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: I know this film was made before "Temple of Doom", which was a prequel. Thus the character of Shorty did not exist when this film was made. I'm wondering however if Spielberg or Lucas have ever said anything about where they assume Short Round is during the events of "Raiders..."

Answer: In all my years of watching interviews and behind the scenes footage of the 3 Indy films, I don't think this has never been addressed. Perhaps they might tie up this loose end in the new Indy movie...

Lynette Carrington

Question: Is there going to be some collection-dvd with all three LoTR movies? Will it have all the extra-material from all the movies?

Answer: There is already a boxset available of the three theatrical cuts. There will undoubtedly also be a boxset of the Extended Editions, which will no doubt come out in November, when the final Extended Cut is due for release.

Tailkinker

Question: A few of the mistakes point out that certain scenes were shown backward. Why was this done?

Matty Blast

Chosen answer: To give the film that extra creepy feel.

Question: Can anyone who speaks Japanese tell me what Jim says to the guard who's beating up the doctor? He says a few lines, then bows. The guard seems embarrassed and walks away.

Krista

Chosen answer: The first time, Jim says "Nanika no machigai desu. Bokutachi wa minna tomodachi desu yone. Senso no sei desu." This roughly translates to "There has been some sort of mistake. We are all friends aren't we? It is the war's fault." The second time, Jim only says "Nanika no machigai desu. Bokutachi wa minna..." and then gets pushed aside. "There has been a mistake, we are all...". I hope that helps.

Question: When 'Jack' gets the call from the arson detective, in the background of the guy's office, on the notice board, is a sticker of a monkey's head. The sticker is the same colour as the subliminal images of Tyler (dominantly red) and half of the brain area of the skull is faded white. I was wondering if anyone knew if this was symbolic of Tyler taking over 'Jack' or was put there on purpose and what it serves as in those shots?

Answer: On the DVD commentary, the director implies that this is a symbol of the Space Monkeys, Tyler's army. It shows that the Space Monkeys are beginning to infiltrate even the police station, as seen later.

Phoenix

Question: Is the ice cream man the same person who plays the man who says "We've got a stretcher for you, ma'am"?

Answer: No.

Gavin Jackson

Question: What is the meaning of the penguin and Marla saying 'Sly' in the cave?

Answer: The penguin says "slide" and then slides on its belly. Marla repeats it later. I believe they are telling him to let go and be Tyler.

Grumpy Scot

Answer: Penguin is a manifestation of the "happy place" in his head. He seeks comfort in others grieving and this is what is helping him feel again. As someone else stated "slide" is the statement that is uttered. Marla is invading his grieving time and this is a manifestation of it. He can't even get away from her in his meditation, so he ends up leaving it altogether.

Answer: www.buffyworld.com has screen captures from an awful lot of episodes - I've found some good ones of the puppet there.

Tailkinker

Question: This ones a two timer: 1) Isn't it breaking the Disney tradition that no evidence of violence can be shown when Kala looks around the tree house and sees bloody paw prints? 2) The bloody paw prints lead to the dead bodies of Tarzan's parents, if Sabor killed them, wouldn't he have eaten them?

Answer: Disney does not have a policy against the evidence of violence, they do, however, try to keep it at a minimum. As for Sabor eating Tarzan's parents, there may have been something that scared him off, even if it was just another animal nearby.

Answer: Leopards are known to hunt for sport. And predators in general may store away kills for later.

Question: In the scene in which Jack is asking himself how Ramius is going to get his men off the Red October, how does he figure out what Ramius is going to do?

Answer: Thinking out loud, Jack says, "how do you make men want to get off a nuclear submarine..." the word "nuclear" made him realize that the easiest way to make the crew WANT to leave the sub is to fake a reactor/radiation accident.

Grumpy Scot

Question: What is the "flightless cormorant" that the doctor discovers in the Galapagos Islands? (It appears to be a dodo, which had already been extinct for more than 150 years.)

Answer: "The "flightless cormorant" that the doctor discovers in the Galapagos Islands" is a Galapagos Flightless Cormorant (see http://www.rit.edu/~rhrsbi/GalapagosPages/Cormorant.html). In my opinion, it looks nothing at all like a Dodo (see http://www.nature.ca/notebooks/english/dodo.htm).

J I Cohen

Question: Is this a true story? The ending with text "John W. Creasy" and lifetime dates makes it seem like a true story.

Answer: Daniel "La Voz" Sanchez was based off the kidnapper Daniel Arizmendi López and Aurelio Sanchez was based off his bother Aurelio Arizmendi López, so some of it maybe true but not a lot.

Answer: No, the movie was based on a fiction book. The book takes place in Italy, and the kidnapping ring is run by the mafia.

Answer: The movie was completely lifted from a much better 1987 version of the same story.

Show generally

Question: I only just saw the episode where Sydney finally kills Allison (Francie's clone), and wakes up two years later in Hong Kong. I really can't wait two more weeks until the following episodes explain everything, so could someone please post an explanation of what happened in those two years? Or link me to a website with one?

Answer: Go to abc.com, and then click on the Alias page. There is a summary of every episode.

Jane Doe

Crossroads - S1-E5

Question: How exactly do the M1 Garands work? I noticed that after the clip is emptied a metal type plate comes out the top of the rifle, what is that?

Answer: That actually is the clip. It is loaded into the top of the rifle, and is ejected with the last round. See http://www.wwiitech.net/main/usa/weapons/m1/.

J I Cohen

Question: When Jack is beating himself up in front his boss, what's going on? I get that he is reminded of his fight with Tyler because he's beating himself up, like when he 'fought' Tyler, but I don't understand why? Is Tyler controlling him in order to get the Flight coupons etc. so Fight Club can grow, or is Jack trying to frame his boss?

Answer: Your second guess is correct - the Narrator (his name is never stated in the film itself - although promotional material refers to him as "Jack", the closed captioning calls him "Rupert") is framing his boss so that he can leave work and still get paid, get the flight coupons and so on.

Tailkinker

Question: There is a scene in the movie where Mort destroys his bathroom, once he destroys his shower door he sees a mouse, he picks it up and lets it go, what does this have to do with the movie?

Answer: He hears the mouse and sees his reflection in the mirror, leading him to believe Shooter was in there. He releases the mouse out of compassion.

SexyIrishLeprechaun

That is to show the contrasting personalities of Mort. Original personality of Mort is kind, on the other hand Shooter is his other extreme who doesn't hesitate to even committing a murder. This difference is also shown when Mort cleans up the mess created by Shooter at the murder scene of the old man and the detective.

Question: All of the vials that Yzma has are labeled, but how? They can't be inside the vale because they would be wet and Yzma couldn't have flipped the label up like she did in a scene, yet...there is nothing attaching the label to the vial. how is it attached?

Answer: It is probably attached with the equivalent of a piece of Scotch tape rolled over itself; I'm sure you've done that before. It wouldn't be visible to the naked eye, and Yzma would be able to flip the label up.

Question: At the beginning, Brad Pitt takes two tablets then somehow survives a massive electric shock. Are the tablets some form of stimulant to help his system recover (or some other form of genuine treatment), or is it just a fictional cinematic device?

Jon Sandys

Chosen answer: He might have taken a medical equivalent to a regulated dose of Curare, which can suspend the body temporarily in a coma-like state, while keeping the mind active and perceptive. It could also have been tetrodotoxin, which has remarkably similar effects, but lasts longer. In either case, they were specifically engineered for his physiology, indicating a pharmacologist's aid in their endeavor.

Question: When Anderton is viewing the images of the Leo Crow murder, he describes the building as "federal housing." But when he and Agatha get there, the guy at the desk says, "Rooms are $95 a night" (or whatever the price was). Is it federal housing, or is it a hotel? It can't be both, can it?

Matty Blast

Chosen answer: It could be both. "Federal Housing" could be a description of the style - it might originally have been built as federal housing, but converted into a hotel at a later date.

Tailkinker

Question: Why does Danny constantly repeat the phrase "Redrum" once Tony has taken over him?

Answer: Redrum is murder spelled backwards.

Grumpy Scot

Answer: He repeats it louder and louder in order to wake up his mother, to warn her that Jack is on his way and intends to kill them.

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