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: Denethor, while not a king, sees himself the ruler of Gondor. Why then, is he not sitting on the marble throne of Gondor, but on a small much less elegant chair set upon the stairs leading to the throne?

Blibbetyblip

Chosen answer: The Stewards see themselves as the rulers of Gondor, with some justification, as it has been many generations since a King sat on the throne. However, while they are in charge, they must still answer to tradition, and tradition states that the throne is held in trust for the King of Gondor, with the Stewards ruling from the lesser throne. If Denethor were to decide to sit in the King's chair, he would be effectively promoting himself to that rank, which would not go down well with the Gondorian population.

Tailkinker

Question: This applies to all the movies and books. Why is Dumbledore the only one Voldemort ever feared?

Blibbetyblip

Chosen answer: Because Dumbledore is extremely powerful and utterly unintimidated by Voldemort. Voldemort, while extremely powerful himself, relies on fear to weaken any opposition to him - through fear, he gains a measure of control. Dumbledore, who has no fear of his ex-student, stands as a strong opponent who cannot be weakened through psychological tactic - as such, Voldemort fears him.

Tailkinker

Answer: In addition, Dumbledore has a reputation of defeating powerful dark wizards, such as his defeat of Grindelwald, who yielded the elder wand.

Question: I recently bought the Extended DVD of this movie and sold the Theatrical version to a friend. While watching the Extended DVD I couldn't help noticing that the jug that Pippin replaces the Palantir with (while Gandalf is sleeping with his eyes open) did not seem like the same jug as the one in the Theatrical version. Are they the same jug?

Blibbetyblip

Chosen answer: There is absolutely no reason to believe it is not the same, the costs to change this would be prohibitive and there is no reasonable need to have done so.

OneHappyHusky

Question: Hagrid was expelled from Hogwart's because he was believed to have opened the Chamber of Secrets. He was stripped of his wand at the same time. Why then, after he is proved innocent of opening the Chamber, is he not given another wand?

Blibbetyblip

Chosen answer: Hagrid apparently still has his old wand that he keeps hidden within his umbrella. That is how he gave Harry's cousin Dudley a tail in "Philosopher's Stone". Also, now that Hagrid has been exonerated, he is free to obtain a new wand if he so wishes.

raywest

Answer: It's not, no. It is, however, the name of Matt Groening's real dad, which is why he named the father of the Simpsons' Homer.

Sam Johnson

Question: Where does Swagger get his new sniper rifle? He was given the .22 that used to belong to Danny, but that obviously wasn't the gun he used at the Montana ranch or the mountain top scene. Where did this higher caliber rifle come from?

Answer: In the deleted scenes on the DVD it shows Swagger and the FBI agent purchasing the items for their assault on the ranch house, including two rifles.

Answer: Keep in mind, Muriel wasn't very popular. So the writers/directors must have thought it'd be a good idea to let go of the character. No one seems to be complaining.

Question: Is there any meaning behind the license plate number on Homer's car?

Answer: There is no meaning behind Homers licence plate.

Ssiscool

Question: When Don is doing the interview at the beginning of the film, why does Cosmo make a face when Don says that he lives by the motto "Dignity, always dignity"?

Answer: As you can see in the flashback during the interview, Don hasn't always managed to live by his alleged motto - to put it mildly!

Ioreth

Question: What happens to Arwen in the end? Does she die like a human, remain in Middle Earth forever (as Elrond predicted she would) or travel to the Undying Lands after the other elves?

Blibbetyblip

Chosen answer: She dies as a human. In order to marry Aragorn, she had to give up her immortality. In "Fellowship," she tells Aragorn that she would rather live a mortal life with him than live forever without him.

Cubs Fan

Question: I am confused about the battle of Osgiliath. Are there orcs attacking the city, or just the Nazgul? Also, how many Nazgul are there (just the one we see or more)? When Faramir shows Frodo the way out through the sewers (Extended DVD) have the Gondorians won the battle or is it still going? And last of all, is the battle of Osgiliath in the third movie (where the orcs are coming in on rafts) a continuation of this battle, or are the orcs seen in the third movie reinforcements?

Blibbetyblip

Chosen answer: Osgiliath is under attack from an army consisting mainly of Orcs, but with at least one member (probably more) of the nine Nazgul operating from time to time in the air. In the final film, Osgiliath is still under siege, but the newcomers on the rafts represent major reinforcements, more than enough to take the city before continuing on to Minas Tirith. At this point, Sauron has committed to a major offensive, so all nine Nazgul are in the fray along with his huge army of Orcs, Trolls, Mumakil and so on.

Tailkinker

Question: How did Gollum know Bilbo's name and where he lived ("Shire! Baggins!") when Bilbo just picked up the ring in Gollum's cave? In "The Hobbit" Bilbo meets Gollum, they talk (Bilbo reveals his name and where he lives), and then Bilbo takes the ring after playing a game of riddles with him. Are we to presume that the game of riddles has taken place when Bilbo finds the ring in this movie?

Blibbetyblip

Chosen answer: Bilbo finding the Ring in "The Fellowship" movie is a flashback to happenings from "The Hobbit." Bilbo actually found the Ring and had the riddle game with Gollum about 50 years prior to the happenings in "The Fellowship". Therefore, Bilbo didn't actually find the Ring in "The Fellowship of the Ring" story.

Zwn Annwn

Question: This applies to most prison movies, but is most prevalent in Shawshank. How, roughly, would a prison contraband system like what Red has set up work? It's made clear that Red can get pretty much anything, for the right price, and it's shown that the contraband he "orders" comes in with laundry and the like - so he obviously has somebody on the outside that finds out what Red needs, buys it, and then has it smuggled in. But how does Red get his "order" out? And what's in it for the outside contacts? They're paying for the posters, whiskey, playing cards, etc with their money and taking a risk by sneaking it into the prison. what is Red doing to make it worth their while? I know prisoners make money for their work but it's a very small amount and there's no way he could earn enough to make a profit. Red has a life sentence, so he can't promise his buddies on the outside (smuggling in the goods) that he'll pay them back when he gets out. Also, on the inside (of every prison movie ever) prisoners always do their bartering with packs of cigarettes as currency. Where do all these smokes come from? Do prisons issue rations of cigarettes? They can't all be contraband.

Answer: Since very little is mentioned about Red's life outside of prison, any number of possibilities could exist. Perhaps Red comes from a wealthy family with connections. Perhaps Red became very good friends with a former guard who still makes sure his little system works. It would appear that all of the guards and even the warden know about the system but do nothing about it figuring that it keeps morale from getting low.

Damian Torres

Answer: Taking into account a few dollars to someone in prison is valuable...It seems as if Red has a contact on the outside who simply provides him with requested items. Red probably sends money to the source in reverse of how the items are sent in. Each person who touches it (the loading dock guy, the source, etc.) probably gets a piece of Red's take.

It seems that they all get paid in cigarettes. Two packs seems to be the going rate for virtually every transaction point. The most obvious contact point for Red is also in the movie, the guy running the laundry truck operation who himself bribes the guards.

Show generally

Question: In one of the episodes with clip shows, Troy McClure said that there would be a little green alien that only Homer could see and hear. I know this was a joke, but has the alien ever appeared in any other episodes?

Answer: No, this refers to "The Flintstones," in which Fred occasionally saw such an alien.

Sereenie

Show generally

Question: In "I'm With Stupid", can someone explain to me who those people were who thought they were Patrick's parents, and how they knew to show up, and knew everything about Patrick?

Answer: I had originally posted this as a mistake before being corrected. My own opinion aside, there is no real evidence to how they knew about Patrick. Its all I think meant to add to the stupidity of starfish in the show. Not only do the fake parents not even have kids but Patrick didn't even realise they were not his parents until they mentioned their names.

Lummie

Answer: It's called "That's what friends do" on the Spongebob Yellow album, track 19.

Answer: I think Bart & Lisa are happy about Mr. Burns being unable to do anything to them, as they have a bad history with him.

Louise Newman

Question: Who is the actress that plays the old lady that called herself the Good Witch of the North? Also, did she voice cartoons? I could swear her voice sounded very familiar.

Answer: Don't know if she did cartoon voices, but her name is Nora Meerbaum. She was in Airplane and St. Elmo's fire in the following years though so you may know her from those.

I thought the same thing. Maybe one of the Mrs Clauses in Christmas cartoons.

Shirley Booth voiced the Christmas favorites.

She looks and sounds like Shirley Booth, Mrs. Claus in The Year Without A Santa Claus (1974).

Answer: My guess is the 2-headed bird on the Bugs Bunny with the vampire. I believe the bird's name was Emily. She also resembles Clarabelle or Jennifer Morrison (one of the moonshine sisters) from the Andy Griffith Show episode "Alcohol and Old Lace."

Answer: She was Mother Nature in The Year Without a Santa Claus.

She was Mrs. Claus in the year without a Santa Claus... May have also been mother nature (I don't think so though) from the same show, but definitely was Mrs. Claus.

That's wrong. Shirley Booth voiced Mrs Claus.

Answer: Dorothy Stikney was the other sister.

Question: Is Evana Lynch British? I know that all the people in the films are supposed to be British, but I don't hear much of an accent at all on Luna.

Answer: She's Irish.

SexyIrishLeprechaun

Question: In the movie, when Viola is becoming a guy, they play "Love Is All Around" by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts. But the version on the soundtrack is sung by The Tea Queens. Any particular reason why?

Answer: A. The music supervisor wanted a cover instead of the original. B. It's sometimes cheaper to pay for the rights to a cover than the original song.

Grumpy Scot

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