richard was friends with Monica's dad. With this in mind, and with all relevant characters aside from the main group as well as the six 'Friends' I was wondering if anyone could provide a clear and concise explanation of the backstory to them all meeting, where they lived, school, etc.
Answer: Monica and Rachel went to school together and grew up in the same area of Long Island. Chandler met Ross at college and was introduced to both Monica and Rachel over thanksgiving. After college, Monica and Rachel lost touch, Rachel went off to get engaged to Barry the evil orthadontist, Phoebe moved in with Monica (we've never been told how Phoebe and Monica met, although coincidentally Phoebe mugged Ross when they were teenagers and she lived on the street), and after Kip (Chandler's roommate) left (either to get married or after a bad breakup with Monica, depending on which episode you watch), Joey moved in with Chandler (he was actually a second choice roommate, but Mr. Heckles scared off the first choice). Ross got married to Carol but got divorced due to her lesbianism, and Rachel ended up running out on Barry on her wedding day - she lived with Monica up until Chandler moved in.
Question: Having not read the book, can someone please explain to me what the phrase A Clockwork Orange actually means?
Answer: According to the author, Anthony Burgess, the term "a clockwork orange" refers to a person who is full of life and juice, like an orange, but who is wound-up like a mechanical device with programmed responses. As the term pertains to the story's narrator and lead character, Alex, he is a prime example of humanity, brimming with life, lust, cruelty and violence. The system then reconditions Alex with predictable mechanical responses and behavior. Hence, Alex becomes a clockwork orange.
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Answer: From what I understand the reason for the lights being off is the same reason for why the previous scene was done in black and white; to decrease the amount of 'graphic violence' in the movie in an attempt to keep an 'R' rating. I would assume that they had him shut off the lights for that scene as just another method to accomplish that task.
I believe the original question was asking why was it done within the context of the film (i.e. why did the character shut off the lights) not why was it done in reality. My best guess is that the manager switched off the lights thinking the 88 had a better chance of killing the bride if she couldn't see. True, they couldn't see either but there were so many of them one could possibly have gotten to her.