Answered 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: Wouldn't it make sense for Neo & Trinity to attach silencers to their weapons in the government building? That way, they wouldn't have to deal with the SWAT team in the lobby and could sneak through the place to rescue Morpheus.

Answer: The security guards would have known they were carrying weapons, even if they were silenced. If you mean that the SWAT team wouldn't have heard any gunfire, therefore wouldn't have come down anyway, it wasn't the gun fire that caused them to come to the lobby. After Neo has entered (but before Trinity does), there is a guard who calls for backup on a radio seconds before Trinity kills him.

Gary O'Reilly

Question: Why is it that in such a highly technological society, the humans must do with a group of APUs shooting two machine guns and a large tower firing several other machine guns. Why don't they have something like tank shells or impact grenades as they seem like they would be a lot more destructive power?

Answer: The APU use tank piercing bullets that are more suited then projectiles. And an invasion straight into the dock was never thought of.

Kirill Ostapenko

Question: I understand why Commander Loch never had an EMP installed in Zion in case of an attack, but shouldn't there be one anyways just in case Zion is completely overrun and the last few survivors could use the EMP to destroy what Sentinels have invaded?

Answer: There's no real point - if Zion is overrun, there is no place left for the rebels to go. Yes, they could take perhaps a few hundred Sentinels with them, but they know that won't really do any good against the massive resources of the robots. And the old argument still applies - if it was set off by accident, that EMP would destroy all of Zion's electronics, rendering them virtually helpless.

Phoenix

Answer: As the commentaries say, she's actually saying something that's relevant to what's going on.

DenizenZERO

Question: Is Leatherface based on a real person? If so, how close did they stick to the source material? Did he wear other peoples faces?

Answer: He's loosely based on Ed Gein, who made household objects and clothing out of human skin (mainly from corpses stolen from graveyards, but also from at least two murders that he committed). Gein also inspired Norman Bates of Psycho, and Buffalo Bill of Silence of the Lambs. See http://www.houseofhorrors.com/gein.htm.

J I Cohen

Question: Can anyone please tell me what Tony says to Rebenga as he is stabbing him in the prison camp? It sort of sounds like, "I'm gonna pay you f***." But that doesn't make sense.

Answer: He said, "From the friend you fu**ed."

T Poston

Answer: I thought he said "for the free you f**k." would that not make more sense? They're chanting libertad and he was a top brass in a communist government.

Question: Is Han Solo brain-dead, or does he have the biggest cojones in the galaxy? From what we see of Greedo trying to kill him, there really isn't much explanation for why he is found screwing around in a bar on the home planet of the mobster who has it in for him. He couldn't have possibly known that the special edition scene with Jabba could go so well in his favor. I can't think of an explanation.

Answer: Han is still under the impression that he can pay Jabba off, and, as his meeting with Jabba implies, the Hutt is still willing to cut him a little slack, so he's not actually wrong. As such, he needs work - the cantina is one of the best places to find opportunities to get money - as, indeed, he does, by meeting Obi-wan and Luke.

Tailkinker

Question: Does anyone know the name of the song that is played on the ad for Peter Pan?

Answer: 'Clocks' by Coldplay.

MoonFaery

Question: There is a scene where they're all sitting, laughing, telling jokes etc. When Minnie Driver tells a joke - for the love of me I couldn't hear it, and I never got to see it again - could someone tell the joke and explain the punchline?

Answer: There are two versions of the joke actually. The original which is found on the DVD and then the made for TV joke. I don't remember how that one goes and it doesn't seem to appear on the DVD I've got, but the original joke is: All right, there's an old couple in bed, Mary and Paddie. They wake up on the morning of their 50th anniversary. Mary looks over and gazes adoringly at Paddie. She's like, "Oh, Jesus, Paddie. You're such a good-looking feller. I love ya. I want to give ya a little present. Anything your little heart desires, I'm goin' to give it to ya. What would you like?" Paddie's like, "Oh, gee, Mary. That's a very sweet offer. Now, in 50 years, there's one thing that's been missing, and, uh, I would like you to give me a blow job. I would like for it." Mary's like, "All right." She takes her teeth out, puts 'em in the glass. She gives him a blow job. Afterwards, Paddie's like, "yeah, geez, now that's what I've been missin'. That was the most beautiful, earth-shattering thing ever! Beautiful, Mary! I love ya! Is there anything that I can do for you?" Mary looks up to him and she goes, [Skylar takes a swig of her drink] "Give us a kiss." [And her drink comes out of her mouth, indicating what would be coming out of Mary's mouth in the joke].

Nikki

Even funnier is she has to have a Guinness or a stout so what comes out of her mouth is really dark.

Show generally

Question: Is outdoor Albert Square a set or a real life location? If its a set, how do they get the trains to run by so realistically and how do they get so many extras? If it's real, where is it?

Answer: Albert Square is a set in the BBC studios in Borehamwood, on the north side of London. The trains, to the best of my knowledge, are simply a bit of the old TV magic. As far as the extras go - it's not difficult to get extras in reasonable numbers through agencies.

Tailkinker

Answer: None of them are actually real words, although, in most cases, they're close enough to genuine words that some sort of plausible meaning can be determined. Good examples would be "interludicle", which is obviously a variant on "interlude", "velocitous", a play on "velocity" expressing Edmund's desire that Dr Johnson leave as soon as possible or "anaspeptic" which could be drawn from the prefix "ana", meaning "up" and "peptic", which refers to the stomach - possibly some sort of vomit reference.

Tailkinker

Question: I can understand why they would use code when talking about positions, objectives, etc. but when they call in the air strike from the battleships, what's the point of using code? Also, later in the film, when the same situation arises, they don't use the code. Seemed like it was just a silly way to introduce the whole premise for the movie.

Answer: The point of using the Navajo code to call in air strikes was to encrypt what the Marines were requesting without the Japanese being able to decipher what was said. This is critical because during the Battle of Saipan, the Japanese made extensive use of caves and reinforced earthworks to support their artillery positions and machine gun nests. The delay between requesting artillery support and the act of carrying it out allowed the Japanese to withdraw their infantry to relative safety before the fire mission could commence. By using PVT Yahzee and PVT Whitehouse, they were able to circumvent this and request attacks without the Japanese knowing what was coming. The only time Yahzee does not use the code is when he uses the Japanese radio to call off the artillery strikes that were falling short and hitting Marines. This situation required immediate attention and it would not have been appropriate to use the code.

Invader_Gir

Answer: They used the code to call in the strike so the Germans couldn't get the U.S. to bomb their own troops. I don't know why it wasn't used in the other situation.

Grumpy Scot

Show generally

Question: I find it interesting than in most the worlds that they go to, the people there seem to speak perfect American English. In all the Star Trek shows and movies, we know that they have universal translators that help them understand most cultures. Did SG-1 get hold of a univ. translator on another world or from the Asgard?

Answer: I think it's just the writers taking a licence to help the plots along. Everybody spoke English long before the Asgard were introduced, and a 'universal translator' was never mentioned (I would have written one into the pilot, but that's just me).

J I Cohen

Answer: This was handwaves by the writers/producers early on as they felt it wouldn't be very interesting to watch Daniel spend half of every episode working out the native language of the planet of the week. At a stretch, we could suppose that the Ancients, the builders of the Stargates and the ones that seeded human life throughout the galaxy, who also spoke English by the time of their return to Earth from Atlantis, spread this form of language as well along with the ATA (Ancient Technology Activation) gene.

Answer: She was referring to his "15 minutes of fame." This refers to a quote by Andy Warhol who said in the future, everyone would be famous for 15 minutes.

Grumpy Scot

Question: What happened to Frodo's Mithril vest? After the orcs remove it at the borders of Mordor we never see it again. Surely Frodo would not leave something behind that is 'worth more than all the Shire', as Gandalf said in Fellowship.

Answer: In the Extended cut, we see what happens to it. It is taken by the orcs and paraded in front of Aragorn's forces at the Black Gate by a character known as the Mouth of Sauron (effectively a spokesperson), taunting them that Frodo has failed in his mission. It was retrieved after the battle and returned to Frodo after his rescue from Mordor.

Tailkinker

Question: How do you get the secret easter eggs on both of the Extended DVD's? I've tried and I've only managed to get two of them and they were the trailers.

Answer: To get to the MTV Council of Elrond parody: Disc 1 extended edition. Go to "Select a Scene" and scroll to scene 27, the C of E. Press DOWN and a ring should pop up. Select the ring. PJ appears and you see the parody. To get to the Two Towers preview: Disc 2 extended edition. From main menu, go to "Select a Scene." Select chapter 48 in right column. "Fan club credits" appears. Go back to the right column to chapter 48 and press DOWN. An image of the Two Towers pops up. Select the Towers. PJ appears and you see the preview.

angi

Question: I never understood the two people on the bikes, you know the people with all the stars. What are they suppose to represent?

Answer: They are extraterrestrials, the fact they are weird gives it away to K now he has been deneuralized. He started to notice them again as his mind is rebooting.

lionhead

Answer: They don't represent anything. Barry Sonnenfeld says in the commentary that he simply likes to use that cycling couple as he thinks that it is a cool visual.

Garlonuss

Answer: And apparently they are a couple who actually live in that area of New York. So they may be familiar to some who see them in the movie.

Question: I understand the shower scene, but why was Rachel beating up Miranda in her cell? She knew that Miranda didn't have anything to do with her death or how her husband was abusing her.

fan before the site

Chosen answer: It was just a reason to get the guards to come to the cell and open the door to check on her. Rachel beats up Miranda so that the guards would see Miranda throwing herself all over the cell and think she was trying to kill herself. She had all three people in the cell with her and everyone was occupied when she threw them offguard by jerking awake. It was easier for her to escape.

Nicole Sheldon

Question: Why does Miss Hanigan, who knows Annie's parents died (as she states in the scene when she, Rooster and friend are looking for Annie's locket), think about letting them in in the scene when she answers the door and is told "Hi, we're Annie's parents"?

Answer: She was caught off-guard. No one other than Annie's parents would have known about her, so 2 people appearing at the orphanage claiming to be her parents certainly would have caught her off-guard.

angi

Answer: When Rooster and Lily show up at the door, in disguise, and say they are Annie's parents, it's entirely possible that Mrs Hannagan started questioning whether Annie's parents had in fact been killed. Maybe there was some mistake and they didn't die in a fire. How would she know? The police could have been mistaken after all. Plus they showed up out of no place and surprised her saying that. She didn't have time to think, and, as the movie has shown, she was probably intoxicated as well.

Question: Can someone please explain the theory behind Tumbler's "Stranger" move? It's been bugging what he means by it.

Answer: He sits on his hand until it goes numb, and then masturbates. "Stranger" refers to the fact that it feels like someone else is doing the work for you.

Nick N.

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