Question: It seems that going after the grail diary in Berlin was just a plot point. Henry obviously knew about the trials in the cave by heart. The search for the holy grail has been a hobby of his for 40 years or so. Am I right?
raywest
28th Apr 2021
Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade (1989)
Answer: Neither Henry or Indiana would want the diary to remain in German hands. The Nazis wanted the Grail to exploit its power. As Elsa was a German scientist, she'd already gleaned enough knowledge from Henry and Indy to utilize the information contained within the diary. The diary also contained considerable data about the Grail and its history that Henry had researched over the years and would not have memorized and wanted to retain. He would also want to pass it on to Indy.
21st Jan 2018
Cold Mountain (2003)
Question: Does anyone know the specific setting at the end where Jude Law dies. I know the general settings but would love to know this specific trail. It's beautiful and I'd love to hike it.
Answer: The movie is set in North Carolina and the Appalachian Mountains, but it was mostly filmed in Romania and the Carpathian Mountains, so the trail may be located there, making it harder to pinpoint. Cold Mountain and the surrounding Shining Rock Wilderness are part of Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina. I suggest checking for a Pisgah web site that might have info and also North Carolina's state website for tourist info. There may be a NC government office that markets the state to the movie industry that can help. However, I suspect the trail is probably in Romania. - P.S. Here's a link that might help: http://movie-locations.com/movies/c/Cold-Mountain.php.
27th Apr 2021
The Facts of Life (1979)
Starstruck - S3-E15
Question: When Tootie goes inside Jermaine's dressing room why did the bodyguard roughly manhandle Tootie and why was her bust of Jermaine destroyed?
Answer: The guards had no idea if Tootie was a deranged fan or if she had a bomb in her package. This wasn't very long after John Lennon was shot, after all.
Answer: Tootie was among the fan club girls sent complimentary concert tickets and allowed backstage. She thought Jackson personally invited only her and barged into the dressing room, believing she was expected. Security took action, not knowing who she was. The paper-mache' bust was screened for safety, getting destroyed in the process.
Answer: The Bust was destroyed by the bodyguards, to them it's another piece of junk among the millions he receives from his "Number One Fan."
No, the guard said he'd been running it under the sink and 'nothing was going to explode now.' They were making sure it wasn't a bomb.
23rd Apr 2021
The Burbs (1989)
19th Apr 2021
Into the Wild (2007)
Question: Chris didn't take any ID or such with him. It's OK that he could work with the country guys, but how could he get an "official" job in a fast food restaurant without any identification document or card?
Answer: Chris probably knew what his Social Security Number was, and providing this could be enough to legitimately get him on the payroll. The people he worked for along the way could have been used as references. It is also possible that he was able to get a transcript and/or other documentation from Emory University; maybe a phone call to check if he graduated was more than enough. Christopher was also somewhat older and educated/ intelligent than others seeking such employment - in his early 20s compared to high school kids - which may have given him an advantage. There was probably a high job turnover rate among the employees, making it easier to get hired. Fast food restaurants tend to hire people from all walks of life, many who do not have much, if any, formal education or prior job experience; they often hire whoever applies.
Not entirely disagreeing with your answer, but having worked at a university, I can say that someone cannot simply make a phone call to obtain a student's academic information, even their own. A 1974 U.S. federal law (FERPA) protects student privacy. Every school is different, but there is usually a process requiring identification, paperwork, and signatures to prove identity. As Chris had left all his I.D. behind, it would take some time for him to get any college information, particularly from a school in another state.
Answer: In real life, his sister Carine recovered his backpack, which had been taken and kept by a man immediately after Chris died. In it was his wallet, along with his SS card and other important documents.
Answer: One possibility is that it wasn't an "official" job and his boss was paying him 'under the table' (unreported employment). It is illegal, but it's more profitable for an employer to avoid reporting anything to the federal government, disregard regulations, not pay the usual employee taxes, benefits, etc.
17th Apr 2021
King of Kings (1961)
Question: How did anyone ascertain that Orson Welles read the spoken narrative in this film and that it was written by Ray Bradbury? Similarly, how did they come to know that Agnes Moorhead coached Jeffrey Hunter with dialogue? None of these persons feature in the credits though things like the choreography for Salome's dance are printed.
Answer: In the introduction he wrote for Ray Harryhausen's book, 'Film Fantasy Scrapbook', Bradbury mentions writing Orson Welles' narration for 'King of Kings'. A number of online sources cite Agnes Moorehead as coaching Hunter on the post-filming dialogue. She had years of experience performing in radio drama and had a Master's degree in Public Speaking. She likely coached other actors. Not every person involved in a film's production is credited and a voice coach is not a particularly significant role, even for a notable actress. Bradbury was not the screenwriter and only wrote the narration. Scripts often have multiple writers (i.e. script doctors) who are uncredited. Welles demanded more money to allow his name be listed in the cast credits, so the studio left him uncredited. Even uncredited, his voice is quite recognizable.
9th Apr 2021
The Phantom of the Opera (2004)
9th Apr 2021
Passengers (2016)
Question: Why does Jim's ID bracelet open the first door of the bridge? (00:09:00 - 00:11:00)
8th Apr 2021
Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)
Question: What was the point of having Steve take over the other man's body instead of just returning from the dead in his own body? Unless I'm forgetting something, the ramifications and ethics of him taking over his body are never explored in the film, so it has no effect on the plot, and Diana renouncing her wish would not play out any differently, because Steve goes away either way.
Answer: There's no definitive answer (and hopefully others will weigh in here with opinions). Diana had wistfully wished that Steve was still alive without ever knowing or intending it would happen, nor did she have control over the form it took. By happenstance, another man's body was possessed. The movie's timeframe is too short to know what ethical decisions would eventually have been made over Steve's soul inhabiting another body, though he does mention the moral dilemma it poses. After a reasonable amount of time, they would have to decide if Steve should continue in a co-opted body. Character-wise, it shows Diana's anguish over losing Steve yet again in order to defeat Cheetah. Steve's soul being brought back may foreshadow his resurrection in another way in the next film. Chris Pine (Steve) is reportedly returning for Wonder Woman 3.
Answer: I don't think writer Patti Jenkins is familiar with the Wonder Woman comics in so much detail that she was actually trying to pay homage to previous Steve Trevor story lines or hint at what's truly happening, but maybe. Steve Trevor has died and come back to life before in the comics. He's never possessed the body of another person, but once a brainwashed Eros possessed his body and once when Trevor came back to life, he dyed his hair black and went as Steve Howard. It does seem like Jenkins left things vague to bring up later, like with Cheetah.
26th Sep 2016
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Question: I would really like some insight on a burning question I have had since seeing this movie as a child in 1978, when it came back around in theaters in eastern Canada, where I grew up. Not knowing much about American history in school, I didn't know at the time that there even was a Devil's Tower, or that it had been made the first US National Monument in 1906, and as such would have been famous to all American citizens. I still remember loving the psychic element in the film where our heroes agonize internally about the strange mound shape seen only in their heads, to be finally rewarded and deeply relieved with news footage later in the film which solidified their visions into something tangible and concrete (igneous rock actually!) Thus, as a boy knowing nothing about the tower in Wyoming, this part of the film played perfectly into the fantasy for me-it sold me all the way. But why or how did this work for Americans at the time the film was new? In the film, we are to believe that our adult heroes knew nothing of the tower before their initial close encounters, and were shocked to discover that it actually existed. Again, for me, Devil's Tower was an absolutely incredible and awesome choice, and made me love the film all the more for it. But I would like to know how Americans felt about it during the film's 1977 and later 1980 re-release? Was it just as awe-inspiring for them as well, or was it more like: "Duh-you're driving your family crazy making models of a natural rock formation everyone knows is less than 90 miles away from Mount Rushmore?" I would really appreciate an answer, because for me, the tower's news-footage "reveal" was a huge moment in the film, and really does provide the kick-start that launches the entire third act of the film. For American audiences, why was it not the same as if Roy had struggled to attach a garden hose under a hastily-built plywood model with a hole in the middle, because the aliens implanted a vision of "Old Faithful" in his head?
Answer: Devil's Tower really is out in the middle of nowhere, and in one of the least populated states (it's "only" 90 miles away from Mt. Rushmore, but it's an incredibly boring 90 miles of mostly empty plains) so it didn't make for a convenient tourist attraction like other landmarks and thus didn't garner as much fame (it's actually much more famous nowadays, thanks to this movie). That said, the movie seems to have cleverly provided two separate "reveals" for this plot turn: those familiar with Devil's Tower will recognize it when Richard Dreyfuss knocks the top off his sculpture, giving it the distinctive "flat top" shape; then, only minutes later the rest of the audience will discover it along with the characters during the news broadcast. It wouldn't surprise me at all if this was set up deliberately keeping in mind the landmark's status of "kind of famous but not really THAT famous."
Your explanation (and the other answer) helps makes the overall plot more understandable. The French scientist, Lacombe, mentions that there were probably hundreds of people who were implanted with the Devil's Tower image in their minds. As pointed out, it is not a particularly recognizable landmark, which would explain why many never made the connection to it.
Answer: "Devil's Tower" is, indeed, a national landmark. However, it isn't one of the most famous, nor most iconic. It isn't nearly as widely known as, say, the Grand Canyon, the Mississippi River, Niagara Falls, or the landmarks you mentioned - Mount Rushmore and Old Faithful Geyser. But, as you stated, its imposing form does fit so nicely into the aura of the film's alien encounter. Devil's Tower isn't something everyone knows by shape. And for those of us who do, it doesn't require much suspension of disbelief to posit that the characters in the film wouldn't have put it together prior to the news footage.
4th Apr 2021
The Pianist (2002)
Question: Why does the narrator have to move to new hiding places?
4th Apr 2021
Frankenstein (1931)
Question: Why is Fritz the hunchback so openly hostile to the Monster?
3rd Apr 2021
Jaws 3-D (1983)
3rd Apr 2021
Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (1979)
Question: According to Werner Herzog, the rats that appear in the film behaved better than Klaus Kinski during the shoot. Is this true?
Answer: True, though the rats comment was deliberate hyperbole. Kinski suffered from mental illness much of his life. He was often volatile, erratic, disruptive, and sometimes violent on movie sets. Kinski and Herzog had a long professional collaboration but also a friendship pre-dating Herzog's directing career. Otherwise, though Herzog admired Kinski's talent, he probably would never have tolerated working with him; he is the only director who worked with him more than once. Herzog did a documentary about Kinski after his death, which included footage of his on-set rants. Clips are on YouTube.
Moreover, Herzog was initially reluctant to hire Kinski in Fitzcarraldo movie because he was afraid that Kinski would go "totally bonkers" if trapped in the Amazon for any length of time, and his fears proved to be well-founded.
To correct a slight factual error in the answer: Director Alfred Vohrer worked on more movies with Kinski than Herzog did.
30th Mar 2021
Friends (1994)
The One with the Boobies - S1-E13
Question: After Joey says to his father "Now go to my room," it transitions to a new scene, and the music that plays sounds very similar to the song "Found Out About You" by Gin Blossoms, which was a popular song around the same time this show began airing. Is this meant to be an homage to that song, or is it just coincidental?
Chosen answer: The music definitely sounds like it's from that song, though very little is played. Its use would not be coincidental. 'Friends' frequently incorporated popular songs into episodes to reflect the storyline. In one episode, when Joey got brushed off by an attractive woman after she saw his "VD" poster in the subway, the song, "Don't Stand So Close to Me," by the Police, started playing. In another, after Joey moved into his own apartment and was feeling lonely, the episode ended with Eric Carmen's "All By Myself." The Gin Blossoms' song certainly fits with Joey discovering his father's affair.
10th Oct 2020
Back to the Future Part III (1990)
Question: Marty shows Doc in 1885 the image of the tombstone, and he says that he wished he'd paid Buford off. Why can't he just round up 80 dollars to give to Buford and apologise for not doing that in the first place?
Answer: Adjusting for inflation, $80 back in 1885 is equivalent to about $2,143.65 today. Not something you can just conjure up easily, least of all back then. And Marty couldn't just take 1985 money back to 1885 and expect people to accept it.
Except that Doc was in 1885 and could have just gone to the bank and withdrew the $80's.
How? He arrives in 1885 and magically has the equivalent of $2,100 already in a bank account? He presumably borrowed it from Buford in the first place precisely because he didn't have that much cash available.
Doc didn't borrow money from Buford. He time-traveled with a briefcase filled with currencies from different time periods, including the 1800s. Doc had shoed Buford's horse for $5, for which Buford never paid him. When one shoe later came off later, causing Buford to be thrown, Buford shot the horse and demanded Doc pay him $75 for it and $5 for a broken bottle of whiskey.
Where would have get the $80 from? You're assuming he had the $80 available to him. The bank wouldn't just give out the money for free.
You can't take out $80 in 1985 money, and give it to someone in 1885. It would look like play money to them. U.S. currency looked a lot different back then.
Well he could technically get that amount worth in gold or silver.
And, as stated, since Doc was in 1885, more specifically, eight months in 1885, he could have just taken the money out of the bank considering he had a job as a blacksmith.
In Back to the Future 2, Doc shows Marty a briefcase full of money from different time periods, including various mid-1800 currencies, that he carried with him in the DeLorean. (There are online screen shots of the contents.) Doc refused to pay Tannen the $80 because he never owed it to him. Tannen was extorting him.
Answer: Buford was a crazed gunfighter, even if they paid off the $80 that wouldn't have satisfied him. He loved to shoot and kill. He wanted a showdown to show people he is to be feared and not messed with.
1st Mar 2005
Rear Window (1954)
Question: What was in the hat box in the garden?
22nd Mar 2021
The Andy Griffith Show (1960)
Question: Why did they always get in and out of the passenger side of the car on the Andy Griffith show?
Answer: Back in the 50's and early 60's it was a law that you had to get into and out of your car from the sidewalk side, so I assume they were following that procedure.
Answer: I found this online, as apparently others wondered the same thing. It is only one explanation but it seems plausible: (paraphrased) It could be equipment-related. Getting in on the passenger side can be shot as a locked-down tripod shot. Getting in on the driver side means the guy has to walk around the car, requiring at minimum a pan/tilt/zoom and probably a dolly shot to make it look good (they didn't have Steadicams back then, so any time the camera had to move, a dolly track had to built for it to roll on). That would add expense and time to what was really just an establishing shot. This was a low-budget TV show, and it was cheaper to shoot it that way.
22nd Mar 2021
The Abyss (1989)
Question: What was Lindsey referring to when she called Coffey "Roger Ramjet"?
Answer: Roger Ramjet was a 1960's American cartoon character who was extremely patriotic, but dimwitted.
Answer: She's comparing the overzealous, gung-ho Coffey to the 1960s cartoon character, Roger Ramjet, a frenetic, extremely patriotic, though not particularly bright American-hero guy. He worked for the U.S. government and routinely saved the world, using energy pills that gave him brief increased strength.
Answer: Dudley Do-right, Inspector Clouseau or Maxwell Smart, only in a '50's space cartoon, that's Roger Ramjet (I imagine Buzz Lightyear is the nearest pop cultural successor).
22nd Mar 2021
Ghost (1990)
Question: Was there any reason why the subway ghost was angry at Sam for being in the same train with him?
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Answer: Henry says, in response to Indy asking if he remembered the details of the trials: "I wrote them down in my diary so that I wouldn't have to remember." So, obviously he did NOT know them by heart. Also, as the other answer says, they didn't want the diary to either be in the Nazis' possession or be burned.